In England, the fashion of having various kinds of sand-
wiches at afternoon tea has of late gained ground, but as it
means a necessary disregard of dinner, it is not to be
encouraged by any one who sets up for being a gourmet.
A few recipes of the latest novelties have, hoAvever, been
given in the proper place.
The art of dinner-giving is a difficult subject to ajjproach.
D
50 The Complete Indian
^^any people openly assert that the native plan of sending
dinner on a tray to the person you desire to entertain, would
remove mountains of ennui and trouble for both liost and
guest. But there must be sometliing wrong in a hospitality
which demands self-devotion on both sides. As a matter of
fact, the big dinner-party fails just in proportion to the effort
made in giving it. A hostess who is dead tired with cooking
and arranging flowers all day, must be exceptionally gifted if
she can perform her duties to her guests as well as if she
came to them fresh. It may be laid down as an axiom that,
to be pleasant to all parties, a dinner must not rise too much
beyond the daily level in cooking and serving. Hence follows
the corollary, that if you wish to give neat, well-served dinners
you must live neatly, and have even your water-gruel served
tidily. Therefore, whatever your style of living may be,
entertain your friends in that style, and there will be reason-
able prospect of your succeeding. It must not be forgotten
that the dinner is not the end in itself. It is the means of
making your guests enter into that contented frame of mind
which conduces to good fellowship ; and, to an ordinarily
sympathetic guest, the sight of an anxious host or hostess is
fatal to personal placidity. “ If Ihet/ serve you up a barbecued
puppy dog, keej) a cool countenance and help the company round,
says the young husband in “ Heartsease ” to his tearful wife.
Never was better advice given, if we supplement it with the
words, “and have it out with the cook afterwards."
Everyday dinners, then, are the test of capacity for enter-
taining ; the effort at success should be made there, and not
intermittently, when, with a sigh, you accept the inevitable
necessity of asking the Browns, Joneses, and Robinsons to a
fearful feast. With the number of servants in Indian houses,
there is no reason why the table should not be laid, and the
dinner routine gone through with the same details when you
care alone, as when there are guests in the house. In addition,
it is fatal to a cook to let him get slack under any circum-
stances, while there is really no more reason why your
husband should be treated to an ill-considered meal than
your guest ; perhaps less, since the guest will not comi)lain,
and the husband most certainly will.
It is no use, however, giving imagin.ary menus. 'I hey care
like a swimming belt — the learner finds himself quite as
Housekeeper and Cook 51
helpless once the support is removed as he was at the very
beginning. The only royal road is thought and imagination.
It requires little to convince any one that a dinner of beef
oliveSj rolled shoulder of mutton, stuffed quails^ and roly-poly
would be nauseating in the extreme. A successful dinner-
giver will train this innate sense of taste till it becomes
equally certain that mock-turtle soup is not a fit prelude to a
dinner, though it may make an admirable lunch.
Page 33
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
In England, the fashion of having various kinds of sandwiches at afternoon tea has of late gained ground, but as it means a necessary disregard of dinner, it is not to be encouraged by any one who sets up for being a gourmet. A few recipes of the latest novelties have, however, been given in the proper place.
The art of dinner-giving is a difficult subject to approach.
D
50 The Complete Indian
^^any people openly assert that the native plan of sending dinner on a tray to the person you desire to entertain, would remove mountains of ennui and trouble for both liost and guest. But there must be something wrong in a hospitality which demands self-devotion on both sides. As a matter of fact, the big dinner-party fails just in proportion to the effort made in giving it. A hostess who is dead tired with cooking and arranging flowers all day, must be exceptionally gifted if she can perform her duties to her guests as well as if she came to them fresh. It may be laid down as an axiom that, to be pleasant to all parties, a dinner must not rise too much beyond the daily level in cooking and serving. Hence follows the corollary, that if you wish to give neat, well-served dinners you must live neatly, and have even your water-gruel served tidily. Therefore, whatever your style of living may be, entertain your friends in that style, and there will be reasonable prospect of your succeeding. It must not be forgotten that the dinner is not the end in itself. It is the means of making your guests enter into that contented frame of mind which conduces to good fellowship ; and, to an ordinarily sympathetic guest, the sight of an anxious host or hostess is fatal to personal placidity. “ If Ihet/ serve you up a barbecued puppy dog, keej) a cool countenance and help the company round, says the young husband in “ Heartsease ” to his tearful wife. Never was better advice given, if we supplement it with the words, “and have it out with the cook afterwards."
Everyday dinners, then, are the test of capacity for entertaining ; the effort at success should be made there, and not intermittently, when, with a sigh, you accept the inevitable necessity of asking the Browns, Joneses, and Robinsons to a fearful feast. With the number of servants in Indian houses, there is no reason why the table should not be laid, and the dinner routine gone through with the same details when you care alone, as when there are guests in the house. In addition, it is fatal to a cook to let him get slack under any circumstances, while there is really no more reason why your husband should be treated to an ill-considered meal than your guest ; perhaps less, since the guest will not complain, and the husband most certainly will.
It is no use, however, giving imaginary menus. 'I hey care like a swimming belt — the learner finds himself quite as
Housekeeper and Cook 51
helpless once the support is removed as he was at the very beginning. The only royal road is thought and imagination. It requires little to convince any one that a dinner of beef oliveSj rolled shoulder of mutton, stuffed quails^ and roly-poly would be nauseating in the extreme. A successful dinnergiver will train this innate sense of taste till it becomes equally certain that mock-turtle soup is not a fit prelude to a dinner, though it may make an admirable lunch.