2 SEPTEMBER 1837, Page 18

DONOVANS DOMESTIC ECONOMY.

THE first volume of Profesor DONOVAN'S treatise on Human Sustenance was restricted to liquids, and to bread as a fermentable product ; the second is devoted to solids both animal and vege- table, as well as to that epicene genus soup. In handling his momentous subjects, the Professor is at once methodical, scientific, learned, and popular, with a spice ttf enthusiasm, a dash of gossip, and a due sense of the dignity of the art of cookery ; all of which have not only induced him to give much time to the study of principles, and the perusal of a wide circle of books, but also to engage in the agreeable task of experimenting upon roast and boiled.

After an elaborate introduction, in which Mr. DONOVAN de- scribes, to censure, the cruel practices of epicures, from cod- crimping onwards, Le takes a general view of the substances used as food by various nations; and philosophically eeduces from many examples, that prejudice, it is to be apprehended, alone discovers any considerable difference, for instance, between the eel and the serpent, the rabbit and the cat, especially when sauced by hunger and habit ; and he lays down for our guidance the liberal rule, that no nation should ridicule the dishes of another. A long account of the animals that serve to support mankind, follows these fitting exordiums; in which man leads the way, with a savoury disquisition on cannibalism in theory and practice. Quadrupeds, birds, amphibious creatures, and fishes, are minutely classed and elaborately considered according to their orders; insects and the cruste.ccous and testaceous tribes are generally, but sufficiently dismissed. The next divisions conduct ps to the processes by which animal food is fitted for use, involv- ing the principles of cookery, and the objects to be kept in view; the loss of weight which animal substances sustain in roasting and boiling, and the actual cost of various dishes per pound after bone and loss is allowed for; as well as some warnings on the use and abuse of animal food. A condensed account of vegetables, and their properties, raw or dressed, with incidental notices of pickles, succeeds. And this is followed by an ingenious and novel inquiry concerning taste; which concludes with a peroration at once lofty and practical.

gi Perhaps the time is not far distant when the march of improvement will induce the ptofessms of gastronomy to elevate their calling, by connecting its practice with the principles of science. There can be no doubt of the benefit that would result limn a suceess.'n! attempt. And altio-mili the idea of con- verting our cooks into philosophers may excite a smile, the conversion may not be less desirable in the art of plea4ing the palate w ith food than with drink. The hewers aid li,tiPc!, of the present day ate philosophical chemists; they understand well the principles on which ihey act ; their pro- cesses ate mere rarrain, ecoroinical, rmd manageable tlta th>v ter.re fornao le; and alias are not ttidy more (Nisi!) enever red, but correctrd. than they mad to be when tie: art was entin ly mph shoe!" net (qui' advantage- be derive.; ion the :IN.:ie.:I:ion of smile.: to those arts %.1.ich Is late to the 1/1:Litilg•

went of relid sustenance ?"

Why, indeed ! Who can wonder that reforms in the state move slowly, when we look at the ;Muses uurler our Ic t, On our Lilac 060 and whose (acts stial; in our nostrils?

We have told the literary character of Dome4tic Economy, and indicated, in our description, the extent aed variety of subject over which the author ranges. Except a pedantic use of words occa- sionally, (such as " fiducial,") and a Milesian peculiarity of style, which however imearts character, our chief complaint against the book is its generality. In aiming to exalt his subjects, the Pro- fessor raises them above individuality, and consequently above distinctness. However high the character of an animal may rank,—however wonderful its structure, or curious its habits, nay, though it be the " paragon of animals,"—we hold, that in a ques- tion in cookery, our concern is only with the carcase. The topics are—its chemical elements; • its wholesomeness; its flavour ; the length of time it should be kept for average stomachs; the modes of preparation, noting the best, and describing the palatial re- sults; and finally, the tit-bits which it yields. Beyond this, all is surplusage, or at best the artful expansion of the poet, to be used with skill aud moderation, or it ceases to be a beauty. When, as occasionally in the Professor's case, our attention is dis- tracted from these important circumstances to mere facts or anec- dotes of natural history,—or, what is worse, when these last en- croach upon the former,—then we conceive that the dignity of science is sacrificed to mere gossip intended for idle loungers, and that, however amusing such anecdotes may be, they are at least misplaced. The housewife and the cook, who desire to master this subject, must go over Domestic Economy as GIBBON perused his primal

authorities for his Decline and Fall," with the pen almost always in the hand ;" and when they come to a fact or a principle, let them note it thus briefly. English pork is superior to Irish, on account of its being better fed and more cleanly and carefully kept. When meat is once oversalted, there is no practicable remedy. Soaking merely affects the outside, but penetrates not within. If you cut it into slices and soak, you may then indeed get rid of the salt, but then only. " Oversalting seems, therefore," says the Professor," to have no remedy." A perfect boil must be a slow boil. If you proceed hastily, the outside parts become tough, and conduct the heat badly ; so that the central parts are probably rare, and the exterior overdone, sodden, and tasteless.

