X.B. — The Business of Messrs. BATHGATE & SON was removed from 23, Canning Place, to our premises, in October, 1884, and since then has been conducted by us. 7 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. By Commander W. F. CABORNE , C.B., R.N.R In days gone by, the term " son of a sea cook ” seems to have been one of the most opprobrious epithets that could be bestowed upon a not altogether satisfactory shipmate. The exact origin of the expression I have never inquired into, but it may well be that at a period when seamanship, or, rather, that portion of the art ot seamanship which formed the every-day equipment of the able seaman of the period, stood on a higher plane than it now does, the comparative phenomenal and colossal ignorance and absolute incompetency of the contemporaneous nautical cooks stood promin- ently forth and specially marked them out, and, by natural inference, their unfortunate offspring also, to be the recipients of the sarcasms of their long-suffering shipmates, whose normally hard lot was rendered still harder by the lamentable want of practical knowledge displayed by those who pretended to be exponents of the culinary art. Time was, and that not so long ago, when “ the doctor," as the ship’s cook is frequently called, was oftener selected more out of compassion for his infirmities than because of his fitness for the post that he undertook to fill, and, under such circumstances, the saying that “ God provides food and the Devil sends cooks ” acquired peculiar force. Although this somewhat Gilbertian arrangement is now pretty well a thing of the past, and matters are on a better footing generally than they were, sea-cookenq even at the present moment, presents a very large field for improvement. Of late years, Nautical Schools of Cookery have been established in a few of our sea-ports, the object being to train the ordinary ship s cook, while using the stoves and utensils with which he will have to woik when afloat, to properly prepare the provisions that are ordinarily supplied to the vessels belonging to the mercantile marine, and also to so manipulate them as to introduce a greater variety into the daily menu of the officers and men. These schools have done, and are doing, excellent work, and their graduates appear to be specially sought after. 8 And now for a word or two about the food. Drawing upon my own reminiscences, it is certain that in the sixties of the last century, the ci'ew provisions supplied to even sailing ships of the most superior class left much to be desired. The biscuit kept in bags — tanks were hardly thought of for the purpose then — was full of weevils, a condition which we were assured was only a convincing proof of the goodness of the bread ; the beef was so highly pickled and so hard that snuff boxes could be, and were, manufactured out of it ; the aroma of the salt pork did not suggest the perfumes of Araby the Blest ; and a great portion of the water was carried in evil-smelling casks. However, we have progressed since then, and it is an undoubted fact that the general character of the provisions supplied for the use of our merchant sailors has considerably improved of late years. While that is so, there is much need for a greater variety of articles, and that is being provided for by the new Dietary Scale in connection with the Merchant Shipping Act of 1906.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

X.B. — The Business of Messrs. BATHGATE & SON was removed from 23, Canning Place, to our premises, in October, 1884, and since then has been conducted by us. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. By Commander W. F. CABORNE , C.B., R.N.R In days gone by, the term " son of a sea cook ” seems to have been one of the most opprobrious epithets that could be bestowed upon a not altogether satisfactory shipmate. The exact origin of the expression I have never inquired into, but it may well be that at a period when seamanship, or, rather, that portion of the art of seamanship which formed the every-day equipment of the able seaman of the period, stood on a higher plane than it now does, the comparative phenomenal and colossal ignorance and absolute incompetency of the contemporaneous nautical cooks stood prominently forth and specially marked them out, and, by natural inference, their unfortunate offspring also, to be the recipients of the sarcasms of their long-suffering shipmates, whose normally hard lot was rendered still harder by the lamentable want of practical knowledge displayed by those who pretended to be exponents of the culinary art. Time was, and that not so long ago, when “ the doctor," as the ship’s cook is frequently called, was oftener selected more out of compassion for his infirmities than because of his fitness for the post that he undertook to fill, and, under such circumstances, the saying that “ God provides food and the Devil sends cooks ” acquired peculiar force. Although this somewhat Gilbertian arrangement is now pretty well a thing of the past, and matters are on a better footing generally than they were, sea-cookery even at the present moment, presents a very large field for improvement. Of late years, Nautical Schools of Cookery have been established in a few of our sea-ports, the object being to train the ordinary ship's cook, while using the stoves and utensils with which he will have to woik when afloat, to properly prepare the provisions that are ordinarily supplied to the vessels belonging to the mercantile marine, and also to so manipulate them as to introduce a greater variety into the daily menu of the officers and men. These schools have done, and are doing, excellent work, and their graduates appear to be specially sought after. And now for a word or two about the food. Drawing upon my own reminiscences, it is certain that in the sixties of the last century, the crew provisions supplied to even sailing ships of the most superior class left much to be desired. The biscuit kept in bags — tanks were hardly thought of for the purpose then — was full of weevils, a condition which we were assured was only a convincing proof of the goodness of the bread ; the beef was so highly pickled and so hard that snuff boxes could be, and were, manufactured out of it ; the aroma of the salt pork did not suggest the perfumes of Araby the Blest ; and a great portion of the water was carried in evil-smelling casks. However, we have progressed since then, and it is an undoubted fact that the general character of the provisions supplied for the use of our merchant sailors has considerably improved of late years. While that is so, there is much need for a greater variety of articles, and that is being provided for by the new Dietary Scale in connection with the Merchant Shipping Act of 1906.

Sea Cookery