ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY New York State Colleges OF Agriculture and Home Economics Cornell University d X e pleasures of t iiiiii 3 1924 ( u u m 1 1 he table; an a iiii 301 923 : 1 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924001923386 •^A SA TOUTE-PL'ISSANCE!" From the painting by Gabriel Metzu, 1664 AN ACCOUNT OF GASTRONOMY FROM ANCIENT DAYS TO PRESENT TIMES. WITH A HISTORY OF ITS LITERATUR.E, SCHOOLS, AND MOST DISTINGUISHED ARTISTS; TOGETHER WITH SOME SPECIAL RECIPES, AND VIEWS CONCERNING THE AESTHETICS OF DINNERS. AND DINNER-GIVING. BY GEORGE H.ELLVVANGER..M.A Copyright^ 1902, by DOUBLEDAY, PaGE & Co. FANTA^IE CUX,INAIRE: LE POISSON PBlfiVOYANT By A. Thierry TO HER, ;true comrade, whosei^ 'versant touch and art'" ful hand have keened my zest for gastronomic lore, this volume is devotedly^ inscribed. " Gasteria is the Tenth Muse; she presides over the enjoyments of Taste." Brillat-Savarin. " The History of Gastronomy is that of manners, if not of morals; and the learned are aware that its literature is both in- structive and amusing; for it is replete with curious traits of character and com- parative views of society at different pe- riods, as well as with striking anecdotes of remarkable men and women whose desti- nies have been strangely influenced by their epicurean tastes and habits." Abraham Hayward. INTRODUCTORY It is far from the purpose or desire of the author to add another to the innumerable volumes having prac- tical cookery as their theme — the published works of the past decade alone being too numerous to digest. The following chapters, therefore, though touch- ing upon the practical part of the art, will be found more closely concerned with the history, literature, and (esthetics of the table than with its purely utili- tarian side. Indeed, a complete manual of practical cookery is one of the impossibilities, for no person would have the patience to compile it; and even were such a work achievable, few readers could find suf- ficient time for its perusal. A glance at the portly "Bibliographie Gastronomique" of Georges Vicaire, in which English contributions to the subject are so meagrely represented, will suffice to show the difficul- ties such a task would impose. To classify properly the multitudinous dishes which, virtually identical, figure under so many different names, would of itself require years of severe application and laborious re- search. It may be observed, notwithstanding, that the world stands much less in need of additional in- ventions as regards the utilisation and preparation of foods than of an expert anthologist to garner the most worthy among recipes already existing in such bewildering profusion. INTRODUCTORY In the succeeding pages the writer has drawn from many sources, both ancient and modern — wherever an anecdote which is not too familiar has been fovMd amusing, or an observation has been deemed pertinent or instructive. An occasional recipe has been given, and the sweet tooth of femininity has not been neg- lected. The hygiene of the table has likewise been considered, and some pernicious customs in connec- tion with dining have beem plainly dealt with. There are also some allusions to wines with respect to their complementary dishes, although wine is so important a subject as to call for a volume by itself. It has not been deemed advisable to pass the cook- ery of the entire globe under review, even in a cur- sory manner. To devote separate chapters to Scan- dinavian, South American, and Oriental dishes, or even to purely Spanish, Mexican, and Russian food preparations, were both needless and cumbersome. The best have been embodied in the cosmopolitan kitchen; and the rest, for the most part, require the at- mosphere of their native surroundings to he appraised at their proper value. It is with the French that the annalist of the table has chiefly to deal. Necessarily, in treating of what Thomas Walker has termed "one of the most important of our tem- poral concerns," many gastronomic expressions and names of dishes, and not a few observations relating to the table, which would lose their piquancy or pre- cise colouring on translation, have been retained in the language in which they originally appear. "Les que- nelles de levraut saucees d'une espagnolle au fumet" "les amourettes de boeuf marinees frites," "Vepaule INTRODUCTORY de veau en musette champetre," "un coq vierge en petit deuil," for example, while natural and compre- hensible in French, would sound somewhat bizarre as "Forcemeat balls of leverets sauced with a racy Span- ish woman,'' "the love-affairs of soused beef fried," "a shoulder of veal in rural bagpipes," and "a virgin rooster in half -mourning." And surely, in reviewing the aide-de-camp of the cook, it becomes obligatory to employ a French term upon occasion, and equally seemly to address him now and then in the classic tongue of the kitchen. The principal meal has chiefly been considered, as through this to the greatest extent depend the health and frame of mind that determine the actions of man from day to day. It will, accordingly, be an entree compounded of numerous flavourings, or a braise with its "bouquet garni" that has simmered gently over the smothered charcoal, rather than a familiar piece de resistance which the reader is invited to partake of and discuss at his leisure. CHAPTER pjlQE Introductory xiii I Cookery amonq the Ancients 3 II With Luculltjs and Apicius 24 III The Kenaissance of Cookery 49 IV Old English Dishes 80 V L' Almanacs des Gourmands 112 VI A German Speisekarte 145 VII The School of Savarin 175 VIII From Careme to Dumas 199 IX The Cook's Confrere 229 X American vs. English Cookery 248 XI At Table with the Clergy 280 XII Sundry Guides to Good Cheer 315 XIII Of Sauces 344 XIV The Spoils of the Cover 354 XV Two Esculents Par Excellence ..... 383 XVI Sallets and Salads 409 xvxi Sweets to the Sweet 428 Bibliography 447 Index 469 " A Sa Toute-Puissance ! " Frontispiece From the painting by Gabriel Metzn, 1664 PAGE Fantaisie culinaire : le poisson pr6voyant iv By A. Thierry Le Cuisinier xi After the engraving by Mariette FACING PAGE A Baccliaiite 3 From the stipple engraving in colours by Bartolozzi, after Cipriani Portrait du Gourmand 24 After Carle Vernet Le Livre de Taillevent 49 Facsimile of title-page of the edition of 1545 The Cries of Paris: "Old clothes, old laces!" .... 69 Facsimile of an old French plate First of September 80 From the engraving after A. Cooper, R. A. The English Housewife 94 Facsimile of title-page of the edition of 1675 "Un Viel Amateur "...." 112 A. B. L. Grimod de la Reynifere, ne a Paris le 20 9bre, 1756. From an old print ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Le Premier Devoir d'uu Ampliitryon 121 Frontispiece of the fifth year of the " Almanach des Gourmands " Les Meditations d'un Gourmand 132 Frontispiece of the fourth year of the "Almanach des Gourmands " The Chef 145 From a print after an old Dutch master The Bird of St. Michael 160 From the etching by Birket-Foster, R. A. Promenade Nutritive 175 Frontispiece of " Le Gastronome Fran^als " (1828) " Pour voir de bons refrains ^clore, Buvons encore ! " . 186 Frontispiece of " Le Caveau Moderne" (1807) Alexandre Dumas 199 From the etching by Rajon "UArt du Cuisinier" (Beauvilliers') 213 j Facsimile of title-page, 1824, Vol. II ' Day's Closing Hour 229 From the etching by Charles Jacque " First Catch Your Hare !" 248 From the engraving by J. W. Snow "Eoti-Cochon" 261 Facsimile page from volume, 1696 Non in Solo Pane Vivit Homo 280 From the original Oil-painting by Klein La Contenance de la Table 296 Facsimile of title-page (early part of sixteenth century) " Enfant, tu ne doia charger Tant de la premifere viande Se plusienrs en as en commande Que d'aufitres ne puisses menger." Promenade du Gourmand 315 Frontispiece of "Le Manuel du Gastronome ou Nouvel Almanach des Gourmands " (1830) La Table 33I Frontispiece of the Second Canto of "La Conversation" of the Abbe Delllle, 1823 A Supper in the Eighteenth Century 344 From the engraving after Masquelier The Spanish Pointer 354 From the engraving by WooUett, after the painting by Stubbs, 1768 ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGE Partridge Shooting. I. La Chasse aux Perdrix . . . 364 From the coloured print after Howitt, 18OT Partridge Shooting— September 375 From the coloured engraving by Reeve, after the painting by R. B. Davis, 1836 Truffle-hunting in the Dauphin^ 383 From the Salon picture after Paul Vayson " Nouvel Manuel Complet du Cuisinier et de la Cuisiniere" 397 Facsimile of frontispiece, 1822 The Wounded Snipe 409 From the engraving after A. Cooper, R. A. "Apr^BonVin" 428 From the engraving by Eisen In the Fermiers-G^n^reaux edition of the "Contes et NouveUes " (1762) Le PMissier Frangais 442 Facsimile of title-page of the edition of 1655 LE CUISINIER After the engraving by Mariette THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS "L'art qui contient toutes les 616gaiices, toutes les courtoisies, sans lesqnelles toutes les autres sont inutiles et perdus ; l'art hospitaller par excellence qtii emploie avec un 6gal succ^s tous les prodnits les plus excellents de I'air, des eanx, de la terre." — ^Fayot. COOKERY is naturally the most ancient of the arts, as of all arts it is the most important. Whether one should live to eat, is a question con- cerning which the epicure and the ascetic will hold widely varying opinions; but that one must eat to live, will scarcely admit of controversy. The man who is wise in his generation will be inclined to choose a happy medium. Or perchance the French axiom that we only eat to live when we do not understand how to live to eat, may somewhat simplify the mat- ter. As it is largely through food and drink that man 3 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE derives his highest mental efficiency and physical well-being, as equally through improper diet accrue countless bodily disorders, it would appear that the proper choice and preparation of aliments and the selection of beverages should receive the profoimd consideration of every one. In few of the arts has progress been more apparent during modern times. The mechanic has improved its accessories until the utmost perfection would seem to have been attained, medicine and chemistry have endeavoured to determine what elements of our daily dietary are injurious to certain individuals or to all, volimie after volume has been vvrritten upon the sub- ject, while the grand army of cooks has been busy in inventing new combinations or in resurrecting for- gotten recipes. And yet the digestive ills of himaanity have con- tinued to multiply, even though there are over six- score ways presented by a single author of serv- ing the rabbit, and a competent priest of the range can utilise the egg in hundreds of different forms. Is it that with greater variety in our aliments, a greater number of ailments is a necessary sequence, and that as mankind increases in culinary knowledge digestion decreases in power? It is an olden adage that too many cooks spoil the broth; and it may be worthy of consideration whether a superfluity of dishes is not responsible to a considerable degree for the furtherance of various stomachic maladies. Or, on the other hand, is it that with the trebled f acihties of locomotion supplied by modern science, and the closer confinement of indoor pursuits, the cause may 4 A BACCHANTE From the stipple engravins in colours by Bartolozzi, after Cipriani COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS be largely ascribed to lack of exercise and insufficient oxygenation? However this may be, the art of cookery is far less generally understood than its great hygienic impor- tance demands, Avhile the art of dining is understood only by the relatively few. As M. Fayot observed to Jules Janin, "Without doubt, Monsieur, as you have often said, it is difficult to write well, but it is a hundred times more difficult to know how to dine well." Or, as Dimias has expressed it, "To eat understandingly and to drink understandingly are two arts that may not be learned from the day to the morrow." He himself was a striking example of the accomplished bon vivant, and his marked intellectual superiority over his son may be readily attributed to his greater knowledge of dining. Where, indeed, more than at the well-appointed dinner-table may one echo the sentiment of Seneca, "When shall we live if not now?" "An empty stom- ach produces an empty brain," observes the author of the "Comedie Humaine" ; "our mind, independent as it may appear to be, respects the laws of digestion, and we may say with as much justice as did La Roche- foucauld of the heart, that good thoughts proceed from the stomach." It is, however, a source whence our joys and sorrows both may spring. Neglect and indifference may impair its action to destruction ; but, humoured kindly, it ever guides us in paths of peace. In a healthy and a hungry state, it yearns for special gifts which gustatory edicts demand, and rarely will confusion attend them when their bestowal is fla- voured with prudence. It is a faithful minister and 5 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE discriminating guardian, which rebels only when its functions are imposed upon; but when they are, its resentment is thorough and relentless. Worthy then, most certainly, of