# What is/was Cold Boiled? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 26, 2012, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171 "2012-12-26T08:52:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/1 "2012-12-26T08:52:43Z")
Does anyone know what dish “cold boiled” was/is from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/2 "2012-12-26T09:08:01Z")
Can you supply the sentence? My guess would be either cold boiled ham or bacon (reference, _Silas Marner_). ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/3 "2012-12-26T11:09:20Z")
Boiled, then allowed to cool off? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/4 "2012-12-26T11:34:36Z")
In the absence of any other context, I would have assumed cold boiled chicken breast, like you’d serve on a salad. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/5 "2012-12-26T12:32:56Z")
From a Search for the term on a Project Gutenberg copy of the story: At Fezziwig’s party: “There were more dances, and there were forfeits, and more dances, and there was cake, and there was negus, and there was a great piece of Cold Roast, and there was a great piece of Cold Boiled, and there were mince-pies, and plenty of beer.” From context t seems clear that they have put out the equivalent of a buffet, with some previously roasted meat and some previously boiled meat. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/6 "2012-12-26T21:07:47Z")
You can boil beef, or pork, or especially ham - the last is probably the best for serving cold although there’s nothing wrong with cold boiled beef. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/7 "2012-12-26T21:18:49Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > there’s nothing wrong with cold boiled beef. You and I disagree on what constitutes acceptable ways to prepare dead cow. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/8 "2012-12-26T21:18:44Z")
The OED says boiled beef or mutton (and happens to list the Christmas Carol reference in its citations). b. ellipt. Boiled beef or mutton. colloq. 1804 M. Edgeworth Limerick Gloves v, in Pop. Tales I. 277 Mr. Hill commenced a practice…of going…into the kitchen…to take a slice from the roast or the boiled before it went up to table. 1834 S. Smith Lett. cccxl, Tory and Whig in turns shall be my host, I taste no politics in boil’d and roast. 1843 Dickens Christmas Carol ii. 60 A great piece of Cold Boiled. 1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xi. 178 [He] should have as much boiled and roast as he could carry on a long dagger. 1861 G. Trevelyan Horace at Athens (1862) 24 I’m…tightly filled With roast, and boiled, and stewed, and pulled, and grilled. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/9 "2012-12-26T21:46:21Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > You and I disagree on what constitutes acceptable ways to prepare dead cow. 😉 Maybe, but moist-cooked silverside served cold in thin slices makes excellent sandwich meat; it doesn’t roast especially well IMO. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/10 "2012-12-26T22:42:07Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Boiled, then allowed to cool off? Yes, that’s what I would assume. Could be any cut of meat, really, but I would guess something porcine. Boiling was the preferred method of cooking back in those days, as it isn’t wasteful like frying or roasting. All of the fat remains in the broth, which can be consumed separately. FWIW, the US Army manual of the early 19th century specifically ordered all meat to be boiled, with an eye to making soup. It was an expensive commodity. EDIT: Mutton also seems likely. It was actually the first meat to be boiled in a pressure cooker (I forget who the inventor was, but he wrote about it in his journal). ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-was-cold-boiled/645171/11 "2012-12-27T00:24:37Z")
My first thought was tongue… (Makes great sandwiches!)