Whilst nothing- can be truer than the remark that sound healthy life, whether in the animal or vegetable kingdom, is quite inconsistent with the habitual use of a highly stimulating diet, it is at the same time necessary to study the peculiarities of those palates and digestions which have to be kept in healthy order, to consult idiosyncrasies and to humour whims as far as is possible. There is neither sense nor saving in using that against which the stomach is set. A remark of Dr. Brunton deserves to be quoted on this point : — ' Savoury food causes the digestive juices to be freely secreted ; well-cooked and palatable food is therefore more digestible than unpalatable ; and if the food lack savour, a desire naturally arises to supply it by condiments, not always well selected or whole- some. ' After a meal containing sufficient nutriment for the wants of the s}'stem, but very plain and simple in character, a craving is often felt for something more, although the person cannot say for what he craves. This may be satisfied by a little salt (on a crust of bread) on the tongue, though a more agreeable mode is to eat some dried, or ripe fresh fruit.' 56 DRESS OF THE COOK. CHAPTER XL DRESS OF THE COOK. The necessity for the utmost care and accuracy in cleaning the kitchen, the larder, and all cooking utensils has been dwelt upon ; but, from the same point of view, there remains something to be said about the dress of the cook herself when actually at work in her kitchen. Her dress certainly ought to be made of some material which admits of being washed. Flounces or folds that act as pockets to catch falling particles are to be avoided, but still more a skirt so long as to sweep or even to touch the floor. Why should she run the risk of picking up and carrying about in her train the first dropped cabbage leaf or chicken-claw, or of staining this misplaced appendage in some spilt sauce or oil, and of sweeping in consequence this sauce or oil over the rest of her kitchen floor ? No cook works without an apron of some sort, but how seldom is her apron really large enough — large enough to secure her dress against a stain were she suddenly to drop her hands by her side. Or perhaps, though of a good size, it is not sufficiently fastened back, and being loose she is tempted at some emer- gency to wipe her hands in it. If she does so, the DRESS OF THE COOK. S7 chances are she pulls it out of its place and leaves her dress unprotected. A better plan is to wear, under a small apron, a really large one which is tied well back over the sides. The small one is the one that habitually gets dirty, and which is thrown aside at the end of the day, whereas the larger one will probably keep clean for several days ; and under all these conditions the cotton dress of the cook ought not to require such constant washing as it would otherwise do.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Whilst nothing can be truer than the remark that sound healthy life, whether in the animal or vegetable kingdom, is quite inconsistent with the habitual use of a highly stimulating diet, it is at the same time necessary to study the peculiarities of those palates and digestions which have to be kept in healthy order, to consult idiosyncrasies and to humour whims as far as is possible. There is neither sense nor saving in using that against which the stomach is set. A remark of Dr. Brunton deserves to be quoted on this point : — ' Savoury food causes the digestive juices to be freely secreted ; well-cooked and palatable food is therefore more digestible than unpalatable ; and if the food lack savour, a desire naturally arises to supply it by condiments, not always well selected or wholesome. ' After a meal containing sufficient nutriment for the wants of the system, but very plain and simple in character, a craving is often felt for something more, although the person cannot say for what he craves. This may be satisfied by a little salt (on a crust of bread) on the tongue, though a more agreeable mode is to eat some dried, or ripe fresh fruit.' 56 DRESS OF THE COOK. CHAPTER XL DRESS OF THE COOK. The necessity for the utmost care and accuracy in cleaning the kitchen, the larder, and all cooking utensils has been dwelt upon ; but, from the same point of view, there remains something to be said about the dress of the cook herself when actually at work in her kitchen. Her dress certainly ought to be made of some material which admits of being washed. Flounces or folds that act as pockets to catch falling particles are to be avoided, but still more a skirt so long as to sweep or even to touch the floor. Why should she run the risk of picking up and carrying about in her train the first dropped cabbage leaf or chicken-claw, or of staining this misplaced appendage in some spilt sauce or oil, and of sweeping in consequence this sauce or oil over the rest of her kitchen floor ? No cook works without an apron of some sort, but how seldom is her apron really large enough — large enough to secure her dress against a stain were she suddenly to drop her hands by her side. Or perhaps, though of a good size, it is not sufficiently fastened back, and being loose she is tempted at some emergency to wipe her hands in it. If she does so, the DRESS OF THE COOK. S7 chances are she pulls it out of its place and leaves her dress unprotected. A better plan is to wear, under a small apron, a really large one which is tied well back over the sides. The small one is the one that habitually gets dirty, and which is thrown aside at the end of the day, whereas the larger one will probably keep clean for several days ; and under all these conditions the cotton dress of the cook ought not to require such constant washing as it would otherwise do.

Cookery and housekeeping