Absurd Texts in American History (VII, e)

The first of a couple posts about tainted food from Alice L. McLean's, Cooking in America, 1840-1945.

This first bit is on how to restore tainted meat. It's from Elizabeth Fries Ellet's New Cyclopaedia of Domestic Economy, and Practical Housekeeper, from 1871.

"Pour a few drops of hydrochloric acid in water till of a slight sour taste, and immerse the tainted meat in it for an hour or so, and it will become quite sweet again."

God, I am glad I don't live in the 19th century.