“A stew boiled is a stew spoiled”
An old adage (dating to at least the 1820s) is:
“Turkey boiled is Turkey spoiled;
And Turkey roast is Turkey lost;
But Turkey braised is Turkey praised.”
By at least 1866, this became: “Meat boiled is meat spoiled.” By 1884, this became: “Stew boiled is stew spoiled.” The stew version is, perhaps, used most today.
Boiling destroys the vegetables (if there are any) along with the meat. Instructions were given to “simmer” instead.
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Essays Moral, Philosophical, and Stomachical on the Important Science of Good-Living
By Launcelot Sturgeon
Second Edition
London: G. and W. B. Whittaker
1823
Pg. 155:
That “turkey boil’d
“Is turkey spoil’d
“And turkey roast
“Is turkey lost;—
“But, for turkey braised,
“The Lord be praised!”
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The Cook and Housewife’s Manual
The Third Edition
By Mrs. Margaret Dods
(By Christian Isobel Johnstone?—ed.)
Edinburgh: Olver and Boyd, and Bell and Bradfute
1828
Pg. 298:
Braised turkey, or rather Dinde en daube, is now a very favourite dish, and, when old and dry in the flesh, braising is requisite for this bird, or which it has been somewhat irreverently sung—
“Turkey boiled is Turkey spoiled;
And Turkey roast is Turkey lost;
But for Turkey braised, the Lord be praised.”
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Murray’s Modern Cookery Book
Modern Domestic Cookery
By a Lady (Maria Eliza Ketelby Rundell—ed.)
London: John Murray
1851
Pp. 195-196:
There is a quaint adage that says,—
“Turkey roast is turkey lost;
Turkey boiled is turkey spoiled;
But turkey braised is turkey praised.”
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Comfort for Small Incomes
By Mrs. Eliza Warren
London: Published at the Office of “The Ladies’ Treasury”
1866
Pg. 89:
“Meat boiled is meat spoiled.”
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The Flynns of Flynnville
By Catherine Jane Hamilton
London: Ward, Lock, & Co.
1880
Pg. 71:
I didn’t say boiled turkey, my dear madam, that I’m convinced of; boiled turkey is spoiled turkey.
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January 1880, The Home Visitor and District Companion, pg. 51:
Meat boiled is meat spoiled, unless simmered.
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The enquirer’s oracle: or, What to do and how to do it
By Enquirer
Published 1884
Pg. 52:
The truth is that a stew boiled is spoiled, stewing being inevitably a slow process always, when properly done, extending to many hours, or to a whole day,
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The young ladies’ treasure book.
A complete cyclopædia of practical instruction and direction for all indoor and outdoor occupations and amusements suitable to young ladies
By Young ladies
Published by Ward, Lock, 1884
Pg. 888:
“Stew boiled is stew spoiled,” 177
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Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery Book and Household Guide
By Isabella Mary Beeton
London: Ward, Lock, and Co.
1890 (Elibron Classics reprint, 2005)
Pg. 16 (Kitchen Maxims):
“A stew boiled is a stew spoiled.”
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Encyclopedaedie Medica
Edited by Chalmers Watson
Volume V
New York, NY: Longmans, Green & Co.
1900
Pg. 459:
The old saying, “A stew boiled is a stew spoiled,” is a true one. If vegetables are to be added they are best put into the pot after the meat is half done. The flavours of the vegetables are lost with too continuous cooking. The more slowly the stew is cooked the better it is done.
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Domestic Economy in Theory and Practice
By Marion Greenwood Bidder and Florence Baddeley
Cambridge: The University Press
1901
Pg. 296:
The water must boil, but not the stew.
N.B. “Stew boiled is Stew spoiled.”
28 June 1903, Decatur (IL) Herald, pg. 9, col. 7:
Kitchen Maxims.
Here are some of the favorite maxims of the good English housewife. They date back, probably, to the day when Alfred the Great let the bannocks burn:
“A stew boiled is a stew spoiled.”