The complete Indian housekeeper & cook

Having thus placed the cook in a decent kitchen, with decent appliances, the harder task remains of getting him to keep it in a decent state. This will never be accomplished unless the mistress takes the trouble of seeing that her orders are obeyed. The sweeper should go into the cook-room twice a day — once before breakfast, and once after dinner — at both of which times every particle of refuse should be removed, and the sink swept and washed clean. The ashes must also be removed, and the whole place put into thorough order, saucepans hung up, waterpots re-filled, tables washed down. A little method is all that is required, for once the sweeper and the khitmutgar are on the spot, it is no trouble to the cook to insist on their doing their duty thoroughly. Even supposing the kitchen is kept in a cleanly state, it by no means follows that the food will be cooked cleanly, and the mistress must always be on her guard against the dirty habits which are ingrained in the native cook. The 70 ' The Complete Indian strictest morning parade will not prevent him stirring the eggs into a rice pudding with his finger, but a practical illustration that the method is both troublesome and ineffectual may do some good. In the same way, once the saving of time resulting from proper appliances is brought home to the cook, you may trust him to use them ; but not till then. It would take page on page, chapter on chapter, to tell the many evil habits in which Indian cooks have been grounded and taught ; but in the Cookery Book published as a companion to this volume, most of them are mentioned in the various recipes as things not to be done. There is therefore no need to detail them here. In regard to catering, the authors much prefer the less common system of allowing the cook to do the marketings, without the intervention of the khansamah. If one man is responsible for the quality of the provisions, and another for the preparation of them, it is impossible to get a firm grip of blame on either, in the event of unpalatable food. One throws the fault on the other, and even if the khansamah is held responsible, it must always be with a mental reservation, if the mistress be herself a practical cook; for the best food will not stand bad cooking, any more than good cooking will take the place of good food. It is certainly a great satisfaction to be able to award praise or blame with a free hand, and for this reason alone divided responsibility is objectionable. Again, the man who is to do the cooking alone knows what he intends to make, and what sort, size, and quality of ingredients he requires. The bazaar is seldom so far away but that the cook can get to it before breakfast if he arranges his work methodically, while the commission he of course makes on every article is so much inducement for him to work well. As half the comfort of life depends on the actual cooker of food, it is as well to keep him pleased with himselt and with his service. Yet for one mistress who makes a point of commending a well-cooked dish, how many are there who never dream of praise, and whose only criticism is unmeasured and often unreasonable blame? There are certain delusions current in cook-houses in India, such as the belief that it is the yolk of the egg which clears soup, against which it is useless to argue. Autocratic