The Prison Cookbook

by Peter Higginbotham

  The effects of cooking on fish are very similar to those on meat; it is more easily digested when boiled.

  When an egg is boiled, the albumen (white) is coagulated, and it is thus rendered more suitable for food.

  Mechanical sub-division and the action of high temperature are the chief processes which are applied to the preparation of vegetables. By these processes they are softened, their structures loosened and rendered more easy of mastication; the heat causes the starch granule to swell up, its outer envelope is ruptured, and its contents set free, so that they can be more readily acted on by the digestive secretions. Also certain substances are extracted into the water in which the vegetables are boiled; thus vegetables of the cabbage tribe give a very disagreeable odour to the water in which they are boiled, and this must be thrown away as soon as possible.

  From the above brief account of the effect of cooking upon food it will be understood that it is partly a mechanical and partly a chemical action which is brought about.

  CHAPTER II.

  GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.

  The Cook or Baker will be held responsible for the proper carrying out of all the work connected with his department. He should so distribute the work amongst the prisoners under his charge, as to provide for the due preparation of the diets for the day, and to arrange the work that each man will know exactly what he has to do. He will be personally responsible that no misappropriation of any kind takes place; that the preparation of food materials and their cooking is conducted according to the official rules; that no waste of any kind occurs; and that the rations are accurately weighed or measured, distributed and served. The cook must endeavour to keep the rations warm whilst they are being dished up, and make the best use of the accommodation provided for this purpose. In many prisons this is achieved by placing blankets over the trays which contain the diets. It is most essential when this custom prevails to have a sufficient number of blankets, so that they can be frequently sent to the laundry. They ought to be washed once a week.

  The Bread must be served in special baskets, and not put on the top of the hot potatoes, —an objectionable practice.

  The Cook or Baker will be held responsible for the economical consumption of fuel, that is, coal, coke, gas, steam, or wood; and it is his duty to regulate the fire or other heating power, so as to use no more than is needed for proper cooking or baking. The cinders from the coal-fire should be sifted for future use. When leaving his boiler on going off duty he must hand it over to an officer only. See the authorized regulations and instructions for the working and management of steam boilers.

  It cannot be too strongly impressed upon Cooks and Bakers that the most scrupulous cleanliness must be maintained in kitchens and bakehouses, both the buildings themselves, and every article in them, should be spotless.

  The windows of the kitchen and bakehouse are to be cleaned once a week, and the floors scrubbed daily; and if the floor of the kitchen has become greasy the surface should be sprinkled with fine sand. Care should be taken, when the sand is washed off, that the sand and water are not thrown down the sinks, as this is liable to choke the drains, or interfere with the traps disconnecting the drains. The time chosen for this scouring of floors is usually in the afternoon, when the chief cooking of the day is over. The walls should be brushed down frequently, and the proper time for this is the early morning before they become damp with the steam; the dust, &c., being swept up immediately afterwards. Tables must be washed and scoured at least once a day. Tables should be turned over and scrubbed underneath at least once a week. Shelves, drawers, and cupboards must be kept clean and free from dust, and they should be occasionally scrubbed out with hot water and soda.

  The steamers and boiling vessels must be well washed daily inside and outside, with hot water and a small quantity of soda. The copper coverings or lids must be kept thoroughly clean and brightly polished; a flannel dipped in a little whiting or wood ashes is a good method to secure this.

  The baking and cooking ovens must be well swept out every day and the latter washed out once a week.

  All cooking vessels and utensils must be washed and scrubbed thoroughly as soon as possible after being used. New utensils must be cleaned before being used. Saucepans, &c., should be nearly filled with water, which is then well boiled with a piece of soda, later they should be well scoured and rinsed with hot water, well dried, and then put away in their respective places. If a saucepan has been burnt, put some cold water in with a piece of soda, boil for awhile, then scrub out thoroughly with a saucepan brush. Saucepans and covered vessels should not be kept covered, but exposed freely to the air, the lids hung up neatly; the practice of keeping cooking utensils in cupboards until required for use is to be discouraged.

  Dinner tins and such like articles must have all the pieces of food, &c., cleared out before they are put into the water for washing them. Each tin should be thoroughly scalded, washed, rinsed in a second water and turned upside down to drain, and should later be dried with a dry cloth before being stacked away. If this is done carefully and systematically, the tin-ware will keep bright for a considerable period. It is very essential for the cook to supervise prisoners washing up, and see that plenty of water is used and changed frequently; it is impossible to wash up in a puddle of dirty water, with pieces of food floating in it, as is too often attempted.

  Knives and forks should be washed separately from the utensils in which food is served. Those with wooden, bone, or horn handles, should not be thrown into hot water, the blades, &c., only being dipped into the hot water, and wiped with a cloth whilst hot.

  Should the steel work of the grate, &c., become tarnished or rusty, rub the surface with a raw potato cut in half, and dipped in ashes.

  All kitchen refuse must be collected and put into vessels provided for the purpose. It is essential that the refuse should be removed from the vicinity of the kitchen, and if possible from the prison buildings, daily.

