land was the light, sweet, tender bread of good American housekeeping to be discov- ered. In toast it was fairly good, but as bread and butter, a thing to be tolerated, since bread must be, but never heartily- enjoyed. But a properly toasted English muffin or crumpet, as well as a tea-cake, is so good that one forgives the bread; and there are firm little pasties enclosing pigeons or game, delicious in flavor, and good hot or cold. Potted meat, game, and fish are put up in the most perfect fashion, potted pigeons being something to remember with joy, and imitate if possible, and English jams and sweetmeats are all choice and deli- cate. Who does not remember the tragedy of the apricot puff in the "Mill on the Floss," and Tom's renunciation of the half with most jam in it, eaten blissfully by Maggie, with no thought of the reproach for greedi- ness awaiting her. The English schoolboy rejoices in such puffs. In fact, apricot seems the symbol for the utmost charm in any tart or puff, and Thackeray learned to treat all his boy friends to apricot omelette after beefsteak pudding, — a combination at which he himself shuddered. 14 IN FOREIGN KITCHENS. Beefsteak pudding holds a place quite in- comprehensible to the American eater, who finds it only indifferently good. But Mary Lamb maHe it for the evening's entertain- ment, and the group of immortals ate it for supper, imbibing afterward much punch as a corrective. Ruth Pinch, too, made her d^but as cook with the same dish, whose remark- able success is given at length in " Martin Chuzzlewit," its author's presence in the Temple precincts seeming no less real than that of Lamb himself. Dickens loved good eating, and one may disentangle from his web of story many a famous English dish. The English storeroom is the synonym of comfort and abundance. Nowhere else are such rows on rows of jam and marmalade pots, such store of pickles, and preserves, and potted meats, and cordials, and essences of all good things, unless it be in the Swed- ish and Norwegian homes. For them, how- ever, is a rougher abundance, since fruit is less easily obtained. But it is the northern climate that develops the storeroom, and the housekeeper in a great house would consider her profession dishonored were the shelves ENGLAND. 1 5 to show any serious gaps. In the elder days the house-mistress and the daughters did most of this with their own hands ; but no such power is in the present generation, save here and there in those who have taken up the South Kensington system, and are seeking to revive a knowledge of cookery among the better classes, with a hope that an example may thus be set which the poor will follow. In the innumerable lodging-houses of London (and it is in these that it is usually most comfortable to live), chops, steaks, bacon, and eggs are always well cooked. Beyond this, with, perhaps, the roasting of a fowl, knowledge does not go, and the weary round repeats itself with the monotony of an American boarding-house and its eter- nal "beefsteak and mutton-chops." The lodging-house system itself is admirable, the most comfortable possible form of living for the stranger ; and if one chooses to market for one's self, variety is quite possible, though never with the range known to the American at home. It is in private and well-appointed homes 1 6 IN FOREIGN KITCHENS. that the storeroom becomes so important a fact, and that one may learn many a secret hid away in the yellow leaves of manuscript books that have come down many a genera- tion. Nothing more complicated than many of these forms can well be imagined, but in the mass of rubbish one finds now and then a treasure quite worth the long search.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

land was the light, sweet, tender bread of good American housekeeping to be discovered. In toast it was fairly good, but as bread and butter, a thing to be tolerated, since bread must be, but never heartilyenjoyed. But a properly toasted English muffin or crumpet, as well as a tea-cake, is so good that one forgives the bread; and there are firm little pasties enclosing pigeons or game, delicious in flavor, and good hot or cold. Potted meat, game, and fish are put up in the most perfect fashion, potted pigeons being something to remember with joy, and imitate if possible, and English jams and sweetmeats are all choice and delicate. Who does not remember the tragedy of the apricot puff in the "Mill on the Floss," and Tom's renunciation of the half with most jam in it, eaten blissfully by Maggie, with no thought of the reproach for greediness awaiting her. The English schoolboy rejoices in such puffs. In fact, apricot seems the symbol for the utmost charm in any tart or puff, and Thackeray learned to treat all his boy friends to apricot omelette after beefsteak pudding, — a combination at which he himself shuddered. Beefsteak pudding holds a place quite incomprehensible to the American eater, who finds it only indifferently good. But Mary Lamb maHe it for the evening's entertainment, and the group of immortals ate it for supper, imbibing afterward much punch as a corrective. Ruth Pinch, too, made her d^but as cook with the same dish, whose remarkable success is given at length in " Martin Chuzzlewit," its author's presence in the Temple precincts seeming no less real than that of Lamb himself. Dickens loved good eating, and one may disentangle from his web of story many a famous English dish. The English storeroom is the synonym of comfort and abundance. Nowhere else are such rows on rows of jam and marmalade pots, such store of pickles, and preserves, and potted meats, and cordials, and essences of all good things, unless it be in the Swedish and Norwegian homes. For them, however, is a rougher abundance, since fruit is less easily obtained. But it is the northern climate that develops the storeroom, and the housekeeper in a great house would consider her profession dishonored were the shelves to show any serious gaps. In the elder days the house-mistress and the daughters did most of this with their own hands ; but no such power is in the present generation, save here and there in those who have taken up the South Kensington system, and are seeking to revive a knowledge of cookery among the better classes, with a hope that an example may thus be set which the poor will follow. In the innumerable lodging-houses of London (and it is in these that it is usually most comfortable to live), chops, steaks, bacon, and eggs are always well cooked. Beyond this, with, perhaps, the roasting of a fowl, knowledge does not go, and the weary round repeats itself with the monotony of an American boarding-house and its eternal "beefsteak and mutton-chops." The lodging-house system itself is admirable, the most comfortable possible form of living for the stranger ; and if one chooses to market for one's self, variety is quite possible, though never with the range known to the American at home. It is in private and well-appointed homes that the storeroom becomes so important a fact, and that one may learn many a secret hid away in the yellow leaves of manuscript books that have come down many a generation. Nothing more complicated than many of these forms can well be imagined, but in the mass of rubbish one finds now and then a treasure quite worth the long search.

In foreign kitchens