PAPER BAG COOKERY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 376, 8 July 1911, Page 5

PAPER BAG COOKERY.

Soyer is a name famous in the annals of cookery, and Mr Soyer, the presiding genius of the kitchen at Brooks's Club, London, where his grandfather reigned a century ago, has made a discovery that promises a revolution in the culinary art. Briefly stated M. Soyer's discovery is that food which is enclosed in a pap«;r bag and put into an oven is cooked far more quickly than by the old method. That b>' itself vvculd be a great gain; but there are others of even more importance. Food cooked in this loses neither weight not nutriment. The envelope in which it is enclosed prevents evaporation, and aJI the essences are retained Mr Soyer recently gave a demonstration of his new method of cookery though it will probably not interfere with the popularity of "(he grill." He prepared the following dishes in a few minutes over the hour:—Loin of lamb, 45min; chicken, 25min; "Army stew," 30min; stewed kidneys, smin; bouillabaisse, 30min; soused mackerel, srnin; roasted apples, 15min; veal and bam pie, 35min; currant cakes, 20min; apple tart, lOmin; bonne bouche (puff paste), lOmin. What strikes one most in the new cookery is its absolute simplicity. The loin of lamb was put into the paper bag without even a dressing of flour. Three-quarters of an hour later it emerged from the oven and the scorched envelope was removed. The joint was of a delicate brown tint, and, judged by the usual tests, the meat was tender and juicy. The chicken was larded before it was wrapped up, and was richly browned when taken out. It proved to be exceptionally white and tender. Poultry, it seems, is particularly susceptible to the influence of the paper bag. Mr Soyer once experimented with a three year old rooster. He put it in a double envelope, gave it an hour in a hot oven, and when eaten it was a passable imitation of a spring chicken. As regards the "Army stew," Mr Soyer put into a paper bag some tough mutton cutlets, with carrots and potatoes, tomatoes, and a few mushrooms. A trifle of flour, a little flavouring and a spoonful of water were added. In half an hour these ingredients had been welded into a most appetising dish. The tough mutton was tender, and there was an ample supply of gravy apart from what had been absorbed by the vegetables. The stewed kidneys were a triumph. Mr Soyer cut up a couple of kidneys with a tomato and a few mushrooms, added a little pepper and salt an'' half a glas3 of Madeira. Then he put the lot in a bag into the oven, and in five minutes produced a delicious supper dish.

The apples and the veal and ham pie were likewise successes. The materials for the latter were simply enclosed in a covering paste made of flour, butter, and eggs, without any baking powder or other "rising" substance. Enclosed in a paper bag, says Mr Soyer, the pastry rises naturally because it ia not exposed to air currents which cause it to sink when the oven is opened. The paper of which the bags are fashioned must, of course, be pure and devoid of obnoxious chemicals. The paper is not expensive—for a middleclass family it need not cost more than 3d a week —and, when the saving in utensils and the labour of cleaning them is taken into account, the economy of the new process in evident. Enclosed in a paper bag, the food is exposed to heat, which opens the pores of the meat and melts the sinew. Nothing is lost, because there is practically no evaporation, and careful experiments have proved that the weight of the cooked food is exactly the same as the weight of the raw material. Finally, paper bag cookery practically abolishes the bouquet of varied odours usually associated with ordinary cookery.