Nets used in cooking

[asemery]

I am always looking for more uses for nets. I recently came across this article that mentioned their use in cooking. I know I can recreate such a net if I can find more details. Are there any 18th century historians here. Thanks in advance. Tony
http://tinyurl.com/bo4w2ta

 

[Toddy]

I have seen illustrations of cauldron cooking where the beef (or a boiling fowl) is netted and hung inside the cauldron besides cloot tied puddings. The resultant broth was enriched with vegetable and barley and made a meal in itself.
I presumed that the nets were made of linen or hemp twine.
Boiling will have no detrimental effect on either and neither would taint food.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[asemery]

Toddy, Your description is exactly as I pictured it. In some lobster open air restaurants in New England lobsters (clams and mussels also) are placed in a netted bag. A draw string lets the cook lower the net into the boiling water and retreive it when the cooking is finished. I am looking for some documentation of this system in open hearth cooking. Tony

 

[Toddy]

Sounds very practical, doesn't it

I still use the cloot to make dumplings so can attest that the method works well

Joints of meat are still rolled and tied with string by butchers here; they're roasted or boiled with the string on and this keeps the joint in shape until cooked and ready to carve. Supermarket butchers (pre-packed stuff I mean) often use a kind of stretchy netting to do the same job. Not so skillfull but it works.

Interesting topic

cheers,
Toddy