There is a popular prejudice against fried foods, and a belief that abstaining from them will cure us of our dyspepsia, but if articles are properly fried they should contain no more grease than the boiled one does of water. Smoking fat has such a high degree of heat, that certain articles are better cooked by frying than by any other method. Minced meat, rolled into the form of croquettes and fried, assumes a different character both in taste and rank from the minced meat heated in other ways. If the croquettes are coated with egg and crumbs and immersed in smoking hot fat, as the rule directs, the egg is instantly hardened, and no fat can be absorbed through it. That which covers the outside is evaporated by draining and drying in a hot place. The napkin on which the croquettes are served will not be stained if they are rightly fried. Saratoga chips can be handled with a glove without soiling it. We need not be a nation of dyspeptics from eating pie when the French are not from eating puff-paste, or from hot breads when the English are not from plum pudding and pork pies. It is from the manner of preparing our foods that we suffer. Cooking has not been one of the virtues of our new country, as we have been satisfied to get our cooks from France and Ireland, but if intelligent American housewives will take interest and pleasure in this important department, which is delegated to their care, some of the serious trials of life will be overcome, and emancipation from many petty cares and annoyances will follow.
COOKING AS A PLEASURE AND AN ACCOMPLISHMENT
The common sayings about waste in American kitchens, dyspeptic results of American cooking, etc., reflect the opinion held by other nations of our culinary art, and though the judgment may be too severe, it has been pronounced, and should remind us of our shortcomings.
It seems, however, as though a new era were now dawning. Cooking-schools are established in large cities, cooking lectures are given everywhere and are well attended. The nutritive values of different foods and the chemistry of cooking are studied. This, and the recognition of the fact that health proceeds largely from the diet, seem to indicate that there has been an awakening of interest in the subject of gastronomy. In this day of fads, it will soon be discovered also that pleasures lie in this line of work. Fancy cooking has an interest quite as engaging as other occupations of diversion. Fine cooking utensils, gas-stoves, and modern conveniences, make the well-appointed kitchen as attractive as the laboratory or workshop. Trying a new dish has the same interest as any other experiment. The construction of ornamental pieces is as interesting as other fancy work. Making puff-paste, ice-creams, fancy molding of desserts and salads, boiling sugar, etc., are in reality simple processes, and with very little practice found to be as easy to prepare as dishes which from familiarity have come to be called plain cooking. Skill and dexterity of hand may be enjoyed in boning, trussing, and larding, and taste shown in decorating with truffles and other articles, in molding with flowers and fruits, in icing cakes, in spinning sugar, and in making bonbons. The pleasure of decorating the table and adorning the dining-room will be found secondary to that of preparing artistic dishes when that art has once been learned.