In boiling, use much water, and fill up as it evaporates. In soup, reverse the rule, and boil quickly. There are several rea- sons for this; but the all-decisive one is, that the flavouring matter, the osmazome, dissolves with facility ; and whoever has passed a kitchen in full work, must have smelt the mischief that ignorance was working in this way, for the benefit of the noses of the passers- by. To avoid this loss, cut the meat into pieces the " size of hazel. nuts ;" boil for not more than half an hour, and, as the cookery. books say, " cover close." There is a widely-spread notion that the strength and nutriciousness of the soup depend upon its forming a jelly : the Professor conceives this to be a delusion. Boil parchment and leather long enough, and they form a very strong jelly ; " yet no one imagines that such jelly would form the basis of a good soup." Isinglass, certain kinds of sea-weed, and Iceland moss, will all form a jelly ; yet they support life for a short time compared with beef-tea so weak that when cold it re- mains as thin as water.

These are particular rules. It is a universal rule, that there is nothing like nature. Art may develop, but cannot improve, and may very easily spoil. Eggs may be preserved in various ways; but the means which preserves them from putefraction checks or destroys their vitality, and they have the powers of new-laid eggs no longer. Meat, when frozen, may be kept untainted, and appa. rently uninjured for months; but when thawed and cooked, the connoisseur detects a flavour wanting. The same remark applies to preserves in a still stronger degree. Of imitations it is needless to speak. They deceive the gross vulgar, but the skilful detect that every thing is there save the essential property.

Some matters, though of a larger and less technical kind, can- not well be abriged, but must be transcribed in the pages of the album, as we transfer a few to our columns. Look,ye gourmands, upon this picture! The Professor is discussing the proper propos. tents of animal and vegetable food, and is now criticizing the pro. priety of dining respectively on 81 or 10 ounces of boiled leg of mutton— Now, the difference between 81 ounces of boiled meat and 10 ounces appears very trivial ; 'but if the greater of the two quantities be persevered in regularly every day for the term of a man's adult life of half a century, it may excite little surprise in the person who practises it to learn that he will have consumed a flock of sheep, consisting of about fifty-three head, in excess above what he tught to have made use of. In a life of sixty-five years, allowing 8i ounett per day for fifty years, two.thirds of that quantity for ten years, and 3 ounces a day for three years of childhood, the total animal food amounts to 350 sheep. If to this be added the excess above-mentioned, the number of sheep, the cooked meat of which is devoured by one man during a life of sixty.five years, is about -um; along with five tons of potatoes, about the same of turnips or other vege- rilde, nine tons weight of common think, and six tons weight of wine, at one pint per day for thirty years only : thus for dinner alone above thirty tows weight of solids and liquids ihnst Lave passed through the stomach. In- ordinate work will wear out any machinery before its time, especially if the work perfiirmed be of a rculiarly isearin chamter. Whether it is adviahle to add the 114. three unnecessary sheep to one's dinner, is a question which every reader will answer to himself as he thinks proper. The food of Old Parr, el:o died at Fiel sears uf age, el,E.1;ted of elwese, coat se bread, milk, and small 1; Tr. W.W.I it have. made no 4;11;os:quer in the duration of his life it' he hall ,wallowed shoep,—for idiom this nolober would have been his share at the usual rate, along is ith his twenty tons of wine? It may assist in drawing a conc'usion, to recollect that w Len he wa s brought to London amyl lived in sph.11,h)cr, " fed high, :mil drank plentifully of the best wines," he soon 'lied; anti his death was generally :0u :bitted to that cause, kw he had vigour of body "to have lived a good while longer," as the reporter says.

N'ARIOU.§ eat:sr:net:as 01 lEAT.

It is because salt is the most agreeable preservative of meat that it is used for this purpose, and by 1m means because It is the most effectual. According to the experiments of Sir John Pringle, it is the most feeble of all the suh. stances tried by him. Saltpetre he tound to possess no less than four times the preservative power of salt : out this account, and on account of the property which saltpetre possesses of giving a pleasing redness to beef, it is always an ingredient in the brine with which meat is presetved. Some suppose, how- ever, that it has also the effect of hardening the fibre. Some other experi- ments of Sir John Pringle are more curious than useful; they add nothing to our means of preserving flesh, on account of the disagreeable taste of the sub- stances etnployed. Thus sulphate of potash had twice the preservative power. of common salt ; sal-ammoniac three times ; catbonate of ammonia, or oh potash, four times; borax twelve times ; succinic acid twenty times; and alum no less than thirty times. Perhaps some practical hints may be derived from the last-mentioned fact.

