While guests are being seated, person from outside brings up soup;Footman receives soup at door;Butler serves it out;Footman hands it;Both change plates.Footman takes out soup, and receives fish at door; while butler hands wine;Butler serves out fish;Footman hands it (plate in one hand, and sauce in the other);Both change plates.Footman brings inentrée, while butler hands wine;Butler handsentrée;Footman hands vegetables;Both change plates,Etc., etc.
While guests are being seated, person from outside brings up soup;Footman receives soup at door;Butler serves it out;Footman hands it;Both change plates.Footman takes out soup, and receives fish at door; while butler hands wine;Butler serves out fish;Footman hands it (plate in one hand, and sauce in the other);Both change plates.Footman brings inentrée, while butler hands wine;Butler handsentrée;Footman hands vegetables;Both change plates,Etc., etc.
“The carving of the joint seems the only difficulty. However, it will not take long for an expert carver to cut eight pieces.”
Itis very essential, in giving a dinner party, to know precisely how many guests one is to entertain. It is a serious inconvenience to have any doubt on this subject. Consequently, it is well to send an invitation, which may be in the following form:
Mrs. Smith requests the pleasure of Mr. Jones’s company at dinner, on Thursday, January 5th, at seven o’clock.R. S. V. P.12 New York Avenue, January 2d, 1875.
Mrs. Smith requests the pleasure of Mr. Jones’s company at dinner, on Thursday, January 5th, at seven o’clock.
R. S. V. P.
12 New York Avenue, January 2d, 1875.
The capital letters constitute the initials of four French words, meaning, “Answer, if you please” (Répondez s’il vous plait). The person thus invited must not fail to reply at once,sending a messenger to the door with the note. It is considered impolite to send it by post.
If the person invited has any doubt about being able to attend the dinner at the time stated, he should decline the invitation at once. He should be positive one way or the other, not delaying the question for consideration more than a day at the utmost. If Mr. Jones should then decline, he might reply as follows:
Mr. Jones regrets that he is unable to accept Mrs. Smith’s polite invitation for Thursday evening.8 Thirty-seventh Street, January 3d.
Mr. Jones regrets that he is unable to accept Mrs. Smith’s polite invitation for Thursday evening.
8 Thirty-seventh Street, January 3d.
Or,
Mr. Jones regrets that a previous engagement prevents his acceptance of Mrs. Smith’s polite invitation for Thursday evening.Thirty-seventh Street, January 3d.
Mr. Jones regrets that a previous engagement prevents his acceptance of Mrs. Smith’s polite invitation for Thursday evening.
Thirty-seventh Street, January 3d.
A prompt and decided answer of this character enables Mrs. Smith to supply the place with some other person, thereby preventing that most disagreeable thing, a vacant chair at table.
If the invitation be accepted, Mr. Jones might say in his note:
Mr. Jones accepts, with pleasure, Mrs. Smith’s invitation for Thursday evening.Thirty-seventh Street, January 2d.
Mr. Jones accepts, with pleasure, Mrs. Smith’s invitation for Thursday evening.
Thirty-seventh Street, January 2d.
The more simple the invitation or reply, the better. Do not attempt any high-flown or original modes. Originality is most charming on most occasions; this is not one of them.
In New York, many, I notice, seem to think it elegant to use the French construction of sentences in formal notes: for instance, they are particular to say, “the invitation of Mrs. Smith,” instead of “Mrs. Smith’s invitation;” and “2d January,” instead of “January 2d.” In writing in the French language, the French construction of sentences would seem eminently proper. One might be pardoned for laughing at an English construction, if ignorance were not the cause. So, when one writes in English, let the sentences be concise, and according to the rules of the language.
On the appointed day, the guest should endeavor to arrive at the house not exceeding ten minutes before the time fixed for dinner; and while he avoids a too early arrival, he should be equally careful about being tardy.
It is enough to disturb the serenity and good temper of the most amiable hostess during the whole evening for a guest to delay her dinner, impairing it, of course, to a great extent. She should not be expected to wait over fifteen minutes for any one. Perhaps it would be as well for her to order dinner ten minutes after the appointed hour in her invitation, to meet the possible contingency of delay on the part of some guest.
When the guests are assembled in the drawing-room, if the company be large, the host or hostess can quietly intimate to the gentlemen what ladies they will respectively accompany to the dining-room. After a few moments of conversation and introductions, the dinner is to be announced, when the host should offer his arm to the lady guest of honor, the hostess taking the arm of the gentleman guest of honor; and now, the host leading the way, all should follow; the hostess, with her escort, being the last to leave the drawing-room. They should find their places at table with as little confusion as possible, not sitting down until the hostess is seated. After dinner is over, the hostess giving the signal by moving back her chair, all should leave the dining-room. The host may then invite the gentlemen to the smoking-room or library. The ladies should repair to the drawing-room. A short time thereafter (perhaps in half an hour), the butler should bring to the drawing-room the tea-service on a salver, with a cake-basket filled with fancy biscuits, or rather crackers or little cakes.
Placing them on the table, he may then announce to the host that tea is served. The gentlemen join the ladies; and, after a chat of a few minutes over the tea, all of the guests may taketheir departure. If the attendant is a waiting-maid, and the tea-service rather heavy, she might bring two or three cups filled with tea, and a small sugar-bowl and cream-pitcher, also the cake-basket, on a small salver; and when the cups are passed, return for more.
I do not like the English fashion, which requires the ladies to retire from the table, leaving the gentlemen to drink more wine, and smoke. Enough wine is drunk during dinner. English customs are admirable, generally, and one naturally inclines to adopt them; but in this instance I do not hesitate to condemn and reject a custom in which I see no good, but, on the contrary, a temptation to positive evil. The French reject it; let Americans do the same.
