There are many agreeable variations on the macaroni theme, some of which suggest music rather than cooking. Everybody knows Vermicelli, but among the lesser known but equally admirable kinds are Tagliatelli, Lasagnete, Fuselli, Bicorni, Candele, Cannelloni, Pennoni, Capelli di Angelo, and many more. Each has its own little special peculiarity. All are alike excellent. Tagliatelli. Perhaps the handiest for Chafing-Dish purposes is Tagliatelli. Boil two pints of water in the Dish, put in half a pound of Tagliatelli, boil eight minutes, then strain. Return to the Dish, add a tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese, and the same of butter✪ Tagliatelli. Toss round and round until well mixed, and serve very hot. Tomatoes mix well with macaroni, and so do mushrooms ; EGGS AND SAVOURIES 157 but the real macaroni-lover will prefer it by itself, accompanied always, of course, by plenty of cheese. Mustard mixes well with it, but be very chary of the salt, for it is already salted during the process of prepara- tion. To make macaroni au gratin, which seems (unaccountably enough) to be the only way in which it is served in nine British households out of ten, the top of the cooked macaroni must be well covered with grated Parmesan cheese, and then carefully browned with a salamander. Ravioli. Another most useful Italian preparation is Ravioli, which is compounded of a variety of good things. As Leporello says in Don Giovanni: " Madamina, il catalogo h questo !" Eggs, Macaroni, Paste, Pork, Chicken, Vegetables, and Cheese. It is a sort of White Knight portmanteau food, and if quite fresh (it is best in summer) is rightly termed " A dinner in one course " — if you cook it badly you may omit one letter in the last word. 158 THE CHAFING DISH This is how to prepare Ravioli with the help of Chaffinda. To two pints of boiling water in the Chafing Dish put a quarter of a pound of Ravioli ; boil for ten minutes, then strain. Return to the dish ; add half a teaspoon of butter, the same of grated Parmesan cheese✪ Ravioli, and hot it up for three minutes. Additional zest may be given, though it is by no means necessary, by cooking with the Ravioli a few fresh mush- rooms, tomatoes, or even anchovies or olives. The best Ravioli I have found in London come from the Vegetable Meal Company of Soho. With Macaroni or Ravioli I always sug- gest the drinking of Chianti, or Lacrima Christi. The former can often be obtained of quite good quality, not too rough or fiery. As to the latter, it is rare to find it drinkable. As a rule it is impossible. But the combi- nation of food and wine is a good memory- reviver of a week at Genoa. " Like as, to make our appetites more keen, With eager compounds we our palates urge ; As, to prevent our maladies unseen. We sicken, to shun sickness, when we purge ; Even so, being full of your ne'er cloying sweetness To bitter sauces did I frame my feeding." Shakespeare (Sonnet cxviii.). Madame de StaEl said that she did not believe in ghosts — but that she was afraid of them. After the same fashion, I do not al- together believe in sauces, or perhaps I ought to say in any save the very simplest ; but I fully recognise their great value in the assimi- lation of food. Many dishes, without their special sauces, would be like a well-known song sung with- out an accompaniment. However beautifully delivered, no one, be he never so musical, i6o THE CHAFING DISH could honestly say that he enjoyed Schubert's "Erlkonig," unaccompanied. The accompani- ment is so much a part of the artistic whole that to separate them would be sheer van- dalism. Something of the same intimate oneness exists in cookery. Who would care to eat lamb divorced from mint sauce, or boiled mutton without the necessary caper sauce, or goose minus apple sauce ?

AI-modernized reading of the original text

There are many agreeable variations on the macaroni theme, some of which suggest music rather than cooking. Everybody knows Vermicelli, but among the lesser known but equally admirable kinds are Tagliatelli, Lasagnete, Fuselli, Bicorni, Candele, Cannelloni, Pennoni, Capelli di Angelo, and many more. Each has its own little special peculiarity. All are alike excellent. Tagliatelli. Perhaps the handiest for Chafing-Dish purposes is Tagliatelli. Boil two pints of water in the Dish, put in half a pound of Tagliatelli, boil eight minutes, then strain. Return to the Dish, add a tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese, and the same of butter. Toss round and round until well mixed, and serve very hot. Tomatoes mix well with macaroni, and so do mushrooms ; but the real macaroni-lover will prefer it by itself, accompanied always, of course, by plenty of cheese. Mustard mixes well with it, but be very chary of the salt, for it is already salted during the process of preparation. To make macaroni au gratin, which seems (unaccountably enough) to be the only way in which it is served in nine British households out of ten, the top of the cooked macaroni must be well covered with grated Parmesan cheese, and then carefully browned with a salamander. Ravioli. Another most useful Italian preparation is Ravioli, which is compounded of a variety of good things. As Leporello says in Don Giovanni: " Madamina, il catalogo h questo !" Eggs, Macaroni, Paste, Pork, Chicken, Vegetables, and Cheese. It is a sort of White Knight portmanteau food, and if quite fresh (it is best in summer) is rightly termed " A dinner in one course " — if you cook it badly you may omit one letter in the last word. This is how to prepare Ravioli with the help of Chaffinda. To two pints of boiling water in the Chafing Dish put a quarter of a pound of Ravioli ; boil for ten minutes, then strain. Return to the dish ; add half a teaspoon of butter, the same of grated Parmesan cheese, and hot it up for three minutes. Additional zest may be given, though it is by no means necessary, by cooking with the Ravioli a few fresh mushrooms, tomatoes, or even anchovies or olives. The best Ravioli I have found in London come from the Vegetable Meal Company of Soho. With Macaroni or Ravioli I always suggest the drinking of Chianti, or Lacrima Christi. The former can often be obtained of quite good quality, not too rough or fiery. As to the latter, it is rare to find it drinkable. As a rule it is impossible. But the combination of food and wine is a good memoryreviver of a week at Genoa. " Like as, to make our appetites more keen, With eager compounds we our palates urge ; As, to prevent our maladies unseen. We sicken, to shun sickness, when we purge ; Even so, being full of your ne'er cloying sweetness To bitter sauces did I frame my feeding." Shakespeare (Sonnet cxviii.). Madame de StaEl said that she did not believe in ghosts — but that she was afraid of them. After the same fashion, I do not altogether believe in sauces, or perhaps I ought to say in any save the very simplest ; but I fully recognise their great value in the assimilation of food. Many dishes, without their special sauces, would be like a well-known song sung without an accompaniment. However beautifully delivered, no one, be he never so musical, could honestly say that he enjoyed Schubert's "Erlkonig," unaccompanied. The accompaniment is so much a part of the artistic whole that to separate them would be sheer vandalism. Something of the same intimate oneness exists in cookery. Who would care to eat lamb divorced from mint sauce, or boiled mutton without the necessary caper sauce, or goose minus apple sauce ?

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The cult of the chafing dish