We do our utmost to give our guests, here in sultry
Madras, a vol-au-vent, when we should know quite well
that it is almost impossible to produce, in a temperature
that rarely falls below 80 ° , the exquisitely light puff pastry
from which the dish derives its name. The best attempts
present the appearance of layers of talc laid one over the
other in an oval-shape and baked a pale brown. Now, I
maintain that it would be better to give up our fruitless
efforts, and employ one of the ornamental earthenware
dishes made specially for this purpose, and to be had of
all good dealers in glass and crockery in London. Small
ones for dishes en caisses are also sold. We could then
send up oui' ragout a la financier e, or a la reine, without
misgivings, in a pretty dish becomingly garnished, and
bury the unhappy memories of the light puff paste we
never could achieve.
But whilst thus proposing to abandon as fruitless our
attempts to place before our guests a true vol-au-vent, —
conquered by the climate in which we live, and not through
carelessness or want of culinary skill, — I, by no means, wish
to say that we should cease to bestow our attention upon
entrees which can be made of pastry of a less volatile nature.
There are some Madras cooks, I know, who can turn out
very good light pate pastry. To such men you can entrust,
of course, petits pates, timhales, salpicon honchees, and those
artistic croustades for which pastry is employed instead of
the easier substitute of hollowed-out rolls. The knack of
making nice light pastry is, however, far from common.
Neither reading, nor even practical demonstration, will
teach it. So unless you are certain that your cook
possesses the gift, never permit him to waste good mate-
rials in idle experiments. An entree of pastry, if not
unmistakably good, is a blot upon the face of your menti.
ENTREES- CONCL UDED. 73
In nearly all recipes for tlie sauces of high class entrees
contained in good works upon cookery, the use of butter is
unsparingly advocated, and cream is also very frequently
prescribed. In an early chapter of my jottings, I men-
tioned that I would far sooner recommend a little extra
expense with regard to these items, than in the wholesale
distribution of " Europe stores." I repeat the opinion
emphatically now. The dinner cooked with an adequate
allowance of cream and butter, requires but little aid from
Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell. Unfortunately, however,
for those who desii^e to follow this precept at Madras, our
supply of milk is meagre in quality and quantity, and
absui'dly expensive.
The only way to obtain a little butter fit to eat, if you
do not maintain a dairy of your own, is to have a cow
milked at your door, and to set the milk so obtained for
cream in your own larder. I have never tried to find out
the exact cost of a pound of butter thus made, but, ap-
proximately speaking, it may be stated that five measures
of milk at one rupee (the current rate) will not yield more
than a good tliird of a pound, so your pound of butter will
cost you neai'ly three rupees !* There will be a slight
difference if the milk be rich ; in my estimate, I speak, of
course, of the average country cow's milk purchased at the
door.
Page 42
Presented as published in 1885. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
We do our utmost to give our guests, here in sultry Madras, a vol-au-vent, when we should know quite well that it is almost impossible to produce, in a temperature that rarely falls below 80 ° , the exquisitely light puff pastry from which the dish derives its name. The best attempts present the appearance of layers of talc laid one over the other in an oval-shape and baked a pale brown. Now, I maintain that it would be better to give up our fruitless efforts, and employ one of the ornamental earthenware dishes made specially for this purpose, and to be had of all good dealers in glass and crockery in London. Small ones for dishes en caisses are also sold. We could then send up oui' ragout a la financier e, or a la reine, without misgivings, in a pretty dish becomingly garnished, and bury the unhappy memories of the light puff paste we never could achieve.
But whilst thus proposing to abandon as fruitless our attempts to place before our guests a true vol-au-vent, — conquered by the climate in which we live, and not through carelessness or want of culinary skill, — I, by no means, wish to say that we should cease to bestow our attention upon entrees which can be made of pastry of a less volatile nature. There are some Madras cooks, I know, who can turn out very good light pate pastry. To such men you can entrust, of course, petits pates, timhales, salpicon honchees, and those artistic croustades for which pastry is employed instead of the easier substitute of hollowed-out rolls. The knack of making nice light pastry is, however, far from common. Neither reading, nor even practical demonstration, will teach it. So unless you are certain that your cook possesses the gift, never permit him to waste good materials in idle experiments. An entree of pastry, if not unmistakably good, is a blot upon the face of your menti.
ENTREES—CONCLUDED. 73
In nearly all recipes for tlie sauces of high class entrees contained in good works upon cookery, the use of butter is unsparingly advocated, and cream is also very frequently prescribed. In an early chapter of my jottings, I mentioned that I would far sooner recommend a little extra expense with regard to these items, than in the wholesale distribution of " Europe stores." I repeat the opinion emphatically now. The dinner cooked with an adequate allowance of cream and butter, requires but little aid from Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell. Unfortunately, however, for those who desire to follow this precept at Madras, our supply of milk is meagre in quality and quantity, and absurdly expensive.
The only way to obtain a little butter fit to eat, if you do not maintain a dairy of your own, is to have a cow milked at your door, and to set the milk so obtained for cream in your own larder. I have never tried to find out the exact cost of a pound of butter thus made, but, approximately speaking, it may be stated that five measures of milk at one rupee (the current rate) will not yield more than a good tliird of a pound, so your pound of butter will cost you neai'ly three rupees !* There will be a slight difference if the milk be rich ; in my estimate, I speak, of course, of the average country cow's milk purchased at the door.