Luncheons

JMeat should be placed exactly in the center of the platter, except in certain instances where studied irregularity is given for special garnishing. To place chops or cutlets neatly overlapping one another, either in rows or in a circle, requires some dexterity, perhaps, but this is acquired by a very little practice, and such an arrangement not only helps to keep the meats hot, but is in itself ornamental. The platter should be in right proportion to the article served upon it. A large joint on too small a platter gives the same sense of unsuitableness that an outgrown garment gives to a boy or a girl, and the carving of this seemingly overgrown joint usually results in accidents to the table-cloth. Again, too small a platter affords no room for garnishing. The color given meat in cooking may be called its secondary garnish, space being the first. Care should be taken, if it is roasted, that it be well browned ; if it is boiled, that it be white and cleanlooking ; if it is fried, that it be not blackened, but a clear lemon color. Poultry should have a golden color that suggests crispness. It is difficult to make the mediocre cook understand these points. Larding also serves an ornamental purpose. Dry meats, like veal, and oftentimes fowls, are improved in flavor by being larded ; and it should be so done as to make it an ornamental feature. There is no part in the preparation of dishes easier to per- form than larding, and no novice need hesitate to undertake it. Hashes and minces can, with very little trouble, be made attractive in appearance as well as in taste. Hash pressed into a mold, giving it a ring or a dome shape, then masked or not with a sauce, or simply turned upon a platter, can be prettily garnished with eggs and greens. Plain meat-balls and potatoor hominy-balls can be placed together on a platter with such regard to effect that the dish assumes the character of an entree, instead of appearing like a makeshift from left-over pieces. The next means after larding in what may be called natural garnishing is in the employment of gravies and sauces. No article should ever swim in sauce, but a little can be used with good effect on many dishes. A venison steak wet with a currant jelly sauce, and just enough of the sauce poured on the bottom of the platter to color it, gives a glaze and juicy look to the steak which improves its appearance. A very little tomato sauce under breaded veal chops or croquettes gives color and emphasis to the dish. White sauce poured over boiled dishes gives greater whiteness and often covers defects. In French cooking, much use is made of masking, which is often done by glazing and by the use of sauces. As white sauces will make white foods whiter, so brown ones will make brown ones browner. Fitness must of course be observed. If crispness is a part of the excellence of a dish, it would not do to destroy that quality by using a moistening garnish. Vegetables as garnishes come next in order of suitableness and convenience. When vegetables are placed on the same platter with meats, they not only