spread-eagle fashion, with mushrooms ; next, some
curried sausages ; next, some mutton cutlets, with
mixed hot pickles in the centre ; while in another dish
some poached eggs sleep peacefully on slices ot rich
juicy ham that have just left the gridiron. All these
are placed on the table, while some grilled salmon,
with which the breakfast begins, is handed round :
many preferring hot muffins in lieu of bread as an
accompaniment. But we must not forget the tankard,
with the college arms emblazoned on its side, full of
good buttery ale ; for, as many probably have already
guessed, it is a college breakfast we are describing;
and Paterfamilias, when he shakes his head over the
college bills, will do well to excuse a little of the extra-
vagance of youth which breaks out in the form of
breakfasts rather than suppers, the latter being con-
ducive too often to the former consisting simply of a
red herring and a brandy-and-soda.
With a dozen or more healthy young men seated
round the table, free from the cares of life, indifferent
to, and indeed ignorant even of, the meaning of the
“ money article,” no wonder the tempting viands
cooked by cunning hands rapidly disappear amid a
merry conversation, in which the summum bonum of
earthly happiness seems to be to row in the University
Eight. But we must wait a few years. The bright-
eyed youth with the fluffy whiskers, who performed
70
Common-sense Cookery.
such prodigies of valour in the last town and gown,
has settled down into the sleek-looking country
clergyman or lawyer ; and his pretty, quiet little Avife
probably never dreams even of the life he led in the
boisterous, but for all that really innocent, days of his
college life. The college breakfasts and the college
hall have, however, had their effect, and the change
from the “ college professor of cookery ” (who probably
is far better off than the tutor to Mary Ann) is — well,
a change. The unvarying cold boiled bacon and hot
boiled eggs will, in spite of the bright silver tea-pot,
the butter-dish with the silver cow on the top, the
lavish display of butter-knives (all wedding presents,
of course), after a time pall upon the strongest appe-
tite ; but, unfortunately, if Mary Ann breaks down
in one thing more than another, it is over the breakfast.
There is an indescribable something in the appearance
of the breakfast dishes she sends up that is not con-
ducive to appetite. The yolks of egg have a tendency
to run into the whites, and the fried bacon always
seems as if it had been up the chimney, or under the
grate, as well as in the frying-pan. An omelette is a
hopeless impossibility, kidneys turn out tough, sausages
come up burnt in one place and burst out like old
boots in another, and when eaten, the bread-crumbs
overpower the-pork. After a series of failures, people
settle down into the cold bacon and boiled eggs ; what
Breakfast Dishes.
7i
little change they do have consisting of potted meat,
the most delicate palate being unable to distinguish
between potted ham, potted beef, potted tongue, and
potted game ; for if there is one thing in the world of
which the pieman’s remark of “ It’s the flavouring as
does it ” holds true, it is of these shilling pots of potted
meat.
Page 27
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
spread-eagle fashion, with mushrooms ; next, some curried sausages ; next, some mutton cutlets, with mixed hot pickles in the centre ; while in another dish some poached eggs sleep peacefully on slices ot rich juicy ham that have just left the gridiron. All these are placed on the table, while some grilled salmon, with which the breakfast begins, is handed round : many preferring hot muffins in lieu of bread as an accompaniment. But we must not forget the tankard, with the college arms emblazoned on its side, full of good buttery ale ; for, as many probably have already guessed, it is a college breakfast we are describing; and Paterfamilias, when he shakes his head over the college bills, will do well to excuse a little of the extravagance of youth which breaks out in the form of breakfasts rather than suppers, the latter being conducive too often to the former consisting simply of a red herring and a brandy-and-soda.
With a dozen or more healthy young men seated round the table, free from the cares of life, indifferent to, and indeed ignorant even of, the meaning of the “ money article,” no wonder the tempting viands cooked by cunning hands rapidly disappear amid a merry conversation, in which the summum bonum of earthly happiness seems to be to row in the University Eight. But we must wait a few years. The brighteyed youth with the fluffy whiskers, who performed
Common-sense Cookery.
such prodigies of valour in the last town and gown, has settled down into the sleek-looking country clergyman or lawyer ; and his pretty, quiet little wife probably never dreams even of the life he led in the boisterous, but for all that really innocent, days of his college life. The college breakfasts and the college hall have, however, had their effect, and the change from the “ college professor of cookery ” (who probably is far better off than the tutor to Mary Ann) is — well, a change. The unvarying cold boiled bacon and hot boiled eggs will, in spite of the bright silver tea-pot, the butter-dish with the silver cow on the top, the lavish display of butter-knives (all wedding presents, of course), after a time pall upon the strongest appetite ; but, unfortunately, if Mary Ann breaks down in one thing more than another, it is over the breakfast. There is an indescribable something in the appearance of the breakfast dishes she sends up that is not conducive to appetite. The yolks of egg have a tendency to run into the whites, and the fried bacon always seems as if it had been up the chimney, or under the grate, as well as in the frying-pan. An omelette is a hopeless impossibility, kidneys turn out tough, sausages come up burnt in one place and burst out like old boots in another, and when eaten, the bread-crumbs overpower the pork. After a series of failures, people settle down into the cold bacon and boiled eggs ; what
Breakfast Dishes.
little change they do have consisting of potted meat, the most delicate palate being unable to distinguish between potted ham, potted beef, potted tongue, and potted game ; for if there is one thing in the world of which the pieman’s remark of “ It’s the flavouring as does it ” holds true, it is of these shilling pots of potted meat.