AMERICAN NOSTALGIA: The 1950's Home Kitchen

Yes sir, wedding bells finally rang in the life of Margie Blake. Back from their honeymoon, she and Tim are headed for a life of wedded bliss, they think. Yes, the honeymoon is over for Tim, now that he starts back to work. And it's over for Margie too, as she enters her bright new kitchen to cook her first meal. Can she prepare those favorite dishes of Tim's, just like his mother used to make? What would he like for dinner? He just loves chocolate cake. Go ahead, try one. All you have to do is follow the recipe. This is going to be easy. Let's see, what's next? It says, cream butter until soft and smooth. Cream the butter? Better get the cream. That's right, pour it in. The recipe says cream the butter, so put in lots of cream. Just look at that silky smooth texture of that batter. Will Tim be surprised? Will Tim be surprised? No Margie, your cake didn't turn out so well because you misunderstood a term in your cookbook. You'll find that your cookbook contains many terms which pertain to cooking alone. It is necessary for you to know what these terms mean before you can interpret recipes properly. To cream butter merely means to work it with an instrument until it becomes soft and smooth. There are many other terms you should know. For example, you must stir the ingredients in your chocolate cake. To stir is to mix food materials with a circular motion to secure a uniform consistency. Later you may be required to beat egg whites stiff but not dry, or so that they hold the greatest amount of air without losing their elasticity. You may have to fold two substances together. The process of folding combines two motions, cutting vertically through the mixture and turning over repeatedly by sliding the instrument along the bottom of the bowl. The purpose of this motion is to prevent loss of air from the ingredients. In making a frosting for that same cake, you may boil a sugar syrup. To boil is to cook at such a temperature that bubbles rise continuously and break on the surface. Later your frosting recipe may call upon you to perform the test for the soft ball stage. This is performed by adding a few drops of the substance to very cold water. If the drops form soft balls that can easily be flattened with the fingers, the material is at the soft ball stage or a temperature of 235 degrees Fahrenheit. The frosting may have to be beaten. This may be done with an electric mixer. To beat by hand is to make a mixture smooth or to introduce air by using a brisk regular motion that lifts the mixture over and over. The making of this cake and the frosting on it involve the terms cream, stir, fold, boil, soft ball stage, and beat. Almost all bread and roll recipes call for kneading the dough. To knead means to manipulate with a pressing motion accompanied by folding and stretching. In cooking meats, other terms are used. Less tender cuts of meat may best be cooked by stewing. When applied to meats, this means to add a small amount of water and simmer until tender. The simmer is to cook in water just below the boiling point or at a temperature of approximately 185 to 195 degrees Fahrenheit. Other cuts of meat might be cooked by braising. First, the meat must be dredged. To dredge simply means to coat with flour, cornmeal, or other fine substance. Your recipe will usually tell you what should be used. Next, you must brown the meat. This is done by cooking in a small amount of fat until brown. Be sure to brown the meat on both sides. The third step in braising is to add water and cook by simmering. So you see that the term braise includes three other terms, dredge, brown, and simmer. Of course, braising is only one of the many, many ways in which we can cook meats. One of the most popular is roasting. The terms roast and bake mean the same thing, to cook by dry heat. But before you actually start to roast the meat, you may sear it. This is done by the short application of intense heat and causes the surface of the meat to turn brown in color. It is done to improve the flavor and appearance, but does cause greater loss of juice. The oven temperature should then be reduced to proceed with the roasting. Suppose Margie's cookbook told her to marinate the vegetables before preparing the salad. Would she know what to do? To marinate means simply to saturate the food with a marinade. A marinade is an oil-acid mixture, which is usually a kind of salad dressing. The mixture is usually allowed to stand in the refrigerator for some time. Sometime during your career as a cook, you'll decide to serve scalloped cauliflower. This involves even more terms. A white sauce should be made first, and the first step is to scald the milk or to heat it to a temperature just below the boiling point. While the milk is heating, add flour to melted fat in amounts called for by your recipe. Stir rapidly to prevent the formation of lumps. Scalding is complete when a scum forms on the surface of the milk. Add the milk slowly, again stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Notice the scum, which indicates the milk has been scalded. Meanwhile, the cauliflower must be boiled until tender. Put alternate layers of boiled cauliflower, grated cheese, and white sauce in a greased baking dish. A layer of breadcrumbs on top if desired. And bake in a moderate oven until brown in color. So you see in this case, the term scallop includes the other terms. White sauce, scald, boil, and bake. One of the real tests of a cook is their jelly making, and the crucial point in making jelly of any kind is in knowing when it is cooked. A jelly test indicating a temperature of 220 degrees Fahrenheit is frequently used. One of the satisfactory jelly tests is the sheet from a spoon test. This is performed by allowing a small amount of the juice to drop off a spoon. When the last two drops run together and sheet from the spoon, the jellying stage is reached. The jelly should be removed from the fire at once. These are only a few of the terms you will have to use and understand. How can you learn the others? Well, most good cookbooks have a glossary of terms in the appendix. Let's see if Margie's cookbook has one. Yes, even Margie's cookbook has a glossary. Cream. To soften a fat with a spoon or beater, you also to combine the softened fat with sugar. If she had only looked at this before she baked that cake. But wait a minute. There's still time to bake another cake before Tim comes home to lunch. It'll be right this time and he'll never know the difference. Yes, even Margie found that she could learn to cook when she discovered the significance of the terms used in cooking. And Tim will never know she ruined her first cake.