James II. it had fallen to its lowest depth. It revived a little in the reigns of Anne and George I. Since that time it has gradually declined, but while the fire still flickers, we hope to enlist, in these efforts to pro- mote good English cookery, the best sympathies of thoughtful women. In the reign of Louis XV. French cooking attained perfection under the cordoji bleus , which was an order of women cooks. But English cooking is capable of a far greater development than French cooking, because we have a greater variety and better food, and we are fortunate in this school in having a greater patron than Louis XV. What is now called cooking in the houses of the humbler middle and working classes, is little better than that of the Ancient Britons. In many of our public restaurants, hotels, and railway stations the greasy messes served up as soups, the stuff called coffee, the oxidised pieces of cold meat under yellow gauze, the pyramids of sausage rolls, the skin and gristle between slices of bread and mustard called sand- wiches, and the wedges of pork pies, are sufficient to indicate the fewness of our resources and the barbar- ous condition into which we have fallen. We hope by this school of cookery to awaken an interest in cooking. We hope to teach you how to make your food wholesome, palatable, and digestible. How much misery, and indigestion, and bad temper, arise from bad cooking ! and I know of no civilized art so well calculated to quicken the best faculties of a woman. Cooking in its perfection is an experimental science, an intellectual exercise of the highest order ; and if cooking had ever been studied as a science and Early English Food and Cooking. 1 5 practised as an art, if it had ever been taught as a necessary part of a woman’s education, it would never have fallen to its present condition, nor would we have, as is now too often the case, a girl engaged as a plain cook incapable of boiling a potatoe, or toasting a slice of bread. In a disputed will case, one of the witnesses kept saying he knew the testator was a man of sound mind, and that he led a godly and pious life. The judge asked, “ What do you mean by a man leading a godly and pious life ? ” “ Please your lordship, he spent most of his time and money in teaching the poor to make cheap soup.” It would be a good thing if all who lead, or who think they lead a godly and pious life, were able “ both by precept and by example,” to teach the poor how properly to perform the common duties of life. The difference between new bread and stale bread in a family, is one loaf in five. The objects in cooking food are — 1st. To make it softer, so that it may be more easily masti- cated and digested. 2nd. To destroy life-germs, and make it more pleasant to the taste. Warm food is more digestible than cold food. Children and old, feeble persons require warm food more than strong adults, Tea is a most expensive substitute for food. Never take tea without something to eat. Home-made bread keeps fresh longer than bakers’ bread, and is more economical and wholesome. Ten pounds of flour will produce from 13 to 14 lbs of bread. The reprehensible practice of using alum is to enable the flour to absorb more water, and make the bread weigh heavier. Alum deteriorates the bread and injures the stomach. HOUSES OF THE WORKING AND MIDDLE CLASSES.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

James II. it had fallen to its lowest depth. It revived a little in the reigns of Anne and George I. Since that time it has gradually declined, but while the fire still flickers, we hope to enlist, in these efforts to promote good English cookery, the best sympathies of thoughtful women. In the reign of Louis XV. French cooking attained perfection under the cordon bleus , which was an order of women cooks. But English cooking is capable of a far greater development than French cooking, because we have a greater variety and better food, and we are fortunate in this school in having a greater patron than Louis XV. What is now called cooking in the houses of the humbler middle and working classes, is little better than that of the Ancient Britons. In many of our public restaurants, hotels, and railway stations the greasy messes served up as soups, the stuff called coffee, the oxidised pieces of cold meat under yellow gauze, the pyramids of sausage rolls, the skin and gristle between slices of bread and mustard called sandwiches, and the wedges of pork pies, are sufficient to indicate the fewness of our resources and the barbarous condition into which we have fallen. We hope by this school of cookery to awaken an interest in cooking. We hope to teach you how to make your food wholesome, palatable, and digestible. How much misery, and indigestion, and bad temper, arise from bad cooking ! and I know of no civilized art so well calculated to quicken the best faculties of a woman. Cooking in its perfection is an experimental science, an intellectual exercise of the highest order ; and if cooking had ever been studied as a science and Early English Food and Cooking. 1 5 practised as an art, if it had ever been taught as a necessary part of a woman’s education, it would never have fallen to its present condition, nor would we have, as is now too often the case, a girl engaged as a plain cook incapable of boiling a potato, or toasting a slice of bread. In a disputed will case, one of the witnesses kept saying he knew the testator was a man of sound mind, and that he led a godly and pious life. The judge asked, “ What do you mean by a man leading a godly and pious life ? ” “ Please your lordship, he spent most of his time and money in teaching the poor to make cheap soup.” It would be a good thing if all who lead, or who think they lead a godly and pious life, were able “ both by precept and by example,” to teach the poor how properly to perform the common duties of life. The difference between new bread and stale bread in a family, is one loaf in five. The objects in cooking food are — 1st. To make it softer, so that it may be more easily masticated and digested. 2nd. To destroy life-germs, and make it more pleasant to the taste. Warm food is more digestible than cold food. Children and old, feeble persons require warm food more than strong adults, Tea is a most expensive substitute for food. Never take tea without something to eat. Home-made bread keeps fresh longer than bakers’ bread, and is more economical and wholesome. Ten pounds of flour will produce from 13 to 14 lbs of bread. The reprehensible practice of using alum is to enable the flour to absorb more water, and make the bread weigh heavier. Alum deteriorates the bread and injures the stomach. HOUSES OF THE WORKING AND MIDDLE CLASSES.

Buckmaster's cookery