Stay : the Spaniards rightly give the
name of desaijuno to the matutinal cup of chocolate, corrected
by a glass of cold water and a crust of bread ; but, on the other
hand, the Anglo-Indian's first meal of tea or cofiee, with a
little bread and butter, or bread and jam, generally brought to
the bedside between five and six in the morning, is known as
cliotahazrl, which means " little breakfast." A big breakfast,.
CHATS ABOUT COOKERY. 21
comprising various curries, follows at ten, to be succeeded at
tu'o p.iii. by a copious tiffin ; but at this repast, and at the
dinner, which takes place at seven or eight, it is no longer good
form, in smart Anglo-Indian society, to serve curr}'. But of
curry I shall have something to say presentl}'.*
English people eat, as a rule, a great deal too much
meat and not half enough vegetables. The Australians
are literally gorgers of beef and mutton ; and it is an equally
common and painful spectacle to see a little New South
AVales or a Victorian child devouring mutton chops or
rump steaks at eight or nine o'clock in the morning. The
Americans are quite as great sinners in this respect ; and small
Miss Columbia or diminutive Master Birdofreedora Saurin will
think nothing of " wolfing " pork-steak, tender loin-steak, and
mutton cutlets, after the hominy or the crushed wheat, and
prior to the buckwheat cakes soaked in butter and drenched
with maple syrup. Our transatlantic cousins have also an
imholy fondness for fried potatoes at breakfast-time. Of
their equally passionate liking for hot bread I will say
nothing; because we also in this country have n j^enchcmt for
hot buttered toast and hot French rolls. I had a friend once
Avho prided himself on the possession of a cook unequalled in
the invention of breakfast dishes. One of these devices was
to send half a pound of prime Epping or Cambridge sausages
to the family baker, and request him to insert the sausages
in the dough of as many rolls. They came home smoking,
iind saturated with the grease from the porcine compost.
My friend went to Rome ; and I learned that he succeeded in
persuading the people at Nazzari's restaurant, in the Piazza
di Spagna, to supply nuiffins with anchovies inside them.
This fanatic of the breakfast-table died early, and lies buried
in the Protestant cemetery at Rome hard by the pyramid of
Caius Cestius.
If we banish butchers' meat from breakfast, it remains
* See p. 28.
22 THE TIlOTiOUGH GOOD COOK.
to 1)0 seen what viands I propose to put on the table
at a meal whicli, obeying the laws of this terrible English
climate of ours, we are bound to make a substantial one.
Frequently', when I have returned from a long Continental
journey, I have taken it into my head to ordain that the
hours of our eating should be a la Franca ise — that is to
say, cafe an lait and bread and butter at eight a.m.; dejcvncr
a la fowrcJiette at noon precisely, and dinner at six. The
experiment, after a week or two, usually turned out a dis-
astrous failure; the cafe an lait, somehow or other, never
seemed so good as it is in France ; and an hour after it was
consumed we Avere ravenous for food.
Page 20
Presented as published in 1895. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Stay : the Spaniards rightly give the name of desaijuno to the matutinal cup of chocolate, corrected by a glass of cold water and a crust of bread ; but, on the other hand, the Anglo-Indian's first meal of tea or coffee, with a little bread and butter, or bread and jam, generally brought to the bedside between five and six in the morning, is known as chota hazri, which means "little breakfast." A big breakfast,.
comprising various curries, follows at ten, to be succeeded at two p.m. by a copious tiffin ; but at this repast, and at the dinner, which takes place at seven or eight, it is no longer good form, in smart Anglo-Indian society, to serve curry. But of curry I shall have something to say presently.*
English people eat, as a rule, a great deal too much meat and not half enough vegetables. The Australians are literally gorgers of beef and mutton ; and it is an equally common and painful spectacle to see a little New South Wales or a Victorian child devouring mutton chops or rump steaks at eight or nine o'clock in the morning. The Americans are quite as great sinners in this respect ; and small Miss Columbia or diminutive Master Bird of freedom Saurin will think nothing of " wolfing " pork-steak, tender loin-steak, and mutton cutlets, after the hominy or the crushed wheat, and prior to the buckwheat cakes soaked in butter and drenched with maple syrup. Our transatlantic cousins have also an unholy fondness for fried potatoes at breakfast-time. Of their equally passionate liking for hot bread I will say nothing; because we also in this country have no penchant for hot buttered toast and hot French rolls. I had a friend once Avho prided himself on the possession of a cook unequalled in the invention of breakfast dishes. One of these devices was to send half a pound of prime Epping or Cambridge sausages to the family baker, and request him to insert the sausages in the dough of as many rolls. They came home smoking, and saturated with the grease from the porcine compost. My friend went to Rome ; and I learned that he succeeded in persuading the people at Nazzari's restaurant, in the Piazza di Spagna, to supply muffins with anchovies inside them. This fanatic of the breakfast-table died early, and lies buried in the Protestant cemetery at Rome hard by the pyramid of Caius Cestius.
If we banish butchers' meat from breakfast, it remains * See p. 28.
to be seen what viands I propose to put on the table at a meal which, obeying the laws of this terrible English climate of ours, we are bound to make a substantial one. Frequently, when I have returned from a long Continental journey, I have taken it into my head to ordain that the hours of our eating should be à la Française — that is to say, café au lait and bread and butter at eight a.m.; déjeuner à la fourchette at noon precisely, and dinner at six. The experiment, after a week or two, usually turned out a disastrous failure; the café au lait, somehow or other, never seemed so good as it is in France ; and an hour after it was consumed we were ravenous for food.