THE ART OF PRESERVING ALL KINDS OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES TEXT

I am able to make the wire take a proper hold of the cork and give due strength and solidity to the stopper. When every thing has thus been foreseen and prepared, and, above all things, well corked, tied, and wrapped up in bags, there remains nothing to be done, but to apply the preserving principle, that is, _heat_, to the substances duly arranged, and this is the most easy part of the operation. I place all the vessels, bottles or jars, upright in a boiler, which I then fill with cold water up to the necks of the vessels; I then cover the boiler with its lid, which is made to rest upon the vessels. I cover the upper part of the lid with a piece of wet linen, in order that the sides of the lid may exactly fit, and all evaporation from the water-bath be impeded as much as possible. When the boiler has been thus filled and adjusted, I light the fire beneath. When the water-bath begins to boil, I take care to maintain the same degree of heat for the greater or less quantity of time required by the substances exposed to its influence. When this time has elapsed, I then instantly put out the fire by means of a coal extinguisher (_étouffoir_). After the fire has been put out a quarter of an hour, I let out the water of the bath by means of the cock; after the water has been withdrawn half an hour, I uncover the boiler, and I do not take out the bottles till one or two hours after the uncovering; and this terminates the operation. The next day, or a fortnight afterwards, for that is immaterial, I place my bottles on shelves, as I do wine, in a cool and shady place. If I purpose sending them a great distance, I think it worth while to pitch them before I place them on the shelves; otherwise this last operation is not absolutely necessary. I have now by me, bottles which have been three years lying under a stair-case, the substances contained in which retain as much flavour as if they were just prepared, and yet they were never pitched. We have just seen, from all that has been said, that alimentary substances, in order to be preserved, should be, without exception, subjected to the application of heat in a water-bath; after being rigorously excluded from all contact with the air, in the manner, and with the precautions already indicated. The preserving principle is, as I have already observed, invariable in its effects. Thus every loss I have sustained from any of the articles being spoiled, had no other cause than an erroneous application of the principle, or some negligence or omission in the preparatory process already pointed out. It sometimes happens to me even now, that my operations do not perfectly succeed; but no man makes experiments in any of the arts, or in any branch of natural philosophy, without being liable to disappointment. Nor can any one, therefore, who is employed in such a process as mine, flatter himself that he may not sometimes find his commodities spoiled from some defect in a vessel, or in the interior of a cork. But in fact, when due attention is given, these losses seldom take place. § VI. _The means of distinguishing among the Bottles or Jars, as they are taken from the Boiler, such of them as, from some neglect in the preparatory process, some accident, or the action of the fire, are in danger of occasioning a loss, or spoiling the substances enclosed in them._ When the operation is completed, of whatever kind it may be, I take the greatest care in my power to examine all the bottles and jars one by one, as I take them from the boiler. I have remarked in some, defects in the glass, as stars and cracks occasioned by the action of the heat in the water-bath; or by the tying, when the mouth of the vessel has been too weak. I have observed in others, a moisture round the stopper, or little spots near the mouth, from which I inferred that part of the substance enclosed had oozed out during the dilation or expansion produced by the heat of the water-bath: these are the two principal observations that usually occur to me: and whenever I observe either of these appearances on any bottle, I always set it aside, and make use of the substance immediately, that nothing may be lost. The first of the flaws pointed out, arises from the quality, and originally bad structure of the bottle; but the second may arise from any one of four causes:--1. From a bad cork; 2. from bad corking; 3. from the bottle having been filled too near the brim; and 4. from bad tying. A single one of these faults is sufficient to spoil a bottle; more easily, therefore, a complication of them. In the applying of heat to the water-bath, I have had various obstacles to encounter, more particularly when peas were to be preserved; for peas are of all substances the most difficult to preserve completely. This vegetable, when gathered while it is too young or too tender, dissolves in water, and in consequence the bottle is found