23. Stewing is a much more advantageous and economical mode of cooking than boiling: by its use the flesh of old animals, and tough, sinewy joints that would otherwise be wasted, can be used for food. Stewing consists in cooking meat in a small quantity of liquid, by a very moderate heat, which is continued for a very considerable time. By this long-continued action of a gentle heat the fibres are softened and the toughest joints become tender and eatable. In cooking meat by stewing it must be remembered that length of time is much more important than extra heat; and that the cooking of the food cannot be hastened by increasing the heat, which if raised to the boiling-point only hardens the fibres and renders the meat tough.
In the houses of the working classes in England stewing is not so much employed as it should be. By its use small pieces of meat may be cooked with vegetables, and made into the most savoury and nourishing dishes, and the coarsest and cheapest joints may be made almost equal in flavour and quite as nutritious as the dearest.
The stews best known in this country are stewed steak, haricot mutton, Irish stew, and jugged hare. The value of these is recognized, and it is only prejudice or ignorance which prevents the English housewife applying the same mode of cooking to other joints, and using the French plan of always having a stewing pipkin or pot-au-feu by the side of the fire.
24. As examples of different modes of stewing, the following recipes are given:—