solicitous regard is the nourishment of an organ which may shape our ends for weal or woe. "Cookery," said Yuan Mei, the Savarin of China and author of a scholarly cook-book during the eigh- teenth century, "is like matrimony — ^two things served together should match. Clear should go with clear, hard with hard, and soft with soft. . . . Into no department of life should indifference be allowed to creep — into none less than into the domain of cookery." Concerning the art itself, it may be remarked that the French have been to cookery what the Dutch and Flemish schools have been to painting — cookery with the one and painting with the other having attained their highest excellence. Rubens, Rembrandt, Teniers, Jordaens, Ruysdael, Snyders, Berghem, and Cuyp may be paralleled in another branch of art by Careme, Vatel, Beauvilliers, Robert, Laguipiere, Very, Fran- catelli, and Ude. But, as in painting during its ear- lier stages Flanders and the ISTetherlands owed much to the Roman and Venetian schools, so in cookery the French are vastly indebted to their predecessors and former masters the Italians, who, if less distinguished colourists, were not to be despised as draughtsmen, and who if by instinct not as skilled in the chiaroscuro of sauces, were most dexterous in creating bread- stuff's and pastry. Montaigne's reference to an Ital- ian cook of the period will be remembered in this 6 COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS connection — one of the artists who had been em- ployed by Cardinal CarafFa who discoursed upon the subject in such rich, magnificent words, well-couched phrases, oratoric figures, and pathetical metaphors as learned men use and employ in speaking of the gov- ernment of an empire. It is a long stone's throw from the first apple eaten in the Garden of Eden — and this was a wild fruit, and not a Spitzenberg or a Northern Spy — to a Char- treuse a la belle-vue or that triumph of the ovens of Alsace — the pate de foie gras. The first dish of which any record exists is the red pottage of lentils for which Esau sold his birthright — a form of food still very cormnon in Germany and France. The first direct mention of breadstufi^s in the Bible occurs in Genesis, where Abraham tenders the angel a morsel of bread, and bids Sarah make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth. The primitive tribes and nations were content of necessity with the spoils of the chase and the then more limited products of the vegetable world; and long before John the Baptist's time the Hebrews lived to no small extent upon locusts and kindred in- sects. In his enumeration of the animal food which they might eat without rendering themselves unclean, Moses specifies four insects of the locust family (Lev. X, 22) . Some species of the Locusta are yet esteemed a delicacy in the East, these being cooked with oil, roasted upon wooden spits, baked in ovens, or broiled. The Bedouins, who are ever on the march, pack them with salt in close masses, carrying them in their 7 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE leathern sacks. By the Athenians they were usually roasted ; and mention is made by Athensus of an ar- chimagirus, or master cook, who, in his tour around the ovens and stock-pots, enjoins one of his subalterns to take the utmost precaution with them and see that they obtain only a light golden hue. Eggs, milk, rice, and honey, onions, succory, leeks, and garlic, the leaves of the vine, radishes, and car- rots, with other growths of the garden, formed the staple articles of diet among ancient peoples. Vege- table food was more common than animal, the latter being served principally in the case of entertainments and special occasions of hospitality (Gen. xviii, 7, 8) , Instead of lard and butter, olive oil was employed, and is still almost entirely employed by the Orientals. Fish constituted an important article of diet, together with game, lambs, and kids. Though not common, the flesh of young bullocks and stall-fed oxen was highly prized (Prov. xv, 17; Matt, xxii, 4), the shoul- der being considered the choicest part. The master of the house was the matador, and upon the. mistress devolved the preparation of the food. Among primi- tive cooks, Rebekah proved herself a performer of no mean ability, as instanced by her dressing the flesh of a young kid after the manner of venison, in order to obtain a father's blessing for her favourite son. Roots, berries, fruits, and the quarry of the bow and harpoon composed the fare of aboriginal man, and proved all-sufiicient. When the struggle for physical existence called for strong exercise in procuring neces- sary food, little variety in nutriment sufficed, at no loss of brawn and sinew. 8 COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS With many savage races, bread-fruit, nuts, the plantain, the cocoa-pahn — known as the "tree of hfe" — with numerous other food-yielding palms, served as a principal means of subsistence. The first fruit- tree cultivated by man is said by all the most ancient writers to be the fig, the vine being next in order. The almond and pomegranate were cultivated at an early date in Canaan, and the fig, grape, pomegran- ate, and melon were known to Egypt from time im- memorial. In Solon's laws, the olive, the fig, and the vine are enumerated, as also the cabbage, crambe, or sea-kale, pulse of various kinds, and onions. Cab- bage and asparagus were known to the Greeks from the earliest ages, and by them the chestnut, largely utilised for food, was termed the "Oak of Jupiter." The original home of wheat and barley is supposed to be Mesopotamia and the fertile plains of the Euphrates, whence, after a period of cultivation, they spread eastward to China and westward to Syria and thence to Europe. Among other food-stuffs of the inhabitants were onions, vetches, kidney-beans, egg-plants, pxmrxpkins, lentils, cucumbers, chick-peas, and beans — with such fruits as the apple, fig, apricot, pistachio, almond, walnut, and the product of the palm and vine. Coffee, of very remote use in Abyssinia, was un- known to the early Greeks and Romans; they were, however, familiar with the cucumber, cultivated in India for at least three thousand years. The cucum- ber was also known to Moses and the Israelites, the patriarch referring to fish and cucumbers, melons and leeks, as among the delicacies that were freely eaten 9 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE in Egypt (Numbers xi, 5) . Various kinds of Cicho- rium, or chicory, were familiar to antiquity, while Lactuca, or lettuce, was extensively grown as a salad. The onion was a favourite with the ancient Egyp- tians, garlic likewise being made much use of — a plant denoimced by their priests as unclean.^ Baking in ovens is of great antiquity, the ovens of old Egypt being frequently represented in contem- porary paintings. The table appointments of Egypt are similarly portrayed in her paintings — the guests of both sexes seated in gala attire, with jewelled fin- gers holding the lily of the Nile or sacred lotus, while slaves, naked except for necklace and girdle, served them with viands and wines. Differing from the Egyptians, the Greeks and Romans excluded women from their feasts, agreeing with the sentiment of Ful- bert Dumonteil that for a true gourmand there exist no blue eyes, white teeth, or rosy lips that may take the place of a black truffle. The only exception re- lated to the cup-bearers — fair youths and tender maids — who were enjoined to refuse nothing to the guests, and the richly and gorgeously arrayed he- tcerce, the voluptuous Aspasias, Barines, and Phrynes of the period, Avho made their appearance at the con- clusion of the repast. With a corps of twelve stewards to provide for his table, eleven of whom were constantly travelling in search of viands and wines, it is reasonable to assume 1 That the onion, garlic, and rad- ing that a sum amounting to sixteen ish were held in particular esteem hundred talents had been paid out is attested by Herodotus, who says in for these three forms of food, which his time (450 B.C.) there was an in- had been consumed by the workmen scription on the Great Pyramid, stat- during the progress of its erection. 10 COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS that Solomon, of whose menus so little record exists, scarcely confined himself to coarse dishes prepared from the flesh of "bullocks, sheep, harts, and roe- bucks," but that he, with his thousand wives and con- cubines, observed a sufficient variety and luxury in his kitchen to correspond with the magnificent table ap- pointments and simiptuous surroundings chronicled in the book of Kings. For ruthless extravagance, Cleopatra's dish of a melted pearl, weighing seventy- four carats and valued at six million sesterces, prob- ably exceeds that of any single plate of the Egyptian rulers or prodigal Roman potentates. Horace, in the third satire of the Second Book, makes mention of the spendthrift son of ^sopus as also dissolving a pearl in vinegar — his mistress's earring — ". . . to say he 'd quaffed A cool five thousand at a draught." Boiling was another primitive mode of cooking; and the method even yet practised by barbarians is to utilise the hide of the slaughtered animal for a bag, placing the meat in this receptacle with water, and dropping in stones heated to a white heat until the flesh is cooked. Laying the meat on hot stones and covering it with ashes, or hanging it upon a tripod of sticks over the flames, was the mode of roasting and broiling of the aborigines, with whom utensils of pottery and metal were unknown — a method often resorted to by woodsmen at the present time. The Persians were first to set an example of luxurious cookery, at least as it was understood in an- il THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE cient times — the favourable climate and fertility of their products, as well as their natural inclination to ease, all tending to foster a love for the pleasures of the table. The oldest books of which we have any knowledge refer to their pomp in banqueting, and portray the brilliant revels of the Oriental kings. Thousands of years before Henrion de Pensey pro- nounced his famous aphorism, a novel culinary prepa- ration was regarded as of vaster importance than a new celestial visitant. The saturnalia of Darius and Xerxes, the powerful Persian despots, are notorious in history, as are also the feasts of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Chaldea, and those of Belshazzar, the final ruler of corrupt Babylon who feted and feasted a thousand of his lords, his wives, and his concubines. Anticipating the munificence of the Roman empe- rors, Sardanapalus, last of the Assyrian kings, offered a guerdon of a thousand pieces of gold to him who would produce a new dish. "Eat, drink, amuse thy- self: «,11 else is vanity," was his maxim, and the pre- cept he desired to have engraven on his tomb. The book of Esther records the magnificent royal feast at Shushan given in the third year of his reign by the Persian king Ahasuerus: a carnival wliich lasted an hundred and fourscore days — ^where the beds were of gold and silver upon a pavement of red and blue and white and black marble; where were white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble ; and where the people were given to drink, in vessels of gold, of royal Avine in abundance, according to the state of the king. From the land of Zoroaster, 12 COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS therefore, the Greeks received their first lessons in gastronomy. Simplicity in their habits was a characteristic of the early Greeks, this simplicity extending in a marked degree to their cookery, when the famous Spartan black broth, composed of pork-broth, vine- gar, and salt, became a national dish. But this epoch of abstention was of comparatively short duration. The spiritual sense was overcome by the carnal, and, imitating the Arians, they soon converted a natural craving into a hypersensuous pleasure. The dinner or supper developed into an elaborate banquet, partaken of on reclining couches, accompa- nied b}^ wines of Corinth, Samos, Chios, and Tenedos, the fumes of incense, the strains of music, and the singing of pages and beautiful maids. The couches on which they partook of their repasts and oifered their generous libations to the gods were ornamented with tortoise-shell, ivory, and bronze, some being in- laid with pearls and precious stones; the mattresses were of purple embroidered with gold. Then Arches- tratus, the Syracusan, who had travelled far and wide in quest of alimentary dainties of different lands, was the Careme of the Attic cuisine. His much-lauded poem on "Gastronomy" is unfortunately lost to pos- terity, and thus it may not be compared with that of Berchoux, composed twenty centuries later. This poem Athenaius has termed a treasure of light, every verse of which was a precept, and from which numer- ous cooks drew the principles of an art that rendered them illustrious. The cook in the "Thesmophorus" of Dionysius, however, denounces Archestratus, his rules, 13 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE and his maxims. But cooks are notoriously jealous and prone to asperse their rivals, just as a jealous woman will decry another member of her sex whom men admire. His aspersions, therefore, are not to