The Prison Cookbook

by Peter Higginbotham

  Frozen mutton is not in the meat contract, but it may be well to mention that it has many of the same peculiarities as frozen beef. It lacks the external bright appearance of freshly killed meat. It is more often frozen in the whole carcase than is the case with beef, and therefore retains the nutriment of the meat better. Frozen mutton should be carefully examined by cutting into the thickest parts and observing the cut surfaces; as if frozen before the natural heat of the animal has passed off, the outside only may have been frozen and the interior may be putrescent.

  GENERAL HINTS.

  The general conditions of the Meat Contract state that the meat shall be of unexceptionable quality and properly fed. This gives ample scope, for it is impossible to lay down any hard and fast line as to what a quarter of beef should weigh, though a well-fed quarter of ox should, ordinarily, weigh not less than 150 lbs., and the same if heifer not less than 135 lbs. The question of the contract price is not to be considered.

  It is suggested that the Contractor be requested to bring the fore and hind quarters alternately. If smaller quantities are required, these should be in something like a fair rotation,—as, for instance, first day, the top piece (comprising the thick flank, buttock, and aitch bone); second day, the remainder of the flank (viz., rump, loin, and thin flank); third day, half the fore-quarter, fore rib, middle rib, and part of the brisket; fourth day, remainder of fore-quarter (viz., clod and sticking, chuck and leg-of-mutton piece, and remainder of brisket). An arrangement of this kind will ensure the whole of the joints being obtained in turn, and in pieces of fair size, giving an opportunity of judging the quality. On no account should the meat be received in small bits.

  Hospital meat is not to be cut off from the meat supplied for the general use of the prison. As regards mutton the Contractor is paid a higher price for this meat, and should provide separate best joints.

  All meats, after being inspected and weighed, should, unless immediately wanted, be hung up in the store-room.

  Suet should be fresh, sound, clean, ãnd dry; if the caul is sent it should be unrolled; only the head of this part is allowed, the apron portion being thin and membranous.

  The strictest order and cleanliness must at all times be observed in the store-room.

  The cart bringing the meat, and also the person who delivers the meat, ought to be clean. The hands and clothes of officers and prisoners who have the handling of the meat must be scrupulously clean.

  Baskets, Boxes, Trays, Slabs, and Hooks, must be kept well scoured and spotlessly clean.

  BEEF.

  MODE OF CUTTING UP.

  An ox, cow, or heifer, is divided (jointed) as follows (see plate):—

  1. Fore Ribs, suitable for roasting.

  2. The Sirloin, ditto.

  3. The Rump,—braising, grilling, &c. (best part for steak).

  [These are known as the best joints, and, being more expensive than the rest, are not, as a rule, supplied by the contractors at contract price.]

  4. The Aitchbone, sometimes called the Round; it is below the rump, at the hind part, is suitable for roasting and boiling, or when salted, it may be boiled or stewed.

  5. The Mouse (Buttock), which includes part of the thigh bone, suitable for braising, boiling, grilling, and stewing. This piece is also salted at times.

  6. The Leg, also called the Veiny-piece, suitable for stewing, used for stock or soup.

  7. Thick Flank, generally boiled or stewed.

  8. Thin Flank, generally boiled.

  9. Nine Holes, includes part of the Brisket, chiefly salted or pickled, when it is boiled; also used plain for boiling and stewing purposes; this part is less fat than the brisket proper.

  DIAGRAM OF CUTS OF THE OX.

  10. Runners, cut close to shoulder and head, used for boiling, stewing, also for pies; the thin end is sometimes salted and boiled.

  SIDE OF BEEF, SHEWING PRIME JOINTS

  11. First Runners, used for boiling or stewing.

  12. Spare Ribs, generally roasted or baked, and sometimes stewed.

  13. Shoulder, sometimes called Mutton-piece or Leg-piece, suitable for roasting, baking, or stewing.

  14. Brisket, generally salted and boiled. It is not suitable for either roasting or baking.

  15. Neck or Sticking-piece, including part of the Head, used for soup, stews, and for mincing.

  I7. The Clod, suitable for stewing, or for soup and stock.

