Practical gastronomy and culinary dictionary

colleagues with whom he would have been associated were unworthy of such an association. After being the object of a species of semi-worship, and yielding to every new offer, yet affecting to despise them all, Careme ultimately joined the house- hold of Baron Rothschild, in Paris. George IV". is said to have tempted him by offering triple salaries; but all in vain, for London was too triste an abiding place for a man whose soul, out of kitchen hours, was given to study. And so Careme remained with his patron, " until infirmity overtook his noble nature, and he retired to dictate his immortal words to his accomplished daughter." Even in his retirement Careme was eagerly sought after, but he was deaf to the voice of the tempter. Money was no longer an object with him, for he was realising twenty thousand francs a year from the booksellers, besides the interest of the money he had saved. "Think of it, shade of Milton (Milton used to dictate to his daughter)," shrieks a writer of recent years, " eight hundred pounds sterling yearly for writing on kitchen- stuff ! Who would compose epics after that ? " But Careme's books are " epics " after their sort, and a fitting monument of a famous man, who had been "the imperial despot of European kitchens, had been ' be-ringed ' by monarchs, and been smiled on by princesses ; he had received lords in his kitchen, and had encountered ladies who gave him a great deal for a very little knowledge in return." Wheri we look back upon the past history of the kitchen, it seems rather more than a paradox why it should be that, although so many clever cooks have left their marks in literature, yet so little is known of their personal qualities, or history. Antonin Careme is the chef to whom the title " Father of Modern Chefs " was once most aptly applied ; but how many good chefs have existed since then, and fretted their hour upon the stage to pass into oblivion — a memorable instance of the ingratitude of mankind, and of epicures in particular, towards those who have served them well. One wrote immortal poetry and starved, the other made delicious pastry and rode in a chariot ! We know how much Oliver received for his " Vicar," whilst Antonin Careme used to receive twice as much for merely \sTiting out a recipe to make a ^«fe. Nay, Careme's untouched patties, when they left royal tables, were bought up at a large price ; and a cold sugared entremet, at the making of which Careme had presided, was only obtainable by such as had plenty of money at their command. 5f(C, EUSTACHE UDE J)v^ FAMOUS CHEFS AND EPICURES 855 LOUIS EUSTACHE UDE. Ude issued the tenth edition, " corrected and enlarged," of his renowned " French Cook, adapted to the use of English Families," from Crockford's Club House, St. James's Street. He signs it thus: "By Louis Eustache Ude, ci-devant cook to Louis XVI. and the Earl of Sefton ; late Steward to the United Service Club, to his late Royal Highness the Duke of York ; and now Maitre (T Hotel at Crockford's Club, St. James's Street." The book was sold everywhere by the elite among the booksellers, and Ude no doubt made a large fortune over his publications, which still maintain a great reputation.