Vegetables

A great difficulty seems to exist among cooks and others in their efforts to
define the distinction between vegetables and fruit. In a culinary sense the distinction
is somewhat simplified, the term vegetables being generally applied to those
articles which have grown in or about the earth and are cooked, or dressed uncooked,
as savories; fruits, on the contrary, are usually associated with sweets. Literally, the
term vegetables, derived from the Latin vegetare^ would include all things that
grow from the earth as members of the vegetable kingdom; but in a more limited
sense, the term vegetables might be applied to those edible growths that are included
amongst our vegetable foods without being connected with the organs of vegetable
reproduction, which are known, correctly speaking, as fruits. This difficulty of
distinction is very patent when we remember that some fruits are, in a culinary sense,
styjed vegetables, among which are tomatoes, vegetable marrows, peas, beans, cucumbers,
etc., etc. Then again, the stalks of leaves, known as rhubarb, are esteemed
as fruit amongst cooks. Nuts, again, which are, most correctly speaking,
the fruit of the tree which bears them, are differently designated, when they are
numbered amongst the dishes of a dessert. They are not vegetables, they are nuts.
Whenever the vegetables are distinguished for their excellence the dinner is
always particularly enjoyed; and if they are served with each dish, as they are
most appropriate and fresh from the dressing, it would be a great improvement on the
present style. With some meats, something of the kind is practiced, as peas with
duck, and beans with bacon, and such combinations are generally favorites, but the
system might be extended, and with great advantage. With respect to variety of
vegetables, I think the same rule applies as to other dishes. I would not have many
sorts on the same occasion, but would study appropriateness and particular excellence.
This is a matter for study, and a field for genius. To the eye of the initiated
nothing can be more ridiculous than to see an American dinner-plate heaped
up with a confusion of vegetables, none of them any too well dressed, except the
potato, which is always present, and generally good.
From the foregoing remarks it is quite evident that the cooking of vegetables
might be regarded as a distinct culinary art. In large establishments it is quite
usual to engage a cook especially experienced in this department, who, acting under
the chef, is known as the vegetable cook. That the duties attached to his office
are exceedingly important, requiring considerable intelligence, will be understood
from the following instructions:
In the first place the cook should see that the vegetables are quite fresh, for, in spite of anything that may be said to the contrary, all vegetables, whether roots,
leaves, or any other kind, begin to lose bulk and flavor as soon as they are removed
from the ground. Those that suffer the least in this respect are roots and tubers,
such as carrots and potatoes, and those that suffer most are leaves, stalks and
shoots, such as asparagus, cabbages and the like.
To clean vegetables they should be first soaked for a time in salted water. In
this way the flavor of the vegetables improves, and all insect life is removed. Next
the dirt and grit must be thoroughly washed out, and. for this purpose a wire sieve or
basket should be used, which may be dipped again and again into a tub of water, the
vegetables in it being shaken well and rinsed. Root vegetables offer the artistic cook
a very extensive scope for the exercise of his skill and ingenuity, as may be seen
from the various shapes and designs into which these vegetables may be cut.
Flowers are frequently cleverly imitated, and rounds, olives, and lozenge shapes of
every variety are to be seen in artistically prepared soups and garnishes. These require
special tools for their production, of which there are many in use.