  The vessels for the reception of refuse must be frequently scalded out with hot water to prevent any smell and to preserve them in a good sanitary condition; and the outsides of them may be whitewashed to give them a tidier appearance.

  It will seem from the above that the work of a kitchen must be conducted in an orderly way and on a system, otherwise it will be impossible to get through the day’s work in a satisfactory manner. “Clear, clean, and tidy up as you go,” will considerably diminish the labour.

  CHAPTER III.

  OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHOICE AND SELECTION OF FOOD MATERIALS.

  Great skill and much scientific knowledge is required to make a true analysis of Food Materials, and to form a correct opinion on their quality, purity, and composition, but with practical experience, and by exercising reasonable intelligence and care, a fairly accurate estimate can generally be made.

  The following observations and hints are intended as a guide and help to officers in their inspection of the various food-stuffs used in the Prison Dietary, and in forming a decision thereon.

  It is obvious that officers whose duty it is to inspect food, should make themselves fully acquainted with the general conditions and terms of the contract, and with the specifications with regard to the supply of the various articles.

  A copy of the specifications should be kept in a conspicuous place in the Store-room, or other convenient site, for ready reference.

  MEAT.

  To form a correct idea as to whether meat delivered is fit for issue, and complies with the conditions of the contract in every respect, is not always a very easy matter; but a careful consideration of the following remarks will help considerably in forming a conclusion.

  Meat may be roughly divided into four classes.

  (a) Home-bred and killed, including every kind of bull, ox, cow, heifer, sheep, and pig.

  (b) Foreign-bred, but killed in England, principally beef. This class is generally of good quality, having been well fed. The rigid inspection on arrival in this country is sufficient protection aga
inst the importation of diseased animals. There is often a deficiency in fat owing to wasting during the sea voyage. Occasionally there are signs of bruising, or even laceration of the flesh, due to injury from bad weather; meat in this latter condition should not be accepted.

  (c) Refrigerated meat, chiefly American and Canadian, which is killed and dressed abroad, wrapped in canvas and hung up in cool chambers at a temperature of about 36° to 40° Fah. The meat of this class is generally like that of b class, as the animals are killed in prime condition, and the rigid inspection is a guarantee against the importation of unsound meat. Refrigerated meat differs slightly in appearance from freshly killed meat; it can be distinguished by:—

  (1) The bruised condition of the shanks owing to the chain which is passed round the hind legs during the process of slaughtering.

  (2) The fat of the meat is pink, owing to its being stained by the juice of the lean which escapes.

  (3) The outside of the meat will present a dull, dead colour, when compared with the lustre on the outside of good fresh meat, also occasionally the marks of the canvas covering can be seen.

  (4) The dressing is not always so clean and neat as in English dressed meat, and the pizzle and root are not always entirely removed.

  If there is the slightest smell to be discovered on the outside, the flesh should be cut into and examined.

  (d) Frozen meat, principally mutton, which has been brought over chiefly from Australia and New Zealand in an actually frozen condition. It can be easily distinguished, before it is thawed, by its hard cold touch. The fat is not stained as in refrigerated meat. When thawed, it can be distinguished by:—

  (1) The outside having a wet, parboiled appearance, there will be oozing and dripping of liquid from the meat.

  (2) The fat is of a deadly white colour.

  (3) The flesh has a uniform pink appearance, owing to the diffusion of the colouring matter of the blood, not mottled as in fresh meat.

  It may be well here also to offer the following points with regard to salt meat.

  (1) If there is any doubt, a portion should be tested by cooking, which will often reveal deficiencies otherwise not recognisable.

  (2) The salting may be well done, but the parts inferior. Examine those pieces at the bottom of the cask, and compare several pieces, to see if there is a fair proportion of good parts of the animal.

  (3) The salting may be well done, and the parts good, but the meat old. Here the extreme hardness or toughness and shrivelling is the test. See if the year of salting is on the cask.

  (4) The salting may be well done, but the meat bad. If the meat has partly putrefied, no salting will entirely remove its softness, and there may be an offensive smell or greenish colour.

  (5) The salting may be badly done either from haste or bad brine. Signs of putrefaction will be present: the meat is paler than it should be and has a bad odour, &c.

  When inspecting meat, it should be hung up, so that it can be seen on all sides without handling.

  Twenty-four hours after being killed is the best time for the inspection.

  The following points must be attended to:—

  (a) Quantity of bone, (b) Quantity and character of the fat, (c) Condition of the flesh, (d) Condition of the marrow, (e) Age of the animal, (f) Sex..

  (a) In lean animals the bone is relatively in too great a proportion; 17 to 20 per cent. may be allowed.

  (b) The fat is a most important item. The exterior of a carcase should be covered with a bright healthy looking fat. In a fat ox it may be as much as one third of the flesh, it should be firm and white, or pale straw colour.