half empty, and even this half is not fit to be kept; hence, whenever this circumstance occurs, I set aside the bottle and make use of the article immediately. If the peas have been gathered two or three days, the heat occasions them to lose all their flavour; they become hard; they ferment before the operation; the bottles break in the water-bath with an explosion; those which resist the first heat break afterwards, or are faulty: and this is easily recognised by the liquor in the bottle, which becomes turbid; while peas which are well preserved, leave the liquid pellucid. It is not necessary to recommend dispatch and the utmost cleanliness in the preparation of alimentary substances. This is absolutely indispensable; more especially in what respects the substances themselves, which are to be preserved. I take care to have all my preparatory arrangements made before I begin the process; that there may be no waiting, and that the best use may be made of the time employed in carrying it on. DESCRIPTION OF MY PROCESS, AS APPLIED TO THE VARIOUS ARTICLES INTENDED TO BE PRESERVED. § VII. _Boiled Meat._ (_Pot-au-Feu de Ménage._) I put a quantity of meat into the pot to be boiled in the ordinary way. When it was three-fourths boiled, I took out one half of it, the bones of which I had already taken off, as I purposed to preserve it. When the meat was completely boiled, I strained the broth, and after it had become cool, I put it in bottles which I corked well, tied and wrapped up in their several bags. The beef which I had taken out when three-fourths done, I put into jars which I filled up with a part of the same broth. Having corked, luted, and tied up these, and wrapped them in bags, I placed them, and the bottles containing the broth, upright in a cauldron or boiler. I filled this boiler with cold water up to the rim of the bottles and jars. I put the lid upon the boiler, causing it to rest on the vessels within, and took care to surround it with a wet linen cloth, in order to impede as much as possible, any evaporation from the water-bath. I heated the boiler, and when the water-bath had been made to boil, I kept up the same degree of heat for an hour, and precisely at the end of the hour, let the fire pass into an extinguisher. Half an hour afterwards, I let off the water from the bath, by means of the cock at the bottom of the boiler. At the end of another half hour I took off the lid. An hour or two afterwards, I took out the bottles and jars. (The time of doing this is, however, immaterial, and the operator will consult his own convenience.) The next day I besmeared the corks with rosin, in order to forward the bottles and jars to different sea-ports. At the end of a year, and a year and half, the broth and boiled meat were found as good as if made the day they were eaten. § VIII. _Gravy._ In the year 12, having reason to hope that I should be employed to provide some nourishing provisions for the sick on board his majesty’s vessels, in consequence of some experiments which had already been made in the sea-ports, by order of _his Excellency the Minister of the Marine and Colonies_, on alimentary productions preserved according to my method; I made the necessary arrangement for fulfilling the orders I had reason to expect. In consequence, that I might not want too many bottles and jars, and that I might be able to condense the substance of eight messes in a bottle of the size of one _litre_, I made the following experiment. As, in general, evaporation cannot take place, but at the expence of the object to be condensed,[I] I made some gravy, in the proportion of two pounds of good meat and poultry to one _litre_. My gravy being made, and strained and suffered to become cool, I put it in bottles. After having well corked, and tied the bottles and wrapped them in bags, I placed them in the boiler. I had taken out, when one quarter dressed, the best pieces of the beef and poultry. When these were grown cold, I put them in jars, and filled the jars with the same gravy. Having well corked, luted, tied and wrapped up these jars, I set them upright in the same boiler with the bottles of gravy. Having filled the boiler with cold water up to the rim of the bottles and jars, and having covered the lid of the boiler with a wet linen cloth, I heated the water-bath. When it was made to boil I kept up the same degree of heat for two hours, and completed this operation as I did the preceding. [I] Jellies, essences of meat, the substance of ice and portable soups, which are prepared from the soft and white parts of animals, preserved at a great expence by means of evaporation, and drying in stoves with the aid of hartshorn and isinglass, furnish merely factitious aliments, without flavour or any other than a burnt or mouldy taste. The beef and fowls were found well dressed, and were kept, as well as the gravy, for more than two years. § IX. _Broth, or Jelly._ I composed this jelly, according to the prescription