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From: rwt@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Rainer Thonnes)
Subject: Re: Tablespoons (was: degrees Celsius)
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Date: Fri, 21 Feb 1997 00:16:05 GMT
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In article <5efels$8g3@dg-rtp.dg.com>
goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) writes:
> Tony Finch <fanf@lspace.org> writes
>: We don't measure things with cups.
>
>So I take it that (pre-metric) English recipes use either pints or
>fluid ounces when calling for more than a few tablespoons of a liquid
>ingredient?

Or some such.  Let me quote from Spons' Household Manual.  This is for
Carrots a la Flamande:  When parboiled and drained, put the carrots into
a saucepan with a piece of butter, a pinch of sugar, and as much water
as may be necessary for sauce, add some finely minced parsley and white
pepper and salt to taste.  Let the carrots simmer till done (about 15
minutes), shaking them occasionally.  Beat up together (I don't think
they're suggesting domestic violence here) the yolks of 2 eggs and 1/2
gill cream, stir this into the carrots off the fire and serve.

This tome is dated 1887, so it certainly qualifies as pre-metric.

The real point, however, is that we generally don't measure by volume
such products as sugar, flour, and chopped onions.  Sugar and flour are
sold in packets with the weight printed on them, and those who don't use
weighing devices to measure fractions of a packet will estimate the
required weight fraction by volume.  That doesn't make it measuring by
volume, however.  When i comes to chopped onions, things get a little
more vague, but these things tend not to be terribly critical.  Recipies
will say things like "2 medium-sized onions, chopped", which makes much
more sense than 3/4 cup or whatever.  After all, what is one meant to do
with the surplus half chopped onion when one would have been better off
not chopping it in the first place?
