FoodNetArchive

Mrs. Seely's Cook Book: A Manual of French and American Cookery : with ..

1902

Page 30

Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
If there are cards with the guests^ names, these are laid Uieof on the cloth, at the top of the piate, or at one side, wher- ^•'^* ever they may be most easily seen. The host always comes into the dining room first, with the lady who is to sit on his right, and who is helped first; the hostess comes in last of ali. In the case of a very high officiai, the hostess goes in first with him, but these suggestions do not deal with questiona of precedence. As the hostess usually knows the pian of the dinner table, and where different people are to sit, cards will not be necessary except for a largo dinner. Here good servante are of use, for they may quietly help her by indicating where different people belong. As soon as a guest is seated, and has taken his napkin and SMring the bread from his piate, the butler puts down on it another on which are oysters, clams, or melons, according to the season, neatly arranged on a small doily. Oysters and clams should be served on plates of cracked ice, six or eight on each piate, with a quarter of a lemon in the centro. Although the former are said to be better if eaten from their deep shell, for formai dinners they look rather prettier on their fiat upper one. The plates should be placed on the plates already in front of each guest, after the napkins bave been lifted. As the butler puts 62 MB8. 8EELT'8 COOK BOOK down the oystera or clama, the footman should follow with a amali ailver tray on which are black cayenne, liquid red pepper, and grated horaeradiah. Brown-bread aandwichea, cut very thin, and apread with unaalted butter, are alao handed with thia courae. Black pepper and aif ted augar are the accompanimenta of melona. When the oyatera bave been eaten, their platea are taken away, and the aoup piate ia put down on the piate which waa on the table at the beginning. When caviar aandwichea or anchovy toaat are aerved inatead of oyatera, they are alwaya handed, and when the platea on which they bave been eaten are taken away, the bare cloth ia lef t, on which the aoup piate ia put down. In England the aoup ia alwaya put down directly on the table, and there ia no prejudice againat aeeing the bare derviiiff tiM cloth between oouraea, which makea aervice much eaaier than connat. when platea are put down and whiaked off again unuaed. The next courae ia aoup, which ia brought in from the pantry in a tureen, provided there ia the ^* working aerving-table," aafely hidden by a acreen. If there ia no aecond aerving-table, the aoup ia aerved from the pantry. The butler haa the soup platea ready, and ladlea the aoup into them with a ladle or often a tearcup, about aix tableapoonfula being conaidered the proper quantity to put in each piate, and the footmen aet the soup piate in the front of each gueat. When thia courae ia finiahed, the two platea ahould be remoyed and replaced by a clean one. Platea ahould alwaya be lifted by the left band, and the freah onea put in their places by the right. Then the bora d'ceuyrea, auch aa celery, olives, eto., are paaaed on a tray. Theae platea are then replaced by hot onea for the fiah. In placing platea for the fiah, the butler takea one in band, and goea round the table from right to left, nsually beginning with the lady who aita on the hoat'a right. He ahould alwaya put down the firat piate with hia left band.