of a physician, of calves feet and lights, red cabbage, carrots, turnips, onions, and leeks, taking a sufficient quantity of each. A quarter of an hour before I took this jelly from the fire, I added some sugar-candy with some Senegal gum. I strained it as soon as it was made. After it was cold it was put in bottles, which were corked, tied, wrapped up in bags, and put in the water-bath, which was kept boiling one quarter of an hour, and this jelly was preserved and remained as good as it was the day on which it was made. § X. _Round of Beef, Fillet of Mutton, Fowls and young Partridges._ I prepared all these articles as if for common use, but only three-fourths dressed, the young partridges being roasted. When they were grown cold, I put these articles separately into jars of a sufficient size. Having well corked, luted, tied and wrapped them up, I put them all into the water-bath which was kept on the boil for half an hour. They were forwarded to Brest, and from thence were sent to Sea for four months and ten days, together with some vegetables, gravy, and preserved milk, all well packed up in a chest. When opened, eighteen different kinds of preserved food were tasted, every one of which had retained its freshness; and not a single substance had undergone the least change at Sea. To the experiments made with these four kinds of provisions, I can add two others made by myself; the one, a fricasee of fowls; and the other, a matelot of eels, carp, and pike, with an addition of sweet-bread, mushrooms, onions, butter, and anchovies, all dressed in white wine. The fricasee and the matelot were perfectly preserved. These results prove sufficiently that the same principle, applied with the same preparatory process, and with the same care and precautions, in general preserves all animal productions. But it is to be observed that in the previous cooking of each articles, it is to be only three-fourths dressed at the utmost, in order that the remainder of the requisite cooking may be communicated by means of the water-bath. There are a number of articles which can bear an additional hour of boiling in the water-bath without any danger, as broth, gravy, jellies and the essences of meat, poultry and ham, the juice of the grape and of plants, &c. But there are also others which will sustain a great injury from a quarter of an hour’s or even a minute’s too much boiling. Thus the result will always depend upon the dexterity, intelligence and judgment of the operator.[J] [J] The celebrated CHAPTAL says, in his _Elémens de Chimie, discours préliminaire_, p. cxxxi. “We hear in manufactories of nothing but the _caprice of experiment_, but this vague phrase has its origin only in the ignorance in which the workmen are of the true principles of their art; for nature does not act according to any principle of discernment, but obeys constant laws. The dead matter which we employ in our manufactories, exhibits necessary effects in which the will can have no share, and consequently can have no caprice. Make yourself acquainted, we should say to the manual operator, with the substance on which you are to operate, study better the principles of your art, and you will be able to foresee, predict and calculate every thing. It is your ignorance alone which renders your operations a constant groping in the dark, and a discouraging alternation of success and disappointment.” In fact, the operator who proceeds with a perfect knowledge of the principles of his art, and of the results of its application, will never ascribe the failure of his process to caprice, but will impute it to the neglect of some indispensable precaution in the application of his principle; and his disappointment will serve as a guide for him to calculate better and improve his preparatory process. Convinced that the effects that flow from his principle are invariable, he knows that every kind of loss and damage can proceed only from an error in the application of his principle. § XI. _New-laid Eggs._ The more fresh the egg is, the longer it withstands the heat of the water-bath. I consequently took eggs the day they had been laid, placed them in a jar, with raspings of bread, to fill up the vacuities, and secure them against breaking when removed to a distance. Having well corked, tied and luted the jars, &c. I placed them in a boiler of a proper size[K] to give them seventy-five degrees of heat.