  18. The Head, including Cheek, for stewing and boiling.

  19. The Hough or Shin (leg), generally used for soup and stock; the fleshy end is sometimes used for stews.

  MUTTON.

  MODE OF CUTTING UP.

  A Sheep is divided into the following pieces, (see plate):—

  1. The Leg, suitable for roasting,, baking, or boiling. The leg of a wether is best for roasting or baking, and the leg of ewes is considered best for boiling.

  2. The Loin, best and suitable for roasting or baking, also for grilling or broiling, and stewing when cut into chops.

  3. The Loin, Chump-end, treated the same as best end of loin, but more often stewed. Two Loins, undivided, constitute a Saddle.

  4. The Neck, best end, suitable for roasting, baking, boiling, or braising, but generally made into cutlets, when they are grilled or fried.

  DIAGRAM OF CUTS OF THE SHEEP.

  5. The Neck, scrag end, useful for stews and soups, also boiled.

  6. The Shoulder, generally baked or roasted whole; the blade-bone is frequently removed, when the shoulder is stuffed and roasted or braised. This joint is not suitable for boiling.

  7. The Breast, suitable for baking or stewing.

  8. The Head, including part of the Neck (scrag end), suitable for boiling, useful for broth.

  9. The Shank, used for soup and broth, sometimes stewed.

  10. The Trotters, made into broth with or without the head; they are also boiled and sometimes stewed

  PRINCIPAL JOINTS OF THE SHEEP

  FISH.

  Fish is frequently required for Hospital use. Every precaution must be taken to see that it is absolutely fresh. Fish is not in contract (except at a few prisons), but is bought as occasion requires. A fresh fish is firm and stiff, the drooping or not of its tail is a fair criterion on this point. The eyes should be bright and prominent; the gills a bright red colour. Flat-fish, like plaice, sole, brill, or turbot, keep better than herrings, mackerel, or mullet. All fish should have been cleaned, be unbruised, unbroken, and free from smell, when delivered. Cod-fish is considered better if it is allowed to soak in salted water for a few hours before it is cooked, as this makes the flesh firmer.

  When small flat-fish, as dabs, &c., are tendered, see that you get something beside head and fins; a proper allowance of weight should be made for heads, &c.

  Stale fish is not only unwholesome, but sometimes poisonous. Fish smelling the least unpleasant should at once be rejected.

  EGGS.

  Two things with regard to eggs have to be considered: freshness and size. The first can to some extent be judged by the appearance; there being a characteristic aspect, a Kind of lustre, difficult to describe, which indicates a fresh egg. The egg may be held up to the light in one hand and viewed through a tube formed by the other hand,—when, if the shell is not translucent, or if dark spots are observed, it is a sure sign that the egg is not fresh.

  The size is judged of by the weight. The average hen’s egg weighs 2 oz.

  When eggs are used for cooking, each egg should be separately broken into a clean cup and smelt, so that a bad one can be rejected without spoiling other articles previously prepared.

  Stale and small eggs must be replaced by others by the contractor.

  MILK.

  The amount and character of the milk yielded by a cow vary considerably. The quantity and richness depend largely upon the breed, and in the same cow upon its age, the age of the calf, the season of the year as influencing the character of its food, &c. But although the milk from individual cows varies, yet
the mixing of the milk from a herd averages the general composition, so that the average secretion of a healthy cow may be taken as 20 to 25 pints daily, and as a general rule should contain not less than 12 to 13 per cent. of total solids, of which 3.2 per cent. is fat.

  On receiving a consignment of milk, after ascertaining that the proper quantity has been delivered, the object is to determine whether it is pure and wholesome, and that it has not been adulterated or sophisticated. The milk should be stirred gently, and a fair sample taken from the centre of the can. A portion of this should be placed in a narrow glass, which is stood on a sheet of white paper.

