Practical gastronomy and culinary dictionary

THE ART OF COOKERY 17 quently formed. A cook among the Anglo- Saxons was valued very little higher than the calf he cut up into scallops. He was a slave, and was as unceremoniously bequeathed in his owner's will as any goods or chattels. At the Anglo-Saxon feasts men and women sat together as they do now, which is a mark of civihsation, and pronounced to be very refining. Turkey is the only European nation that does not follow this capital example. When the Normans came to England, they brought with them greater comfort in regard to cooking as well as eating. Much of the exquisite cuisine of the eighteenth century is due to that famous epicure "Regent Or- leans." The " pain a la d'Orleans " was the invention of the Regent himself ; the " filets de lapereau k la Berri" were invented by his abandoned daughter, the Duchess de Berri, whose suppers were the best and most profligate m Paris. The " filets de volaille k la Bellevue " were invented by the Marquise de Pom- padour in the Chateau of Bellevue for the little sup- pers of the King. The "petites bouchees a la Reine " owe their origin to Marie, the wife of Louis XV., and nearly all the entrees bearing the name of Bayonnaises " were invented by the Marechal Due de Richelieu. The French Revolution made a mournful gap in the annals of cooking. The stoic's fare, the radish and the egg of the severe Spartan, and the black bread of the Germans of the Middle Ages were then in vogue, 18 PRACTICAL GASTRONOMY and for three years this Spartan regime continued. Happily for mankind and gourmands, the traditions of the French kitchen were preserved, even during this depressing period, and under Napoleon the art revived again. This was signalised by the publication of the first number of the " Almanach des Gourmands," which the late Duke of York called the most delightful book ever printed. The author and editor of it was *' Grimod de la Reyniere," a quaint humourist as well as an able chef. This is what he says, amongst other things, con- cerning cooks and cookery : " The finger of a good cook should alternate perpetually between the stew- pan and his mouth, and it is thus in tasting every moment, his Eagouts, that he can hit upon the ]Drecise medium so as to make him a competent judge of his dainty dishes." It seems, however, that some did not appreciate these high- class French dishes as did others, for I note in the work entitled " Antiquitates Culinarias," which was published in 1791, that French cookery was called "the art of spoiling good meat" and "the art of making bad meat eatable." The Scotch at this time were, according to a writer, very conservative in their cookery and plain in their living. It is said that only their fish, oatmeal, and whiskey kept them alive. THE ART OF COOKERY 19 At about this time, too, we are informed that the "" kitchen staff of a noble establishment " consisted of — A yeoman and groom for the cellar. A yeoman and groom for the pantry. A yeoman and groom for the buttery. A yeoman for the ewry. A yeoman purveyor. A master cook, under-cooks, and pastry-man. A yeoman and groom for the scullery, one to be in the larder and slaughterhouse. An achator, or buyer. Three errand boys and three kitchen boys.