Mutton broth

“ It is a matter of experience that beef and mutton are more easily digested than veal and pork. Veal broth, however, contains more nutritious matter than mutton broth or beef tea. Poultry and wild birds, if young, yield a tender and digestible meat. ”

“ A neck of mutton boned, sprinkled with dried sage, powdered fine, or (No. 378) seasoned, rolled, and roasted, is very good. The bones and scrag make excellent gravy stewed down, and if done very gently, the meat is not bad eating. The same herbs should be put to it as to other stocks, with the addition of a carrot; this will make very good mutton broth. In short, wherever there are bones or trimmings to be got out of any meat that is dressed in my kitchen, they are made to contribute towards soup or gravy, or No. ”

“ If the baby is inclined to vomit, it will be better during the hot weather to use less of the top milk, four, or five ounces instead of six or eight, and add so much more gruel. Barley gruel is better than oatmeal gruel unless baby is constipated. Again if the baby has delicate digestive organs, one meal each day during the very hot weather, can be made of mutton broth prepared as follows: Cut up one pound of neck of mutton, one pint of cold water and a pinch of salt ”

“ Take good mutton-broth being cold, and no fat, mix it with flour and eggs, some salt, beaten nutmeg and ginger, beat them well together, then have apples or pippins, pare and core them, and cut them into dice-work, or square bits, and when you will fry them, put them in the batter, and fry them in clear clarified suet, or clarified butter, fry them white and fine, and sugar them. ”

“ BROTH. A very nourishing kind of broth for weakly persons may be made as follows. Boil two pounds of loin of mutton, with a large handful of chervil, in two quarts of water, till reduced to one. Any other herb or roots may be added. Remove part of the fat, and take half a pint three or four times a day. If a broth is wanted to be made quickly, take a bone or two of a neck or loin of mutton, pare off the fat and the skin, set it on the fire in a small tin saucepan that has a cover, with three quarters of a pint of water, the meat being first beaten, and cut in thin bits. ”

“ To make the broth good the meat should always be simmered till it is tender, and will separate without difficulty from the bones. In every case, as well of broth as of soup, in order to obtain them with the least boiling, and consequently most economically, the meat should be cut into small pieces, the bones, if large, broken, and the joints, such as those in a neck of mutton, separated, unless the meat be wanted to be served up with the broth or otherwise as a whole joint. ”

“ Method.—Take equal quantities of beef, mutton, and veal, and prepare in the same way as ordinary beef tea.
Mutton Broth.
Ingredients.—One pound of scrag of mutton, one pint of water, two ounces of pearl barley, salt, a blade of mace, a little chopped parsley.
Method.—Cut as much fat as possible from the meat; cut the meat up small and chop the bones; put the meat and bones in a saucepan with the water, mace, salt and barley, which should be blanched (see "Odds and Ends") . Put on the lid and simmer very gently for two hours. Stir up and pour off against the lid into a basin ”

“ Mutton or chicken broth or beef juice can be used; fresh vegetable juices can be added to these, instead of milk. The animal broths are not so good when diarrhea is present. Some patients will take whey, buttermilk, kumiss, when ordinary milk is distasteful. Thin barley gruel well strained is an excellent food for this disease. Eggs may be given, either beaten up in milk or better still, in the form of albumin water, This is prepared by straining the whites of eggs through a cloth and mixing them with an equal quantity of water, which may be flavored with lemon. Water can be given freely ”

“ Fold over and serve on a hot dish.
Mutton—Boiled Leg of Mutton.
Wipe the leg with a damp towel. Dust a cloth with flour and wrap the leg up with it. Put it into a kettle of boiling water and simmer gently 20 minutes to every pound; add salt when the leg is nearly done. When cooked remove the cloth carefully, garnish with parsley and serve with caper sauce. Save the liquor in which it was boiled for broth, stews, etc.
Irish Stew. 3 lbs. of the neck of mutton. 4 good sized onions. 4 potatoes cut into dice. 2 qts. of water. Salt and pepper to taste. ”