  (c) Condition of the flesh. The muscles or flesh should be firm, and yet elastic; not tough. It should be of a bright florid hue. In certain parts there should be an absence of fat, whilst in others, as in the loin, fore rib, and mid rib, it should have a marbled appearance from the ramifications of little streaks of fat. Its absence in those parts indicates age or poverty of condition. When pressed with the finger no mark should remain. Good meat should not become moist when kept for a while, but when exposed to the atmosphere for a short time it should be tolerably dry, and there should not be any dripping of water from its meshes, the colour should also remain bright. On the other hand, if the cut side of raw meat becomes of a black hue and shrivelled up after exposure for about an hour, it may be taken as a pretty sure sign that the meat is not good. The interior of the muscle should be of the same character as the outside, there should be no softening or fluid, but it should be smooth and silky to the touch, and juicy; this is particularly noticeable if the animal be young;. if old, the lean is coarse looking, stringy in texture, and practically without juice. Meat should not have an unpleasant odour; if it has a sour or putrid smell, it is not fresh The best place to test this is to smell near the bone; it is also a good plan to push a clean knife into the flesh up to its hilt; the resistance to the knife should be uniform, and any bad smell can be detected on the blade of the knife when it is withdrawn. That possessing a putrid smell should be rejected.

  (d) Condition of the marrow. The marrow in the hind legs should be solid 24 hours after the animal has been killed. The colour should be light rosy red; if dark with spots of black, the animal has been sick or putrefaction has commenced. The marrow of the fore leg bones is more fluid, otherwise it should present the same characteristics.

  (e) Age of animal. In the young the bones are small, soft, porous, and pinkish in colour. The older the animal, the larger, harder, denser, and whiter in colour, the bones become. The inner side of the rib bones is a good place to look for these characteristics. The condition of the joints will indicate information on the point of age. In the joints of young animals the prominences on the ends of the bones are more pronounced, more vascular, more gristly, and so softer than in old animals, when they are smoother, more compact, and whiter.

  (f) Sex. Under this head must be considered the differences between ox and bull-beef, and old-cow and heifer; the latter is really of more importance than whether male or female.

  Bull-beef may be distinguished from ox-beef by the size of erector muscle, pizzle, and pelvic bones; the absence of a plentiful supply of “cod” and “kidney” fat, a general massiveness of the bones and muscles, and almost a total absence of that coating of fat on the exterior of the carcase which is the characteristic of well-fed ox-beef. The lean will be very coarse and stringy in texture, dark in colour, with an absence of juice and marbling by fat. The feel to the finger and thumb will convey an india-rubber-like consistency, instead of displaying the marbled, juicy, and florid coloured appearance of the ox, which is also smooth and silky to the touch.

  The fore-quarter of the bull is very large, the collar or crest requires the whole hand to grasp it, whilst in the ox it can be grasped with the forefinger and thumb. If the neck has been removed suspicion will at once be aroused.

  The distinguishing features between old-cow and heifer or young-cow, are that in the latter the udder is but slightly developed, but consists principally of soft fat; if the cow has had one calf, the surface of the udder will be slightly soft, but larger and more developed; whilst in the old-cow, the udder will be tough on the surface and brown in colour, the ducts through which the milk has come will be plainly visible, and the general substance will be spongy and only partially fat. There is a practice of first cutting away the udder altogether while the carcase is warm, pulling the skin over the site, and skewering in fat instead. This can be detected by removing the skewers. This trick is never resorted to unless the animal has had more than two calves, accordingly the meat can be safely rejected as coming under the age clause in the terms of the contract. The pelvic bone or aitch bone is very thin in an old cow, especially at the end nearest the udder.

  In the fore-quarter, the ribs of the heifer or young cow show the pinkness of youth; in old cow they will be white and more bleached as age advances, and there is a general want of fat.

  The meat of a heifer is like that of a young
ox, and very difficult to distinguish from it; whilst that of an old cow is coarse, stringy to the touch, dark in colour, and with an absence of moisture. The fat is plentiful on the exterior, coming right to the shoulder; in the cow it is yellow in colour and scanty.

  The differences of sex in sheep can be told in much the same way as in cattle. The ram in relation to the wether presents very much the same appearance as the bull to the ox. In old ewes the kidney fat will be much veined, the udder large and spongy, the holes through which the milk has come being visible.

  Most of the above remarks refer more especially to beef, as being more in use in prisons than mutton. Good mutton is of deep red colour when cut, the fat should be white and should not be coarsely ingrained with the lean. Small-boned mutton is generally the best and most profitable. The fat, in addition to being of a good white colour, should be firm. The greater portion of contract mutton is too fat, the proportion of fat to lean being so great as frequently to give rise to complaint. The way of detecting the amount of fat on a carcase without cutting it through, is to look at the shoulders; if a bluish tinge is discernible the proportion of fat is not too great. If, on the other hand, this tinge is absent, the carcase is too fat. Should the contractor refuse to remove the surplus fat, the carcase must be rejected. When joints only are received, the consumption being small, if too fat, the butcher should be asked to trim them or make allowance.