Thereason why cooking in America is, as a rule, so inferior is not because American women are less able and apt than the women of France, and not because the American men do not discuss and appreciate the merits of good cooking and the pleasure of entertaining friends at their own table; it is merely because American women seem possessed with the idea that it is not the fashion to know how to cook; that, as an accomplishment, the art of cooking is not as ornamental as that of needle-work or piano-playing. I do not undervalue these last accomplishments. A young lady ofespritshould understand them; but she should understand, also, the accomplishment of cooking. A young lady can scarcely have too many accomplishments, for they serve to adorn her home, and are attractive and charming, generally. But of them all—painting, music, fancy work, or foreign language—is there one more fascinating and useful, or one which argues more intelligence in its acquisition, than the accomplishment of cooking?
What would more delight Adolphus than to discover that his prettyfiancée, Julia, was an accomplished cook; that with her dainty fingers she could gracefully dash off a creamy omelet, and by miraculous manœuvres could produce to his astonished view a dozen different kaleidoscopic omelets,aux fines herbes,aux huîtres,aux petits pois,aux tomates, etc.; and not only that, but scientific croquettes, mysterious soups, delicious salads, marvelous sauces, and the hundred and one savory results of a little artistic skill? Delighted Adolphus—if a sensible man, and such a woman should have no other than a sensible man—would consider this as thechef-d’œuvreof all her accomplishments, as he regarded her the charming assurance of so many future comforts.
From innate coquetry alone the French women appreciate the powers of their dainty table. Cooking is an art they cultivate. Any of thehaut mondeare proud to originate a new dish, many famous ones doing them credit in bearing their names.
One thing is quite evident in America—that the want of this ornamental and useful information is most deplorable. The inefficiency, in this respect, of Western and Southern women, brought up under the system of slavery, is somewhat greater than that of the women of the Northern and Eastern States; however, as a nation, there is little to praise in this regard in any locality. Professor Blot endeavored to come to the rescue. Everymanapplauded his enterprise; yet I can myself testify to the indifference of the women—his classes for the study of cookery numbering by units where they should have numbered by hundreds. He soon discontinued his instructive endeavors, and at last died a poor man.
There is little difficulty abroad in obtaining good cooks at reasonable prices, who have pursued regular courses of instruction in their trade: not so in America. Hospitality demands the entertaining of friends at the social board; yet it is almost impossible to do so in this country in an acceptable manner, unless the hostess herself not only has a proper idea of the serving of a table, but of the art of cooking the dishes themselves as well. In some of the larger cities, satisfactory dinners and trained waiters may be provided at an enormous cost at the famous restaurants, where the meal may appear home-like and elegant. But unfortunate is the woman, generally, who wants to do “the correct thing,” and, wishing to entertain atdinner, relies upon the sense, good taste, and management of the proprietor of a restaurant. She may confidently rely upon one thing—an extortionate bill; and, generally, as well, upon a vulgar display, which poorly imitates the manner of refined private establishments.
However, “living for the world” seems very contemptible in comparison with the importance of that wholesome, satisfactory, every-day living which so vitally concerns the health and pleasure of the family circle.
But why waste time in asserting these self-evident facts? They are acknowledged and proclaimed every day by suffering humanity; yet the difficulty is not remedied. Is there a remedy, then? Yes. This is a free country, yet Dame Fashion is the Queen. Make it the fashion, then, that the art and science of cookery shall be classed among the necessary accomplishments of every well-educated lady. This is a manifest duty on the part of ladies of influence and position, even if the object be only for the benefit of the country at large. Let these ladies be accomplished artists in cookery. The rest will soon follow. There will be plenty of imitators.
Many ladies of rank in England have written valuable books on cookery, and on the effects resulting from the want of the knowledge. None wrote better than Lady Morgan. Speaking of clubs, she says:
“The social want of the times, however, brought its remedy along with it, and the reaction was astounding.... Then it was that clubs arose—homes of refuge to destitute celibacy, chapels of ease to discontented husbands. There, men could dine, like gentlemen and Christians, upon all thefriandisesof the French kitchen, much cheaper and far more wholesomely than at their own tables upon the tough, half-sodden fibres of the national roast and boiled, or on the hazardous resources of hash, gravy soup, and marrow puddings.
“Moral England gave in. The English ‘home’—that temple of the heart, that centre of all the virtues—was left to the solitary enjoyment of the English wives.
“To yourcasseroles, then, women of Britain! Would you, with a falconer’s voice, lure your faithless tassels back again?Apply to the practical remedy of your wrongs; proceed to the reform of your domestic government, and turn your thoughts to that art which, coming into action every day in the year during the longest life, includes within its circles the whole philosophy of economy and order, the preservation of good health, and the tone of good society—and all peculiarly within your province.”
Aftera fast of twelve or thirteen hours, the system requires something substantial as preparation for the labors of the day; consequently, I consider the American breakfasts more desirable for an active people than those of France or England.
In France, the first breakfast consists merely of a cup of coffee and a roll. A second breakfast, at eleven o’clock, is more substantial, dishes being served which may be eaten with a fork (déjeuner à la fourchette), as a chop with a potatosoufflé. No wonder there arecafésin Paris where American breakfasts are advertised, for it takes one of our nationality a very short time to become dissatisfied with this meagre first meal.