“ If a piece of mutton be designed for roasting, it will be advisable to expose it to the open air for several days, according to the state of the weather or season. Thus, it will afford a savoury dish, which is easily digested, and agrees with every healthy person. Mutton-fat, however, is with great difficulty converted into aliment, and ought therefore not to be eaten by invalids, or those whose organs of digestion are relaxed, or impaired by excess; as it coagulates in the stomach, and oppresses its action. ”

“ Mutton, though less nutritive, is more easily digested than beef. This is not appreciable to a healthy person, but one whose digestive powers are weak will often find that mutton taxes the stomach less than beef.
Veal or lamb is neither so nutritious nor so easily digested as beef or mutton. Flesh from different animals, and that from various parts of the same animal, varies in flavor, composition, and digestibility. The mode of life and the food of animals influence in a marked manner the quality of the meat. Turnips give a distinctly recognizable flavor to mutton. ”

“ Sheep become very rapidly fat in the first stage of the rot, in consequence, perhaps, of their desire for food being greatly increased by the disease; and, taking advantage of this, it is said that some butchers are in the practice of producing rot artificially, which is certainly very blameable. Some amateurs of mutton are fond of such as has died of a sort of colic, called in the North braxy, that produces a very peculiar flavour in the meat, which is always, however, roasted, and never stewed or boiled. ”

“ The best quality will have clear, hard, white fat, and a good deal of it; the lean part will be juicy, firm and of a rather dark red color. When there is but little fat, and that is soft and yellow and the meat is coarse and stringy, you may be sure that the quality is poor. Mutton is much improved by being hung in a cool place for a week or more. At the North a leg will keep quite well for two or three weeks in winter, if hung in a cold, dry shed or cellar. Mutton, like beef, is first split through the back, and then the sides are divided, giving two fore and two hind quarters. ”

“ An attempt is therefore made in two ways to secure a free secretion of gastric juice to act on the chief food; first, in the excitement of the appetite juice by the hors d’œuvre, and secondly, in the promotion of the flow by the action of the meat broth. It is in this way that [Pg 267] human instinct has made provisions for the digestion of the chief meal. A good meat broth can only be afforded by well-to-do people, and consequently with the poorer classes a less expensive, and, indeed, also a less effective, chemical excitant is used for awakening the early secretion. ”

“ Great care should be taken to preserve by paper the fat of what is roasted. Mutton for boiling will not look of a good colour, if it has hung long.—In purchasing this meat, choose it by the fineness of the grain, the goodness of its colour, and see that the fat be firm and white. It is not the better for being young: if it be wether mutton, of a good breed and well fed, it is best for age. The flesh of ewe mutton is paler, and the texture finer. Ram mutton is very strong flavoured, the flesh is of a deep red, and the fat is spongy: wether mutton is the best. ”

“ It is said that three pounds of bone contains as much carbon as one pound of meat, and as much nitrogen as seven pounds of meat. In serving broths to patients care must be taken to remove all floating grease. When there is time, it is always better to allow the soup or broth to become thoroughly cold, and then have it carefully skimmed. A few drops of oil or grease on the broth may be sufficient to destroy the appetite for food that is such an important factor in tiding a patient over the critical period. ”

“ All writers on diet agree in describing mutton as the most valuable of the articles of human food. Pork may be more stimulating, beef perhaps more nutritious, when the digestive powers are strong; but, while there is in mutton sufficient nutriment, there is also that degree of consistency and readiness of assimilation which renders it most congenial to the human stomach, most easy of digestion, and most promotive of human health. ”

“ Veal-fat yields a finer frying medium, but its resistance is small, and it must, moreover, always be strengthened with the fat of beef.
Mutton-fat should be deliberately discarded, for, if it happen to be that of an old beast, it smells of tallow, and, if it be that of a young one, it causes the hot grease to foam and to overflow down the sides of the utensil, this leading to serious accidents. ”

