Practical gastronomy and culinary dictionary

"To roast some beef, to carve with neatness, To boil up sauces, and to blow the fire, Is anybody's task ; he who does this Is but a seasoner and a broth-maker. A cook is quite another thing. His mind Must comprehend all facts and circumstances, Where is the place, and what the time of supper ; Who are the guests, and who the entertainer ; What fish he ought to buy, and where he ought to buy it," etc. "A cook can be made, whilst a roaster is born." These were the words of Brillat-Savarin. There is much reason in this argument, for it is an art indeed to possess the qualification of an artist in cookery. It is easier to compose an operatic piece than to invent a new dish, and even man who has the natural endowments would find it more easy to qualify himself to compete with the Royal Academicians than with the chief operators in cookery. In confirming these facts we cannot do better than follow the quotations of the Marquis de Cussy, who re- modelled the aphorism of Brillat-Savarin, thus : — " On devient cuisinier ; On devient rotisseur On nait saucier." 46 PRACTICAL GASTRONOMY On following closely these words we come to the conclusion, and not without reasons, "that one can learn to cook and be taught to roast ; but to become a saucier needs the gift of a genius." The cook is our best friend during his active life, but how soon is he forgotten when he can no longer cater for our gastronomic pleasures ! But a different era to that is coming soon ; cooks will then no longer be ranked as " mere cooks " amongst their entrees and souffles, for cooking has been raised to the degree of a fine art, and if not now, yet soon it will be seen that cooks in England as well as other countries will be recognised as somethmg infinitely superior to an upper servant. There are already many names which crop up for us in spiritual array of their aristocracy of cooking who have made and are making at present their infiuence felt to the exaltation of the art, fo^ by that very force and power of making itself felt that the real art has possessed, even amongst those who pretend to know, but do not, the art of cooking will take a higher standard so rapidly as its pupils are raised with it. Careme, Soyer, Ude, Vatel, Urbain Dubois, Emile Bernard, Francatelli, Gouffe, Vassant, Tavenet, and others have all spoken out ; but most of what they have said on this subject has been disregarded because their fellows in the art of cookery regarded them as premature when they were merely learned members of the profession. The cooks of the present day have a glorious task THE COOK AND THE KITCHEN 47 before them ; it is to make their art and profession felt, respected, and ennobled by the power of skill and care they will devote to its development. Colleges of cookery have of late been established in France and Switzerland, and such institutions are sure to follow in England, America, and other countries ; it is therefore no idle dream to believe that the time is not far distant when the cook shall be personally as highly appreciated and valued as the dishes he prepares. The Eariy Use of the Word '* Kitchen."