In England, breakfast is a very informal meal. After some fatiguing occasion, if one should desire the luxury of an extra nap, he is not mercilessly expected at the table simply because it is the breakfast-hour; for there the breakfast-hour is any time one chances to be ready for it. Gentlemen and ladies read their papers and letters in the breakfast-room—a practice which, of course, is more agreeable for guests than convenient for servants. However, if one can afford it, why not? This habit requires a little different setting of the table. It is decorated with flowers or plants, and upon it are placed several kinds of breads, fruits, melons, potted meats, and freshest of boiled eggs. But the substantial dishes must be served from the sideboard, where they are kept in silver chafing-dishes over spirit-lamps. As members of the family or guests enter, the servant helps them each once, then leaves the room. If they have further wants, they help themselves or ring a bell.
The American breakfast is all placed upon the table, unless oatmeal porridge should be served as a first course. Changes of plates are also necessary when cakes requiring sirup or when melons or fruits are served.
Let us now set the American breakfast-table.
The coffee-urn and silver service necessary are placed in a straight line before the hostess. The one or two kinds of substantials are set before the host; vegetables orentréesare placed on the sides. Do not have them askew. It is quite as easy for an attendant to place a dish in a straight line as in an oblique angle with every other dish on the table.
I advocate the general use of oatmeal porridge for breakfast. Nothing is more wholesome, and nothing more relished after a little use. If not natural, the taste should be acquired. It is invaluable for children, and of no less benefit for persons of mature years. Nearly all the little Scotch and Irish children are brought up on it. When Queen Victoria first visited Scotland, she noticed the particularly ruddy and healthy appearance of the children, and, after inquiry about their diet and habits, became at once a great advocate for the use of porridge. She used it for her own children, and it was at once introduced very generally into England. Another of its advantages is that serving it as a first course enables the cook to prepare many dishes, such as steaks, omelets, etc., just as the family sit down to breakfast; and when the porridge is eaten, she is ready with the other dishes “smoking hot.”
It would be well if more attention were given to breakfasts than is usually bestowed. The table might have a fresher look with flowers or a flowering plant in the centre. The breakfast napery is very pretty now, with colored borders to suit the color of the room, the table-cloth and napkins matching.
The beefsteaks should be varied, for instance, one morning with a tomato sauce, anotherà la maître d’hôtel, or with a brown sauce, or garnished with water-cresses, green pease, fried potatoes, potato-balls, etc., instead of being always the same beefsteak, too frequently overcooked or undercooked, and often floating in butter.
Melons, oranges, compotes, any and all kinds of fruits, shouldbe served at breakfast. In the season, sliced tomatoes, with a French orMayonnaisedressing, is a most refreshing breakfast dish. A great resource is in the variety of omelets, and with a little practice, nothing is so easily made. One morning it may be a plain omelet; another, with macaroni and cheese; another, with fine herbs; another, with little strips of ham or with oysters. The English receipt on page 148 makes a pleasant change for a veal cutlet. When chickens are no longer very young, the receipt on page 175 (deviled chicken), with a Cunard sauce or a white sauce, is another change. The different arrangements of meat-balls and croquettes, with tomato, cream, apple, or brown sauces, are delicious when they are freshly and carefully made.
As there are hundreds of delicious breakfast dishes, which only require a little attention and interest to understand, how unfortunate it must be for a man to have a wife who has nothing for breakfast but an alternation of juiceless beefsteak, greasy and ragged mutton-chops, and swimming hash, with unwholesome hot breads to make up deficiencies!
Breakfast parties are very fashionable, being less expensive than dinners, and just as satisfactory to guests. They are served generally about ten o’clock, although any time from ten to twelve o’clock may be chosen for the purpose. It seems to me that ten o’clock, or even nine o’clock (it depends upon the persons invited), is the preferable hour. Guests might prefer to retain their strength by a repast at home if the breakfast-hour were at twelve o’clock, and then the fine breakfast would be less appreciated. At breakfast parties, with the exception of the silver service being on the table all the time for tea and coffee, the dishes are served in courses precisely as for dinner.
In England, breakfast parties are perhaps more in favor than lunch parties, especially among theliterati. Macaulay said, when extolling the merits of breakfast parties as compared with all other entertainments, “Dinner parties are mere formalities; but you invite a man to breakfast because you want to seehim.”
Three bills of fare are given for breakfast parties, which will show the order of different courses:
1st Course.—Broiled sardines on toast, garnished with slices of lemon. Tea, coffee, or chocolate.2d Course.—Larded sweet-breads, garnished with French pease. Cold French rolls or petits pains. Sauterne.3d Course.—Small fillets or the tender cuts from porter-house-steaks, served on little square slices of toast, with mushrooms.4th Course.—Fried oysters; breakfast puffs.5th Course.—Fillets of grouse (each fillet cut in two), on little thin slices of fried mush, garnished with potatoes à la Parisienne.6th Course.—Sliced oranges, with sugar.7th Course.—Waffles, with maple sirup.
1st Course.—Broiled sardines on toast, garnished with slices of lemon. Tea, coffee, or chocolate.
2d Course.—Larded sweet-breads, garnished with French pease. Cold French rolls or petits pains. Sauterne.
3d Course.—Small fillets or the tender cuts from porter-house-steaks, served on little square slices of toast, with mushrooms.
4th Course.—Fried oysters; breakfast puffs.
5th Course.—Fillets of grouse (each fillet cut in two), on little thin slices of fried mush, garnished with potatoes à la Parisienne.
6th Course.—Sliced oranges, with sugar.
7th Course.—Waffles, with maple sirup.
1st Course.—An Havana orange for each person, dressed on a fork (page 338).2d Course.—Boiled shad, maître d’hôtel sauce; Saratoga potatoes. Tea or coffee.3d Course.—Lamb-chops, tomato sauce. Château Yquem.4th Course.—Omelet, with green pease, or garnished with parsley and thin diamonds of ham, or with shrimps, etc., etc.5th Course.—Fillets of beef, garnished with water-cresses and little round radishes; muffins.6th Course.—Rice pancakes, with maple sirup.
