The menus of three Buckingham Palace dinners tell me that his Majesty the King partook of Bisque d'Ecrevisse on May 30, 1902, of Clear Turtle or Cold Consommd on June 2, and of Consomm6 Riche on June 13. The second of these quotations is from the interesting programme of the fare offered to the members of the Jockey Club at the King's Derby Dinner, one item of which was Cassolettes k la Jockey Club, presumably a creation of his Majesty's chef, Monsieur Manager. President Loubet was less lucky when he went on his visit to Algiers in April 1903. After a review of ten thousand native horse- men at Krieder, he was tendered a native banquet by the chiefs, which began with SOUPS 51 Locust Soup. But even this is not so un- appetising as the recipe of a Monsieur Dagin, an entomologist, for Cockroach Soup. It is made thus : " Pound your cockroaches in a mortar ; put them in a sieve and pour In boiling water or beef-stock. Connoisseurs prefer this to real bisque." Possibly ; but I do not recommend it for the Chafing Dish. On the other hand, real bird's-nest soup is a great luxury. As Consomm6 aux Nids d'Hirondelles it occasionally appears on a menu ; and the Chinese, I understand, call it Yen-War-Gung. There is a subtle taste of the sea in the gelatinous lining of the swallow's nest, which is exquisite and delicate. The Japanese make a soup from black seaweed, but I cannot speak of it from experience. There lies before me a curious Latin menu of a feast given by, or to, certain German professors whose culinary Latin seems to me to be a trifle canine. Two lines of it read "Sorbitio cum globulis jecoralibus et lucan- icisj" and " Jus et linguis bovinis factum cum panificio." These I take to mean liver soup with sausage, and ox-tongue soup with bread. 52 THE CHAFING DISH But esoteric food-stufis are more interesting for their quaintness than for any intrinsic merit, and I prefer to turn to the degusta- tion of a Potage Germiny, for instance. This is the invention of the great Casimir, of the Maison d'Or, who has placed it on record that " the happiest day of my life was the day on which I invented the Potage Ger- miny. It is made of sorrel, the yolks of eggs, and cream. It was for a dinner given by the IVIarquis de Saint- Georges, the author of ' Les Mousquetaires de la Reine.' I had racked my brains to discover something wonderful, unique ; and finally I evolved the potage. When the Marquis had tasted it he sent for me. I never saw a man more moved. He threw his arms around me and exclaimed in unutterable accents : ' Casimir, this is not a soup ; it is a master- piece ! ' " This is a veritable human document. William the Conqueror had a cook called Tezelin, who one day served him with a white soup called Dillegrout. His Majesty was so pleased that he made Tezelin Lord of the Manor of Addington. Good cooks SOUPS 53 were appreciated thenadays. But we have lost the recipe for DlUegrout. Attempts have often been made to cook according to ancient recipes, but rarely with success. The curious in these matters may be referred to Smollett's observations in " Peregrine Pickle " on certain experiments to cook practically according to the recipes of Apicius. They ended disastrously. A last word on soup. The French cuisine bourgeoise (the best in the world) believes in good strong meat for its soups, and not, as we erroneously suppose, makes shift — and good shift too — out of any odds and ends ; " any old thing," as the Americans say. On the contrary, four faire sourire le pot-au-feu (delightful expression !) you must have good material, and plenty of it. " In a restaurant, when a waiter ofFers you turbot, ask for salmon, and when he ofFers you a sole, order a mackerel ; as language to man, so fish has been given to the waiter to disguise his thoughts." P. Z. DiDSBURY.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The menus of three Buckingham Palace dinners tell me that his Majesty the King partook of Bisque d'Ecrevisse on May 30, 1902, of Clear Turtle or Cold Consommd on June 2, and of Consomm6 Riche on June 13. The second of these quotations is from the interesting programme of the fare offered to the members of the Jockey Club at the King's Derby Dinner, one item of which was Cassolettes k la Jockey Club, presumably a creation of his Majesty's chef, Monsieur Manger. President Loubet was less lucky when he went on his visit to Algiers in April 1903. After a review of ten thousand native horsemen at Krieder, he was tendered a native banquet by the chiefs, which began with Locust Soup. But even this is not so unappetising as the recipe of a Monsieur Dagin, an entomologist, for Cockroach Soup. It is made thus : " Pound your cockroaches in a mortar ; put them in a sieve and pour In boiling water or beef-stock. Connoisseurs prefer this to real bisque." Possibly ; but I do not recommend it for the Chafing Dish. On the other hand, real bird's-nest soup is a great luxury. As Consomm6 aux Nids d'Hirondelles it occasionally appears on a menu ; and the Chinese, I understand, call it Yen-War-Gung. There is a subtle taste of the sea in the gelatinous lining of the swallow's nest, which is exquisite and delicate. The Japanese make a soup from black seaweed, but I cannot speak of it from experience. There lies before me a curious Latin menu of a feast given by, or to, certain German professors whose culinary Latin seems to me to be a trifle canine. Two lines of it read "Sorbitio cum globulis jecoralibus et lucanicisj" and " Jus et linguis bovinis factum cum panificio." These I take to mean liver soup with sausage, and ox-tongue soup with bread. But esoteric food-stufis are more interesting for their quaintness than for any intrinsic merit, and I prefer to turn to the degustation of a Potage Germiny, for instance. This is the invention of the great Casimir, of the Maison d'Or, who has placed it on record that " the happiest day of my life was the day on which I invented the Potage Germiny. It is made of sorrel, the yolks of eggs, and cream. It was for a dinner given by the IVIarquis de Saint- Georges, the author of ' Les Mousquetaires de la Reine.' I had racked my brains to discover something wonderful, unique ; and finally I evolved the potage. When the Marquis had tasted it he sent for me. I never saw a man more moved. He threw his arms around me and exclaimed in unutterable accents : ' Casimir, this is not a soup ; it is a masterpiece ! ' " This is a veritable human document. William the Conqueror had a cook called Tezelin, who one day served him with a white soup called Dillegrout. His Majesty was so pleased that he made Tezelin Lord of the Manor of Addington. Good cooks were appreciated thenadays. But we have lost the recipe for Dillegrout. Attempts have often been made to cook according to ancient recipes, but rarely with success. The curious in these matters may be referred to Smollett's observations in " Peregrine Pickle " on certain experiments to cook practically according to the recipes of Apicius. They ended disastrously. A last word on soup. The French cuisine bourgeoise (the best in the world) believes in good strong meat for its soups, and not, as we erroneously suppose, makes shift — and good shift too — out of any odds and ends ; " any old thing," as the Americans say. On the contrary, four faire sourire le pot-au-feu (delightful expression !) you must have good material, and plenty of it. " In a restaurant, when a waiter ofFers you turbot, ask for salmon, and when he ofFers you a sole, order a mackerel ; as language to man, so fish has been given to the waiter to disguise his thoughts." P. Z. DiDSBURY.

The cult of the chafing dish