In foreign kitchens

with the happy future in view when washingday shall find its proper place in the family laundry, the future necessity for every block of houses, the American housekeeper of the next generation may hope for something of the ease known to the Continental one, and find some time for studying the phases of really scientific housekeeping. The French cook will not solve her problems, since, with all his knowledge, he cannot boil a potato properly, and loses his head altogether at certain American demands. But he can tickle the palate in many a mysterious fashion, and some of these mysteries we hold in readiness for our readers. CHOICE DISHES FROM FRANCE. Cream of Barley Sonp. — Melt in a saucepan two tablespoonfuls of butter; add a heaping one of flour, and cook for three minutes, stirring steadily. Then add a teacupful of pearl-barley and cook two minutes longer. Add very slowly one pint of boiling water and one of milk, stirring till all are blended, and boil for one hour very gently. Then rub it through a sieve, return to the fire, and add three pints of chicken or veal stock and one tablespoonful of corn-starch dissolved in a little cold water. Boil up once and serve very hot. Puree of Chestnuts. — For this delicious soup take one quart of large Spanish chestnuts, boil them twenty minutes, and when cool peel them and remove all the skin. Put them in a saucepan, and boil them half an hour in one quart of water, with a teaspoonful of salt, one of sugar, and a slip of lemonpeel. Then rub them through a sieve, add two quarts of chicken or veal stock highly seasoned; boil for fifteen minutes more, and then bind with one tablespoonful of cornstarch dissolved in a little cold water. Add a tablespoonful of butter and serve very hot. Should a very thick purie be desired use three pints of chestnuts, Bouillabaisse à la Provençale. — At Marseilles and other points where this dish is to be had in perfection, several sorts of fish are generally used, all, however, of the more delicate varieties. With us, cod, fresh mackerel, and small pan-fish, or any fine-grained fish, will answer. Allow three pounds, mince two white onions and one parsnip very fine, and fry them in oil to light-brown. Put in the fish, which should have been cut in small pieces, and fry them also a light-brown. Add two large cut tomatoes, a bit of garlic, the pulp of a lemon without the seeds or skin, a half-teaspoonful of powdered saffron, and some sprigs of parsley and laurel-leaf. Add one quart of boiling water and a teacupful of white wine; cover closely and cook for twenty minutes. This is served in two ways; poured at once into a souptureen all together, or the fish separated from the bouillon and served separately. The former is the usual method, and in this case dice of bread are cut, browned in the oven, and put in the bottom of the soup-tureen. It is sometimes thickened slightly with a tablespoonful of flour or corn-starch, treated in the usual way. Ragout of Ox-Tail — Cut an ox-tail in pieces as for soup, rejecting the end, and parboil for twenty minutes. Put in cold water and let them lie for half an hour. Then melt two tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan ; put in the pieces of tail, which must have been well rolled in flour, and let them fry carefully till a light-brown. Add two glasses of white wine, one teaspoonful of salt, five pepper-corns, a bit of garlic, a strip of orange-peel, a calf's foot which has been washed and parboiled, and a bouquet of sweet herbs. Add half a pint of boiling water, cover closely, and stew slowly, for four hours. Brown two dozen button onions in a little butter; add them to the ragout; cook a few minutes longer, and serve. The gravy should be skimmed, but not thickened. Consommé with Cream of Egg. — For two