Common and untrained cooks…

Eliza Acton, who food writer Bee Wilson describes as ‘a Victorian spinster from Tonbridge in Kent’, writer of ‘the greatest British cookbook of all time’, is one of my favourite writers and her ‘Modern Cookery’ is a book I often refer to!

Many of her recipes are as useful today as they were in the 1840’s when her book was published, but some of the skills she explains are probably lost to mist of us; it’s not just that we have no need in this modern world for some of them because of modern appliances, prepared foods from butchers and fishmongers, but fashions have changed.

An example of this is her introductory chapter on ‘trussing’; I guess we may truss a bird we are preparing to cook, but only to keep all its limbs together. We may also truss a stuffed joint, and both these things require a degree of skill, even if we are ‘common and untrained cooks’ as Miss Acton describes.

Trussing

Common and untrained cooks are often deplorably ignorant of this branch of their business, a knowledge which is, nevertheless, quite as essential to them as that of boiling or roasting; for without it they cannot, by any possibility, serve up dinners of decently creditable appearance. We give such general directions for it as our space will permit, and as our own observations enable us to supply; but it has been truly said, by a great authority in these matters, that trussing cannot be “taught by words;” we would therefore recommend, that instead of relying on any written instructions, persons who really desire thoroughly to understand the subject, and to make themselves acquainted with the mode of entirely preparing all varieties of game and poultry more especially for the table, in the best manner, should apply for some practical lessons to a first-rate poulterer; or if this cannot be done, that they should endeavour to obtain from some well experienced and skilful cook the instruction which they need.

I’m not sure how many people who are novice cooks would appreciate these days being called ‘common’ even if here she means ‘ordinary’, and I don’t know personally of any ‘first-rate poulterers’. New cooks these days are so lucky that there is so much help on hand, not just from really good beginners cookery books, but TV programmes, and on-line videos.

The section on trussing continues, but I will just share the next paragraph for the moment; I cannot imagine many people today doing this…

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR TRUSSING

Before a bird is trussed, the skin must be entirely freed from any down which may be on it, and from all the stubble-ends of the feathers;* the hair also must be singed from it with lighted writing paper, care being taken not to smoke or blacken it in the operation. Directions for cleaning the insides of birds after they are drawn, are given in the receipts for dressing them, Chapters XIV, and XV.
Turkeys, geese, ducks, wild or tame fowls, and pigeons, should all have their necks taken off close to the bodies, but not the skin of the necks, which should be left sufficiently long to turn down upon the backs for a couple of inches or more, where it must be secured, either with a needle and coarse soft cotton, or by the pinions of the birds when trussed.

* This should be particularly attended to.

The amount of time taken to prepare a bird is beyond what many of us would do, and in our busy lives would actually be able to do. Gently and delicately burning of hair with writing paper (Basildon Bond?) sewing up the neck ends with soft cotton… how many of us have soft cotton to do this task? And pinions… pinions are the wings of the birds, so I suppose they are folded and the bony bit poked through to hold the skin in place… next time we have roast chicken, I will examine the bird to see how this might be done.

Here is Bee Wilson’s article:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8489744/Eliza-Acton-my-heroine.html