be weighed against the avalanche of encomiums that Ar- chestratus has received. It was to the select few who appreciated the delicacies and importance of his art that his poem was addressed. He spoke with author- ity, and not as the scribes. Witness his stately open- ing stanza, one of the few surviving fragments of his epic: "I write these precepts for immortal Greece, That '•ound a table delicately spread. Or three, or four, may sit in choice repast, Or five at most. Who otherwise shall dine Are like a troop marauding for their prey." Mithaecus, another famous Hellenic guide to epi- curean delights, wrote a book entitled "The Sicilian Cook," which has been mentioned by Plato; but this was written in prose, and was the product of a former native of Sicily, whence Greece was largely accus- tomed to draw her supply of culinary masters. Among the most distinguished of Sicilian craftsmen was Trimalchio, whose cimning is said to have been so great that when he could not procure scarce and much coveted fish he could counterfeit their form and flavour so deftly as to deceive even Neptune himself. . The cook of Nicomedes, King of the Babylonians, was accustomed to serve him with anchovies, made in imitation of the real fish, at such times as his majesty expressed a desire for anchovies on a sea voyage. A 14 COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS turnip, disguised by oil, salt, poppy-seed, and other seasonings, was the basis of the plat, the king, as Euphron, the comic writer, records, smacking his lips over the dish and saying that cooks were equally as useful as poets, and even more skilful. That, with the aid of olives, salt pork, onion, parsley, condiments, and stuffing, with veal as the medium, an accom- plished cook can prepare a fair semblance to an over- done quail is proverbial. But how a turnip can be made to counterfeit anchovies is not so apparent. The celebrated repasts of Socrates, at which the guests were seated on chairs, were an exception to the luxury of the times ; these entertainments were extremly fru- gal, the cheer being of an intellectual more than a corporeal nature — a mere collation, ". . . light and choice. Of Attic taste, with wine." Epicurus, the Athenian who flourished three hun- dred years before the Christian era, is wrongly sup- posed by many to have been one of the dediti ventri — a slave to appetite and living only for epicurean pleasure: a supposition that his name naturally im- plies. But it should be recollected that in proposing pleasure or happiness as the supreme good, he quali- fied this doctrine by the maxim that temperance is necessary in order to enjoy the noble and durable pleasures which are proper to himian nature. However varied the fare and splendid the appoint- ments, the position of the ancients at table — resting on their left elbows and reclining on couches as the 15 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE gnomon and clepsydi-a noiselessly marked the lapse of the hours — ^must have been not only irksome, but one greatly furthering stomachic maladies. Besides, it must be borne in mind that the ancients ate with their fingers, while the use of emetics, first in vogue among the Egyptians, and later on among the Ro- mans in order to f oref end satiety and enable them to prolong their saturnalia, was extremely common. The ten books of Athenseus give us a complete manual of olden Greek cookery, and Herodotus, Plutarch, and other authors, if not as exhaustive, are most fer- tile in references to the subject. Plato, who de- noimced epicureanism and preferred olives to all other kinds of food, often making his meal from them alone, nevertheless praises Attic pastry, and extols the baker Thearion, who was noted for the perfection of his bread. Besides beef and mutton, kids, the domestic swine, fowls, the wild boar, the roebuck, hares, rabbits, and numerous game and song birds, the Greeks were espe- cially fond of the peacock, served in all his panoply of plumage. As the Romans considered the mullet the king of fish, so the Greeks regarded the sole as the piscis no- bilis. They were served then, as now, fried, when their size admitted, and likewise were prepared with a savoury sauce under the name of citharus, — "The cook produced an ample dish Of frizzled soles, those best of fish, Embrowned, and wafting through the room, All sputtering still, a rich perfume." 16 COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS Suckling pig was considered a signal delicacy, its charms no doubt having been set forth in melodious measures in the lost poem of Archestratus. Indeed, who knows but that the sportive grace of the "Disser- tation upon Roast Pig" may, after all, be Grecian rather than Anglo-Saxon in essence, and be merely an inspiration caught from some forgotten Attic au- thor? The sea, on its part, yielded its infinite treas- ures, including the oyster, the earth contributing its varied fruits and esculents. Strong and sweet wine was a common beverage, both mixed, unmixed, spiced, and scented. After fish and game, pork was the most esteemed food set upon the salvers of ancient Greece and Rome — a food in which epicures believed themselves to have discovered fifty different flavours, or fifty parts, each possessing an individual taste. At large entertain- ments, and even where the guests were only equal in number to the Muses, it was customary to serve pigs roasted whole, stuffed with sausages and bursting with houdins, or "black pudding." The pig was salted by the ancients in order to preserve it ; but Api- cius recommended, for keeping purposes, that me- dium-sized pieces of pork be chosen and covered with a paste composed of salt, vinegar, and honey, and be stored in carefully closed vessels. Of ancient recipes, Apicius and Athen«us present a vast array. Soyer also, in his aspiring, cumber- some, and learned "Pantropheon," aflPords convenient access to the mysteries of the Greek and Roman kitchens. But the only way to pass intelligently upon the cookery of the ancients would be to try it. It is ir THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE true that we do not possess their marvellous digestive powers ere their vigour became impaired by centuries of unbridled luxury. To young and vigorous stom- achs it is possible that, if accompanied by the appro- priate wines, some of their dishes, executed by a skil- ful chef who would exercise extreme caution as re- gards the use of cimimin, rue, coriander, and boiled grapes, might prove an agreeable surprise party at a dinner a la Grecque or a la Romaine. So light a touch and so discriminating a palate, however, are necessary in employing certain herbs and spices; so much, moreover, depends upon knowing the precise moment when an entree or a ragout has received its just caress from the flames, that only an artist of the foremost rank would be able to reproduce some of J^hese dishes with success. Two especially prized dishes were those termed myma and mattya — the one composed of all kinds of finely minced viands and fowls, seasoned with vine- gar, cheese, onions, honey, raisins, and various spices; the other a fowl boiled with a great variety of herbs. "Boil a fat hen and some young cocks just beginning to crow, with some vinegar added to the water, and in summer with sour grapes in place of the vinegar, then remove the herbs from the vessel in which they are cooked and serve portions of the fowls on the herbs, if you wish to make a dish worthy to be eaten with your wine," enjoins Artimidor in his treatise of cooking. Finally, Athenaeus, in the "Banquet of the Leai'ned," has the scholarly host Laurentius give his recipe for what he terms the "Dish of Roses," pre- pared, he states, in such a way that you may not only 18 COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS have the ornament of a garland on your head, but also in yourself. " 'Having pounded a quantity of the most fragrant roses in a mortar,' says Laurentius, 'I put in the brains of birds and pigs boiled and thoroughly cleansed of all the sinews, and also the yolks of eggs, and with them oil, and pickle-juice, and pepper and wine. And having pounded all these things carefully together, I put them into a new dish, applying a gentle and steady fire to them.' And while saying this he un- covered the dish, and diffused such a sweet perfume over the whole party that one of the guests present said with great truth : 'The winds perfumed, the balmy gale, convey Through heav'n, through earth, and all the aerial way' — so excessive was the fragrance which was diffused from the roses." Truly a noble pot-pourri — ^meet for the gods of high Olympus. The pickle-juice, the pepper, and the wine denote the address of a master in disguis- ing any possible taint of the pen, while the yolks of eggs and the oil would necessarily blend and assimi- late with the attar of the rose-leaves. Thus does a great architect plan the construction of a cathedral, or a wizard of the brush adjust his pigments upon a canvas that is destined to become immortal. The early Greeks had four meals daily — the break- fast, or acratisma; the dinner, ariston or deipnon; the rehsh, hesperisma; and the supper, dorpe. As luxury and cookery advanced, luncheon took the place of the midday dinner, the latter, among the wealthier classes, gradually being postponed to a later hour. At all 19 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE great feasts and dinners of ceremony, which it was customary to hold in the evening, the bill of fare was presented to the guests, and huge chalices were of- fered them to quaff from. The frequent and detailed references by the old Greek dramatists, poets and writers to eating, drink- ing and banqueting, and to the various products em- ployed as food, make it apparent to what an extent gratification of appetite and feasting prevailed. The reader who would penetrate further into the mysteries of Grecian cookery may be referred with advantage to Homer's repast of Ulysses at the home of Eumaeus, Athenaeus's "Marriage of Caranus," and Barthelemy's "Feast of Dinias." But Homer's fare which he allowed his heroes was, with few exceptions, extremely simple. Although he mentions many kinds of wine, he praises moderation, and never represents either fish or game as being put upon the table, but "viands of simple kind and wholesome sort," such as were calculated to render man vigorous in body and mind, the meat being all roasted and chiefly beef. Athenseus, in particular, presents the Greek and Oriental kitchens in all their aspects, and, with his marvellous erudition, proves himself a very Burton of gastronomy — the most accomplished Master of Feasts that antiquity has produced. To turn the pages of the "Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned" is to enter a larder of which he only holds the key. Thus he introduces Damoxenus, the old Greek comic writer, who picturesquely portrays a master cook of the period, superintending his saucepans and direct' ing the preparation of the feast : 20 COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS "I never enter in my kitchen, I ! But sit apart, and in the cool, direct. Observant of what passes, — scullions toil. . I guide the mighty whole, Explore the causes, prophesy the dish. 'T is thus I speak : 'Leave, leave that ponderous ham ; Keep up the fire, and lively play the flame Beneath those lobster patties ;' 'Patient here, Fix't as a statue, skim, incessant skim.' 'Steep well tliis small glociscus in its sauce. And boil that sea-dog in a cullender.' 'This eel requires more salt and marjoram;' 'Roast well that piece of kid on either side Equal;' 'That sweetbread boil not over much.' 