I tirst sot foot on German soil in 1850, Avlien I went on a trip to Aix-la-Chapelle. I began to learn German ten 3'ears before, and I lla^'e always been an atrociously bad German scholar; but I have an intense admiration for the strength, solidity, and thoroughness of the German charac- ter ; I delight in German art, and, as far as I can under- stand it, in German literature. I like the simplicity and truthfulness of German home-life, and I hope that I ap[)rc- ciate the comeliness of the flaxen-haired, blue-eyed, plump, and dim])led miidchen. Especially do I recognise the many excellent qualities of Teutonic cookery — a cuisine which has been half ignor- antly and half spitefully caluumiatcd both in France and in England. In this country we arc apt to think that the Germans subsist chiefly on sausages, sauer-kraut, fresh boiled beef, and suet ])udding ; washed down by un- limited i^otations of German beer, and a modicum of '■' frightened water,"' as the Germans call Rhine Avine, to which we give the generic term of hock. The truth is that the German kitchen is a very copious and varied one, differing favourably in many particulars from the cookery of other Continental peoples ; while, in its higher branches, it rivals not wholly unsuccessfully the French cuisine. It should not be forgotten that that mucli- vaunted cuisine Avas originally introduced into France by Giinthcr von Andernach, the Lutheran physician of Francis I. One curious instance in which Germany differs from" other nations in its modes of food preparation is apparent in its soups. What do you say to milk soup, sweet and savoury; to chocolate soup, almond soup, and wine soup; to frothoddemon soup, and beer soup — of which hust there 14 TEE THOROUGH GOOD COOK. arc at least half-a-dozen varieties ? A very favourite one is beer soup with caraAvay seeds ; it is made Avith some slices of bread boiled soft in a little water, then strained, and beaten smooth ; caraway seeds, lemon-peel, sugar, spice✪ Beer Soup, and beer are added ; all is boiled together until the caraways are soft ; then it is stirred briskly with yolks of eggs in the tureen. There are soups, too, made of apples, pears, strawberries, currants, and cherries, which arc all sweet pottages, and with Avliich macaroons and Naples biscuits may be served. There are also a large number of fish-soups : some of which bear a strong resemblance to the iish-soups of the Russian kitchen. In sauces, again, the Germans are very strong. They make a capital asparagus sauce out of the yolks of eggs with cream, a dessertspoonful of flour, a little salt and nutmeg, a piece of butter, and a suflficient quantity of the water in which the asparagus has been boile✪ Asparagus Sauced. This nmst be stirred continually until thick ; and a little lemon-juice or vinegar may bo added, but not enough to give an acid taste to the sauce. I am not acquainted with any other national kitchen frugal enough to utilise the water in which asparagus has been boiled, and which has naturally absorbed a great deal of the exquisite flavour of that delicious escu- lent. Try it by all means, whenever the blessed vegetable is in season.

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I tirst sot foot on German soil in 1850, Avlien I went on a trip to Aix-la-Chapelle. I began to learn German ten 3'ears before, and I lla^'e always been an atrociously bad German scholar; but I have an intense admiration for the strength, solidity, and thoroughness of the German charac- ter ; I delight in German art, and, as far as I can under- stand it, in German literature. I like the simplicity and truthfulness of German home-life, and I hope that I ap[)rc- ciate the comeliness of the flaxen-haired, blue-eyed, plump, and dim])led miidchen. Especially do I recognise the many excellent qualities of Teutonic cookery — a cuisine which has been half ignor- antly and half spitefully caluumiatcd both in France and in England. In this country we arc apt to think that the Germans subsist chiefly on sausages, sauer-kraut, fresh boiled beef, and suet ])udding ; washed down by un- limited i^otations of German beer, and a modicum of '■' frightened water,"' as the Germans call Rhine Avine, to which we give the generic term of hock. The truth is that the German kitchen is a very copious and varied one, differing favourably in many particulars from the cookery of other Continental peoples ; while, in its higher branches, it rivals not wholly unsuccessfully the French cuisine. It should not be forgotten that that mucli- vaunted cuisine Avas originally introduced into France by Giinthcr von Andernach, the Lutheran physician of Francis I. One curious instance in which Germany differs from" other nations in its modes of food preparation is apparent in its soups. What do you say to milk soup, sweet and savoury; to chocolate soup, almond soup, and wine soup; to frothoddemon soup, and beer soup — of which hust there 14 TEE THOROUGH GOOD COOK. arc at least half-a-dozen varieties ? A very favourite one is beer soup with caraAvay seeds ; it is made Avith some slices of bread boiled soft in a little water, then strained, and beaten smooth ; caraway seeds, lemon-peel, sugar, spice, and beer are added ; all is boiled together until the caraways are soft ; then it is stirred briskly with yolks of eggs in the tureen. There are soups, too, made of apples, pears, strawberries, currants, and cherries, which arc all sweet pottages, and with Avliich macaroons and Naples biscuits may be served. There are also a large number of fish-soups : some of which bear a strong resemblance to the iish-soups of the Russian kitchen. In sauces, again, the Germans are very strong. They make a capital asparagus sauce out of the yolks of eggs with cream, a dessertspoonful of flour, a little salt and nutmeg, a piece of butter, and a suflficient quantity of the water in which the asparagus has been boiled. This nmst be stirred continually until thick ; and a little lemon-juice or vinegar may bo added, but not enough to give an acid taste to the sauce. I am not acquainted with any other national kitchen frugal enough to utilise the water in which asparagus has been boiled, and which has naturally absorbed a great deal of the exquisite flavour of that delicious escu- lent. Try it by all means, whenever the blessed vegetable is in season.

The thorough good cook