Banquets of the nations

tarragon vinegar ; mix into this one and a-half saltspoonfuls of salt, three-quarters of a saltspoonful of pepper, and the scrape of an onion. Stir with a wooden or silver fork till the salt is pretty well melted. Add six spoonfuls of oil to the mixture gradually, stirring all the time and allowing it to rapidly flow over the spoon on to the lettuce till all the oil is used. With the spoon and fork used mix all together very gently but thoroughly. Baba au Rhum. Dissolve half an ounce of yeast in half a cup of milk. Warm half a pound of sifted flour. Make a light sponge with a third part of the flour, yeast, and warm water. Let it rise well, add the remainder of the flour, a handful of sifted sugar, a quarter-pound of melted fresh butter. Work in gradually three yolks of eggs, and three whole eggs one after the other. Beat it well, grate a half of lemon peel into it ; let it rise, work up again, and let it rise again. Fill into a buttered mould or tin and let it rise again. Put it into the oven and bake for half an hour. Pour over rum sauce, letting it soak well into the sponge. Rum Sauce. Heat four tablespoonfuls of cream to boiling point in a bain marie. Take the pan out and whip the yolks of four eggs with a large tablespoonful of white sugar in it. When well mixed and the sugar melted put in the bain marie again and whip for about twenty minutes. K.H.C.'s Add three glasses of Jamaica rum and serve in sauceboat. Savoury Grece. Place twelve freshly-opened medium-sized oysters with their liquor in a pan with three-quarters of a gill of white wine, and just bring to boiling point. Skim well, remove the beards, squeeze them in a tammy cloth to extract the juice, and strain with the rest of the liquor. Heat in a saucepan one tablespoonful of melted butter, add a quarter chopped seeded sweet pepper, one finely-chopped shallot, and one finely-chopped well-peeled and cleaned fresh mushroom ; then gently brown for five minutes, stirring once in a while. Stir in one tablespoonful of flour till quite smooth for half a minute ; add the strained oyster liquor, three tablespoonfuls of cream, two saltspoonfuls of salt, a quarter saltspoonful of cayenne, and half a pinch of grated nutmeg, then gently simmer for six minutes. Remove the pan to the side of the fire, put in the oysters cut in quarters, with a squeeze of lemon, a dozen and a half freshly boiled and shelled shrimps cut in small pieces. Mix well, seeing that the mixture is kept hot but not cooking. Fill six oyster shells with this ; strew some very fine breadcrumbs on top and push into a fierce oven to brown lightly, or brown with a salamander. If to be served cold add two leaves of gelatine in place of half of the flour (omit breadcrumbs). Fill moulds, and turn out when cold and decorate with aspic jelly. LXXXVIL— COOKING IN PAPER BAGS. Cooking en papillote, under its new name of " paper bag cookery," having created some little stir in the gastronomic world, I have given a few suggestions which may be of assistance to those who desire to adopt an old fashion in a slightly more elaborate form. Meats, poultry, and fish can be successfully roasted, boiled, stewed, grilled, and fried in small quantities, but for elaborate made-up dishes and sauces, the paper bag is useless.