'T is thus, my friend, I make the concert play. And then no useless dish my table crowds. Harmonious ranged, and consonantly just. As in a concert instruments resound. My ordered dishes in their courses chime." The ideal cook is depicted with equal picturesque- ness in a lengthy tribute by Dionysius wherein he thus sums up his qualifications, — "Know on thyself thy genius must depend. All books of cookery, all helps of art, All critic learning, all commenting notes, Are vain, if void of genius thou wouldst cook !" Cratinus, in his play of the "Giants," extols the merits of Sicilian cookery; "Consider now how sweet the earth doth smell, How fragrantly the smoke ascends to heaven : 21 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE There lives, I fancy, here within this cave, Some perfume-seller, or Sicilian cook." And Hegesander, in his "Brothers," presents an archimagirus, proud as Lucifer, who sings his own praises in the following grandiloquent strain : "When I am call'd to serve a funeral supper. The mourners just return'd, silent and sad, Clothed in funereal habits — I but raise The cover of my pot, aiid every face Assumes a smile, the tears are wash'd away. Charm'd with the grateful flavour, they believe They are invited to a wedding-feast. Let me but have the necessary means, A kitchen amply stored, and you shall see That like enchantment I will spread around A charm as powerful as the siren's voice. You know not yet The worth of him you speak to — look on those Whom you see seated round, not one of them But would his fortune risk to make me his." Philemon, in turn, the witty Athenian bard, repre- sents a cook as pluming himself upon his cunning, and saying: "Those who are dead already, when they 've smeUed One of my dishes, come to life again." Anthippus, too, presents a graduate of the range who was no less proficient in the resources of his art, 22 COOKERY AMONG THE ANCIENTS and who devised his dishes according to the age of those who were to partake of them, — "Insensible the palate of old age, More difficult than the soft lips of youth To move, I put much mustard in their dish; With quickening sauces make their stupor keen. And lash the lazy blood that creeps within." Nor does Athen«us fail to depict a glutton of the period, transcribed from Pherecrates: "a. I scarcely in one daj', unless I 'm forced. Can eat two bushels and a half of food. B. A most unhappy man ! how have jo\i lost Your appetite, so as now to be content With the scant rations of one ship of war.'"' Milo of Crotona, Titormus the iEtolian, and As- tydamas the Milesian were still more celebrated; and even Ulysses in his old age is represented by Homer as eating "endless dishes" and quaffing "unceasing cups of wine." Gargantua and Pantagruel evidently existed long before the days of Rabelais, and time will run back to fetch the age of gluttony, as well as that of gold. 23 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS 'Whether woodcock or partridge, what does It signify, if the taste is the same? But the partridge is dearer, and therefore thought prefer- ahle." — MartiaIj, Epigrams, xiii, 76. PASSING from Greece to Italy, we find frugal- ity to have been a prominent trait of the early Romans, and porridge to have been the national dish until wbeaten bread was introduced from Ath- ens. Like the Greeks, who received their initial les- sons from the Persians, the Romans derived their knowledge of cookery from Attica, whence they imported their first masters. The Romans proved apt scholars, and soon outrivalled their instructors in the pleasures of the table, where the pomp, luxury, and licentiousness of the times were carried to their furthest limit. It is indeed well nigh impossible to conceive the splendour, prodigality, and sensuality 24 POKTRAIT DU GOURMAND After Carle Vernet WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS that prevailed during the Republic and the Empire, when fabulous revenues were squandered at a single feast, and gluttony and intemperance were the gods of the hoiu-. It was towards the decline of the Republic, during the period of Pompey the Great, Caesar, and Lucul- lus, that, dispensing with the culinary preceptors of Greece, the Roman cuisine attained its greatest ce- lebrity. For it was at this period that the great ravagers of the world, who were to carry the name and arms of Rome into distant lands, brought their cooks with them, who vied with one another in contributing the most appetising dishes of various countries. It was then when Antony, intoxicated with the spoils of con- quest and more than usually pleased with the artist of his kitchen, sent for him at the dessert and pre- sented him with a city of thirty-five thousand inhabi- tants — an example followed in a minor way by Henry VIII of England, who rewarded his cook for having composed a pudding of especial merit by the gift of a manor. It was then that the Sybarites bestowed public recompense and marks of distinction upon those who gave the most magnificent banquets, and especially upon those who invented new dishes.^ It was then that the practised epicure professed to dis- tinguish by the taste from what locality of Italy a •The world has scarcely been as lib- talent by Henry III, and presented eral to literature as to gastronomy; besides with an abbey worth an an- although the graceful French poet, nualrentalof ten thousand crowns for the Abb€ Philippe Desportes, who having written a sonnet which capti- so celebrated his mistresses Diane, vated the Due de Joyeuse, brother- Hypolite and Cleonice in verse, was in-law of the king, muniiicently rewarded for his lyrical 25 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE wild boar had been procured, or whether a pike had been caught in the lower or upper Tiber. Thus Hor- ace, in one of the "Satires": "But say by what Discernment are you taught To know that this voracious Pike was caught Where the full River's lenient Waters glide, Or where the Bridges break the rapid Tide : In the mid-Ocean, or where Tiber pays With broader Course his Tribute to the Seas." ^ It was then that the rich Romans had at their villas magnificent piscince filled with fresh- and salt-water fishes that might be netted at a moment's notice to set before their guests. In his ode "On the Prevailing Luxury," the Venusian bard also alludes to these vivaria and the inordinate fondness for fish of the Romans : "Soon regal piles each rood of land Will from the farmer's ploughshare take. Soon ponds be seen on every hand More spacious than the Lucrine lake." ^ The mansions of the wealthy were likewise provided with splendid aviaries filled with thrushes that were fed with millet and crushed figs mixed with wheaten flour. Cygnets and snow-white geese were held in great repute, and when fattened upon green figs their livers were highly prized. ' Hortensius the consul was among the first to main- tain salt-water ponds stocked with his favoiu-ite fish, 1 Rev. Philip Francis' transl. 2 Sir Theodore Martin's transl. 26 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS the red mullet of the Mediterranean. He was also the introducer of the peacock served in its feathers, a dish extremely popular during the Republic. Hor- ace proved a better judge than his many moneyed hosts, and chose the chicken in preference, asserting that it was the costliness of the bird of Juno and the glory of his glittering train more than the quality of the flesh that were prized. Artificial oyster-beds, ac- cording to Pliny, were first formed at Baite by Ser- gius Orata, a contemporary of Crassus the orator, not for the gratification of gluttony, but as a specu- lation from which he derived a large income. He too was the first to adjudge the preeminence for deli- cacy of flavour to the oysters of Lake Lucrinus. Pre- serves were subsequently formed by others for mu- rense, sea-snails, and numerous saline delicacies. Like the Hellenes, the Romans had three meals — the breakfast (jentaculum), the luncheon {prati- dium) , and the dinner ( cena) . Originally, as has been the case with all peoples, the dinner was held in the morning, but with the progress of luxury and owing to the greater convenience to men of affairs, it became gradually deferred to late afternoon or evening. Nine was the favourite number of guests at the cena. It was a custom borrowed from the Greeks to ap- point a king or dictator of the feast, who prescribed its laws, which the guests were bound, under penal- ties, to obey. By him the quantity of the cups to be drunk was decided, ten bumpers being the usual al- lowance — nine in honour of the Muses, and one to Apollo. Similar to the Grecian custom, every man who had a mistress was compelled to toast her when 27 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE called upon. To this a penalty was sometimes at- tached, in which case the challenger was obliged to empty a cup to each letter of the lady's name. When the gallant had reasons for secrecy, he merely an- nounced the number of cups which had to be drunk. The jjlace of tobacco was taken by perfimies at feasts, a practice carried by the Romans to great ex- cess. Nard and other perftimes in use being ex- tremely costly, Horace insists upon Virgil contribut- ing them when he comes to dine in the vale of Ustica. Catullus, also, who asks his friend FabuUus to dinner, agrees to supply the perfimies, providing Fabullus bring with him all the other requisites. The spiciness of the essences doubtless spurred the appetite, and tended to produce a pleasant languor.^ Very numerous plants and herbs were employed as flavourings in the kitchens of the ancients, such as dill, anise-seed, hyssop, thyme, pennyroyal, rue, cum- min, poppy -seed, shallots, and, naturally, onions, gar- lic, and leeks — savoury then taking the place of parsley, which, though known, was used more as a dec- oration and worn by guests as an adornment. Cimi- min was largely utilised for seasoning. Sorrel was cultivated by the Romans to increase its size, and, according to Apicius, was eaten stewed with mustard and seasoned with oil and vinegar. The carrot was stewed, boiled with cimimin and a little oil, and eaten as a salad, with salt, oil, and vinegar. iTobacco.unknown to the ancients, Nicotiana, was derived from that of did not come into use among Asiatic John Nicot of Nismes, ambassador and European peoples until the latter from the King of France to Portugal, half of the sixteenth century, or a who procured the first seeds from long period after the discovery of a Dutchman who had them from America — nearly all its species be- Florida. ing of American origin. Its name, 28 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS Brocoli was an especial favourite with Apicius, the most tender parts being boiled, with the addition of pepper, chopped onions, cummin and coriander seed bruised together, and a little oil and sun-made wine. Turnips were boiled and seasoned with rue, ciimmin, and benzoin, pounded in a mortar, adding afterwards honey, vinegar, gravy, boiled grapes, and oil. As- paragus, which Lamb says inspires gentle thoughts, was cultivated with notable care. The finest heads were dried, and when wanted were placed in hot water and boiled. LucuUus and Apicius ate only those that were grown in the environs of Nesis, a city of Cam- pania. Beets, mallows, artichokes, and cucumbers were greatly relished and elaborately prepared, and garhc, extolled by Virgil and decried by Horace, was generously used. Apicius, in his treatise "De re Culinaria," gives numerous recipes for cooking the cabbage — the silken- leaved, curled, and hard white varieties. From these recipes we at once may judge of his resources, and obtain an idea of a master vegetable-cook of the period : "1 . Take only the most delicate and tender part of the cab- bage, which boil, and then pour off the water ; seasoir it with cummin seed, salt, old wine, oil, pepper, alisander, mint, rue, coriander seed, gravy, and oil. "2. Prepare the cabbage in the manner just mentioned, and make a seasoning of coriander seed, onion, cummin seed, pep- per, a small quantity of oil, and wine made of sun raisins. "S. When you have boiled the cabbages in water put them into a saucepan and stew them with gravy, oil, wine, cummin seed, pepper, leeks, and green coriander. 29 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "4. Add to the preceding ingredients flour of almonds, and raisins dried in the sun. "5. Prepare them again in the above manner, and cook them with green olives." To what an extent strange condiments, herbs, and other seasonings were employed, as well as to what a task the human stomach was subjected, will be ap- parent from a recipe, given by the same authority, for a thick sauce for a boiled chicken: "Put the fol- lowing ingredients into a mortar: anise-seed, dried mint, and lazer-root (similar to asafoetida) ; cover them with vinegar; add dates; pour in garum, oil, and a small quantity of mustard-seeds; reduce all to a proper thickness with red wine warmed; and then pour this same over your chicken, which should pre- viously be boiled in anise-seed water." With regard to the olden wines, let us be duly grateful for the progress of viniculture, and thankful that we may read of them, rather than have to par- take of them, to rue the Katzen jammer of the follow- ing morning. For if one must have a headache on rare occasions as the penalty of dining, it were assur- edly less to be deplored if obtained through a grand vintage of the Mame or the Medoc than from a wine mixed with sea-water or spices, or old Falernian cloyed with honey from Mount Hymettus. By all means, if we must drink an excessively sweet wine, let it be, at most, a glass of Hermitage paille or Mus- cat Rivesaltes, iced to snow! The tables, the plate, and the dinner-service corre- sponded with the rarity of the viands and beverages. 