The utmost cleanliness is absolutely necessary in the use of Warren's pot.

Somewhat similar in treatment is the process of Jugging.. There is, I think, a dish called by Ramasamy "boiled chafs" (boiled chops), cooked in this manner, which is familiar to every one in this part of India, and really deserving of attention, for it is susceptible of improvement, and far greater development. A nice steak; a dish of neck cutlets; the blade bone of the shoulder, boned and flattened; a tender fowl, boned and flattened; game similarly prepared, and even fish, can thus be dressed very daintily.

I advocate the making of a vessel specially for "jugged" dishes, as follows :- An oval tin. ten inches long, and seven and a half inches across; one inch and three-quarters deep. The tin should have its upper edge turned outwards like a pie-dish, half an inch wide, so that a flat cover may be pasted closely to it, and it should have a ring at each end to serve for handles. The cover should be an oval sheet of tin slightly larger in its measurements than the interior of the tin itself. A vessel of this kind I can strongly recommend. I have found mine invaluable.

Let us first take Ramasamy's "boiled chaffs." - Choose a good neck of mutton, and trim the little chops as neatly as possible. With the trimmings of meat and bone make a broth, assisted by an onion, some pepper corns, any scraps of beef, chicken bones, cold game, lean ham or bacon, in short any useful sundries. When done, skim, and strain it, you ought to have a breakfast-cupful of it. Now, scald the tin and cool it in cold water, cover the bottom of the tin with slices of onion, and arrange the chops thereon, covering them with two Bombay onions sliced fine, a carrot sliced, a young turnip sliced, a stick of celery cut into half inch lengths, two tomatoes sliced and drained, and a bunch of curled parsley. Then add to the broth a liqueur glass of brandy, a table-spoonful of mushroom ketchup, a salt-spoonful of salt, and the same of sugar. Pepper the chops pretty freely with black pepper before covering them. When arranged, pour in the broth, and seal the lid of the tin, all round the rim, with stiff paste, fixing it securely. Now, put the tin into boiling water, and keep it on the fire for two hours. At the time of serving, the lid should be cut off, and the tin, wrapped in a napkin, should be placed upon an ordinary dish, and sent to table immediately.

Follow the same directions in "jugging" a steak, or a blade bone : in the case of the boned fowl, a little bacon, or some sliced bologna sausage, will be found an improvement, the broth being made, of course, from the bones and giblets. With game birds I would add a little sweet herb seasoning.

Fish should be done in this way:- Trim the fish in fillets, season them with pepper and salt, cover the bottom of the tin with slices of Bombay onion, dotting in a dozen pepper corns, and two cloves; put a Layer of fillets over the onion, and pepper them with black pepper; put in now a layer of sliced tomatoes, sprinkle some roughly-chopped curled parsley over them, and a table-spoonful of chopped capsicums; pour in a little broth made from the fish bones and trimmings, with a glass of chablis, sauterne, or hock, cover the tin closely, and boil. A clove of garlic may be introduced in this dish by those who appreciate the faintest suspicion of that fragrant bulb, and the fine rind of a lime also.

If made of two or three sorts of little fishes, with a pinch of saffron, and, instead of the broth, a libation composed of one table-spoonful of salad oil, two table-spoonfuls of chablis, and three of water, the effect will be pleasing to those who have eaten, and enjoyed a bouillabaisse, for the broth produced by the fish and ingredients I have named is not unlike that excellent composition.

In my last chapter I (The Menu) dwelt upon the invaluable culinary process known as braising, and tried to point out the special adaptability of that method of cookery to the treatment of the small and often indifferently fed meat of this country. I did not however allude to a simpler yet scarcely less noteworthy kind of braise by which is produced that very excellent dish called bceuf a la mode : There is perhaps no name in the French vocabulary de cuisine more frequently "taken in vain" by English cooks, as well as by poor Ramasamy, than this. As a rule they apply the term to a joint of cold roast beef when warmed up en rechauffe, and sent to table smothered with a thick sauce browned with burnt onion, and surrounded by sodden vegetables ! Now, boeuf a la mode is very far from being a rechauffe. On the contrary, it is a carefully selected piece of fresh meat scientifically stewed with vegetables. Its rich, self-made gravy is not thickened, and its garnish should be composed of vegetables separately trimmed and cooked for that purpose.

No better recipe can possibly be found than that given by Gouffe quoted by Sir Henry Thompson as follows: -

"Take about 4 lbs. (2 kilos) of thick beefsteak cut square. Take nearly 3/4 lb. (3 hectos) of raw fat bacon, cut off the rind, which should be put aside to blanche, and then cut the bacon in strips for larding, about one-third of an inch thick, and sprinkle them with pepper. Lard the meat, and tie it up as for the pot-au-feu. Place the piece of meat in a stew-pan with rather less than a pint of white wine, a wine-glass of brandy, a pint of stock, a pint of water, two calves' feet already boned and blanched, and the rind of the bacon also blanched. Put it on the fire adding a little less than one ounce of salt (30 grammes). Make it boil, and skim it as for pot-au-feu; next, having skimmed it, add fully one pound (500 grammes) of carrots, one onion, three cloves, one faggot of herbs, and two pinches of pepper. Place the stew-pan on the corner of the stove, cover it, and allow it to simmer very gently for four hours and a half. Try the meat with a skewer to ascertain when it is sufficiently cooked, then put it on a dish with the carrots and the calves' feet, and keep them covered up hot until serving."

"Next, strain the gravy through a fine tammy; remove carefully every atom of grease, and reduce it over the fire about a quarter. Lastly, untie the beef, place it on the dish for serving, add the calves' feet each having been cut into eight pieces, the carrots cut into pieces the size of corks, and ten glazed onions. Arrange the calves' feet, the carrots, and onions round the beef, pour the sauce over the meat keeping the surplus for the next day. Taste it in order to ascertain if sufficiently seasoned. Beef a la mode should be very relishing : sometimes a clove of garlic is added. I do not mention this as a necessary item, but as one which must be decided by the lady of the house."

Those who desire to enjoy the true baeuf a la mode will do well to follow this recipe in its entirety. Observe that the piece of meat should be cut en bloc from the rump steak and have no bone. The white wine may be chablis, sauterne, graves, or hock. The remains of a good bottle of champagne left the night before - 'still,' yet perfectly sound - would be admirable. Four sheep's feet may be used instead of the calves'. The boiling should, in the first instance, be retarded (as in the case of the pot-au-feu) by the addition from time to time of a little cold water. This will cause the scum to rise, all of which should be taken off before the addition of the vegetables. I would always put in a leek if I could get one, and some pieces of celery also. Please note that the gravy should be boiled down a little to add to its strength, but not thickened with butter and flour.

Larger pieces of beef can be cooked in this manner, ingredients in proportion to the extra weight being added. Indeed Grouffe says:- "I advise in regard of all braised meats, whether beef or veal, that the portions should be rather too large than too small; a long process of cooking succeeds always better with such than with tiny portions. A second excellent dish can always be made, cold, with the addition of jelly. It appears to me better then, to eat twice following of a good dish thus varied, than to cook the small quantity which suffices only for one meal." This advice can be followed with advantage during the cold season, and at our Hill stations.