In that laboratory, standing before a broad
kitchen table, and aided by one of the neatest-
handed parlourmaids I ever knew, the artistic por-
126 The Bachelor and the Chafing-dish.
tion of the dinner used to be accomplished ; the
ingredients for the made dishes were mixed ; there
was white stock and there was brown stock sim-
mering over the charcoal ; the sauces were all
made, labelled and placed in different casseroles in
a bain marie pan of boiling water ; and all Mrs.
-Cook in the regions below had to do was to make
the soup, dress the fish and vegetables, and roast
the joints and game. We had a worthy soul at
per annum who stayed with us several years ;
and when I went to Australia in 1885 she was fit
to be cook at a London club. She used to beg
and pray to be taught to make sauces and entries,
and when my wife had any leisure she used to in-
struct her; but on the occasion of an exceptionally
recherche banquet, she herself, and she only, was
la saucier efi
*
* *
Concerning the famous cooks of this century
(and I do not know to whom I owe this uncredited
scrap from my note-book) :
“ Each has left a record of his accomplishments
in the form of a treatise on the culinary art. Of
these, Beauvilliers in his ‘ L’Art du Cuisinier,’
Careme in his ‘ Maitre d’Hotel Franpaise Ude,
‘The French Cook ; ’ Soyer in ‘The Gastronomic
Regenerator,’ Francatelli in his ‘Modern Cook,’
L Envoi.
12 7
and Gouffe in his ‘ Le Livre de Cuisine,’ have car-
ried to the utmost limit all that is possible in the
science of cookery. Beauvilliers was renowned for
his entrees and roasts. In the absolute perfection
of these he in his time stood alone as the master
par excellence. His book, even at this day, offers
an example of what a treatise on cookery should be;
moreover, it reveals the position of the culinary art
at the fall of the First Empire. Careme is probably
that cook whose reputation surpasses that of all his
contemporaries and successors. Careme excelled
in entremets and sauces. It was said of him that if
it were wished to eat of a grandfather or an ele-
phant, he was the one to prepare the sauce to dis-
guise the flavor of either. He died before he had
completed that part of his work relating to sauces
and entrees. Careme as a writer on the culinary
art indulged in romantic elaboration. This is at-
tributed to the influence of the time — the reign of
Louis XVIII. At that period eating and drinking
were ostentatious and vulgar. The King, whose
dinner was always one of forty courses, was respon-
sible for this, and Careme yielded to the fashion of
the day, probably, however, through natural incli-
nation as much as through necessity. He devel-
oped a mania for decoration, in which he employed
stearine with a lavish hand. Under this decorative
128 The Bachelor and the Chafing-dish.
Page 43
Presented as published in 1895. 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
In that laboratory, standing before a broad kitchen table, and aided by one of the neatesthanded parlourmaids I ever knew, the artistic por-
126 The Bachelor and the Chafing-dish.
tion of the dinner used to be accomplished ; the ingredients for the made dishes were mixed ; there was white stock and there was brown stock simmering over the charcoal ; the sauces were all made, labelled and placed in different casseroles in a bain marie pan of boiling water ; and all Mrs. -Cook in the regions below had to do was to make the soup, dress the fish and vegetables, and roast the joints and game. We had a worthy soul at per annum who stayed with us several years ; and when I went to Australia in 1885 she was fit to be cook at a London club. She used to beg and pray to be taught to make sauces and entries, and when my wife had any leisure she used to instruct her; but on the occasion of an exceptionally recherche banquet, she herself, and she only, was la saucière
*
* *
Concerning the famous cooks of this century (and I do not know to whom I owe this uncredited scrap from my note-book) :
“ Each has left a record of his accomplishments in the form of a treatise on the culinary art. Of these, Beauvilliers in his ‘ L’Art du Cuisinier,’ Careme in his ‘ Maitre d’Hotel Franpaise Ude, ‘The French Cook ; ’ Soyer in ‘The Gastronomic Regenerator,’ Francatelli in his ‘Modern Cook,’
L Envoi.
12 7
and Gouffe in his ‘ Le Livre de Cuisine,’ have carried to the utmost limit all that is possible in the science of cookery. Beauvilliers was renowned for his entrees and roasts. In the absolute perfection of these he in his time stood alone as the master par excellence. His book, even at this day, offers an example of what a treatise on cookery should be; moreover, it reveals the position of the culinary art at the fall of the First Empire. Careme is probably that cook whose reputation surpasses that of all his contemporaries and successors. Careme excelled in entremets and sauces. It was said of him that if it were wished to eat of a grandfather or an elephant, he was the one to prepare the sauce to disguise the flavor of either. He died before he had completed that part of his work relating to sauces and entrees. Careme as a writer on the culinary art indulged in romantic elaboration. This is attributed to the influence of the time — the reign of Louis XVIII. At that period eating and drinking were ostentatious and vulgar. The King, whose dinner was always one of forty courses, was responsible for this, and Careme yielded to the fashion of the day, probably, however, through natural inclination as much as through necessity. He developed a mania for decoration, in which he employed stearine with a lavish hand. Under this decorative
128 The Bachelor and the Chafing-dish.