“ It should be eaten immediately after being killed, and, if possible, before the meat has time to get cold; or, if not, then it should be kept a week or more—in the ice-house, if the weather require—until the time is just at hand when the fibre passes the state of toughness which it takes on at first, and reaches that incipient or preliminary point in its process toward putrefaction when the fibres begin to give way, and the meat becomes tender.
An opinion likewise generally prevails that mutton does not attain perfection in juiciness and flavor much under five years. ”

“ This care pursued for two or three months is sufficient to make them fleshy and fat; but this fat, which originates from the great quantities of water drank by the animal, is only a kind of pursy swelling, and would soon occasion the rot; it is therefore necessary to kill them immediately when they acquire this false fat: even their flesh, instead of having become firm and juicy, is frequently the more flat and insipid. If we would have good mutton, besides feeding them in the dew and giving them plenty of water, it is necessary they should have more succulent food than grass. ”

“ Beat the mutton chops till tender; then trim, making them of uniform size and shape; pour on them boiling water. Let them remain in it a minute, dry them and rub with pepper, salt, and fresh butter. Lay on a gridiron over hot coals, always remembering to cover them while broiling. Turn them, and as soon as nicely browned place in a hot dish, pepper again, pour over them melted butter, and serve.—Mrs. S. T.
Mutton Stew.
Cut slices of rare mutton and put on to stew in a little water; when nearly done put in—
1 teacup of sweet pickle vinegar. ”

“ Cereals should not be served with syrups or butter and sugar.
BROTHS AND SOUPS
What broths and soups are to be recommended?
Meat broths are generally to be preferred to vegetable broths,—mutton or chicken being usually most liked by children. Nearly all plain broths may be given. Those thickened with rice, barley or corn starch form a useful variety, especially with the addition of milk.
Vegetable purees of peas, spinach, celery or asparagus may be used for children over seven years old. Tomato soup should not be given to young children. ”

“ Some persons prefer flesh that has begun to show signs of decomposition, or is unmistakably putrid. By some, venison is not considered to have its proper flavor until it is tainted. In England, people prefer mutton that is in a similar condition, just as on the continent of Europe many delight in cheese that is in a state of decomposition. In certain less civilized countries flesh is not only eaten uncooked, but in a mouldy, rotten condition. The use of such food is not always immediately injurious, but it predisposes to certain diseases, as indigestion and fevers. ”

“ When acid fruits are not tolerated, the fast may be broken on vegetable broths alone. Various vegetables and cereals lend themselves readily to the preparation of broths suitable for the purpose named. Tomatoes, carrots, asparagus, rice, and barley, and garden produce generally may be utilized. But nothing can quite take the place of the broth from tomatoes, for this vegetable, though slightly acid in composition, seems to satisfy both taste and nutrition at any and all times. Even in a fast, when serious symptoms are present, the broth from the tomato may be given for the relief of distress. ”

“ Other articles of food have been occasionally observed to act injuriously on the health. Thus M. Ollivier has given an account of a whole family having been apparently poisoned with mutton under the influence of modified decay. Six individuals were attacked soon after dinner with vomiting, purging, colic, tenderness of the belly, extreme prostration, and a small hurried pulse. Four of them died within eight days. General inflammatory redness, with some extravasation under the mucous coat, was found throughout the whole course of the small intestines. ”

“ Any kind of potage made with broth may be made with consommé. It may also be made with water, adding butter. With consommé it is richer, and with water much inferior, than with broth.
When a rump-piece is used to make broth, it is better to bone it first, and take it from the soup-kettle after three or four hours; it is served as a relevé, or prepared as cold beef. The broth is finished as directed; the bones and vegetables being kept on the fire longer than the meat. ”

“ These may all be broiled in the same way as plain beef steak. Take care that the fat which drops from mutton and lamb, does not smoke the chops; where there is danger, take off the gridiron, and hold it aslant over the fire. {85}Kidneys must, to prevent their curling, be stretched on a skewer. They may be dressed in a more savoury way, thus: dip them in egg, then in a mixture of bread-crumbs, and savoury herbs, before you put them on the gridiron. For mutton, a piece of butter in a hot dish, with a little catsup, is good sauce ”