  The colour of the milk should be opaque white; a slight tinge of colour may be due to the food of the cows, or may be owing to the addition of annatto or turmeric,—a deep tinge is suspicious of this latter.

  There should be no pronounced peculiarity of taste or smell.

  The reaction should be neutral, very faintly acid or alkaline. Strong acidity is indicative of retrograde changes in the milk; strong alkalinity either disease in the cow or the addition of carbonate of soda.

  The specific gravity is tested by a lactometer; it varies a little with the temperature. Normal milk usually averages 1030 at 60° Fah., 1031 at 39° Fah., 1029 at 70° Fah.

  The cream is measured by a creamometer; the amount varies according to the breed of the cow and its food. It should not be less than 10 per cent. by volume of the milk.

  There should be no deposit or sediment until the milk decomposes; if there be, it is probably chalk or starch.

  When milk is boiled it should present no difference in appearance.

  The chief adulterations are (1) the addition of water; (2) the removal of part of the cream, with or without the addition of water; (3) the addition of starch, gum, dextrine, flour, or glycerine; (4) the addition of the so-called preservatives, as bicarbonate of soda, borax, boric, and salicylic acids, and formalin. The addition of water lowers the specific gravity and, speaking generally, there is a loss of three degrees for every 10 per cent. of water added. On the other hand, removing the cream (skimming) raises the specific gravity; so that milk which has been creamed and watered may have a normal specific gravity; the specific gravity therefore must be taken in conjunction with the amount of cream.

  Watering alone is detected by a lower specific gravity and a diminished quantity of cream.

  Creaming alone is detected by a heightened specific gravity and a diminished quantity of cream.

  When both are resorted to, the cream will be small in amount; but the specific gravity may be normal, and adulteration can only be detected, if kept within certain limits, by a comparison with the milk, freshly drawn from the same source.

  The power of inspecting the dairies, &c., of the contractor is given to the Governor and other authorities by the terms of the contract.

  To determine the total solids of the milk, a measured quantity is weighed, and evaporated to dryness; the residue may then be weighed and the total solids calculated; but for this and the detection of other adulterations expert knowledge is required. If there is a deposit at the bottom of the milk cans, the attention of the Medical Officer should be called to it.

  Milk should always be scalded before being issued, and the utmost care and vigilance are required to ensure perfect cleanliness of all utensils in which this is done. A special apparatus called a Sterilizer is in use in some prison kitchens, and it is essential that officers should make themselves acquainted with its use and pay strict attention to the Rules laid down for their guidance.

  BUTTER.

  When the cream of milk is churned, that is, violently agitated in a suitable apparatus, the fat globules get clotted together, entangling in their meshes some casein and water. The butter so formed is then pressed, in order to squeeze out some of the water, and salt is added to keep it.

  The aspect, smell, and taste are points that should he considered in inspecting a consignment of this article.

  The amount of water in good butter is about 12 per cent.; if much below this it is suspicious as suggestive of the addition of foreign fat. The addition of water or milk is sometimes made by beating up the butter in these fluids; if excessive it can be detected by melting the butter in a test tube, when the fluid will show beneath the oil.

  The amount of casein or curd is generally about 1 per cent.; it should not exceed 3 per cent. In bad butter it is much more than this. It is the decomposition of the casein that is chiefly the cause of rancidity in butter, and therefore the greater amount of casein the more the chance of rancidity.

  The fat forms 83 to 90 per cent. of the butter. The proportion of the fats and residue, chiefly casein, can be roughly estimated by putting a known quantity of the butter into a glass vessel, previously weighed, melting the butter by placing the glass vessel in hot water, then pouring off the oil into another vessel whose weight is known, and thus the amounts can easily be calculated by re-weighing.

  These butter fats consist of certain volatile and non-volatile fatty acids, all in combination with glycerine, the former being also soluble, the latter insoluble, in water. The volatile and soluble fatty acids should not be lower than 5 per cent., usually in good butter they are nearly 8 per cent. It is the presence of these volatile fatty acids which give to butter its peculiar and distinctive characters, and the determination of the amount present which enables the analyst to distinguish butter fat from margarine fat.

