Chapter 3 assembled 20jy02; all here 21jy02
15-17 pp24-26
Good cooking is not necessarily achieved by the preparation of expensive and elaborate dishes, but is built on a foundation of simple dishes perfectly cooked, seasoned and served. Many cooks either leave flavouring out of all dishes, in which case their cooking is dull and tasteless, or they over-do it and drown the natural flavour of the food. The art of good seasoning is to use enough to improve the flavour of a food, not to mask it. There are some exceptions to this general rule- for example, curries and goulash; but even here the effect is obtained by a clever blending of many different flavourings.
Seasonings have no real food value, but they have an important part to play in good nutrition. They make the food more appetising causing the digestive juices to flow freely and to digest the food properly, so that the body obtains Full value from it. It is advisable to buy only small amounts of spices and flavourings at a time, as they become stale with keeping. Always store them in air-tight jars. If you have a garden or window-box you will be able to grow fresh herbs of all kinds; but if not, small amounts of dried herbs may be used in most cases in place of the fresh.
The following is a list of flavourings and seasonings mentioned in the recipes. Suggestions for using different herbs will be found in Chapter 13, `Vegetables'.
Bay leaves Celery salt and seed
Cayenne pepper
Cinnamon
Cloves
Curry powder Orange rind and juice
Flavouring essences, Paprika pepper
various Parsley
Garlic Pepper
Ginger Sage
Horse-radish Salt
Lemon-rind and juice Sugar
Mace Thyme
Marjoram Vinegar (wine, cider, malt)
Mint
Many otherwise excellent dishes are spoilt by being badly served, the plates cold when they should be hot, food thrown or tipped on to the dishes instead of being attractively arranged, and so on.
On the other hand, many dishes are spoilt because the cook has devoted time that should have been spent in preparation and cooking, to over-decorating and ornamenting the dish. This is one of the most common failings of cooks who persuade themselves that if a dish is well decorated or `finished', to use the technical term, it must be superior. The first class cook is one who has learnt to prepare food perfectly, to flavour it with imagination and discretion and to serve it simply, yet in an eye-appealing and appetising manner.
For hot food always have well-heated dishes, and make sure the food is hot when it comes to the table. Too much time spent in decorating hot dishes generally means they are cold by the time they are served. Good effects can be obtained by using colours- serving in coloured dishes or with vegetables of contrasting colours. Many a dish can be improved by serving the meat on a big platter with coloured vegetables around it, instead of in their separate vegetable dishes.
Try to avoid serving white or pale foods in plain white dishes. Make white foods attractive by sprinkling on a little paprika pepper, chopped parsley, or other herbs, and for sweet dishes decorate with coloured jam or fruit.
With most of the recipes in this book I have suggested ways of serving the dish to make it attractive, and sauces and other accompaniments to go with it.