1st Course.—An Havana orange for each person, dressed on a fork (page 338).
2d Course.—Boiled shad, maître d’hôtel sauce; Saratoga potatoes. Tea or coffee.
3d Course.—Lamb-chops, tomato sauce. Château Yquem.
4th Course.—Omelet, with green pease, or garnished with parsley and thin diamonds of ham, or with shrimps, etc., etc.
5th Course.—Fillets of beef, garnished with water-cresses and little round radishes; muffins.
6th Course.—Rice pancakes, with maple sirup.
1st Course.—Melons.2d Course.—Little fried perch, smelts, or trout, with a sauce Tartare, the dish garnished with shrimps and olives. Coffee, tea, or chocolate.3d Course.—Young chickens, sautéd, with cream-gravy, surrounded with potatoes à la neige. Claret.4th Course.—Poached eggs on anchovy-toast.5th Course.—Little fillets of porter-house-steaks, with tomatoes à la Mayonnaise.6th Course.—Peaches, quartered, sweetened, and half-frozen.
1st Course.—Melons.
2d Course.—Little fried perch, smelts, or trout, with a sauce Tartare, the dish garnished with shrimps and olives. Coffee, tea, or chocolate.
3d Course.—Young chickens, sautéd, with cream-gravy, surrounded with potatoes à la neige. Claret.
4th Course.—Poached eggs on anchovy-toast.
5th Course.—Little fillets of porter-house-steaks, with tomatoes à la Mayonnaise.
6th Course.—Peaches, quartered, sweetened, and half-frozen.
Thisis more especially a ladies’ meal. If one gives a lunch party, ladies alone are generally invited. It is an informal meal on ordinary occasions, when every thing is placed upon the table at once. A servant remains in the room only long enough to serve the first round of dishes, then leaves, supposing that confidential conversation may be desired. Familiar friends often “happen in” to lunch, and are always to be expected.
Some fashionable ladies have the reputation of having very fine lunches—chops, chickens, oysters, salads, chocolate, and many other good things being provided; and others, just as fashionable, have nothing but a cup of tea or chocolate, some thin slices of bread and butter, and cold meat; or, if of Teutonic taste, nothing but cheese, crackers, and ale, thus reserving the appetite for dinner.
In entertaining at lunch, the dishes are served in the same manner as for dinner. Each dish is served as a separate course. It may be placed on the table before the hostess, if the lunch party is not very large; but it is generally served from the side. The table is also decorated in the same manner as for dinner, with a centre-piece of flowers or of fruit, and with variouscompotiersaround the centre, containing fruits,bonbons, little fancy cakes, Indian or other preserves, etc. Other ornaments, in Dresden china, majolica ware, Venetian or French glass, etc., filled with flowers, are often seen. Little dishes of common glass in different shapes, as crosses, quarter-moons, etc., about an inch high (see cuts, page 58), are also filled with flowers, and placed at symmetrical distances. As the last-mentioned decorations are very cheap, every one may indulge in them, and consider that there are no more beautiful ornaments, after all.
The lunch-table is generally covered with a colored table-cloth.
The principal dishes served arepatés, croquettes, shell-fish, game, salads—in fact, all kinds ofentréesand cold desserts, or I may say dishes are preferred which do not require carving.Bouillonis generally served as a first course inbouilloncups, which are quite like large coffee-cups, or coffee or tea cups may be used, although any dinner soup served in soup-plates isen regle. A cup of chocolate, with whipped cream on the top, is often served as another course.
I will give five bills of fare, reserved from five very nice little lunch parties:
Mrs. Collier’s Lunch(February 2d).Bouillon; sherry.Roast oysters on half-shell; Sauterne.Little vols-au-vent of oysters.Thin scollops, or cuts of fillet of beef, braised; French pease; Champagne.Chicken croquettes, garnished with fried parsley; potato croquettes.Cups of chocolate, with whipped cream.Salad—lettuce dressed with tarragon.Biscuits glacés; fruit-ices.Fruit.Bonbons.
Mrs. Collier’s Lunch(February 2d).
Bouillon; sherry.Roast oysters on half-shell; Sauterne.Little vols-au-vent of oysters.Thin scollops, or cuts of fillet of beef, braised; French pease; Champagne.Chicken croquettes, garnished with fried parsley; potato croquettes.Cups of chocolate, with whipped cream.Salad—lettuce dressed with tarragon.Biscuits glacés; fruit-ices.Fruit.Bonbons.
Mrs. Sprague’s Lunch(March 10th).Raw oysters on half-shell.Bouillon; sherry.Little vols-au-vent of sweet-breads.Lamb-chops; tomato sauce; Champagne.Chicken croquettes; French pease.Snipe; potatoes à la Parisienne.Salad of lettuce.Neuchâtel cheese; milk wafers, toasted.Chocolate Bavarian cream, molded in little cups, with a spoonful of peach marmalade on each plate.Vanilla ice-cream; fancy cakes.Fruit.
Mrs. Sprague’s Lunch(March 10th).
Raw oysters on half-shell.Bouillon; sherry.Little vols-au-vent of sweet-breads.Lamb-chops; tomato sauce; Champagne.Chicken croquettes; French pease.Snipe; potatoes à la Parisienne.Salad of lettuce.Neuchâtel cheese; milk wafers, toasted.Chocolate Bavarian cream, molded in little cups, with a spoonful of peach marmalade on each plate.Vanilla ice-cream; fancy cakes.Fruit.
