MEATS, GAME, AND FISH;

This treatise comprises light and heavy salting,saccharine and muriatic preservative fluids, dryingby gentle heat and air currents, smoking with woods,peat and turfs, marinating of fish and bucaning[A] ofmeats, and the whole processes of potting, preserving,and pickling.

That there exists a necessity for such a work asthis, is but too evident from the disappointments experiencedevery summer, not only by those who purchaseat the shops, but the heads of families, who,replenishing their store-rooms annually, reasonably[Pg iv]expect that every article, when produced at table,will meet its meed of praise.

Hams, hung meats, cured tongues, &c., as well asthe more expensive sorts of fish, as smoked and kipperedsalmon, are often so loaded with salt as to behard, tough, and barely eatable; and, on the otherhand, are often found in a state of slow decomposition,unwholesome and disgustful.

To obtain perfection in this art, much more dependsupon the fuel made use of than is generallysupposed, and I have herein adapted the differentsorts of wood, &c., to the particular articles to beacted upon.

To render this manual available to all classes ofsociety, from the butteries of the nobility to the morehumble cupboard of the tradesman, as also to theproprietors of Italian warehouses, of hotels, refreshment-rooms,and to fishmongers, pastrycooks, &c. &c.,I have laid down rules and receipts in intelligiblelanguage and arrangement, and I trust that there isnot a single instance in the whole of these pages,where any noxious or deleterious ingredients are recommendedto be used, and by which the stomach[Pg v]and system are made to suffer to please the eye andthe palate.

Instructions for an exceedingly useful and cheapapparatus for curing and smoking is appended, aswell as the best method of keeping, for a length oftime, every description of goods so cured and preserved.

Amongst the marinated fish and bucaned meatswill be found many of the most delicious specimensthat a nicely discerning judgment could dictate, andwhich are certain of extensive patronage, after havingbeen once partaken of.

I beg to refer my readers to the “Notes” at theconclusion of this work, as exponents of gross errorslong cherished in the old common practice, and offacts so self-evident as not to be resisted.

J. R., Junior.