  It may be of interest here to say that Margarine is manufactured chiefly from beef-fat. The beef-fat is finely minced and heated in tanks sufficiently to melt the fat, which rises to the top, and this is run off as a clear yellow oil. It is then partially cooled, which allows a portion of a substance called stearin to coagulate, the oleo-margarine is separated, filtered, pressed, mixed with milk, coloured with annatto, and cooled with ice. If properly manufactured, margarine is a wholesome article of diet; but this is no reason for its being sold as butter. It contains a much smaller amount of. the volatile fats than true butter, and, as said above, it is this difference which is made use of in analysis.

  Salt is added to nearly all butter; in fresh butter it should not be more than 2 to 8 grains in the ounce (0.5 to 2 per cent.); in salt butter not more than 35 grains in the ounce (8 per cent.). An excess of salt means, usually, too much water and curd.

  CHEESE.

  In the manufacture of Cheese, casein, its chief constituent with some fat, is precipitated from milk by rennet, at a suitable temperature. The curds are then pressed to squeeze out the whey and to reduce the mass to the required shape.

  When cheese is kept it undergoes a change known as “ripening,” which is essentially a decomposition. Later, various moulds, blue, green, or red, occur, during which the fats augment at the expense of the casein, and certain extractives and volatile acids are produced. The aroma of cheese arises to a great extent from this decomposition. The maggots or larvæ of a fly (mites) are frequently present in cheese undergoing decomposition. These products are harmless, indeed they are much appreciated by some.

  Cheese is not much adulterated; substances, of which the chief is starch, are added sometimes to increase the weight. Starch can be detected by applying a weak solution of iodine to the cut surface, and is indicated if a violet colour results.

  The quality of cheese is known by the taste. Prisoners, as a rule, like a fairly full-flavoured cheese, and one not decayed or so dry as to crumble, so that the whole cheese should be free from many cracks, and the cut surface should have a homogeneous, uniform appearance.

  BACON.

  Except for occasional use in the hospital, Bacon in prison is demanded to supply fat in the beans and bacon dinner; accordingly the contract requires “short-cut middles,” fat and boneless, to be supplied; and not the streaky portions, which are generally chosen from the breast or flank for “rashers,” or from lean portions like the gammon.

  The fat should be white, firm, and fairly dry, not spotted or streaked with yellow, nor flabby, wet, and loose
in texture. The rind should be thin and bright in colour.

  It is well not to keep too large a stock, and when placed in the store-room, bacon should be hung up.

  SIDE OF BACON.

  EXPLANATION OF PRECEDING DIAGRAM.

  A. Fore-end or Shoulder, Hock (about 8 lbs.)

  B. Thick, streaky (about 7 lbs.)

  C. Thin, streaky (about 4 lbs.)

  D. Flank (about 4 lbs.)

  E. Gammon, cushion.

  F. Gammon, corner.

  G. Loin and flank (about 7 lbs.)

  H. Ribs, back (about 6 lbs.)

  I. Collar (about 7 lbs.)

  FOWLS.

  Fowls are at times required for the use of patients in the hospital. They ought to be young, fresh, in good condition, and weigh not less than 1¾ lb. when trussed. Signs of age are shown by stiff, horny feet, long spurs, dark-coloured hairy thighs, stiff beak and bones.

  There should be no smell nor discolouration of the skin. The back generally discolours before the breast. The feet should be limp and pliable, not stiff and dry, which indicate a stale bird.

  The condition of the flesh should be firm and not flabby, and the bird should be plump; the breast bone is sometimes broken across to produce this appearance, if the bird be sent in by a poulterer. There should be some fat, which is a sign of health and good feeding, but there is no advantage in having one excessively fat, as this only wastes away in the cooking, and is not always agreeable to a sick person. The flesh is not marbled like that of the ox, but the fat is accumulated in a layer over the body.

  From Christmas to April chickens are most difficult to obtain; and consequently during this period of the year greater care and caution should be exercised in inspecting those sent in.