Francatelli observes : “ The palate is as capable
and nearly as worthy of education as the eye and the
ear.” Now, without entering into the question as to
whether a patty to eat is equal to a Patti to hear or
see in the way of enjoyment, there is no doubt that
the palate is to a great extent influenced by the eye.
For instance, a large cold sirloin of beef on the side-
board at a good old-fashioned hotel, neatly decorated
with bright green parsley and snow-white curly horse-
radish ; the dish resting on an equally snow-white
cloth ; its companions consisting of as tempting-
looking a York ham, and some bright silver flagons,
the latter enabling the looker-on almost to realise the
“ nut-brown ale ” talked about of old, though what it
was like we have not the least idea. There is a
common saying, “It makes one hungry to look at
it”; or “It makes one’s mouth water.” Yet
contrast this same piece of cold beef with a joint I
recollect being once brought up for supper at some
To Make Dishes Look Nice.
59
lodgings, where Mary Ann was, to say the least,
inartistic. She brought it up just as it was in the dish
in which it had got cold — the dish smeary round the
rim with Mary Ann’s thumb-marks. The gravy had
of course settled, and was thickly studded over with
hard white wafers of fat. Some of the fat, too, had of
course settled on the meat itself. Yet the meat was
in every respect equal to the decorated joint, and
many a poor hungry man would see no difference
between the two, any more than a hungry bull-dog
would. At least, some might even prefer the latter,
in order to lap up the cold gravy with the blade of
their knives.
A poached egg nicely done, the yellow yolk sur-
rounded with an equal rim of clear white, in contra-
distinction to one badly done, in which the yolk has
broken and run and got mixed up with the white, is
another instance of how much depends upon appear-
ances, for both eggs would be equally wholesome.
Now, there are few nicer and at the same time
prettier-looking dishes than a salade mayonnaise.
Vet too often when directions are given, in books or
otherwise, how to make mayonnaise sauce, the latter
point — that is, appearance — is altogether left out of the
question. Making mayonnaise sauce, and simply
mixing it up with some lettuce, and lobster, and hard-
boiled egg, is certainly making a very nice lobster
6 o
Common-sense Cookery.
salade. Just in the same way the most beautiful clear
jelly might be handed round in white pudding-basins,
or even in the saucepan in which it was boiled ; but
how different to a handsome mould with a few
preserved fruits inside it, placed in the centre of a
bright cut-glass dish, and a little cut lemon by way of
garnish !
But we have been long enough on the subject,
“ How not to do it,” and must begin at once.
Page 22
Presented as published in 1880. 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
Francatelli observes : “ The palate is as capable and nearly as worthy of education as the eye and the ear.” Now, without entering into the question as to whether a patty to eat is equal to a Patti to hear or see in the way of enjoyment, there is no doubt that the palate is to a great extent influenced by the eye. For instance, a large cold sirloin of beef on the sideboard at a good old-fashioned hotel, neatly decorated with bright green parsley and snow-white curly horseradish ; the dish resting on an equally snow-white cloth ; its companions consisting of as tempting-looking a York ham, and some bright silver flagons, the latter enabling the looker-on almost to realise the “ nut-brown ale ” talked about of old, though what it was like we have not the least idea. There is a common saying, “It makes one hungry to look at it”; or “It makes one’s mouth water.” Yet contrast this same piece of cold beef with a joint I recollect being once brought up for supper at some
To Make Dishes Look Nice.
lodgings, where Mary Ann was, to say the least, inartistic. She brought it up just as it was in the dish in which it had got cold — the dish smeary round the rim with Mary Ann’s thumb-marks. The gravy had of course settled, and was thickly studded over with hard white wafers of fat. Some of the fat, too, had of course settled on the meat itself. Yet the meat was in every respect equal to the decorated joint, and many a poor hungry man would see no difference between the two, any more than a hungry bull-dog would. At least, some might even prefer the latter, in order to lap up the cold gravy with the blade of their knives.
A poached egg nicely done, the yellow yolk surrounded with an equal rim of clear white, in contradistinction to one badly done, in which the yolk has broken and run and got mixed up with the white, is another instance of how much depends upon appearances, for both eggs would be equally wholesome.
Now, there are few nicer and at the same time prettier-looking dishes than a salade mayonnaise. Vet too often when directions are given, in books or otherwise, how to make mayonnaise sauce, the latter point — that is, appearance — is altogether left out of the question. Making mayonnaise sauce, and simply mixing it up with some lettuce, and lobster, and hardboiled egg, is certainly making a very nice lobster
6 o
Common-sense Cookery.
salade. Just in the same way the most beautiful clear jelly might be handed round in white pudding-basins, or even in the saucepan in which it was boiled ; but how different to a handsome mould with a few preserved fruits inside it, placed in the centre of a bright cut-glass dish, and a little cut lemon by way of garnish !
But we have been long enough on the subject, “ How not to do it,” and must begin at once.