There is a terrible preparation which milkmen sell to our
cooks under the title of " kitchen butter." To add to its
attractiveness, it is generally smeared upon a leaf, and
carried in the hand ! It looks like the compound used for
greasing the wheels of railway carriages in England, which
a porter once told a friend of mine was " mostly made of
ingredunts, and stuff as ive makes up a^purpose." I fear
* Milk has become a little cheaper since this was written, but the
difficulty regarding butter and cream seems in no way removed. — W.
7
74 CULINARY JOTTINGS FOR MADRAS.
that oiir so-called " kitclien butter" migHt be equally
vaguely described.
What, then, can people of moderate incomes do ? For,
I take it that even wealthy folk at home would hesitate to
pay six shillings a pound for the butter used by their cooks !
The most economical remedy for this evil is to use preserved
butter. The "Copenhagen" (cow brand), " Normandy,"
and " Denmark," at one rupee fourteen annas a pound-tin,
are especially free from brine, or taint of any kind, and
can be thoroughly recommended. One tin, carefully used,
ought to suffice for the cooking of a dinner for eight per-
sons, (assuming even that the meniL contain a full amount
of dishes requiring butter in their composition) and, in my
humble opinion, the result will generally be found to
justify that amount of extravagance.
Before I pass from the consideration of side-dishes to
that of the sauces that should accompany them, I feel it
incumbent upon me to repeat that vegetables ought never to
he handed round U'ith the entrees. This quaint practice of
our fore-fathers has been long since abandoned by those
who give dinners of the reformed type.
The modem entree is, of course, presumed to be ?i plat
complete in itself, and perfectly independent of other as-
sistance. When stated in the menu, a vegetable may, of
course, accompany, an entree but it should be deftly associat-
ed with the composition it accompanies, and be moulded in
the same dish. A great many entrees require no vegetables.
Who, for instance, could possibly eat potato and cauliflower,
with a hramousky, or with a petit pate a la financiere ?
The crisp batter in the former, and the pastry in the latter
case, supply the necessary accompaniment of the delicate
composition each contains.
Apart from its being palpably inartistic, there are other
reasons which prompt the abolition of sending round vege-
ENTREES— CONCL UDED. 75
tables with entrees. I refer to the time that is wasted in
doing so, and the complication it adds to the service.
Whilst the matter-of-fact objection to the practice is, that
by the time they are really wanted for the joint, vegetables
that have been hawked about with the entrees are cer-
tainly mangled and cold, if not wholly expended ; for few
people prepare relays of potatoes, &c.j to follow those sent
up with their side-dishes.
Lastly, let me say a few words about the garnishing
and helping of entrees.
Page 43
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
There is a terrible preparation which milkmen sell to our cooks under the title of " kitchen butter." To add to its attractiveness, it is generally smeared upon a leaf, and carried in the hand ! It looks like the compound used for greasing the wheels of railway carriages in England, which a porter once told a friend of mine was " mostly made of ingredients, and stuff as we makes up a purpose." I fear
* Milk has become a little cheaper since this was written, but the difficulty regarding butter and cream seems in no way removed. — W.
that our so-called " kitchen butter" might be equally vaguely described.
What, then, can people of moderate incomes do ? For, I take it that even wealthy folk at home would hesitate to pay six shillings a pound for the butter used by their cooks ! The most economical remedy for this evil is to use preserved butter. The "Copenhagen" (cow brand), " Normandy," and " Denmark," at one rupee fourteen annas a pound-tin, are especially free from brine, or taint of any kind, and can be thoroughly recommended. One tin, carefully used, ought to suffice for the cooking of a dinner for eight persons, (assuming even that the meniL contain a full amount of dishes requiring butter in their composition) and, in my humble opinion, the result will generally be found to justify that amount of extravagance.
Before I pass from the consideration of side-dishes to that of the sauces that should accompany them, I feel it incumbent upon me to repeat that vegetables ought never to he handed round U'ith the entrees. This quaint practice of our fore-fathers has been long since abandoned by those who give dinners of the reformed type.
The modem entree is, of course, presumed to be ?i plat complete in itself, and perfectly independent of other assistance. When stated in the menu, a vegetable may, of course, accompany, an entree but it should be deftly associated with the composition it accompanies, and be moulded in the same dish. A great many entrees require no vegetables. Who, for instance, could possibly eat potato and cauliflower, with a brameausky, or with a petit pate a la financiere ? The crisp batter in the former, and the pastry in the latter case, supply the necessary accompaniment of the delicate composition each contains.
Apart from its being palpably inartistic, there are other reasons which prompt the abolition of sending round vege-
ENTREES—CONCLUDED. 75
tables with entrees. I refer to the time that is wasted in doing so, and the complication it adds to the service. Whilst the matter-of-fact objection to the practice is, that by the time they are really wanted for the joint, vegetables that have been hawked about with the entrees are certainly mangled and cold, if not wholly expended ; for few people prepare relays of potatoes, &c.j to follow those sent up with their side-dishes.
Lastly, let me say a few words about the garnishing and helping of entrees.