On one occasion some persons demanded melted
butter with their whitebait. Whitebait in perfection
should be small, but near the end of the season are,
of course, far larger and by no means so delicate as in
early spring. Waiters are proverbial for presence of
mind, and on one occasion, when the whitebait was
brought up, about the size of sprats, quietly answered
the intended complaint of “ Waiter, these whitebait
are very large,” by saying — “ Yes, sir — very fine, sir.”
The curried shrimps are generally served last of
all, and then some meat — generally a roast fowl or
duck — but, as a rule, no one eats much of this after all
this fish. In a private house it would be better to
have a little cold roast beef and salad to finish up
with, as in ordinary kitchens a roast duck or fowl
would be terribly in the way during cooking the
dinner.
233
XIX.— WEDDING BREAKFASTS.
My chapter on wedding breakfasts must not consist
in simply saying, Don’t have one ; though I must in
the name of common sense enter my protest against
the vulgarity — for it is nothing else — of giving one out
of proportion to the means of the giver. Where
money is no object, of course the simplest plan is to
go to some first-rate confectioner’s, and let them supply
the breakfast at so much a head. Where, however,
economy is a necessity, much can be done with a little
good management to avoid waste. I will give an
instance of a wedding breakfast that took place during
the last six months, and the cost. For it often
happens that during the last week before the wedding
there is so much to be done at home in the trousseau
line that any elaborate cooking in the house is almost
impossible. The following bill of fare is one supplied
for over sixty persons, at 14s. a head, in February
last : —
Potages.
Printanier.
Puree d’Artiehauts a la Palestine.
Entries Chaudes.
Chartreuse de Ilomard a la Cardinal.
234
Common-sense Cookery.
Petites Timbales a la Grande Duchesse.
Quenelle de Volaille a la Sefton.
Cotelettes de Tortue.
Saumon a la Mayonnaise.
Dindon aux Truffes.
Gelantine de Veau a la Jardiniere.
Langues de Boauf.
Pates de Faisans a la Francaise.
Jambon braise. Poulets rotis.
Faisans rotis.
Anguilles en Gelee a 1’ Aspic.
Petits Pates aux Huitres.
Pate de Foie-gras en Aspic.
Mayonnaise de Filets de Soles.
Salades de Homard.
Gateaux de Fruit k la Richelieu.
Fauchonette a la Prince de Galle.
Macedoine d’Abricots.
Gelees de Citron. Gelees de Marasquin.
Cremes d’ Ananas.
Petits Clioux a la Madere.
Chartreuse d’Orange a la Tangier.
Gelee k la Dauphine.
Meringue a la Suisse.
Petites Patisseries a la Bonne-bouche.
Meringues a Creme a la Cura9oa.
Fruit, &c. &c.
Glaces.
Boudins k la Princesse Alice Maude.
Wedding Breakfasts.
235
Now a breakfast like this, including as it does two
soups and four hot entrees, cannot as a rule be done
in a private house. This of course does not include
wine ; and when the breakfast is ordered from a
pastrycook’s, I would always recommend the wine to
be supplied from the home cellar. A first-class cold
breakfast from a good pastrycook’s, with soup and
ices, will cost about 12s. 6d. a head ; and unless the
weather be really very hot, soup is always desirable.
Without soup and ices, a saving of about is. ahead
can be made.
Page 95
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
On one occasion some persons demanded melted butter with their whitebait. Whitebait in perfection should be small, but near the end of the season are, of course, far larger and by no means so delicate as in early spring. Waiters are proverbial for presence of mind, and on one occasion, when the whitebait was brought up, about the size of sprats, quietly answered the intended complaint of “ Waiter, these whitebait are very large,” by saying — “ Yes, sir — very fine, sir.”
The curried shrimps are generally served last of all, and then some meat — generally a roast fowl or duck — but, as a rule, no one eats much of this after all this fish. In a private house it would be better to have a little cold roast beef and salad to finish up with, as in ordinary kitchens a roast duck or fowl would be terribly in the way during cooking the dinner.
XIX.— WEDDING BREAKFASTS.
My chapter on wedding breakfasts must not consist in simply saying, Don’t have one ; though I must in the name of common sense enter my protest against the vulgarity — for it is nothing else — of giving one out of proportion to the means of the giver. Where money is no object, of course the simplest plan is to go to some first-rate confectioner’s, and let them supply the breakfast at so much a head. Where, however, economy is a necessity, much can be done with a little good management to avoid waste. I will give an instance of a wedding breakfast that took place during the last six months, and the cost. For it often happens that during the last week before the wedding there is so much to be done at home in the trousseau line that any elaborate cooking in the house is almost impossible. The following bill of fare is one supplied for over sixty persons, at 14s. a head, in February last : —
Potages.
Printanier.
Puree d’Artiehauts a la Palestine.
Entries Chaudes.
Chartreuse de Ilomard a la Cardinal.
Common-sense Cookery.
Petites Timbales a la Grande Duchesse. Quenelle de Volaille a la Sefton. Cotelettes de Tortue.
Saumon a la Mayonnaise. Dindon aux Truffes. Gelantine de Veau a la Jardiniere.
Langues de Boauf.
Pates de Faisans a la Francaise. Jambon braise. Poulets rotis.
Faisans rotis.
Anguilles en Gelee a 1’ Aspic.
Petits Pates aux Huitres.
Pate de Foie-gras en Aspic. Mayonnaise de Filets de Soles. Salades de Homard.
Gateaux de Fruit k la Richelieu. Fauchonette a la Prince de Galle. Macedoine d’Abricots.
Gelees de Citron. Gelees de Marasquin.
Cremes d’ Ananas.
Petits Clioux a la Madere.
Chartreuse d’Orange a la Tangier.
Gelee k la Dauphine.
Meringue a la Suisse.
Petites Patisseries a la Bonne-bouche. Meringues a Creme a la Cura9oa.
Fruit, &c. &c.
Glaces.
Boudins k la Princesse Alice Maude.
Wedding Breakfasts.
Now a breakfast like this, including as it does two soups and four hot entrees, cannot as a rule be done in a private house. This of course does not include wine ; and when the breakfast is ordered from a pastrycook’s, I would always recommend the wine to be supplied from the home cellar. A first-class cold breakfast from a good pastrycook’s, with soup and ices, will cost about 12s. 6d. a head ; and unless the weather be really very hot, soup is always desirable. Without soup and ices, a saving of about is. ahead can be made.