The 1918 Fanny Farmer Cookbook

Water abounds in all animals, constituting a large percentage of their weight.

The color of meat is due to the coloring matter (hæmoglobin) which abounds in the red

corpuscles of the blood.

The distinctive flavor of meat is principally due to peptones and allied substances, and is

intensified by the presence of sodium chloride and other salts.

The beef creature is divided by splitting through the back−bone in two parts, each part

called a side of beef. Four hundred and fifty pounds is good market weight for a side of beef.

being

The most expensive cuts come from that part of the creature where muscles are but little

which makes the meat finer−grained and consequently more tender, taking less time for

used,

cooking.

Many of the cheapest cuts, though equally nutritious, need long, slow cooking to render them

tender enough to digest easily. Tough meat which has long and coarse fibres is often found to

be very juicy, on account of the greater motion of that part of the creature, which causes the

juices to flow freely. Roasting and broiling, which develop so fine a flavor, can only be

applied

to the more expensive cuts. The liver kidneys, and heart are of firm, close texture, and

difficult

of digestion. Tripe, which is the first stomach of the ox, is easy of digestion, but on account of

the large amount of fat which it contains, it is undesirable for those of weak digestion.

The quality of beef depends on age of the creature and manner of feeding. The best beef is

obtained from a steer of four or five years. Good beef should be firm and of fine−grained

texture, bright red in color, and well mottled and coated with fat. The fat should be firm and

of a

yellowish color. Suet should be dry, and crumble easily. Beef should not be eaten as soon as

killed, but allowed to hang and ripen,−from two to three weeks in winter, and two weeks in

summer.

Meat should be removed from paper as soon as it comes from market, otherwise paper

absorbs some of the juices.

Meat should be kept in a cool place. In winter, beef may be bought in large quantities and

cut

as needed. If one chooses, a loin or rump may be bought and kept by the butcher, who sends

cuts as ordered.

Chapter XII − BEEF

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