In foreign kitchens

The menu followed the usual order of soup, fish or fish salad, entrée with a vegetable, a roast and two vegetables, salad, and dessert. But the soups were strong and rich, with noodles or much thickening of rice and mixed vegetables. The fish had special sauces, some of them with strange German flavors, but savory and delicate; the entree was no mere accident, — a slight suggestion between courses, — but of elaborate construction ; a beautifully browned form of pastry, which enclosed pigeons, or birds, or some unusual preparation of veal, in a sauce, and always with potato-snow, or some other delicate form of this universal accompaniment. Or it was a mould of cauliflower treated in the same fashion, with noodle dumpling, in the heart of each a teaspoonful of highly seasoned mince; or a platter of rolled pancakes, also with mince, and accompanied by tiny carrots stewed in butter, and always delicious. Nothing prettier than the jellied fish salad could well be imagined, the clear jelly showing the little fish, the stars and rounds of ruby beet and golden carrot, and the green parsley wreath adorning all ; a creamy mayonnaise sauce being sent around separately. Or it was croquettes with vegetable-marrow, served in a white sauce, and all so savory and enjoyable that the roast as it appeared seemed rather a superfluity, — never to the German eaters, however, who went on with ardor to the very end, taking long draughts of beer, and filling the wine-glasses, as they emptied, with the light Rhine wines. Expectation centred about the dessert, which, whether cream, jelly, or cake of some nature, appeared always with its border of flowers and leaves. There were many unfamiliar cakes, baked in large, round moulds, with a layer of fruit pressed in the top before baking, — a compromise between pie and cake. The creams held always wood strawberries or chopped fruit of some sort, and there were many forms of blancmange, or jelly, in which fruit juice was used for the liquid portion, as, for instance, currant juice with corn-starch or gelatine, and a white sauce poured over it. That each one should eat all, and more than all, that was possible, was the chief thought of the Frau Rath, who watched the plates anxiously, and felt it a personal offence if a dish remained untried. At four o'clock coffee was served in the drawing-room or on the terrace, and at seven came supper, — practically dinner on a smaller scale, since hot roast of some kind, with salad and a vegetable, and stewed fruit of some sort, was always served. Cakes, sweetmeats, and various adjuncts of the American supper were never seen. Tea was a mockery, wine and beer taking its place for most. Fresh fruit was frowned upon as unhealthy, and served only as a compote; and fruit at or before breakfast the Frau Rath declared to be simply rank poison. Grapes were for wine, and not to be wasted in other ways, though, as a "cure,*' people might sometimes take them. But good meat and vegetables, with plenty of wine, beer, and coffee, were true food, such as made good fighters and good scholars; and a dinner, to be truly a dinner, must have not less than three forms of meat, all prepared in the richest manner.