Of all the antiseptics tried, he found camomile-flowers to be most powerful

in its effects; and, on account of their bitter taste, we may add the least useful. Ile estimates the preservative power to be 120 times greater than that of salt. Nay, lie found that meat in which the putrefactive process had taken place, was restored by camomile, and that it remained sound for a year after. Cam- phor seemed to have 300 times the power of salt. There is one section, whose results, at least, must be wholly transcribed by those who would really possess a family volume. This is the account of the various experiments which Professor DONOVAN made on flesh, fish, and fowl, in order to test the actual cost of cooked meat. A miscellaneous journal cannot quote the whole of these valuable labours ; but we will give a detailed example, and then collect a few of the results for the sake of our economical readers.

"A piece of beef, roasted. It consisted of four of the longest ribs, and !On not remarkably fat; its weight was 11 1-161b. During the process of roasting, it lost 21b. floz., of which 10oz, were fat, and 28.oz. were water dissipated by evaporation. When the meat was dissected off with the utmost care, the boom weighed 16 oz. Hence the weight of meat, properly roasted and fit for the table, was but 71b. lloz out of 11 1-161b. originally submitted to experiment. This beef would cost in London Shel. per lb. The roasted beef cost, therefore, 12 1-5d. per lb. In another trial, a piece of beef of the same description, theists

of the ribs having been rejected with their meat, was submitted to the same mode of trial, the weight of bone in 101b. was Ifloz., and the fat lice.; wine& agrees with the former estimate."

Of these experiments, no fewer than fifty-eight were tried. The first five prove that when ribs of beef are 8id. a pound, the Goat of the meat, duly roasted and fit for table, is 1 lid. per pound, the loss in cooking being 18 per cent. Sirloins at 8id. cost le. lid. per pound; the loss of weight during roasting 20i per cent. Salted

triskets at 6d. cost, u hen lit for table, 8cf.; their loss in boiling is Is per cent. Flank at 6d. costs 7fitd.; and the loss is 13 1-5 percent. Why the Professor should have put us off with brisket and flank, mid never tried the edge-bone, we cannot conceive, unless he was fearful of frighting the matrons of England by its real cost; in which case, we are thankful for the omission. Roast leg of mut- ton, at 8d. undressed, comes to table for Is. Boiled, at the same prime cost, amounts to lid. Roast venison reaches 38. 10d. or even gs. a pound. Passing further details of meat, it appears that the roasted flesh of a woodcock sometimes costs 28. and sometimes 168. a pound. "But the flesh of a quail is still more expensive : this bird when fattened is sold at the enormous price of 3s.; and when allowance is made for the loss in cooking and the bones, the meat may he estimated at 2 ounces, which brings the cost of the cooked flesh to U. 4s. a pound." The average of poultry is given respectively as follows—roast chickens, 28. 7d.; boiled, 28. 8d.; duck, 28. 8d.; goose, Is. 7d.; roast turkey, Is. 20.; boiled, is. 1 1-9d. ; though sometimes the flesh of roast turkey reaches ss. 2(1. a pound. It should, however, be remarked, that Mr. DONOVAN.S prices seem very low for London. It appears to us, little practised in marketing, that a goose of 4} pounds could rarely be bought for 4s. 6d.; still less, we conceive, could a "fine turkey, properly trussed, and weighing 6 pounds with its liver and gizzard included," be got for 58.

We will conclude with the pith of the whole—a table of the cost of articles raw and cooked, and of their loss per cent. in cooking.

"The following statement gives the results in a:still more abstract form ; but the prices apply to London only. The articles are arranged in the order of their costliness in the Loudon market.

Cost per lb. Cost per lb. Loss per cent. in T,:antes of the articles of food estimated. raw, cooked. cooking.

Silted flank of beef, boiled Cd. 13 1-5 Salted tail end of beef, boiled 13 7.10 Salted brisket of beef, boded IS Mackerel, boiled 74 Legs uf mutton, boiled 10

Bacon, hest part, boiled Hand and leg of salt pork, boiled 10i

Knuckle f veal, boiled Is}

Shoulders of mutton, roasted Hil)s of beef, roasted 114 Tur hot, boiled 5 5-9 Legs of mutton, roasted l 7-10 Tdrkies. boiled Sirloin of beef, roasted Fore-quarter ut lamb, 10.,:t.4%

filf114,

mutton, ,is'-r. roat01 fur. is-, roasted

flia.burg liturdicef, ribs (;,.,••■•, o•i•t;•■I rirttef, el soa-mt

1. roasted 1-0 I luelo,, i

liwineit of vt,ri,on,iiLt d 16 Turkies, largo. Cr:Mulled jut

scarce livastni PP)

fattened 6 6 61 8 8 8

5.!j ......

7 14,5.

8 10

61.

lot!: ..

Ii 71d 55 10 104 10A 104 11 111

1 I .....

131-9 101-6 2f) 1:31.

I 27 4-10 -24q.

18 9 1-5 Itt!I

"I • 11 0-5

1:1!, :17 1-0