Basting

basting an operation familiar to all cooks, may have one or both of two purposes: to keep moist, and therefore tender, the surface of something being cooked; or to add more flavour, as when a piece of fish or meat has been in a marinade before being cooked, and is then basted with the marinade during the cooking process.

While today most roasting is baking, basting is less pursued (assisted in part by the use of aluminium foil). But when roasting was spit-roasting, the art of basting (and of ‘frothing’ the surface with a dredging of flour) was essential to keep the meat moist, the drippings falling into the dripping pan where the yorkshire pudding lurked.