[L] Having taken the water-bath from the fire, I took out the eggs as soon as the water was so cool that I could put my finger in it. I then took out the eggs and kept them six months. At the end of that period I took the eggs out of the jar, put them into cold water which I set on the fire, and heated it to seventy-five degrees: I found them fit to dip a toast of bread into, and as fresh as when I prepared them. As to hard eggs, which are to be cut into slices and fricaseed, I heat the water-bath eighty degrees, and as soon as it begins to boil, I remove the water-bath from the fire. [K] This operation performed on a great scale, that is in a larger boiler, would require too much exactness, as it would be more difficult to command just the due degree of heat in such a boiler than in a small water-bath which may be set on and taken off at pleasure. [L] That is, of _Reamur_, or 200 of _Fahrenheit_, in like manner, the 80 of Reamur, or boiling point mentioned below, is 212 of Fahrenheit. T. § XII. _Milk._ I took twelve _litres_ of milk fresh from the cow; I condensed it in the water-bath and reduced it to two-thirds of its volume, frequently skimming it. Then I strained it through a boulting cloth. When cold I took from it the skim which had risen while it was cooling, and bottled it, with the usual process, and afterwards put it in the water-bath which I let boil for two hours; and at the end of several months, I perceived that the cream had separated itself and was swimming in the bottle in the form of flakes. To obviate this inconvenience, I made a second experiment on a like quantity of milk which I condensed in the water-bath, reducing it to one half, instead of one third, as I had done the former. I then added to the milk, so reduced, the yolks of eight new laid eggs well beaten. Having left the whole thus well mingled half an hour on the fire, I completed the experiment as before. This expedient perfectly succeeded. The yolk of egg had so completely combined all the particles, that at the end of a year, and even of eighteen months, the milk remained as fresh as when I put it in the bottles. The first also was preserved more than two years. The cream which was in flakes disappeared when put on the fire. Both sustained the boiling alike. From both, butter and whey were afterwards obtained. In the different experiments and chymical analyses to which they were exposed, it was found that the last, being much the better, was equal to the best cream sold at Paris to drink with coffee. § XIII. _Cream._ I took five _litres_ of cream taken with care from milk of the preceding evening. I condensed it in the water-bath to four _litres_, without skimming it. I took off the skim which was formed above, in order to strain it through a boulting cloth afterwards, and let it cool. After having taken off the skim which had risen while cooling, I put it in half bottles, observing the usual process, and let the water-bath boil for one hour. At the end of two years this cream was found as fresh as if prepared the same day. I made some good fresh butter with it; making from four to five ounces of butter from half a _litre_ of cream. § XIV. _Whey._ I prepared some whey by the ordinary process. When clarified, and grown cold, I put it in bottles, &c. and let it remain in the water-bath which was boiling one hour. However well the whey may be clarified, when put into the water-bath, the application of the heat always detaches some particles of cheese which are deposited. I preserved some in this way two and three years, and before I made use of it, I strained it that it might be very clear. On an emergency you may content yourself with carefully decantering the whey for this purpose. § XV. _Of Vegetables._ As the difference of climates renders the productions of different countries more or less early, and varies their qualities, kinds and denominations,[M] attention will be given by the operator to the circumstances of the spot in which he resides. [M] For this reason the translator adds the original names of the vegetables spoken of. It may happen that some of the kinds of fruits and roots mentioned by the author, do not exactly correspond with those which are considered as the same in this country. Whatever peculiarities there may be in the articles themselves, these will hardly affect the treatment they have to undergo in the process of preserving them. T. At Paris and its environs, June and July are the best months for preserving green peas (_petits pois verts_), small windsor beans (_petites fèves de marais_), and asparagus (_asperge_). At a later period, these vegetables suffer greatly from heat and dryness. In August and September I preserve artichokes (_artichauts_), French beans (_haricots verts et blancs_), and cauliflowers (_choux-fleurs_). In general, all vegetables intended to be preserved should be used as recently gathered as possible, and prepared with the utmost rapidity, so that there should be as it were, but one step from the garden-bed to the water-bath. § XVI. _Green Peas._ (_Petits pois verts._) The _clamart_ and the _crochu_ are the two kinds of peas which I prefer, especially the latter, which is the most juicy and sweet of all, as well as the earliest, except the _michaux_ (hastings), which is the first pea, but this kind is not fit to be preserved. I gather the peas when they are not too young and tender, for they are apt to dissolve in water during the operation. I take them when they are of a middling size. They are then in a more perfect state, and have