30 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS Cicero's table of lemon-wood cost him two hundred thousand sesterces, or over seven thousand dollars. Besides being made of the most precious foreign woods, veined and spotted to imitate the tiger's and the leopard's skin, they were also wrought of ivory, silver, bronze, and tortoise-shell. The drinking-cups of gold and glass, the nimbus and ampulla — crystal chalices, ewers, and flagons in which the luxurious were wont to mix myrrh, spike- nard, and other perfumes with their wine — were equally costly. Martial extols a jewelled cup: "See how the gold, begemmed with Scythian emeralds, glistens! How many fingers does it deprive of jew- els!" His lovely description of an exquisitely chased wine-cup of gold, received from Instantius Rufus, will also be recalled. Again, he praises a gold din- ner-service: "Do not dishonour such large gold dishes with an insignificant mullet ; it ought at least to weigh two pounds." "I see," says Seneca, "the shell of the tortoise bought for immense sums and ornamente(i with the most elaborate care ; I see tables and pieces of wood valued at the price of a senator's estate, which are all the more precious the more knots the tree has been twisted into by disease. I see murrhine-cups, for luxury would be too cheap if men did not drink to one another out of hollow gems the wine to be afterwards thrown up again." In vain Pompey the Great and Licinius Crassus strove to check the riot- ous table extravagance, which continued despite pre- vious and subsequent sumptuary laws for its sup- pression. "To-day," says Pliny, "a cook costs as much as a 31 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE triiunph, a fish as much as a cook, and no mortal costs more than the slave who knows best how to ruin his master." Fabulous prices were paid for fish, notably for the famed red mullet or sea-barbel. Tiberius, who was an exception, and was not partial to this fish, on being presented with an unusually large specimen, weighing four and a half pounds, sent it to the market to be sold. "I will be greatly surprised," he observed, "if the mullet is not purchased by Apicius or Oc- tavius." It was borne off in triumph by Octavius, who became celebrated for having paid two hundred dollars for a fish sold by the emperor and that Api- cius himself had not secured. Seneca also states that the mullet was looked upon as tainted unless it expired in the hands of the guests, who were provided with glass vessels in which to put their fish, in order the better to perceive their changes and motions in the last agony betwixt life and death. "Look how it reddens!" cries one; "there is no ver- milion like it; look at those lateral veins, see how the grey brightens upon its head, and now it is at its last gasp, it pales and its inanimate body fades to a sin- gle hue." "The mullet of the ocean is certainly a meritorious fish," observes Baron Brisse, "but how greatly superior is that of the Mediterranean!" This greatly valued fish was the European Mullus barbatus, one of the fortj^ or more different species of the red mullet, found chiefly in the subtropical parts of the Indo-Pacific Ocean. By far the most abundant in the Mediterranean, it is nevertheless not uncommon to the coasts of England and Ireland, though nowhere does it attain so delicate a flavour as 32 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS in the Mediterranean. The name is said to have ref- erence to the scarlet colour of the sandal or shoe worn by the Roman consuls, and in later times by the em- perors, which was called mullus. Like the ruby, the mullet increased rapidly in price when it exceeded the usual size — the largest weighing scarcely three or four poimds. Suetonius is authority for the statement that this fish was so esteemed in his time that three large specimens were sold for thirty thousand sesterces, or more than a thousand dollars, which caused Tiberius to enact simiptuary laws and tax the provisions brought to market. The red mullet, although much less highly thought of than in olden days, is still in request by the modern French epicure. Francatelli cautions that it should never be drawn ; it is sufficient to remove the gills only, as the liver and trail are considered the best part — an opinion held by the Romans. It is pos- sible that, owing to this circumstance, it has been termed the "sea-woodcock." The mullet was served by the Romans with a sea- soning of pepper, rue, onions, dates, and mustard, to which was added the flesh of the sea-hedgehog reduced to a pulp and oil. When the priceless liver alone was to be eaten by an emperor or a senator, it was cooked and then seasoned with pepper, salt, or a little garum, some oil was added, and hare's or fowl's liver, and oil poured over the whole. The turbot was another favourite supplied by the sea, and one will remember Martial's panegyric con- cerning it: "However great the dish that holds the turbot, the turbot is still greater than the dish." 33 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE From the foam-fleeced flocks of Proteus many other fish with strange names were transferred by the wealthy Romans to their vast aquaria — the sargus, the harp-fish, the hyca, the synodon, the hespidus, the chromis, the callichthys, "The orphus, the sea-grayling, too, who haunts The places where the sea-weed most abounds." The huge tunny and sturgeon, the tiny anchovy, and, in fact, nearly every denizen of the ocean appeared upon the Roman tables in some form. The dolphin was a sacred fish, and was left unmolested to pilot Triton's car. Even the polypus, sea-urchin, and cut- tlefish were held in great esteem. The scaurus or char, a species unknown to us, and the murex, an edi- ble purple mussel of which the finest flavoured came from Baias, were highly prized. Fatted eels were considered a great delicacy, and among fresh-water species the tench, carp, and pike were the most em- ployed. Piscis was the Phryne of the Roman feasts, and dolphins, whales, and mermaids appear to be the only species that were not consumed. According to Juvenal, who relates the story at great length, the members of Domitian's cabinet were one day suddenly summoned to the Alban Villa, where they were obliged to remain in waiting while the em- peror gave audience to a fisherman who had brought him an imusually large Rhombus, and when they were finally admitted they found they had nothing to debate about except whether the fish was to be minced or cooked in a special dish, there being none 34 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS of sufficient size in the imperial kitchens. After ma- ture deliberation, a special receptacle was decided upon, when the audience was dismissed. The turbot was served with a sauce piquante. Nor were the affluent nobles and business men far behind the triumvirs, consuls, and emperors in their ruinous manner of living. Autocracy set the pace, and her wealthy vassals were not slow to follow. Tri- malchio, the moneyed landholder, was accustomed to serve a wild boar whole, with a number of live field- fares inside, ready to fly out as soon as they were given their liberty by Carpus, his professional carver. These, as they fluttered about the room, were caught by fowlers with reeds tipped with bird-lime. The minute account of one of Trimalchio's dinners, given by the licentious Latin classicist Petronius Ar- biter, descriptive of the viands, beverages, service, and table customs of the day, may be advantageously con- sulted by those whose powers of digestion are strong enough to enable them to consider a representative feast during the reign of Nero at the home of this ostentatious host. The elaborate first course is de- scribed as terminating with the appearance of a ser- vant bearing a silver skeleton so artfully constructed that its joints and backbone turned in all directions; when, having cast it several times upon the table and causing it to assume various postures, Trimalchio cried out, "Of such are we — ^let us live while we may!" The first course finished, the second was presented in the form of a large circular tray with the twelve signs of the zodiac surrounding it, upon each of which the arranger had placed an appropriate dish — on 35 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Aries, ram's-head pies ; on Taurus, a piece of roasted beef; on Gemini, kidneys and lamb's fry; on Cancer, a crown; on Leo, African figs; on Virgo, a young sow's haslet ; on Libra, a pair of scales, in one of which were tarts, in the other cheese-cakes; on Scorpio, a little sea-fish of the same name ; on Sagittarius, a hare ; on Capricorn, a lobster ; on Aquarius, a goose ; on Pis- cis, two midlets, while in the centre spread a green turf on which lay a honeycomb. It will be readily apparent that the modern French chef does not stand alone in his skill of producing a piece-montee. Mean- while, an Egyptian slave carried bread in a silver portable oven, singing a song in praise of wine fla- voured with laserpitium. Whereupon four attendants came dancing in to the sound of music, and, removing the upper part of the tray, there was revealed on a second tray beneath stuffed fowls, a sow's paps, and in the middle a hare fitted with wings to resemble Pegasus. At the several corners stood four figures of Marsyas spouting a highly seasoned sauce on a school of fish. At the third course a very large hog was brought in, much larger even than the wild boar that had been previously served. This was followed by a young calf, boiled whole, with more wine, perfumes, fruits, and sweetmeats — thrushes in pastry, stuffed with nuts and raisins, and quinces stuck over with prickles to resemble sea-urchins. "Only command him," ex- claimed the host, "and my cook will make you a fish out of a pig's chitterlings, a M^ood-pigeon out of the lard, a turtle-dove out of the gammon, and a hen out of the shoulder!" 36 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS Apparently, the artist of Trimalchio was no less fertile in resources and liberal ideas of expenditure than the chef of the Prince of Soubise, who, on being taken to task by his employer for including fifty hams for a single supper, replied: "Only one will appear upon the table, monseigneur; the rest are not the less necessary for my espagnole, my blonds, my garnitures, my — " "Bertrand, you are plundering me." "Oh, monseigneur," replied the conjurer, "you do not understand our resources ; say the word, and these fifty hams which confound you — I will put them all into a glass bottle no bigger than your thumb!" To be sure, the accounts given by Petronius Ar- biter, Juvenal, Martial, and other satirists must be taken with some limitation. Yet, making all due al- lowance for exaggeration, it is hardly to be wondered at that many of the olden rulers and opulent person- ages, armed with unbounded power and possessed of unlimited riches, should have yielded so abjectly to luxury and vice as to have fully warranted the stric- ture of Juvenal : "The baffled sons must feel the same desires, And act the same mad follies as their sires. Vice has attained its zenith. These accounts, moreover, attested as they are by serious annalists, may not be dismissed as largely im- aginative or grossly exaggerated. The strictures on the besetting vices that occur in the contemporary works of historians, moralists, philosophers, and poets 37 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE are far too vehement and voluminous to leave any doubt of the inordinate abuse of the table among the ancients, particularly among the Romans, when their wealthy capital, as Propertius records, "was beset all round in its own victories." It was the period of in- satiable voracity and the peacock's plimie. Even Martial was careful to state that it was vices, not per- sonages, to which his scourge was applied. His caus- tic and highly seasoned epigrams deal largely with the dinner-table, and from these one may derive a most realistic idea of the bill of fare of his contem- poraries, as well as of the varied and luxurious char- acter of the presents made to the guests at feasts. The excesses of eating and drinking are roundly de- nounced by him at every turn, while his picture of the crapulous Santra in the Seventh Book is only equalled by the "Portrait of a Gourmand" of Carle Vernet, or Spenser's etching of "Gluttony" in the "Faerie Queene." Horace in particular, a scholar, poet, and man of the world, the friend of Meecenas, and an onlooker and frequenter of society, may be accepted as a com- petent authoritj'^ on the table manners and customs of the times. No one more than he was aware of the gross extravagance and intemperance of the age. Nor has any writer depicted his own and the every- day life of the Romans more vividly. To peruse him attentively in the "Satires," "Epistles," "Epodes," and "Odes," is to take part in the feasts, be admitted to the inner circle of the optimates, knock at the door of Lydia, and join in the pageant of the Sacra Via. The table of Maecenas, the rich voluptuary and dilet- 38 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS tante, who had a palace on the Esquiline Hill, where Horace was often a guest, was widely celebrated. As the poet was a visitor also at the palace of Augustus, and numbered among his friends the most eminent men of Rome, he had unusual opportunities to become acquainted both with the vie intime and haute cuisine of his day. While not a gastronomer, he was far from averse to good living, though, from his digestion not being of the soundest, he had frequent cause to rue the sumptuous banquets, borrowed from the Asiatic Greeks, which were in vogue at the time. And while he was a frequent attendant at the entertainments of the wealthy, we nevertheless find him constantly cen- suring their intemperance and extravagance at table. For himself, he would have "simple dinners, richly dressed," and "let the strong toil give relish to the feast." Rare old Csecuban, Falernian, and Massic, Maecenas might pour out at home from his well- filled amphoras into chased crystal cups and vessels of gold — at the Sabine farm the common Sabine wine in modest goblets would alone be tendered him. If we may regard the elaborate repast of Nasi- dienus as a typical one, we may readily conceive the nightmares that must have ensued from such a pleni- tude of viands and wines and such copious libations. The student of Horace will remember the menu. First a Lucanian boar, surrounded by excitants to the appetite — "Rapes, Lettuce, Radishes, Anchovy-Brine With Skerrets, and the Lees of Coan Wine." 39 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Fish and wild fowl, lampreys and shrimps, succeeded, washed down with brimmers of Csecuban, Alban, Falernian, and vintages of Greece ; and finally, as the feast and the night wore on, "The Slaves behind in mighty Charger bore A Crane in Pieces torn, and powder'd o'er With Salt and Flour, and a white Gander's Liver, StufF'd fat with Figs, bespoke the curious Giver ; Besides the Wings of Hares, for, so it seems. No man of Luxury the Back esteems. Then saw we Black-birds with o'er roasted Breast, Laid on the Board, and Ring-Doves Rump-less drest! Delicious Fare ! did not our Host explain Their various Qualities in endless Strain, Their various Natures ; but we fled the Feast, Resolved in Vengeance nothing rnore to taste. As if Canidia, with empoison'd Breath, Worse than a Serpent's, blasted it with Death." ^ That Nasidienus was proverbially penurious, was guilty of purchasing tainted game in order to save expense, and would have been chary of his wines had it not been for Servilius, who cried loudly for "larger goblets," leads one to conclude that even his repast was far below those of the pampered upper classes in its prodigality. Apicius, who is referred to by Pliny, Seneca, Ju- venal, and Martial, is said to have squandered nearly four million dollars in riotous living, when, looking over his accounts, he found he had only about a tenth of that amount remaining, and, unwilling to starve 1 Rev. Philip Francis' transl. 