Mrs. Miller’s Lunch(January 6th).Bouillon.Deviled crabs; olives; claret punch.Sweet-breads à la Milanaise.Fillets of grouse, currant jelly; Saratoga potatoes.Roman punch.Fried oysters, garnished with chow-chow.Chicken salad, or, rather, Mayonnaise of chicken.Ramikins.Wine jelly, and whipped cream.Napolitaine ice-cream.Fruit.Bonbons.
Mrs. Miller’s Lunch(January 6th).
Bouillon.Deviled crabs; olives; claret punch.Sweet-breads à la Milanaise.Fillets of grouse, currant jelly; Saratoga potatoes.Roman punch.Fried oysters, garnished with chow-chow.Chicken salad, or, rather, Mayonnaise of chicken.Ramikins.Wine jelly, and whipped cream.Napolitaine ice-cream.Fruit.Bonbons.
Mrs. Wells’s Lunch.Bouillon; sherry.Fried frogs’ legs; French pease.Smelts, sauce Tartare; potatoes à la Parisienne.Chicken in scallop-shells; Champagne.Sweet-bread croquettes; tomato sauce.Fried cream.Salad; Romaine.Welsh rare-bit.Peaches and cream, frozen; fancy cakes.Fruits.
Mrs. Wells’s Lunch.
Bouillon; sherry.Fried frogs’ legs; French pease.Smelts, sauce Tartare; potatoes à la Parisienne.Chicken in scallop-shells; Champagne.Sweet-bread croquettes; tomato sauce.Fried cream.Salad; Romaine.Welsh rare-bit.Peaches and cream, frozen; fancy cakes.Fruits.
Mrs. Filley’s Lunch.Mock-turtle soup; English milk-punch.Lobster-chops; claret.Mushrooms in crust.Lamb-chops, en papillote.Chetney of slices of baked fillet of beef.Chocolate, with whipped cream.Spinach on tongue slices (page 145), sauce Tartare.Roast quail, bread sauce (page 185).Cheese; lettuce, garnished with slices of radishes and nasturtium blossoms, French dressing.Mince-meat patties; Champagne.Ices and fancy cakes.Fruit.
Mrs. Filley’s Lunch.
Mock-turtle soup; English milk-punch.Lobster-chops; claret.Mushrooms in crust.Lamb-chops, en papillote.Chetney of slices of baked fillet of beef.Chocolate, with whipped cream.Spinach on tongue slices (page 145), sauce Tartare.Roast quail, bread sauce (page 185).Cheese; lettuce, garnished with slices of radishes and nasturtium blossoms, French dressing.Mince-meat patties; Champagne.Ices and fancy cakes.Fruit.
Asladies have exclusive lunches, gentlemen have exclusive suppers. Nearly the same dishes are served for suppers as for lunches, although gentlemen generally prefer more game and wine. Sometimes they like fish suppers, with two or three or more varieties of fish, when nightmare might be written at the end of the bill of fare.
If one has not a reliable cook, it is very convenient to give these entertainments, as the hostess has a chance to station herself in thecuisine, and personally superintend the supper.
One bill of fare is given for a fish supper:
1st Course.—Raw oysters served in a block of ice (page 113). [The ice has a pretty effect in the gas-light.]2d Course.—Shad, maître d’hôtel sauce, garnished with smelts.3d Course.—Sweet-breads and tomato sauce.4th Course.—Boiled sardines, on toast.5th Course.—Deviled chicken, Cunard sauce.6th Course.—Fillets of duck, with salad of lettuce.7th Course.—Mayonnaise of salmon, garnished with shrimps.8th Course.—Welsh rare-bit.9th Course.—Charlotte Russe.10th Course.—Ice-cream and cake.
1st Course.—Raw oysters served in a block of ice (page 113). [The ice has a pretty effect in the gas-light.]
2d Course.—Shad, maître d’hôtel sauce, garnished with smelts.
3d Course.—Sweet-breads and tomato sauce.
4th Course.—Boiled sardines, on toast.
5th Course.—Deviled chicken, Cunard sauce.
6th Course.—Fillets of duck, with salad of lettuce.
7th Course.—Mayonnaise of salmon, garnished with shrimps.
8th Course.—Welsh rare-bit.
9th Course.—Charlotte Russe.
10th Course.—Ice-cream and cake.
Ifpeople can afford to give large evening parties, it is less trouble and more satisfactory to place the supper in the hands of the confectioner.
For card parties or small companies of thirty or forty persons, to meet some particular stranger, or for literary reunions, the trouble need not be great. People would entertain more if the trouble were less.
If one has a regular reception-evening, ices, cake, and chocolate are quite enough; or for chocolate might be substituted sherry or a bowl of punch.
For especial occasions for a company of thirty or forty, a table prettily set with some flowers, fruit, chicken salad, croquettes or sweet-breads and pease, one or two or more kinds of ice-cream and cakes, is quite sufficient. Either coffee and tea, Champagne, a bowl of punch or of eggnog, would be sufficient in the way of beverage.
I amindebted to a French girl living in our family for the substance of this chapter. Her parents being obliged to live in a most economical way in St. Louis, still had an uncommonlygood table. One resource was a little garden, in which small compass were raised enough onions, tomatoes, carrots, and a few other vegetables, to nearly supply the family. A small bed of four feet square, surrounded by a pretty border of lettuce, was large enough for raising all necessary herbs, such as sage, summer savory, thyme, etc. Little boxes in the kitchen windows contained growing parsley, ever ready for use.
