Never let a cook run damn in his cooking, even when he is
in camp ; for it is a dead certainty that once the niceties of
dishing up and dressing are disregarded, a general slackness
will set in. “I can’t cook well’m,” said an English servant to
one of the authors ; “ there ain’t really enough cookin’ to do ;
my ’and gets h’out.” 'riiis is still more true wdth an Indian
servant. So insist on everything being done every day in
the same style. Then, if a friend comes into dinner unex-
pectedly, j’ou need have no anxieties. The dinner may be
plain, even frugal, but it will be correct, even to the most
minute details.
Betw'een the Scylla of sheer pitchforking of viands on to
the dish, and the Charybdis of what cooks call ” siijnivut,”
or decoration, simply as decoration, the mistress will find it a
little hard to steer a middle course ; but the one fault is as
bad as the other, and cutlets coloured pink wdth cochineal,
and green with spinach, ma}^ be to some minds as unappetising
to the look as a heterogeneous mass of chops and garnishing
sw'imming in a loose gravy, wdiich shows by a high-water
mark on the dish that it underwent a tide on its way
•from the cook-room. A good cook is not made, he is born ;
so if you are lucky enough to find one, do anything to
keep him — short of letting him know that you are anxious
to do so.
Finally, if in the hot w^eather the results of his hands are
poorer than usual, and he shows a captious dislike to criticism.
Housekeeper and Cook
73
o-ive him a blue pill; or present him with a bottle of Eno’s
Fruit Salt. It is very bilious work stooping over a hot fire
with the thermometer above 100°.
The implements recjuirecl by the khitviutgnv are numeious
This servant is a eurious mixture of virtues and vices.
As a rule, he is a quick, quiet waitei’, and well up in all
dining-room duties ; but in the pantry and scullery his dirt
and slovenliness are simply inconceivable to the new-comer
in India.
The best of them will, if put to it, give a final polish to
your teacup with some portion of his own clothing ; or place
fresh-made mustard on the top of the old to save the trouble
of cleaning out the pot. Much of this is, of course, due
to heredity, all Mahomedans of the lower classes being
apparently blind to dirt; but more is the result of almost
every tahle-servant beginning work as what is called a
tnnsolchi — a nameless, abject, adjunct of the scullery, who
washes up by the light of Nature. Dirty habits thus grow
unchecked by the mistress’s eye, and cling to the learner
long after he has risen to higher things ; whereas, if the
sensible plan, advocated elsewhere, is adopted, of having
no miisolchi, the khilmnigdr would have to learn his work
thoroughly from the beginning. But whatever may have
been his training in the past, the mistress should insist on
Duties of the KhitmutgIe.
1 Set of plate brushes.
2 Chamois leathers.
1 Box plate powder.
1 Box polishing paste.
1 Brazier or angithi.
1 Earthen butter cooler.
2 Galvanised iron pails.
1 Decanter drainer.
3 Wooden or tin tubs.
1 Plate rack.
1 Scrubbing brush.
1 Hot case.
1 Knife board.
1 Tin for washing knives.
1 Jug mop.
1 Wooden butler’ s-tray.
1 Toasting fork.
Kitchen paper for wrapping
spare plate.
1 Bread pan.
Wire covers for jam, &c.
1 Silver basket.
Endless dusters and tea cloths.
1 Pair butter spats.
74 The Complete Indian
Page 49
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
Never let a cook run down in his cooking, even when he is in camp ; for it is a dead certainty that once the niceties of dishing up and dressing are disregarded, a general slackness will set in. “I can’t cook well’m,” said an English servant to one of the authors ; “ there ain’t really enough cookin’ to do ; my ’and gets h’out.” 'riiis is still more true with an Indian servant. So insist on everything being done every day in the same style. Then, if a friend comes into dinner unexpectedly, j’ou need have no anxieties. The dinner may be plain, even frugal, but it will be correct, even to the most minute details.
Between the Scylla of sheer pitchforking of viands on to the dish, and the Charybdis of what cooks call ” siijnivut,” or decoration, simply as decoration, the mistress will find it a little hard to steer a middle course ; but the one fault is as bad as the other, and cutlets coloured pink with cochineal, and green with spinach, may be to some minds as unappetising to the look as a heterogeneous mass of chops and garnishing swimming in a loose gravy, which shows by a high-water mark on the dish that it underwent a tide on its way •from the cook-room. A good cook is not made, he is born ; so if you are lucky enough to find one, do anything to keep him — short of letting him know that you are anxious to do so.
Finally, if in the hot weather the results of his hands are poorer than usual, and he shows a captious dislike to criticism.
Housekeeper and Cook
Give him a blue pill; or present him with a bottle of Eno’s Fruit Salt. It is very bilious work stooping over a hot fire with the thermometer above 100°.
The implements required by the khitmutgar are numerous
This servant is a eurious mixture of virtues and vices. As a rule, he is a quick, quiet waitei’, and well up in all dining-room duties ; but in the pantry and scullery his dirt and slovenliness are simply inconceivable to the new-comer in India.
The best of them will, if put to it, give a final polish to your teacup with some portion of his own clothing ; or place fresh-made mustard on the top of the old to save the trouble of cleaning out the pot. Much of this is, of course, due to heredity, all Mahomedans of the lower classes being apparently blind to dirt; but more is the result of almost every table-servant beginning work as what is called a tnnsolchi — a nameless, abject, adjunct of the scullery, who washes up by the light of Nature. Dirty habits thus grow unchecked by the mistress’s eye, and cling to the learner long after he has risen to higher things ; whereas, if the sensible plan, advocated elsewhere, is adopted, of having no misolchi, the khilmnigdr would have to learn his work thoroughly from the beginning. But whatever may have been his training in the past, the mistress should insist on
Duties of the KhitmutgIe.
1 Set of plate brushes.
2 Chamois leathers.
1 Box plate powder.
1 Box polishing paste.
1 Brazier or angithi.
1 Earthen butter cooler.
2 Galvanised iron pails. 1 Decanter drainer.
3 Wooden or tin tubs.
1 Plate rack.
1 Scrubbing brush.
1 Hot case.
1 Knife board.
1 Tin for washing knives.
1 Jug mop.
1 Wooden butler’ s-tray.
1 Toasting fork.
Kitchen paper for wrapping
spare plate.
1 Bread pan.
Wire covers for jam, &c.
1 Silver basket.
Endless dusters and tea cloths. 1 Pair butter spats.
74 The Complete Indian