COLD MUTTON

There are not many people wlio object to eating cold beef, but there seems to be a popular prejudice against cold mutton. As far as looks go, when two or three persons have dined off a leg of mutton the day before, no amount of parsley, be it ever so curly and fresh, can make it look nice ; but, as a matter of taste, cold meat, be it beef or mutton, is by no means devoid of merit at certain seasons, and with a proper accompaniment of salads, pickles, and sauces. Only, to be perfect, a cold joint should not be touched until it is cold ; the joint of yesterday’s dinner is quite a different affair. It is not everybody who can indulge, however, in such niceties of taste. Given a leg of mutton, it must in certain cases be made to go as far as possible to furnish the second, and even the third day’s dinner. Some mistresses, bolder than the rest, may dispose of cold legs of mutton for the servants’ dinner ; but all servants are not so meek as to submit to such an indignity. The kitchen dinner must have joints of its own ; these the servants do not mind “ finishing up,” as they say, and they do it pretty rapidly too.

If you wish to be very economical with a leg of mutton, you should carve it veiy much as you do a ham ; then the next day put it for twenty minutes into a vessel containing boiling water ; take it out, sprinkle some salt and a little flour over it, and put it to roast for twenty minutes before a good fire, basting fre-