I give receipts for three of their soups—the onion, vegetablepurée, and potato soups being most excellent, and costing not over from five to ten cents each. One of their dinner dishes was a heart (10 cents) stuffed, baked two or three hours, and served with a brown gravy and an onion garnish (see receipt). Still another was a two-pound round-steak (20 cents), spread with a bread and sage stuffing, then rolled, tied, floured, seasoned on top, then baked, basting it often. It was a pretty dish, with tomato sauce around it. Sometimes a cheap fish was cut in slices, egged and bread-crumbed, fried, and garnished with fried potatoes. They had always a salad for dinner, prepared from their border of lettuce, some cold potatoes, cold beans, or other vegetable. A fine breakfast dish was of kidneys (5 cents). Few Americans know how to cook kidneys, and butchers often throw them away; yet in France they are considered a great delicacy.
Theirrépertoireof cheap dishes was large; so there was always a change for, at least, each day of the week. A crumb of bread was never wasted. All odd morsels were dried in the oven, pounded, and put away in a tin-box, ready for breading cutlets cut from any pieces of mutton or veal, and for many other purposes.
Any pieces of suet or drippings were clarified and put one side, to be used for frying. Remains of cooked vegetables of any kind were saved for soups and sauces. Not a slice of a tomato nor leaf of a cabbage was thrown away.
If they had butter that was not entirely sweet, they added more salt, a little soda, brought it to a boil on the stove, and then put it away in a little crock. By allowing the settlings to remain at the bottom, the butter became entirely sweet, and not too salt for cooking purposes.
Chickens, cutlets, etc., were larded at this table. Now, just to mention the word “larding” is to overwhelm a common cook; and to require it, is to rivet in the minds of most housewives the entire impracticability of a whole receipt in which it is an item. Pieces of salt pork or breakfast bacon should always be kept in the house. A pound of it, which is not expensive, may last a long time, as it requires very little for flavoring many things; then, if one has any idea of sewing, or what it is to push a needle through any thing, one can lard. It only requires a larding-needle, which costs fifteen cents, and which should last a century. By placing little cut strips of pork in the end of the needle, as is explained among “directions,” then drawing the needle through parts of the meat, leaving the pork midway, this wonderfully difficult operation is accomplished. It is only a few minutes’ pastime to lard turkeys, chickens, birds, cutlets, sweet-breads, etc., which gives to them flavor and style.
Limited in fortune as were this family, they were never without stock at hand. Their meat for croquettes, patties, etc., had served a duty to the soup-kettle. If a chicken was to be boiled for the table, it was thrown into the stock-pot while the soup was simmering, and thus it and the chicken were both benefited.
Their meat dishes were often garnished with little potato-balls, cookedà la Parisienne, or simply boiled. This seemed extravagant; but as a French vegetable-cutter only costs twenty-five cents, and the balls can be cut very rapidly—all the parings boiled and mashed serving another time as potato-cakes—there was nothing wasted, and little time lost.
In short, this household (and it is a sample of nearly all French families of limited means) lived well on little more than many an American family would throw away.
Let me give five bills of fare of their dinners, the second of which is partly prepared from the remains of the first day:
Beef soup (soup bone), 10 cents.Veal blanquette and boiled potatoes (knuckle of veal), 15 cents.Salad of sliced tomatoes, 2 or 3 cents.Boiled rice, with a border of stewed small pears (green, or of common variety), 10 cents.Onion or bean soup, 5 cents.Fish (en matelote), 15 cents.Croquettes (made of the remains of the cold beef-soup meat, and rice), with a tomato sauce.Salad of cold boiled potatoes.Fried bread-pudding.———Potato soup.Round steak, rolled (page 140), with baked, parboiled onions, 25 cents.Salad of lettuce.Apple-fritters, with sirup.———Tomato soup.Beef à la mode, with spinach, 40 cents (enough for two dinners).Salad of potatoes and parsley.Rice-pudding.———Noodle soup.Mutton ragout, with potatoes, 25 cents.Noodles and stuffed tomatoes.Cheese omelet.
Beef soup (soup bone), 10 cents.Veal blanquette and boiled potatoes (knuckle of veal), 15 cents.Salad of sliced tomatoes, 2 or 3 cents.Boiled rice, with a border of stewed small pears (green, or of common variety), 10 cents.Onion or bean soup, 5 cents.Fish (en matelote), 15 cents.Croquettes (made of the remains of the cold beef-soup meat, and rice), with a tomato sauce.Salad of cold boiled potatoes.Fried bread-pudding.———Potato soup.Round steak, rolled (page 140), with baked, parboiled onions, 25 cents.Salad of lettuce.Apple-fritters, with sirup.———Tomato soup.Beef à la mode, with spinach, 40 cents (enough for two dinners).Salad of potatoes and parsley.Rice-pudding.———Noodle soup.Mutton ragout, with potatoes, 25 cents.Noodles and stuffed tomatoes.Cheese omelet.
Fowls or joints should be tied or well skewered into shape before boiling.
Every thing should begentlysimmered, rather than fast boiled, in order to be tender. The water should never be allowed to stop simmering before the article is quite done. A pudding is thus entirely ruined.
The kettle should be kept covered, merely raising the cover at times to remove the scum. Boiled fowl, with a white sauce, is a favorite English dish, and very nice it is if properly prepared.
Frying means cooking byimmersionin hot fat, butter, or oil. There is no English word for what is called frying in aspoonful of fat, first on one side, and then on the other.Sautéis the French word, and should be Anglicized. Ordinary cooks, instead of frying, invariablysautéevery thing. Almost every article that is usuallysautédis much better and more economicalfried; as, for instance, oysters, fish, birds, cutlets, crabs, etc.