40 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS on such a pittance, he poisoned himself. Of the three persons bearing the name of Apicius, one of whom hved in the times of Sulla, another during the reign of Tiberius, and the third under Trajan, none is sup- posed to be the author of "De re Culinaria," since published in so many different editions, a work now ascribed to Coelius, who, in admiration of the re- nowned Marcus Gabius, termed himself Apicius. The latter, the richest of the three who bore the name by right, vied with royalty in his regal tastes. He is reported as having voyaged to Africa expressly to ascertain whether the crawfish there were superior to those he was accustomed to have at Minturnte; but finding them inferior, he returned immediately, with- out setting foot to land. "Look at Nomentanus and Apicius," says Seneca, "who digest all the good things, as they call them, of the sea and the land, and review upon their tables the whole animal kingdom. Look at them as they lie on beds of roses, gloating over their banquet and delighting their ears with music, their eyes with exhibitions, their palates with fla- vours." Where the deliciously scented cyclamen carpets the shore of the Mediterranean in myriads at Baiee, Api- cius repaired to savour shell-fish — "the manna of the sea" — and from the self -same sea that laves the isle of Capri and rolls its azure wave into the famed blue grotto, Tiberius sent turbots to him that Apicius was not rich enough to buy himself. Yet far exceeding Apicius, who was almost deified for discovering how to maintain oysters fresh and l^ alive during long journeys, was his predecessor Lu- 41 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE cuUus, the wealthy general, a great patron of learn- ing and the arts, as well as the king of epicures. Juvenal has etched his portrait in four lines : "Stretch'd on the unsocial couch, he rolls his eyes O'er many an orb of matchless form and size. Selects the fairest to receive his plate. And at one meal devours a whole estate." The Monte Cristo of Naples, he pierced a mountain to place two of his country villas in closer communication and to conduct the sea-water to one of them, where he had constructed a huge aquarium for sea-fish. His carvers were paid at the rate of four thousand a year. The various dining-rooms at his Neapolitan palace were designed according to the costliness of the repasts which were given in them, the saloon of Apollo being the most sumptuous. Cicero and Pom- pey, resolving one day to surprise him, presented themselves unceremoniously, and, upon being pressed to remain to dinner, assented on condition that he would go to no extra trouble. Summoning his major- domo, he dismissed him with the simple command: "Place two more covers in the saloon of Apollo" — the cost of the dinner in this apartment being fixed at a thousand dollars per plate. No review of the Roman table, however brief, would be complete without retelling the story of Lu- cullus as his own host. On this occasion, when, through some misunderstanding, he was without guests for dinner, his cook appeared as usual to re- ceive his orders. 42 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS "I am alone," said Lucullus; whereupon his ser- vitor, thinking that a five-hundred-dollar dinner would stiiRce, acted accordingly. At the conclusion of his repast, his face flushed with the juices of Faler- nian, Lucullus sent for his minister of the interior and took him severely to task. There were no fig- peckers, and the prized spawn of the sea-lamprey was missing. The cook was profuse in his apologies. "But, seigneur, you were alone — " "It is precisely when I happen to be alone that you require to pay especial attention to the dinner; at such times you must remember that Lucullus dines with Lucullus." The great dining-room of Claudius, termed "Mer- cury," was constructed on an equally magnificent scale. But this was eclipsed by Nero's marvellous Domus aurea, which, through a circular movement of its sides and ceiling, counterfeited the changes of the skies and represented the different seasons of the year, while at intervals during the repast flowers and essences were showered down upon the guests. The gluttonous feasts of Verres, Claudius, Nero, Vitellius, Domitian, and the rest of the Roman poten- tates are familiar to the student of ancient history. Claudius, who had usually six hundred guests at his feasts, died of an indigestion of mushrooms, facili- tated, it is said, by a poisoned feather applied to his throat. Tiberius is also said to have, met his death through an asphyxia of poisonous mushrooms, sec- onded by sufl'ocation on the part of his favourite Macro, who in turn was put to death by Caligula. Caligula was noted for the fabulous sums spent upon 43 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE his suppers, while Csesar is credited with a four months' supper bill of more than five millions sterling. The present of this monarch, during one of his table debauches, of a sum equivalent to eighty thousand dol- lars to his charioteer Eutychus is the largest table present recorded of the Romans. Seneca states that one of his suppers cost nearly half a million, and he also it was who gave his charger Incitatus barley mixed with wine in a vase of gold. Vitellius spent not less than fifteen thousand dollars for each of his repasts, the composition of his favourite dishes re- quiring that vessels should constantly ply between the Gulf of Venice and the Straits of Cadiz. The flocks of flamingos placidly feeding in the Pontine marshes dreaded his fowlers — he had dishes made of their tongues. Later on, their haunts were invaded by Heliogabalus, who preferred their brains.^ The life and reign of Vitellius were a continuous orgy, and his name was bequeathed to a multitude of dishes. Ac- cording to Suetonius, Tiberius, who was inordinately fond of fig-peckers and mushrooms, presented Sa- binus the author with eight thousand dollars for hav- ing composed a dialogue in which the fig-pecker, mushroom, oyster, and thrush were the dramatis per- sonce. As the author and the poet are proverbially scantily remunerated, it is easy to imagine the wealth that a competent chef could command in the days when the haughty mistress of the world, sated with conquest and exultant with victory, lapsed into luxury and sensuality, while a constant stream of riches ' " My red wing gives rae my name; my tongue had been able to sing?" but it is my tongue that is consid- — Martial, Epigrams: "The Fla- ered savory by epicures. What if mingo." 44 WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS flowed into her treasury from tributary rulers and oppressed and spoliated nations. The truffle and the snail were well known to the ancients. The speckled trout, of which there appears to be no mention by the recorders, seems to have been a neglected dainty. How Lucullus would have re- joiced at the sight of the pompano — that ruby of the salt-sea wave — and Apicius have been transported at the apparition of a pufF-paste pate of oyster-crabs! The brilliant iridescent hues of the rainbow-trout would have held a Roman epicure spellbound, while a dish of terrapin or a celery-fed Chesapeake canvas- back might have decided the destinies of an empire. What a burst of applause a platter of roast ruffed- grouse would have commanded from a senate ! Were the soft-shell crab a denizen of Baiee, or the white- fish, as he attains supreme perfection in Lake On- tario, a habitant of an Italian tarn, one can fancy how a feast of Heliogabalus would have been pro- longed. That there are still as good fish in the sea as ever were caught seems an anomaly, in view of the voracity of the old Latins for this form of food. History has recorded less of the excesses of the table during the reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, and even during the dis- solute monarchies of Commodus and Caracalla. It would be wrong, however, to assume that these ex- cesses were renounced, even where the rulers did not themselves set the example, or that they did not con- tinue in a flagrant form. The unbridled lust and gluttony of Commodus were scarcely equalled save by Heliogabalus. Septimius Severus, unable to en- 45 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE dure the tortures he experienced in all his members, especially in his feet, in place of the poison that was refused him eagerly devoured a quantity of rich viands and died of indigestion. Gout and kindred Qialadies were notoriously common with both men and women, and upon this subject Seneca has descanted at length: "Is it necessary to enumerate the multitude of maladies that are the punishment of our luxury? The multiplicity of viands has produced a multipli- city of maladies. The greatest of physicians, the founder of medicine, has said that women do not be- come bald or subject to gout. How they are both bald and gouty. Woman has not changed since in her nature, but in her mode of life, and, imitating man in his excesses, she shares his infirmities. Where is the lake, the sea, the forest, the spot of land that is not ransacked to gratify our palates? Our infirmities are the price of the pleasures to which we have aban- doned ourselves beyond all measure and restraint. Are you astounded at the innumerable diseases? — count the number of our cooks!" The favourite garum of the old Romans of itself were enough to have invited all the diseases that indi- gestion is heir to. This was a liquid, and was thus prepared: The insides of large fish and a variety of smaller fish were placed in a vessel and well salted, and then exposed to the sun till they became putrid. In a short time a liquor was produced, which, being strained off, was the garum or liquamen. With the advent of Heliogabalus upon the throne, d gluttony and extravagance reigned supreme. By this youthful monarch, during his brief reign of four WITH LUCULLUS AND APICIUS years, the tyranny of Nero, and Caligula, the lust of Claudius and Commodus, the prodigality of Vitel- lius, the saturnalia and riotous living of Verres and Domitian were trebly exceeded. Entering Rome from Syria in a chariot drawn by naked women, surrounded with eunuchs, courtesans, and buiFoons, wearing the tiara of the priests of the sun-god, dressed as a female in stuffs of silk and gold, and ac- companied by a historiographer whose sole function it was to describe his orgies, he at once eclipsed all his predecessors. The Sardanapalus of Rome, his daily feasts are said to have consisted of over twoscore courses, and to have cost not less than ten thousand dollars each. As related by Lampridius, his table-couches were stuffed with hares' down or partridges' feathers, his beds adorned with coverlets of gold, and in his kitchens none but richly chased utensils of silver were em- ployed. The invention of a new sauce was royally rewarded by him, but if it was not relished the inven- tor was confined, to partake of nothing else until he had produced another more agreeable to the imperial palate. The liver of the priceless mullet seeming too paltry to Heliogabalus, he was served with large dishes completely filled with the gills. He brought the soft roe of the rare sea-eel into disrepute by main- taining a fleet of fishing craft for their capture, and ordering that the peasants of the Mediterranean should be gorged with them. Besides countless dishes, each of which was worth the price of a king's ran- som, he was the inventor of coloured decorations at table. "In the summer," says Lampridius, "Helio- 47 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE gabalus gave feasts at which the service was com- posed of different colours, constantly varied through- out the season." The brains of partridges and os- triches were among his favourite dainties. Fre- quently the brains of six hundred ostriches were served at a single