Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Too often in small houses, where the extent of kitchen range and kitchen utensils are necessarily limited, when delay or confusion arises in a dinner, it is owing to a want of forethought in those who order the dinner. The dinner should so be ordered that at any rate a certain number of the dishes can be prepared and finished beforehand. Again — and such cases are very numerous — where, perhaps, there is only one servant to wait, regard should be had to the dishes ordered. For instance, contrast the trouble to both cook and waiter given by the two fishes — boiled salmon and stewed eels. The stewed eels can be prepared and finished early in the day, and simply require putting into a hot dish. In serving the stewed eels, the waiter lias merely to go once to each person. With regard to salmon, it must be of course boiled at the last moment; it also requires some fish sauce, as well as cucumber. In addition, therefore, to taking the fish to each person, there is the sauce to be handed, as well as the cucumber, and, probably, in addition to the last sauce, many will ask for some anchovy sauce, or cayenne pepper, &c. : the one waiter will get muddled, and forget to take round the wine. I do not mean that this is necessarily the case; but when persons give little dinners, and know that their servants are not altogether first-class, a little forethought in ordering will often save an infinity of trouble. It is, indeed, quite possible to order a dinner, and a small one too, that implies so many saucepans in use at once that the establishment is not equal to the task, nor the fireplace large enough to hold the saucepans, even were they in sufficient quantity. Avoid, also, in ordering dinner, to have too many entrees or other dishes that can only be done the last moment. For instance, fried oysters, kromeskies, mutton-cutlets, and a savoury omelet, would be a sore trial to a cook were they ordered as four entrees together. The probable result would be that the kromeskies and fried oysters would be cooked before and warmed up in the oven, the result being that the outsides of the kromeskies would be heavy and the oysters tough. The cutlets would also be cooked and kept warm for a time. Now of all dishes there is probably none so dependent on immediate serving as cutlets. Warmed-up cutlets are never fit to eat. Indeed, the cook should never begin to cook cutlets till three or four minutes before they are wanted. They should be red and juicy inside, or they are not worth eating. A nice mutton cutlet, i.e., as I have said, red inside, and not blue and black out, is a certain sign that the cook is good. No dinner can be properly served unless there is a perfectly good understanding between the cook and those waiting at table. It will be found very desirable for the cook to arrange beforehand some signal with those up-stairs, in. order that she may know when to commence getting ready any particular dish. Ixxii cassell's dictionary of cookery.