The fat should always be tested before the article is immersed. A little piece of bread may be thrown in, and if it colors quickly, the fat is ready, and not before. The temperature of hot grease, it will be remembered, is much greater than that of boiling water, which can not exceed a certain degree of heat, whether it boil slow or fast. Hot grease reaches a very high degree of heat, and consequently the surface of any thing is almost instantaneously hardened or crisped when thrown into it. The inside is thus kept free from grease, and is quickly cooked. An article first dipped in egg and bread-crumbs should beentirelyfree from grease when thus cooked, as the egg is hardened the instant it touches the hot grease, and the oyster, croquette, cutlet, or sweet-bread is perfectly protected. The same fat can be used repeatedly for frying the same thing. The fat in which fish is fried should not be again used for any thing except fish. Professional cooks have several frying-kettles, in which fat is kept for frying different things. A little kettle for frying potatoes exclusively should always be at hand.
One will see that this style of cooking is economical, as there is very little waste of fat; and then fried articles need no other dressing.
After frying fish, meat, or vegetables, let the fat stand about five minutes; strain, and then return it to the kettle, which should always be kept covered, after it is once cold.
Beef suet, salted, is quite as good for frying as lard, and is much cheaper. It is well to purchase it by the pound, and have it rendered in the kitchen.
Take beef suet, the part around the kidneys, or any kind of fat, raw or cooked, and free of fibres, nerves, thin skin, or bones; chop it fine; add to it whatever you may have of fatskimmed off the top of meat soup; put it in a cast-iron or crockery kettle; set it on a moderate fire; boil gently for fifteen minutes; skim it well during the process; take from the fire, leave it five minutes, and then strain it; after which, put it in pots, and keep them in a dry and cool place; cover the pots well every time you have occasion to use, but never cover them while the grease is warm. This grease is as good, if not better than any other to fry fish, fritters, and other similar things, which require to be entirely covered with grease.[A]
I did not appreciate the nicety of broiling until, upon an occasion, a gentleman invited a dinner company to a private dining-room of one of our large restaurants, to eat a certain kind of fish, which he considered especially fine. The host was quite out of humor to see the fish come to the table baked, when he had ordered it broiled. The proprietor afterward explained that, for some reason, his French cook was absent for that day, and he had no other who could broil so large a fish. I at once realized that, after all, it must be a delicate and difficult thing to broil a large fish, so that the centre would be well done, and the surface not burned. The smaller and thinner the article, the hotter should be the fire; the larger the article, the more temperate the fire, or, rather, the greater distance it should at first be placed from it. The fish, in this case, should have been wrapped in oiled or buttered paper. It should have been placed rather near the fire for the first few moments; then removed farther away, or placed on another more moderate fire. A large baking-pan should have covered the top of the fish, to hold the heat. When nearly done, the paper should have been removed, to allow the surface to brown.
Always grease the gridiron well, and have ithot, before the meat is placed on it. Any thing egged and bread-crumbed should be buttered before it is broiled. Fish should be buttered and sprinkled with flour, which will prevent the skin fromadhering to the gridiron. Cutlets, and in fact every thing, are more delicate buttered before broiling. A little lemon-juice is also often a nice addition. Birds, and other things which need to be halved, should be broiled,insidefirst.
Remember that a hot, clear fire is necessary for cooking all small articles. They should be turned often, to be cooked evenly, without being burned.
Never put a fork in the lean part of meat on the gridiron, as it allows the juice to escape.
Always cover the gridiron with a tin pan or a baking-pan. The sooner the meat is cooked without burning, the better. The pan holds the heat, and often prevents a stray line of smoke from touching the meat.
If the fire should be too hot, sprinkle salt over it.
There is little use to talk about roasting, as but few will attempt it, always considering it easier to bake instead. Indeed, there is so little demand in many sections for stoves and ranges suited to the purpose that they are difficult to obtain. Of course, there is no comparison between these modes of cooking. Beef, mutton, turkeys, ducks, or birds—in fact, any kind of meat is tenfold better roasted than baked. In Europe, all these articles are roasted; and people there would have great contempt for a piece of beef or a turkey baked. In New York and Philadelphia, also, at the finer establishments, the meats are generally roasted. The trouble is little greater than to bake. It is only necessary to have the range or stove constructed for roasting, and a tin screen, with a spit and jack, to place before the coals. Some of the roasters are arranged with a spring-jack. The meat is placed on the spit, and the spring wound up, which sets the meat to revolving slowly before the fire.
In roasting, the meat should at first be placed near the coals, so as to quickly harden the surface; then it should be removed back a little distance, to be cooked through, without burning. The oftener it is basted, the better it is. If the roast of meat is very large, it should be surrounded with a buttered paper.
Just before the meat is done, it should be basted with a littlebutter or drippings, then sprinkled with flour, and placed nearer the fire, to brown nicely, when it will take a frothy appearance.
Much depends upon the management of the fire. It should be made some time before the meat is placed for roasting, so that the coals may be bright and hot. It should also be strong enough to last, with only the addition of an occasional coal at the top. In fine establishments abroad, a grate for burning coal, charcoal, or wood is made in the kitchen, for the purpose of roasting only. This is convenient, but more expensive than roasting in ranges or stoves, where the same fire may serve for cooking every thing.
As I have already said, frying implies immersing in fat or oil; butsautéingmeans to cook in a spider orsautépan, with just enough hot fat to keep the article, while being cooked, from sticking. The fat should always be quite hot before placing on it any thing to cook.
A braising-kettle has a deep cover, which holds coals; consequently, the cooking is done from above as well as below. It is almost air-tight, thus preventing evaporation, and the article to be cooked imbibes whatever flavor one may wish to give it.
The article is generally cooked in stock or broth (water may be used also), with slices of bacon, onion, carrot, etc., placed around the meat. It is a favorite mode of cooking pigeons. An ordinary cut of beef may be made very savory cooked in this manner, and the juice left makes a good gravy when freed from fat.
