But it is in graceful, refined France that cookery is
and has been, a pet art. Any bill of fare or French
cookery book will betray to a thoughtful reader the at-
tention given to the subject by the wittiest, gayest, and
most beautiful women, and the greatest men. The high-
sounding names attached to French standard dishes are
no mere caprice or homage of a French cook to the great in
the land, but actually point out their inventor. Thus
Bechamel was invented by the Marquis de Bechamel, as
a sauce for codfish ; while Filets de Lapereau a la
8 Culture and Cooking.
Berry were inyented by the Duchess de Berry^ daughter
of the regent Orleans, who himself invented Pain a la
(T Orleans, while to Eichelieu we are indebted for hun-
dreds of dishes besides the renowned mayonnaise.
Oailles a la Mirepois, Chartreuse a la Maticonseil,
Poiilets a la Villeroy, betray the tastes of the three great
ladies whose name they bear.
But not in courts alone has the art had its devotees.
Almost every great name in French literature brings to
mind something its owner said or did about cooking.
Dumas, who was a prince of cooks, and of whom it is
related that in 1860, when living atVarennes, St. Maur,
dividing his time, as usual, between cooking and litera-
ture {LorsquHl ne faisait pas saiiter un roman, il
faisait sauter des petits oignons), on Mountjoye, a
young artist friend and neighbor, going to see him, he
cooked dinner for him. Going into the poultry yard,
after donning a white apron, he wrung the neck of a
chicken; then to the kitchen garden for vegetables,
which he peeled and washed himself ; lit the fire, got
butter and flour ready, put on his saucepans, then cooked,
stirred, tasted, seasoned until dinner time. Then he
entered in triumph and announced, " Le diner est
servi,^^ For six months he passed three or four days a
week cooking for Mountjoye. This novelist's book says,
in connection with the fact that great cooks in France
have been men of literary culture, and literary men often
fine cooks, ^^ It is not surprising that literary men liave
always formed the entourage of a great chef, for, to
appreciate thoroughly all there is in the culinary art,
none are so well able as men of letters; accustomed as
they are to all refinements, they can appreciate bettor
than others those of the table," thus paying himself and
A Few Preliminary Remarks. g
confreres a delicate little compliment at the expense of
the non-literary world; but, notwithstanding the naiye
self-glorification, he states a fact that helps to point my
moral, that indifference to cooking does not indicate re-
finement, intellect, or social pre-eminence.
Brillat-Savarin, grave judge as he was, and abstemi-
ous eater, yet has written the book of books on the art
of eating. It was he who said, ^' Tell me what you eat,
I will tell you what you are,'^ as pregnant with truth as
the better-known proverb it paraphrases.
Page 6
Presented as published in 1885. 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
But it is in graceful, refined France that cookery is and has been, a pet art. Any bill of fare or French cookery book will betray to a thoughtful reader the attention given to the subject by the wittiest, gayest, and most beautiful women, and the greatest men. The highsounding names attached to French standard dishes are no mere caprice or homage of a French cook to the great in the land, but actually point out their inventor. Thus Bechamel was invented by the Marquis de Bechamel, as a sauce for codfish ; while Filets de Lapereau a la
8 Culture and Cooking.
Berry were invented by the Duchess de Berry^ daughter of the regent Orleans, who himself invented Pain à l'Orléans, while to Eichelieu we are indebted for hundreds of dishes besides the renowned mayonnaise.
Cailles a la Mirepois, Chartreuse a la Maticonseil, Poulets à la Villeroy, betray the tastes of the three great ladies whose name they bear.
But not in courts alone has the art had its devotees. Almost every great name in French literature brings to mind something its owner said or did about cooking. Dumas, who was a prince of cooks, and of whom it is related that in 1860, when living at Varennes, St. Maur, dividing his time, as usual, between cooking and literature {Lorsqu'il ne faisait pas sauter un roman, il faisait sauter des petits oignons), on Mountjoye, a young artist friend and neighbor, going to see him, he cooked dinner for him. Going into the poultry yard, after donning a white apron, he wrung the neck of a chicken; then to the kitchen garden for vegetables, which he peeled and washed himself ; lit the fire, got butter and flour ready, put on his saucepans, then cooked, stirred, tasted, seasoned until dinner time. Then he entered in triumph and announced, "Le dîner est servi." For six months he passed three or four days a week cooking for Mountjoye. This novelist's book says, in connection with the fact that great cooks in France have been men of literary culture, and literary men often fine cooks, ^^ It is not surprising that literary men liave always formed the entourage of a great chef, for, to appreciate thoroughly all there is in the culinary art, none are so well able as men of letters; accustomed as they are to all refinements, they can appreciate bettor than others those of the table," thus paying himself and
A Few Preliminary Remarks. g
confreres a delicate little compliment at the expense of the non-literary world; but, notwithstanding the naïve self-glorification, he states a fact that helps to point my moral, that indifference to cooking does not indicate refinement, intellect, or social pre-eminence.
Brillat-Savarin, grave judge as he was, and abstemious eater, yet has written the book of books on the art of eating. It was he who said, ^' Tell me what you eat, I will tell you what you are,'^ as pregnant with truth as the better-known proverb it paraphrases.