Stewing, Braising and Poaching

Stewing: This is slow cooking (in more or less liquid) either over heat, or in the oven. It is in modern days (1932) frequently known as casserole cookery but is really the Old English method of stewing in earthenware jars and dishes. A casserole is merely the French name for a saucepan or stewpan. Cookery and the service of food is now a fine art, and food should be cooked and served in appropriate pots and pans; if you are cooking a French dish, by all means use a French casserole, and, if you like, serve the food in it, but if you are cooking an old English country dish cook and serve it in a Staffordshire or Nottinghamshire brown baking jar or pan and stand it on a homespun napkin placed on a dish of modern Staffordshire pottery. Clarice Cliff’s designs are charming and whilst absolutely 20th century, carry on the English tradition.