...“Leftovers”—a revolting word, and yet why should the result be a hash?—a rather substandard concoction used to help stretch the budget.

This sort of attitude is based on a totally incorrect premise—believing that leftover roasted meats cost nothing! In actual fact they frequently cost more than ham and certainly as much as fillet steak—work it out and see.

Meat obtained from roasts must, therefore, be looked upon as a luxury—to be treated with a little more care in their reheating. If they are relegated to such uses as cottage pie, then what you are doing is using meat that can cost four times as much as a cheap cut that can be purchased to produce exactly the same result.

One tip, if you are left with a partly carved roast—brush the cut surface with a little of the dripping; this will seal the area and prevent the meat from becoming dry and unpleasant.

Most important of all—always place the joint in the refrigerator as soon as possible after carving. Meat left to cool slowly is prone to develop a charming bug called Clostridium welchii that gives you a tummy ache for at least a day. What is serious is that it puts you off your food!