[Translator’s note: Readers are warned to approach traditional recipes for pre-serving food with caution. Not all of Molokhovets’ recommendations are safe or practicable. Also, today’s urban dwellers are in a double bind: they have mostly lost their forebears’ easy familiarity with preserving methods while, all too often, they ignore modern rules of hygiene and sanitation. For instance, contemporary American newspapers publish warnings every November not to leave the stuffing overnight in the Thanksgiving turkey. It is only prudent, therefore, to follow standard modern practices for storing foods and, “when in doubt, throw it out.”]