If a braising-pan is not at hand, a common, tight-covered saucepan answers very well without the upper coals. Except for coloring larding on the top of the article to be braised, I do not appreciate the value of the upper coals, anyway; and the coloring may be accomplished with the salamander or hot shovel as well.
Cut the firmest bacon fat, with a heated or very sharp knife, into square lengths of equal size. Placing one end in a larding-needle, draw it through the skin and a small bit of the meat, leaving the strip of pork, or lardoon, as it is called, in the meat. The two ends left exposed should be of equal length. The punctures for the lardoons should be in rows, of equal distance apart, arranged in any fanciful way that may suit the cook. The usual form for larding, however, is as shown in cut (page 57).
Boning is not a difficult operation. It only requires time, a thin, sharp knife, and a little care. Cut off the neck, and also the legs at the first joint. Cut the skin in a line down the middle of the back. Now, taking first one side and then the other of the cut in the fingers, carefully separate the flesh from the bones, sliding the knife close to the bone. When you come to the wings and legs, it is easier to break or unjoint the bones at the body-joint; cutting close by the bone, draw it, turning the flesh of the legs and wings inside out. When all the bones are out, the skin and flesh can be re-adjusted and stuffed into shape. As the leg and wing bones require considerable time to remove, they may be left in, and the body stuffed with lamb or veal force-meat. See receipt for boned chicken (page 174). It is a very pretty and delicious dish.
Always sift the bread or cracker crumbs. Whenever there are spare pieces or trimmings of bread or broken crackers, dry them at once in the oven, and after pounding and sifting, put them away in a tin can, for future use. In preparing for use, beat the eggs a little. If they are to be used for sweet dishes, such as rice croquettes, sweeten them slightly. If they are to be used for meats, sweet-breads, oysters, etc., always salt and pepper them, and for a change, finely chopped parsley may be added. Add a small proportion of milk to the eggs, say a half-cupful for two of them, or for one of them, if intended for fishor cutlets. Have the eggs in one plate, and the bread-crumbs in another; roll the article first in the crumbs, then in the egg, then in the crumbs again. In the case of articles very soft, like croquettes, it will be more convenient for one person to shape and roll them in the eggs, and another, with dry hands, to roll them in the bread-crumbs.
Pounded and sifted cracker-crumbs can be purchased by the pound, at bakeries and large groceries, for the same price as whole crackers. However, it will never be necessary to purchase cracker-crumbs, if all scraps of bread are saved and dried. It is deplorable for a cook to throw them away. It shows that she is either too indolent to ever learn to cook, or too ignorant of the uses of scraps of bread to be tolerated. If she saves them for purposes of charity, let her give fresh bread, which will be more acceptable, and save the scraps, which are equally useful to her. Yet if the bread-crumbs when pounded and sifted are not very fine, they are not as good as the cracker-dust.
Wet and flour the cloth before adding the pudding. In tying in the pudding, leave room enough for it to swell. If cooked in a mold, do not fill the mold quite full. Never let the water stop boiling. As it wastes away in boiling, replenish the kettle from another containing boiling water.
It is better to cook these puddings (plum-puddings as well) in a steamer than in boiling water. The principle is really the same, and there is no water soaked.
Celery, parsley, thyme, summer savory, sage, etc., should all be prepared for winter use. After drying and pulverizing, put them in tin cans or glass jars. Celery and parsley are especially valuable for soups and gravies.
If the fresh or dried vegetables are not at hand, seeds, such as celery, carrot-seed, etc., can be substituted for a flavoring.
Never use the white part of the peel of a lemon for flavoring. It is bitter. The little globules of oil in the surface of the rind contain all the pleasant flavor of the peel. It may be thinly pared off, avoiding the white pulp. Professional cooks, however, rub loaf-sugar over the surface. The friction breaks the oil-ducts, and the sugar absorbs the oil. It is called zest. The sugar is afterward pounded fine for certain dishes, such as creams,meringues, etc.; or it can be simply melted in custards and beverages.
1 quart of sifted flour = 1 pound.1 quart of powdered sugar = 1 pound and 7 ounces.1 quart of granulated sugar = 1 pound and 9 ounces.1 pint of closely packed butter = 1 pound.Butter, size of an egg = about 2 ounces.10 eggs = 1 pound.3 cupfuls of sugar = 1 pound.5 cupfuls of sifted flour = 1 pound.1 heaping table-spoonful = ⅙th of a gill.4 gills = 1 pint; 2 pints = 1 quart; 4 quarts = 1 gallon.
In my receipts, I prefer, generally, the use of terms of measure to those of weight, because the former are more convenient for the majority of housekeepers.
Sprinkle flour over it while chopping, which will prevent the pieces from adhering.
To 1 quart of flour, use 2½ tea-spoonfuls of baking-powder; or,
To 1 quart of flour, use 1 tea-spoonful of soda, and 2 tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar; or,
To 1 quart of flour, use 1 cupful of sour milk, and 1 tea-spoonful of soda.
Arouxis a mixture of butter and flourcooked. It is generally added, uncooked, to thicken a sauce or a soup; but the flavor is much better if it is first cooked, and the sauce or soup is added toit. Professional French cooks always manage it in this way. When the butter is first brought to the boiling-point, in a small stew-pan or cup, the sifted flour is sprinkled in, and both are mixed well together over the fire with an egg-whisk, until the flour is well cooked; a part of the sauce or soup is then stirred in until it becomes smooth and thin enough to add to the main sauce or soup. If therouxis intended for a white sauce, it is not allowed to color; if for a brown sauce, it may color a little, or browned flour may be used.