Omelettes may be cooked aux fines herbes, served upon a bed of tomato puree, and dusted over with grated cheese. They may also be laid upon a puree of gi-een peas, or of spinach. They may be improved with minced game, and be associated effectively with mince of any kind. Chop- ped mushrooms or truffles (previously cooked, minced, and tossed in butter) are, of course, very delicious additions to them ; and oysters may be introduced in the same way. Savoury omelettes are sent up with rich Espagiiole, Peri- gueux, and Bechamel sauces, and may contain some finely minced kidney stewed in champagne. Almost all fish, prawns, lobster, &c., go well with them, and whether simple or elaborate, plain or rich, an omelette rarely fails, — if properly made, — to win appreciation, and be thank- fully accounted for. i — ^ — 0/7 Luncheons. ^UNCHEON is a meal so popular amongst Britons both at Home and abroad, that the humblest treatise on cooking would be incomplete without a chapter specially dedicated to it. There are luncheons large, and luncheons small. The former elaborate, very pleasant, and sociable, yet alas ! a little too alluring, and fatal in their eifects upon the appetite for the rest of the day. The latter more enjoyable perhaps than their more ostentatious connections, for they are reserved for a few intimate friends, but affording just as much temptation to kill dinner. At Madras we reserve our luncheon parties for the Sabbath, when the unfair sex has no official care away from home, and though few sit down to dinner on that day till nearly half past eight, the overwhelming recollec- tions of the midday feast have hardly had time to pass away. A far better meal for us all, — a very near relation of luncheon, — is the dejeuner a la fourchette of our French friends. Brillat Savarin's luncheon party, if yoTi remem- ber, assembled " at ten — military punctuality." At eleven o'clock we might bid our guests sit down, I think, without misgiving, and though we might invite them to breakfast, we could really give them a luncheon. I attended a party 186 CULINARY JOTTINGS FOR MADRAS. of tliis kind, not long ago, the complete success of which has encouraged me to advocate its adoption in supersession of luncheons at 2 p.m. The Frenchman takes his cafe au lait, with a roll, as we take our chota hazri, which slight refection carries him satisfactorily till eleven, or even twelve o'clock ; the dejeuner a la fourchette is then a sub- stantial meal. Cannot we, when there are no distracting office hours to think of, do likewise ? A breakfast party ends about the hour that luncheons begin. Both hosts and guests have, therefore, ample time to recover their appe- tites, and to indulge in a quiet afternoon's rest, before the evening drive, and dinner.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Omelettes may be cooked aux fines herbes, served upon a bed of tomato puree, and dusted over with grated cheese. They may also be laid upon a puree of gi-een peas, or of spinach. They may be improved with minced game, and be associated effectively with mince of any kind. Chopped mushrooms or truffles (previously cooked, minced, and tossed in butter) are, of course, very delicious additions to them ; and oysters may be introduced in the same way. Savoury omelettes are sent up with rich Espagnole, Perigueux, and Bechamel sauces, and may contain some finely minced kidney stewed in champagne. Almost all fish, prawns, lobster, &c., go well with them, and whether simple or elaborate, plain or rich, an omelette rarely fails, — if properly made, — to win appreciation, and be thankfully accounted for. — ^ — 0/7 Luncheons. ^UNCHEON is a meal so popular amongst Britons both at Home and abroad, that the humblest treatise on cooking would be incomplete without a chapter specially dedicated to it. There are luncheons large, and luncheons small. The former elaborate, very pleasant, and sociable, yet alas ! a little too alluring, and fatal in their effects upon the appetite for the rest of the day. The latter more enjoyable perhaps than their more ostentatious connections, for they are reserved for a few intimate friends, but affording just as much temptation to kill dinner. At Madras we reserve our luncheon parties for the Sabbath, when the unfair sex has no official care away from home, and though few sit down to dinner on that day till nearly half past eight, the overwhelming recollections of the midday feast have hardly had time to pass away. A far better meal for us all, — a very near relation of luncheon, — is the dejeuner a la fourchette of our French friends. Brillat Savarin's luncheon party, if you remember, assembled " at ten — military punctuality." At eleven o'clock we might bid our guests sit down, I think, without misgiving, and though we might invite them to breakfast, we could really give them a luncheon. I attended a party of this kind, not long ago, the complete success of which has encouraged me to advocate its adoption in supersession of luncheons at 2 p.m. The Frenchman takes his cafe au lait, with a roll, as we take our chota hazri, which slight refection carries him satisfactorily till eleven, or even twelve o'clock ; the dejeuner a la fourchette is then a substantial meal. Cannot we, when there are no distracting office hours to think of, do likewise ? A breakfast party ends about the hour that luncheons begin. Both hosts and guests have, therefore, ample time to recover their appetites, and to indulge in a quiet afternoon's rest, before the evening drive, and dinner.

Culinary jottings