repast, as well as the heads of innumerable parrots, pheasants, and peacocks. He had cocks- combs served in pates, and was therefore the inventor of vol mi vent a la financiere. The tongues of night- ingales and thrushes he had likewise served in pates, and hearing that a strange bird, the phcenix, existed in Lydia, he offered two hundred pieces of gold to him who would procure it. In the course of his reign of four years he had depleted the treasury of an em- pire largely through gluttony, and died, anticipating the assassination of his soldiers, by his own hand. It were superfluous to follow the subject to the decadence of the Empire, when, with wars and con- tentions and invasions of conquering hordes, came the decline of cookery, literature, and the arts. Nor does history record a resumption of gastronomy until to- wards the Renaissance — when Dante and Petrarch had touched their lyres, and Donatello and Robbia wrought their bassi-rilievij when the Medici and the Este became the patrons of art ; when Leonardo, Raf- faello, Titian, and Guido stamped their genius upon the canvas; when Michelangelo created his "David," and Cellini his "Perseus"; when Giorgio fashioned his gorgeous lustres, and Orazio his glorious vasques. Or, rather, with the revival of cookery we find the revival of literature and the arts, and mark the Muses resume their sway. 48 le Imre De taiiicucnt grant cuy Jimcrl3ttlRoyt>€ CI^nlEBt)enUaXFon/en la maiTon D? ftu Bamabc CijaaffarD/p^ee noUce Dam? De Confo;!. CCy ftniffrefiiire beCat AVuSf gr full merily. though but all meanely." COBBES Peophecies, His.Signes and Tokens, 1614. THE main attraction of the very early English'" cook-book, it must be confessed, is its rarity, to which may be added its quaint title-page and fore- word, and sometimes its frontispiece and wood-cuts. No new salads will be discovered in its repertory to tempt the epicure, or few dishes that will pro- voke his appetite. The text is usually difficult to interpret, and, beyond singular alimentary mixtures which attest the remarkable receptive qualities of our forefathers, it contains little to interest the aver- 80 FI1;ST OF SEPTEMBER OLD ENGLISH DISHES age reader. In this respect it differs largely from the olden works on gardening, through whose leaves still wantons the breeze of June, and chaffinch, cushat, and throstle sing. The fact is, it requires a master to render even a modern culinary treatise entertaining; the majority of ancient cook-books are for the most part mere curiosities. There is no Andrew Marvell of eating, or Parkinson of dining. "The reflection that appreciates, applied to the science that improves," as M. de Borose has aptly defined gastronomy, is a comparatively recent product, an outcome of advance- ment and civilising influences, and therefore it is hardly to be looked for in primitive compilations. A poetical cook-book might have been composed by Walton had he devoted as much attention to the sauce- pans as he did to the rod; for the "Compleat Angler" shows him to have been fond of a good repast as it was then understood, even to preparing the fish him- self with the limited conveniences available at the Thatched House. As it is, some of his numerous re- cipes and his allusions to barley-wine are poetical in an eminent degree, and cause one to regret that he is not also the author of a "Compleat Housewife." No modern, it is true, would wish to experiment with his prescripts for cooking trout and chavender, unless by proxy; like most of the recipes of the olden school, they are infinitely more amusing to read than they would prove pleasing to savour. Earliest of the English works on cookery is Alex- ander Neckam's "De Utensilibus, or Treatise on Utensils," written at the close of the twelfth century, two hundred years anterior to the introduction of 81 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE parsley in flavouring. In this treatise, which purports to instruct young housekeepers in maintaining a well- ordered establishment, Latin and Norman French are the languages almost exclusively employed. Of other very old works may be enumerated "The Forme of Cury," with its one hundred and ninety -six recipes, compiled by the chief cooks of Richard II ; the "Liber Cure Cocorimi"; the "Kalendare de Potages dyuers and Leche Metys," dating about 1430; John Russell's "Soke of Nurture," composed about 1450; "The No- ble Boke of Cookry," first printed in 1500 ; "The Boke of Keruynge," or Book of Carving, a small manual printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1508; and the "Via Recta ad Vitam Longam," or The Right Way to Long Life, of Tobias Venner, a physician of Shake- speare's time. Over any and all of these, some of which exist only in manuscript, the student may burn the midnight oil ; black-letter Chaucer being easy sail- ing compared with the breakers of old cookery books. Much of the so-called scientific cookery of early Eng- land was French, though many of the French titles become strangely perverted and are frequently diffi- cult to- recognise; as, for instance, "let" for lait, "vy- aunt" for viande, "fryit," for froide_, "sauke" for sauce, etc. The first works that may be termed Eng- lish date only from the latter half of the seventeenth century. The English, four and five hundred years ago, had four meals daily, — breakfast at seven, dinner at ten, supper at four, and livery at eight. Since then, from an early hour in the morning the principal daily meal has advanced equally in France and England through 82 OLD ENGLISH DISHES every hour from ten in the forenoon until ten at night. In France in the thirteenth century nine in the morn- ing was the dinner-hour. Henry VII dined at eleven. In Cromwell's time, one o'clock had come to be the fashionable hour, and in Addison's day two o'clock, which gradually became adjourned until four. Pope found fault with Lady Suffolk for dining so late as four, saying young people might become inured to such things, but as for himself, if she would adopt such unreasonable practices he must absent himself from Marble Hill. Four and five continued to be the popular dining-hour among the better classes until the second decade of the century, when dinner was further postponed, from which period it has steadily contin- ued to encroach upon the evening. The strong slomach of the early Briton, fortified by abundant out-of-door exercise, was proof against dyspepsia, and was enabled to digest the coarsest and most strongly seasoned foods. Whale, porpoise, seal, and grampus were common dishes. Besides such sea- sonings as ginger, cinnamon, galingale, cloves, garlic, and vinegar, copiously used in preparations where they would seem most incongruous, ale was generously employed. Almond-milk was also a common ingre- dient, while marrow was in great favour. Of bread- stuffs the fifteenth century had an abundant variety, — pain-main, or bread of very fine flour, wheat-bread, barley-meal bread, bran-bread, pease-bread, oat-bread or oat-cakes, hard-bread, and unleavened bread. The poor often used a mixture of rye, lentils, and oatmeal, varied according to the season and district. The author of the "Book of Nurture" describes him- 83 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE self as usher and marshal to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, delighting in his work and desirous of training worthy successors in the mysteries of man- aging a well-appointed household : "An vsshere y Am | ye may beholde | to a prynce of highe degre, that enioyethe to informe & teche | alle tho that will thrive & thee." This exordium is followed by minute directions for carving meats, fish, and fowls; rules for general be- haviour; a disquisition on wines, meats, soups, and sauces; a recipe for hippocras; hints to the chamber- lain, butler, taster, dinner arranger, etc. The work is both ambitious and elaborate, thoroughly covering the subject as it was comprehended by the writer's predecessors and his own inventive genius. A passage or two from the chapters headed "Diuerce Sawces" and "Sawce for Fische" will give one an idea of the style of his treatise: "Also to know j'oure sawces for flesche conveniently, hit provokithe a fyne apetide if sawce youre meat be bie; to the lust of youre lord look that ye haue ther redy suche sawce as hym likethe | to make him glad & mery. "Mustard is meete for brawne | beef or powdred motoun ; verdius to boyled capoun | veel | chiken | or bakon ; And to signet | & swan, convenyant is the chawdon. Roost beeif | & goos | with garlek, vinegre, or pepur, in con- clusioun. 84 OLD ENGLISH DISHES "Gynger sawce to lambe, to kyd | pigge, or fawn | in fere ; to feysand, partriche, or cony | mustard with the sugure ; Sawce gamelyn to heyron-sewe | egret ] crane | & plovere ; also I brewe | Curlew | sugre & salt | with watere of the ryvere. . . ." It will be seen from this brief extract that Russell's larder was in no wise wanting for the gustatory enter- tainment of his lordship, his resources being yet more apparent in the chapter relative to the proper sauces for fish : "Yowre sawces to make y shalle geue yow lerynge : Mustard | is metest with alle maner salt herynge, Salt fysche, salt Congur, samoun, with sparlynge, Salt ele, salt makerelle, & also withe merlynge. "Vynegur is good to salt purpose & torrentyne, Salt sturgeon, salt swyrd-fysche savery & fyne. Salt Thurlepolle, salt whale, is good with egre wyne, Withe powdur put ther-on shalle cawse oon welle to dyne. "Playce with wyne ; & pike withe his reff ett ; the galantyne for the lamprey | where they may be gete ; verdius to roche ] darce | breme | soles | & molett; Baase, flowndurs ] Carpe | Cheven | Synamome ye ther-to sett. . . ." In like manner, the first page or introduction to "The Boke of Keruynge" will present at a glance many of the forms of food that were in use at the time, especial reference being made to the terms employed by the English carver. The writer attacks his subject boldly — much as an old angling-master 85 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE describes a trout rushing for the palmer-fly at night — and is apparently thoroughly acquainted with his important function: IF Here begynneth the boke of Keruynge and sewynge | and all the feestes in the yere, for the seruyce of a prynce or ony other estate, as ye shall fynde eche ofFyce, the seruyce accord- ynge, in this boke folowynge. f Terms of a Keruer Br eke that dere lesche yt brawne rere that goose lyft that swanne sauce that capon spoyle that henne frusshe that chekyn •vnbrace that malarde vnlace that cony dysmember that heron dysplaye that crane dysfygure that pecocke vnioynt that bytture vntache that curlewe alaye that fesande wynge that partryche wynge that quayle mynce that plouer thye that pegyon border that pasty thye that wodcocke thye all maner of small byrdes tymbre that fyre tyere that egge chyne that samon strynge that lampraye splatte that pyke sauce that playce sauce that tenche splay that breme syde that haddocke tuske that barbell culpon that troute fynne that ch(men traussene that ele traunche that sturgyon vndertraunche yt purpos tayme that crabbe barbe that lopster H Here hendeth the goodly termes. H Here begynneth Butler and Panter. On the title-page of the volume is a picture of two ladies and two gentlemen at dinner, with an attendant 86 OLD ENGLISH DISHES bringing a dish, two servants at a side-table, and a jester. The dish was doubtless well spiced with gin- ger, and washed down with malmsey, clarrey, or ren- ysshe wine, if not with ypoeras or some other potent liquid accompaniment, y The expressions "vnbrace that malarde" and "dys- member that heron" assure one that a wild fowl, how- ever coriaceous, must have quickly succumbed to the manipulation of his glittering steel. In no form of carving, whether of meats, poultry, or game, does the skill of the carver appear to greater advantage than in disjointing wild fowl. This indeed calls for a trenchant blade and a thoroughly competent practi- tioner. Witness the artist who follows every joint and ligament as a stream follows its varying curves, and who lays out the rosy breast just as if it had stopped beating in its flight. The ghosts of many a mallard, broad-bill, and teal must quake in horror when they remember the fate that awaited their earthly lot after their course had been checked by the fowler and they fell into hands unworthy to conduct their post-mor- tem. But the duck has been avenged by an anony- mous bard who has execrated the ruthless matador as he deserves : "We all look on with anxious eyes When father carves the duck. And mother almost always sighs When father carves the duck. Then all of us prepare to rise And hold our bibs before our eyes And be prepared for some surprise Wheii father carves the duck. 87 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "He braces up and grabs a fork Whene'er he carves a duck, And won't allow a soul to talk Until he 's carved the duck. The fork is jabbed into the sides, Across the breast the knife he slides, And every careful person hides From flying chips of duck. "The platter always seems to slip When father carves a duck. And how it makes the dishes skip, Potatoes fly amuck — The squash and cabbage leap in space, We get some gravy on our face, And father mutters Hindu grace Whene'er he carves a duck. "We thus have learned to walk around The