A guide to modern cookery

Select potatoes which do not crumble, such as the vitelottes or new kidney potatoes. Cook them in salted water; cut them to the shape of corks, and slice them (while still lukewarm) into thin roundels. Put them into a salad-bowl, and sprinkle them with two-thirds pint of white wine per two Ibs. of potatoes. Then season with oil and vinegar, add some chopped chervij and parsley, and stir with care lest the roundels break. 1995—TOMATO SALAD Select some medium-sized and rather firm tomatoes, and scald them. Then skin them; cut them in two crosswise; press them to clear them of juice and seeds; cut them into thin strips ; season them with oil and vinegar, and add some chopped tarragon. 1996—COMPOUND SALADS Unless they leave the kitchen to be served immediately, compound salads are dished without their constituents being mixed. As the latter are generally of various colours, they are seasoned and dished in distinct heaps of contrasted shades. The dishing of compound salads is finished by means of borders consisting of pieces of very red beetroot, gherkins, truffles, roundels of potatoes, and radishes. The method of arranging these vegetables constitutes the decoration, and the latter, being subject to no rules, is merely a matter of taste. I do not advise the moulding of compound salads, for the increased sightliness resulting therefrom is small compared with the loss in the taste of the preparation. The simplest form of dishing is the best, and fancifulness should not be indulged in, beyond the arrangement of the vegetables in a pyramid, surrounded by a decorated border of jelly. 1997—SALADE ALLEMANDE Take equal quantities of potatoes and apples, gherkins, and herring-fillets, all cut into dice and arranged in heaps. Season with hard-boiled egg sauce, and decorate with very red beetroot. 1998—SALADE AMERICAINE Peel and press some tomatoes, and cut them into thin slices; cut some potatoes into thin roundels, and prepare a short julienne of celery. Decorate with roundels of hard-boiled eggs and thin onion rings. Season with oil and vinegar. 1999—SALADE ANDALOUSE Peel and quarter some small tomatoes; cut some mild capsicums julienne-fashion ; cook some rice plainly in salted water, keeping each grain separate; add a little crushed garlic and chopped onion and parsley. Season with oil and vinegar. 2000—SALADE BELLE-FERMIERE This salad consists of curled celery and equal quantities of plain-boiled potatoes, beetroot, and capsicum—all these vegetables cut julienne-fashion, the celery measuring one-third, and the other ingredients two-thirds of the whole. Season with mustard sauce with cream. 2001—SALADE CRESSONNIERE This consists of potatoes a la Parisienne (No. 2017) and watercress leaves, in equal quantities. Sprinkle with parsley, chervil, and hard-boiled egg, mixed. 2002—SALADE ISABELLE Thinly slice equal quantities of raw mushrooms, celery, cooked potatoes, and artichoke-bottoms. Dish in distinct heaps. Season with oil and vinegar, and add some chopped chervil. 2003—SALADE DANICHEFF Take equal quantities of sliced and blanched celeriac, thin roundels of potatoes, slices of artichoke-bottoms, strips of raw mushrooms, and green asparagus-heads, and arrange them in heaps. Deck with crayfishes’ tails, hard-boiled eggs, and truffles. Season with mayonnaise sauce. 2004—SALADE DEMI-DEUIL Take equal quantities of a julienne of potatoes and a julienne of very black truffles. Decorate with rings of truffle girding small roundels of potato, and rings of potato girding small roundels of truffle. Alternate the two forms of rings. Season with a mustard sauce with cream. 2005—SALADE D’ESTREES