We are drawing nearer and nearer to an appreciation of
the power which Cookery wields in the preservation of
health, but this awakening as to its value has been too
tardy, indeed, it has been from a slumber of centuries.
Not that good Cookery has not been practised from time
immemorial, but its recognition from a scientific point of
view is almost within our own day ; and even at the
present time, dietetics, or that department of medicine
which relates to food and diet, is only gradually assuming
a position which is destined ultimately to become second
to none. Moreover, there is still ample room for improve-
ment in this direction, and matters will not be rectified
till a comprehensive study of food and its preparation,
both for the healthy as well as the sick, is embodied in
the curriculum of modern medical education.
Not so long ago The Lancet made reference to the
Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy, which
had been opened by the Princess Louise. It was pointed
SCHOOL COOKEBY— INFLUENCE ON DAILY LIFE. 105
out that good cookery had more to do with health and
comfort, and therefore with domestic happiness, than any
other known accomplishment. In the same article, more-
over, it was remarked that it would be out of all keeping
with the position of Edinburgh as a medical centre, if the
importance, in sickness, of good cookery and suitable food
were not fully recognised. In conclusion, the same authority
expressed the hope that this commendable example would be
adopted by many other towns.
All this is satisfactory in showing that the preparation of
food 4or the table is a subject which can no longer be pooh-
poohed, and there are other signs and tokens which unmis-
takably point to the same conclusion. As a proof of this it
is only necessary to point to the fact that eminent physicians
have written prefaces to works on cookery, and more than
this, have contributed to the literature of the same. There
is a very excellent handbook by Phillis Browne, to which
the late Sir J. Risdon Bennett, a former President of the
Royal College of Physicians, London, contributed the pre-
fatory note. In it he remarks, the value of wholesome
and properly-cooked food has never been sufficiently under-
stood or appreciated in the United Kingdom. " In scarcely
any other country," says he, " does so much prejudice and
ignorance prevail on the subject of food and its employ-
ment." And in proceeding to speak of the growing ten-
dency to make instruction in Cookery a part of ordinary
education, he adds that this must be a subject for sincere
rejoicing with those who desire both the moral and physical
welfare of the poorer classes. This is not the only evidence
of interest which the same physician took in this matter, for
he has also written an admirable and lengthy article on
Food and its Uses in Health.
But there is another writer to whom the English speaking
people are deeply indebted for a knowledge of all that per-
106 THE ART OF LIVING IN AUSTRALIA.
Page 76
Presented as published in 1893. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
We are drawing nearer and nearer to an appreciation of the power which Cookery wields in the preservation of health, but this awakening as to its value has been too tardy, indeed, it has been from a slumber of centuries. Not that good Cookery has not been practised from time immemorial, but its recognition from a scientific point of view is almost within our own day ; and even at the present time, dietetics, or that department of medicine which relates to food and diet, is only gradually assuming a position which is destined ultimately to become second to none. Moreover, there is still ample room for improvement in this direction, and matters will not be rectified till a comprehensive study of food and its preparation, both for the healthy as well as the sick, is embodied in the curriculum of modern medical education.
Not so long ago The Lancet made reference to the Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy, which had been opened by the Princess Louise. It was pointed
out that good cookery had more to do with health and comfort, and therefore with domestic happiness, than any other known accomplishment. In the same article, moreover, it was remarked that it would be out of all keeping with the position of Edinburgh as a medical centre, if the importance, in sickness, of good cookery and suitable food were not fully recognised. In conclusion, the same authority expressed the hope that this commendable example would be adopted by many other towns.
All this is satisfactory in showing that the preparation of food for the table is a subject which can no longer be poohpoohed, and there are other signs and tokens which unmistakably point to the same conclusion. As a proof of this it is only necessary to point to the fact that eminent physicians have written prefaces to works on cookery, and more than this, have contributed to the literature of the same. There is a very excellent handbook by Phillis Browne, to which the late Sir J. Risdon Bennett, a former President of the Royal College of Physicians, London, contributed the prefatory note. In it he remarks, the value of wholesome and properly-cooked food has never been sufficiently understood or appreciated in the United Kingdom. " In scarcely any other country," says he, " does so much prejudice and ignorance prevail on the subject of food and its employment." And in proceeding to speak of the growing tendency to make instruction in Cookery a part of ordinary education, he adds that this must be a subject for sincere rejoicing with those who desire both the moral and physical welfare of the poorer classes. This is not the only evidence of interest which the same physician took in this matter, for he has also written an admirable and lengthy article on Food and its Uses in Health.
But there is another writer to whom the English speaking people are deeply indebted for a knowledge of all that per-