When I was a child, my mother bought small cans of potted meat and spread it on bread to make sandwiches. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I should buy some to try again, or make my own. In the days before electric refrigeration, if meat couldn’t be eaten right away, it had to preserved somehow. One way of preserving meat was by potting it. Essentially, to pot meat, cook it, cut in small pieces, pound…
Gravy is traditionally a sauce made from meat drippings and combined with some type of thickening agent. It was especially used in French cooking and became popular in the U.S. in the 1800s. Gravies other than those made from meat include cream or white gravy, mushroom gravy, onion gravy, giblet gravy, vegetable gravy, and more. INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS MAKING GRAVIESNever toss “that carcass” of fowl, or the ham, or mutton-bone, “with next to nothing upon it,” to the…
Before commercialized fats were produced, people used beef suet, pork lard, dripping from cooked meats, and butter to fry food. FROM AN 1800s COOKBOOK: “Frying, though one of the most common of culinary operations, is one that is least performed perfectly well.” GENERAL RULES FOR FRYING Since fat, when heated, reaches such a high temperature, the kettle in which it is heated should be made of iron. The Dutch Oven is a very convenient utensil for small things. A Frying-Pan…