Professional Cooks have been treated with great defer-
ence in this and all other civilised countries, and have
reached honours and incomes that provoke much jealousy.
Some have accordingly invested their art with a cloak of
mystery, lest others should learn it, and, perhaps, sur-
pass them; and others have used the same garb to conceal
their own ignorance. Happily a much better state of
culinary affairs is being developed by such genuine
professors as those numbered on the staff of this Ency-
clopaedia, and the desire to improve the tone of the
profession by freely imparting to others the knowledge
they have spent lives in acquiring, marks an era in the
advance of Cookery.
Cookery has not been developed in a day : it has had its
infancy, like every other giant, and has grown to what it
now is by careful training and the accumulations of ages.
It has had its dark days, when superstition, prejudice,
vulgar pretension, and humbug have borne it down ; but
we may now generously assume that it has at last shaken
itself clear, as shown by the teachings given in this book,
and may soon be expected to stand forth great and
glorious as a full-grown imperishable art.
Cooks and Cooking — continued.
In spite of the deference paid to the Cook, these worthy
persons have not always been treated well. Grimod de la
Reyniere observes compassionately of them : “ We enjoy
the result of their toils without considering the cost of the
ineffable enjoyment they procure for us, and without
reflecting that they only derive, from their incessant exer-
tions, impaired health and means of subsistence that are
often precarious and almost always moderate. They spend
their best days in heat and obscurity, and their last in
poverty too often bordering on destitution.” Of course,
there are exceptions to this rule, and amongst these we
may mention Vatel, Laguipiere, Careme, Bernard, Urban
Dubois, Gouffe, Ude, Francatelli, Soyer, and many others ;
but these exceptions only go to prove the rule. Neverthe-
less it is within the bounds of possibility that many of
our existing culinary artists will soon be enabled to emerge
at will from obscurity, and receive the great honours that
are due to their extraordinary skill.
Of the many triumphs of the culinary art abundant
examples will be found amongst the pages of this
Encyclopaedia, and it will be observed that simplicity
and economy are the spirit of artistic cookery — that
some of the very tastiest and most exquisite dishes are
the easiest prepared, and the least expensive. Francatelli
wrote : “ Simplicity is as essential an element in cookery
as it is in other arts.” Excess in the quantity of spices
and condiments is the bane of English cookery. Soyer
protested strongly against culinary extravagance, though
he was in his practice perhaps the most extravagant
cook that ever lived, as witness the celebrated hundred-
guinea soup. Urban Dubois believes that there is more
extravagance and waste in a badly-conducted middle-
class kitchen than in the whole array of a royal kitchen,
with its numerous and varied demands. This should not
be so, nor will it remain so, provided due attention be
paid to the numerous articles on the various culinary
processes, accompanied by practical receipts, with which
we are herein surrounded.
Page 468
Presented as published in 1890. 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
Professional Cooks have been treated with great deference in this and all other civilised countries, and have reached honours and incomes that provoke much jealousy. Some have accordingly invested their art with a cloak of mystery, lest others should learn it, and, perhaps, surpass them; and others have used the same garb to conceal their own ignorance. Happily a much better state of culinary affairs is being developed by such genuine professors as those numbered on the staff of this Encyclopaedia, and the desire to improve the tone of the profession by freely imparting to others the knowledge they have spent lives in acquiring, marks an era in the advance of Cookery.
Cookery has not been developed in a day : it has had its infancy, like every other giant, and has grown to what it now is by careful training and the accumulations of ages. It has had its dark days, when superstition, prejudice, vulgar pretension, and humbug have borne it down ; but we may now generously assume that it has at last shaken itself clear, as shown by the teachings given in this book, and may soon be expected to stand forth great and glorious as a full-grown imperishable art.
Cooks and Cooking — continued.
In spite of the deference paid to the Cook, these worthy persons have not always been treated well. Grimod de la Reyniere observes compassionately of them : “ We enjoy the result of their toils without considering the cost of the ineffable enjoyment they procure for us, and without reflecting that they only derive, from their incessant exertions, impaired health and means of subsistence that are often precarious and almost always moderate. They spend their best days in heat and obscurity, and their last in poverty too often bordering on destitution.” Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, and amongst these we may mention Vatel, Laguipiere, Careme, Bernard, Urban Dubois, Gouffe, Ude, Francatelli, Soyer, and many others ; but these exceptions only go to prove the rule. Nevertheless it is within the bounds of possibility that many of our existing culinary artists will soon be enabled to emerge at will from obscurity, and receive the great honours that are due to their extraordinary skill.
Of the many triumphs of the culinary art abundant examples will be found amongst the pages of this Encyclopaedia, and it will be observed that simplicity and economy are the spirit of artistic cookery — that some of the very tastiest and most exquisite dishes are the easiest prepared, and the least expensive. Francatelli wrote : “ Simplicity is as essential an element in cookery as it is in other arts.” Excess in the quantity of spices and condiments is the bane of English cookery. Soyer protested strongly against culinary extravagance, though he was in his practice perhaps the most extravagant cook that ever lived, as witness the celebrated hundredguinea soup. Urban Dubois believes that there is more extravagance and waste in a badly-conducted middleclass kitchen than in the whole array of a royal kitchen, with its numerous and varied demands. This should not be so, nor will it remain so, provided due attention be paid to the numerous articles on the various culinary processes, accompanied by practical receipts, with which we are herein surrounded.