The kitchen is a black hole, the pantry a sink. The
only servant who will condescend to tidy up is a skulkino-
savage with a reed broom ; whilst pervading all things broods
the stifling, enervating atmosphere of custom, against which
enei^y beats itself unavailingly, as against a feather bed.
The authors themselves know Avhat it is to look round on
a large Indian household, seeing that all things are wrono-
a t ling.s slovenly, yet feeling paralysed by sheer inexperi-
ence in the attempt to find a remedy.
It is in the hopes of supplying a little experience at
second-hand that this book lias been written. In it an
attempt has been made to assimilate the duties of each
servant to those of his or her English compeer, and thus
to show the new-comer where the fault lies, if fault exists.
Also, as briefly as possible, to point out bad habits which
are sure to be met with, and suggest such remedies as the
authors experience has proved to be successful. And here
1 may e remarked, that the very possession of the book
ix
X
Preface
may be held to presuppose some desire on the part of the
possessor to emulate the wife who does her husband good,
and not evil, all the days of her life, by looking well to the
ways of her household.
One can scarcely begip a book of this sort by an essay on
ethics ; therefore the authors premise a certain sense ot duty,
and the educated refinement which refuses to eat more than
the necessary peck of dirt.
In the Cookery Book, which follows as a second part, the
authors have again worked from practical experience, not
only of the recipes themselves, but also of the exigencies o
Indian life in the present day. The age of the Nabobs is
past, the Pagoda tree extinct as the dodo; and, though
butcher’s meat remains cheap, and most of the necessaries
of life are reasonable, the rupee at one and fourpence an
a fraction makes economy a grave question for most Indian
officials. With young mouths at home eating beefsteak at
a rupee and a quarter per pound, the number of those sadly
depreciated images of Her Gracious Majesty which remain
for pater and materfamihas is often but small.
L in the recipes the authors have given as wide a berth
as possible to “Europe stores”; to everything, m shor ,
which makes a perusal of the daily rate of exchange a terror
*'"'^h/oXi-' to simplify the training of servants as far as
possible the authors have arranged to issue the ''aiion
chapters on the duties of servants in the form of pamp lets
in Urdu and Hindi. The price of each
from one to two annas ; and it is believed ‘ J
be found of great use, as, even when the servants canno
read thev can get some one to read to them.
The Cookefy Book will be simultaneously published
Urdu at the lowest possible price. FAS
G. G.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
Page 1
Presented as published in 1898. 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
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The kitchen is a black hole, the pantry a sink. The
only servant who will condescend to tidy up is a skulkino-
savage with a reed broom ; whilst pervading all things broods
the stifling, enervating atmosphere of custom, against which
enei^y beats itself unavailingly, as against a feather bed.
The authors themselves know Avhat it is to look round on
a large Indian household, seeing that all things are wrono-
a t ling.s slovenly, yet feeling paralysed by sheer inexperi-
ence in the attempt to find a remedy.
It is in the hopes of supplying a little experience at
second-hand that this book lias been written. In it an
attempt has been made to assimilate the duties of each
servant to those of his or her English compeer, and thus
to show the new-comer where the fault lies, if fault exists.
Also, as briefly as possible, to point out bad habits which
are sure to be met with, and suggest such remedies as the
authors experience has proved to be successful. And here
1 may e remarked, that the very possession of the book
ix
X
Preface
may be held to presuppose some desire on the part of the
possessor to emulate the wife who does her husband good,
and not evil, all the days of her life, by looking well to the
ways of her household.
One can scarcely begip a book of this sort by an essay on
ethics ; therefore the authors premise a certain sense ot duty,
and the educated refinement which refuses to eat more than
the necessary peck of dirt.
In the Cookery Book, which follows as a second part, the
authors have again worked from practical experience, not
only of the recipes themselves, but also of the exigencies o
Indian life in the present day. The age of the Nabobs is
past, the Pagoda tree extinct as the dodo; and, though
butcher’s meat remains cheap, and most of the necessaries
of life are reasonable, the rupee at one and fourpence an
a fraction makes economy a grave question for most Indian
officials. With young mouths at home eating beefsteak at
a rupee and a quarter per pound, the number of those sadly
depreciated images of Her Gracious Majesty which remain
for pater and materfamihas is often but small.
L in the recipes the authors have given as wide a berth
as possible to “Europe stores”; to everything, m shor ,
which makes a perusal of the daily rate of exchange a terror
*'"'^h/oXi-' to simplify the training of servants as far as
possible the authors have arranged to issue the ''aiion
chapters on the duties of servants in the form of pamp lets
in Urdu and Hindi. The price of each
from one to two annas ; and it is believed ‘ J
be found of great use, as, even when the servants canno
read thev can get some one to read to them.
The Cookefy Book will be simultaneously published
Urdu at the lowest possible price. FAS
G. G.
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION