The cult of the chafing dish

The tomato or love-apple is a perennial joy to the eye, whether cooked or uncooked, ripe or unripe. Its form and colour are alike exquisite; and its flavour altogether a thing apart. Our grandfathers knew little or nothing about it, apart from sauce, and it has been left to our generation fully to appreciate its possibilities. It is the more strange because it has been a staple article of food in mid and southern Europe since H time immemorial. It has even been suggested that Eve's apple, Paris' apple, Nausicaa's apple, and the apples of Hesperides were all really tomatoes ! K^pommes d' amour, fomi di mori, Liebesapfel, Paradiesapfel, or tomatoes, they are nowadays honoured and appreciated by all right lovers of the good things of the earth. They are both fruit and vegetable, and it is very difficult to spoil them in cooking. They are best of all when grilled as an accompaniment to chops (Mr. Pickwick, it will be remembered, enjoyed them in the form of sauce), but the following is a very simple and honest way of preparing them. Fried Tomatoes. Cut three tomatoes in halves. Pepper and salt them and coat the cut surfaces with breadcrumbs. Put two tablespoons of butter in the Chafing Dish, and when sizzling add the tomatoes and cook them thoroughly for eight minutes. The Jerusalem artichoke should not be devoted solely to soup. It is an excellent adjunct to meats, and fully repays a little careful attention. Fried Artichoke Chips. Wash and peel the outer skin of a pound of artichokes, then with a very sharp knife peel them into ribbons (as one would peel an apple) ; then put them lightly in a cloth to dry. Hot up two tablespoons of olive oil in the Chafer to smoking-point. Put in the artichokes, letting them fry until they rustle when stirred with a fork. Pour off the oil and strain them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Braised Artichokes. Wash and peel a pound of artichokes and put them aside in a basin of cold water- Melt a walnut of butter in the Chafing Dish ; add the artichokes after drying them well. Let them brown well in the butter ; add pepper and salt and stir them frequently, letting them simmer for twelve minutes. Spinach Puree. Have your spinach thoroughly well washed in several waters till it is perfectly clean. Boil a pint of water in the Chafing Dish, salt it and put in the spinach. Boil it for ten minutes. Take out the spinach and strain it. Pour cold water over it to take away the bitter taste ; strain again. Put a walnut of butter in the dish, add the spinach and half a cupful of milk. Mix up well with a wooden spoon. Heat for five minutes. There are about twenty-five different kinds of edible mushrooms. The popular test of peeling is unreliable, because some poisonous mushrooms peel easily, and some harmless kinds do not. An authority on mushrooms (Mr. E. Kay Robinson) says: "If a mushroom of any kind which has been gathered from an open space is brittle and compact in texture, and not brightly coloured, nor peculiar in taste or unpleasant in smell, and neither exudes a milky juice when bruised, nor changes colour wnen exposed to the air, you may eat it without fear." Consequently, when you go mushroomgathering you must bear in mind nearly as many things as when you address your ball on the tee. I always buy my mushrooms, and go to a good shop ; then, I think, you are fairly safe. The onion is a sure poison detector. Put an onion In a dish of mushrooms. If it does not change colour the mushrooms are all right. If it blushes black with shame at its contiguity, they are all wrong. A silver spoon acts in the same, way and gets black in contact with toadstools or the like. Verily, evil communications corrupt good manners — even in onions. Stewed Mushrooms.