most effectually preserves its nutritive qualities. Meat is roasted by
being exposed to the direct influence of the fire. This is done by
placing the meat before an open grate, and keeping it in motion to
prevent the scorching on any particular part. When meat is properly
roasted, the outer layer of its albumen is coagulated, and thus presents
a barrier to the exit of the juice. In roasting meat, the heat must be
strongest at first, and it should then be much reduced. To have a good
juicy roast, therefore, the fire must be red and vigorous at the very
commencement of the operation. In the most careful roasting, some of the
juice is squeezed out of the meat: this evaporates on the surface of the
meat, and gives it a dark brown colour, a rich lustre, and a strong
aromatic taste. Besides these effects on the albumen and the expelled
juice, roasting converts the cellular tissue of the meat into gelatine,
and melts the fat out of the fat-cells.