The Skimmings of Soups and Gravies - called "top-pot," - is used by French cooks with flour, to thicken gravies and soups, and by some for frying.

French Cooking

French cooks subject their meats to a gradual long continued action of heat, making the fibre perfectly tender. The English and Americans cook them too fast; the French would pronounce such food only fit for barbarians. Another peculiarity of French cooking is the variety of flavors imparted to meat. A great number of dishes are prepared from a few original substances, and the addition of a particular sauce gives a name to the dish. In our cooking, the flavor peculiar to each meat is preserved, and no condiment is suffered to overpower it. French dishes are more sightly; light and elegant dishes, not ponderous masses, tempt the appetite. The French cooking is also more economical. Nothing is wasted; and many ingredients are brought into use which we would cast aside as useless.

Braising is an important part of the art of cooking, and, like the saute, belongs entirely to the French school from which it takes its name, braise being the remains of wood burnt in the oven, or live charcoal: this plan of cookery requires the action of the fire under and over the braising pan, which is air-tight, in order that the aromatic flavor arising from its contents may be imbibed by the meat or poultry, and give it that succulence so much esteemed by epicures. Its origin is stated to be owing to a gastronomic society which was formerly in existence in Paris, whose object was to benefit and improve the art of cookery, and who offered a reward of a silver gridiron to any culinary artist who would discover a new mode of dressing a turkey. Although a gridiron was, no doubt, intended to be used, yet a young artist named La Gaeque, warmed by the offer, directed his imagination to quite a different mode, and used the pan instead of the gridiron, and thus composed the braise, which was unanimously approved of by that scientific, gastronomic, and epicurean body, who awarded him the prize. The chief art in braising is to do it slowly, taking care that the ingredients are well proportioned. Put the meat you would braise into a stewpan, and cover it with thick slices of fat bacon; then lay round it six or eight onions, a fagot of sweet herbs, some celery, and, if to be brown, some thick slices of carrots, and trimmings of any fresh meat-bones you have, with a pint and a half of water, or the same quantity of stock, according to what the meat is, and add seasoning. Lay on a sheet of paper, cover the pan close, and set it over a slow stove; it will require two or three hours, as its size and quality may direct. Then strain the gravy; keep the meat quite hot; take the fat off by plunging the basin into cold water, which will cause the fat to coagulate; and boil it as quickly as you can till it thickens. If, however, you wish the gravy to adhere to the meat, it must be still further thickened; then with a brush kept for the purpose do over the meat, and if that has been larded, put it into the oven for a few minutes. This is called "glazing," and is much in use for made-dishes.

A Braising Ban is a sort of oblong kettle, with a bordered lid on which coals or ashes may be put. The lid should closely fit the pan.

Glazing is strong gravy, boiled quickly till thick; and it is put on meat with a brush. Hams, tongues, and stewed beef may be glazed.

Jerked Beef is made by cutting it into thin slices, dipping them into salt or sea water, and drying them in the sun. This is done in the West Indies.

Broiling

The gridiron must be kept perfectly clean and bright; always wiped when hot after use, and rubbed just before the meat is laid on it. with clean fat or suet. The bars must be thoroughly hot, but not so as to burn. They should be concave, and terminate in a trough to catch the gravy. The fire must be clear and glowing, especially for a beefsteak, for which the passage in Macbeth is a good direction. "When 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly." Mutton chops do not require quite so brisk a fire. If the article to be broiled is thick, it must be warmed through more gradually. The broiling must be done as quickly as possible, to avoid drying up the juices and hardening the fibre of meat. Beef and mutton require a hotter fire than pork or veal, poultry, or fish. Let the steak be uniformly thick; beefsteaks not more than half an inch thick; mutton a little thicker.

Do not sprinkle the steak with salt before, or while broiling. It draws out the gravy. Pepper may be used. Do not turn the steaks with a fork, but with a small tongs.

A charcoal fire is convenient for broiling. When the chops are placed on the gridiron, set the dish to heat in which they are to be served, and send to table as hot as possible.

Soyer says: "As regards the thickness of the meat to be broiled, that depends in a great measure on the intensity of the fire, but the quicker the better, and also the sooner it is eaten after taken from the fire the better it will be. I have latterly, in broiling rump-steaks, added that which, by a great many, is considered an improvement; it is, on turning them the last time, to dredge them out of a dredger with fine holes, in which have been placed four table-spoonfuls of fine biscuit or rusk-powder, one tablespoon-ful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, a saltspoonful of either eschalot powder or mushroom-powder, or finely pulverized salts of celery, well mixed together, and the steak to be placed in a very hot dish, with a little mushroom-catsup, and a small piece of butter, and served immediately."

Frying

Though a convenient mode of cooking, this is seldom done well. It is to roast quickly, or scorch meat, etc, in fat in an iron pan. If little fat is used, it is called sauteing. The pan should be flat and thick-bottomed, with perpendicular sides. Dripping, oil, butter, fresh lard, or clarified suet - perfectly clean, fresh and sweet, must, when melted, cover the bottom of the pan; when this is heated sufficiently, the meat or fish must be put in and turned frequently, from one side to the other. When nearly done, they may be browned by being pressed firmly against the bottom of the pan.