dining-room, and pluck From off the window-sills and walls Our share of father's duck; While father growls and blows and jaws. And swears the knife was full of flaws. And mother jaws at him because He could n't carve a duck." In the "Kalendare de Potages dyuers" appears this recipe for A goos in hogepotte: "Take a Goos, & make hure clene, & hacke hyre to gobettys, & put yn a potte, & Water to, & sethe togederys; than take Pepir & Brennyd brede or Blode y-boylyd, & grynd y-fere Gyngere & Galyngale & Comyn, & temper vppe with Ale, and putte it ther-to; & mynce Oynonys, & frye 88 OLD ENGLISH DISHES hem in freysshe grece, & do ther-to a porcyon of Wyne." A strange entremets was one termed Vyolette, ac- companied by these directions: "Take Flourys of Vyolet, boyle hem, presse hem, bray hem smal, tem- per hem vppe with Ahnaunde mylke, or gode Cowe Mylke, a-lye it with Amyndown or Flowre of Rys; take Sugre y-now, an putte ther-to, or hony in de- f ante ; coloure it with the same that the flowrys be on 5'''peynted a-boue." That excellent dish civet of hare was termed Harys in Cyueye, saffron, ale, and vinegar being then util- ised in its preparation. Pain perdu figured as Payn pur-dew, and may have been as useful then as now for a simple dessert where a saving of time and material entered into consideration, the olden recipe being not unlike that of modern times. Oysters are presented as Oystres in cevey, Oystres in grauey bastard, and Oystres in bruette. There are also Fylettys en Galen- tyne, Lange Wortys de chare, Blamanger of Fysshe, Ruschewys of Marw, Pety permantes, Chawettys a-forsed, Flathonys, and similar curious compounds. Meat- and fish-pies were known by the French appel- lation "crustade," the favourite English pork-pie being apparently unfamiliar to very olden writers, or else so disguised as to be unrecognisable. Boar-pies were known, however, in Elizabeth's era, when they were esteemed a great dainty. A consign- ment of these, it is related, was sent by Sir Robert Sydney, while governor of Flushing in The Hague, to his wife as a bait to propitiate the ministers to grant him a leave of absence. The pies were duly presented 89 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE by I^ady Sydney to Lord Essex and my Lord Treas- urer, and proved so excellent that the next time the petition of Sir Robert was presented to her Majesty the secretary knelt down, beseeching her to hear him in behalf of her homesick ambassador, and to license his return for six weeks. It is probable that the queen herself did not share in the presents, inasmuch as she remained obdurate to the pleadings of the miriisters and the ladies of the court. Under the rule of Elizabeth, fish formed an impor- tant article of diet, statute laws being established for their consumption, with heavy penalties to the of- fender — a measure adopted for the better maintenance of shipping interests and the lesser consimaption of flesh food. Besides the usual Lenten obligations to Neptune, Friday and Saturday of each week were ad- ditionally set apart for fish days, an alimentary com- pulsion which soon became extremely distasteful. Numerous bills of fare of banquets are given in the "Kalendare," including that of the coronation of Henry IV and the banquet of his second marriage in 1404. It would appear that the ecclesiasts were among the most princelj^ entertainers, as evidenced by the bills of fare of the feast of Richard Fleming, Bishop of lincoln ; a dinner given by John Chandler, Bishop of Salisbury; an entertainment held in 1424 on the occasion of the funeral of Nicholas Bubwith, Bishop of Bath and Wells; and several others. In point of variety these feasts might rank with those of ancient Rome. Venison, boar's head, veal, oxen, and various pieces of roast figure in the courses. Among the birds and wild fowl were capons, herons, 90 OLD ENGLISH DISHES cranes, peacocks, swans, pheasants, and wild geese, together with innumerable smaller kinds, such as plover, fieldfares, partridges, quail, snipe, teal, cur- lew, woodcock, and larks. But the elaborate banquet where as many as a hundred and four peacocks dressed in their plimiage were included among the "subtle- ties" was by no means a common occurrence, and the accounts of these entertainments, together with the lavish festivities of Christmas, should not be accepted as a criterion of the usual mode of English living among the wealthy. The division line between the rich and the poor, besides, was far more marked than at present, and it is questionable whether even the higher classes, despite their occasional excessive prodi- gality, maintained the same luxurious state of service the year round as their modern successors. The many carols on the boar's head and on ale which have come doAvn to us from old MSS. show in what request the one stood as a viand and the other as a beverage. At certain seasons it was the habitual cus- tom to serve a particular dish first, as a boar's head at Christmas, — "Furst set forthe mustard & brawne of boore, the wild swyne," — a. goose at JNIichaelmas, and a gammon of bacon at Easter. The boar's head was set upon its neck upon the platter, with an apple or a lemon in its mouth and sprigs of rosemary in its ears and nose, the platter being additionally decorated with garlands. Thus garnished and heralded by trumpets, it was borne to the king's table on a salver of gold or silver by the 91 ■J THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE server, followed by a procession of nobles, knights, and ladies. In Scotland it was sometimes brought to table surrounded by banners displaying the colours and achievements of the baron at whose board it was served. From time immemorial the double loin or baron of beef has been a royal dish, and one especially selected is always sent from Windsor to Osborne to appear at the dinner-table, accompanied by that other Christmas dish, the boar's head, sent of late from Ger- many. The oldest carol on the boar's head is prob- ablj^ that of the Balliol MS., of which there are nu- merous versions: "Caput Apri Refero Resonens laudes domino. The boris hed In hondis I brynge with garlondis gay & byrdis syngynge: I pray you all helpe me to synge, Qui estis in convinio. "The boris hede, I understonde, ys cheffe seruyce in all this londe: wher-so-ever it may be fonde, Seruitur cum sinapio. "The boris hede, I dare well say, anon after the xijth day he taketh his leve and goth a-way. Exiuit tunc de patria." An olden Christmas feast wherein the wild boar forms the piece de resistance is also figured in King's "Art of Cookery," the only English work except 92 OLD ENGLISH DISHES "The Philosopher's Banquet," by "W. B.," that has discoursed on gastronomy to any considerable extent in verse : "At Christmas time be careful of your fame ; See the old tenant's table be the same. Then if you would send up the brawner's head, Sweet rosemary and bays around it spread ! His foaming tusks let some large pippin grace, Or midst those thund'ring spears an orange place, Sauce like himself, offensive to its foes, The roguish mustard, dang'rous to the nose. Sack and the well spiced Hippocras the wine. Wassail the bowl with ancient ribbands fine. Porridge with plumbs, and turkeys with the chine." The seventeenth century was prolific of cook-books, most of which continued to republish the ancient re- cipes, with but slight augmentations or changes. Many of the old-fashioned dishes still appear in "The Art of Cookery Refined and Augmented," a treatise pubhshed in 1654 by Joseph Cooper, former kitchener of Charles I. These indigestibilities abound in "The English Housewife" of Gervaise Markham, an early production of the century, which reached its eighth edition in 1675, "much augmented, purged, and made most profitable and necessary for all men, and the general good of this Nation." ^ It may be assumed that Markham's recipes were not original with him, but were compiled mostly from anterior works; we have no knowledge of his having 1 The English housewife; contain- Woman; as to her skillin Physicke, ing the inwird and outward Vertues Cookery, Ordering of Great Feasts, which ought to be in a compieat etc., etc. London, 1631. 93 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE been a practical cook. For that matter, he states in his dedication to the Countess Dowager of Exeter that he does not "assume to himself the full invention and scope of the work, for it is true that much of it was a manuscript which many years agone belonged to an Honourable Countess, one of the greatest Glories of our Kingdom." The material, therefore, is due mainly to a member of the gentler sex, while Markham is responsible for the liaison. A voluminous author, he did not hesitate to appropriate whatever material he could find on any topic, more especially on husbandry and angling, and send it out as his own. It is well known, for example, that his "Art of Fishing" in his "Country Contentments" is only a prose rendition of Dennys' attractive poem "The Secrets of Angling." He has been spoken of as the first hack writer of England, all subjects seeming to have been alike to him. So that "The English Housewife," which also includes much interesting information on physics, the dairy, etc., may be regarded as vii'tually a work of the Elizabethan period. In Markham's treatise there is a sauce for green- geese and one for stubble-geese, a sauce for pigeons and stock-doves, a gallantine for bitterns, bustards, and herns. A quelquechose was a fricassee or a mix- ture of many ingredients, and meats broiled upon the coals were termed carbonadoes. Verjuice was made from crab-apples, to which damask-rose leaves were added previous to fermentation. Vinegar was fre- quently made from ale placed in the sun to sour, and flavoured with leaves of damask roses. A recipe for hippocras is naturally given, together with directions 94 THE ENGLISH Houfe-Wife, C O N T A I N G The inward and outward Vermes which ought to be in a Compleat Woman, As her Skill in Phyftck^, Chntrgery^ Cookery, ExtraQioM of Oj>It, Banqxettfg jiaff^ Ordering of great Feafts, Frejcrvtug of tilt fm if Wides^ conceited Secrets, VtjiiSattam, Perftmes, OrdcriMg dWad Hemf, flax: Making Cleth and Dyings The knowledge of Vayrtes : Office of Malting ■■, of Oatt, their excellent ufes in Fa- milies^ OiBrcTPing, Bakjng, and all other things belonging to an HouQiold. A ^ Releves de Potages. Un brochet a la Un burbot. Chambord. Une culotte de boeuf Une dinde aux au vin de Madere, trufFes. garnie de legumes. 12 Entrees. Dos filets de lape- Un aspic de filets mignons de perd- reaux. Une jardiniere. Des filets de poulardc, piques aux truffes. Des perdreaux rouges au fumet. Des filets de mau- viette sautes. Des scaloppes de pou- larde, au veloute. 141 reaux, en turban. Un vol au vent a la financiere. Des ailerons piques, a la chicoree. Deux poulets de grains au beurre d'ecrevisse. Des scaloppes de sau- mon, a I'espagnole. Des filets mignons, piques de truffes. THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Second Service. 4 grosses Pieces. Une truite. Des ecrevisses. Un pate de foies gras. Un jambon glace. 4 Plats de Rot. Un faisan. Des becassines. Des eperlans. Des soles. 8 Entremets. Une jatte de blanc- Une jatte de gelee manger. d'orange. Un miroton de Un souffle a la pommes. vanille. Des asperges en Des cardons a la branche. moelle. Des truffes a la Des truffes a la serviette. serviette. This menu, which was termed "illustrious and as- tounding" by La Reyniere, tells its own story too well, as he observes, to need any comment. It is only to be regretted that there is no record of the accompany- ing wines or of the previous training of the guests who sat down to the feast. The item un faisan will be understood in the plural, there having been twenty- four persons present, and among that number it is to be presumed that more than two or three would stand ready to attack a well-hung pheasant resplendent in his tail-feathers. Still, there are only two poulets de grains specified in the list, which would indicate that the menu was strictly one of quality, not of quantity 142 L' ALMANACK DES GOURMANDS — a thing to coquet and flirt with, rather than to charge upon with no thought of the penalty of the morrow. As the mention of truffles a la serviette oc- curs twice at the end of the lecture, it may be assumed that this was considered a doubly important entre- mets — the last to leave its perfume in the mouth and accentuate the seve diffused by the final glass of Cha- teau Lafite or Clos-Vougeot. On the restaurateur and the chef the editor enjoins continued efforts look- ing to the advancement of the grand art of dining, ex- horting them that to cease their exertions would mean to recede, and that to maintain their exalted reputa- tion they should labour daily as if it were yet to be won. Altogether, the "Almanach" will be found most re- munerative reading by those who peruse it with a proper sense of its important aim. We may not hope to equal the appetite of the author, it is true, but its attentive study will assuredly stimulate appetite and amply instruct us in the aesthetics and delights of the table. The only dietetic heresy that presents itself to the writer is the eulogy of the strawberry as an article of diet, for which Linnteus the botanist and Dr. Bote- ler are originally responsible, it being well known that this fruit in gout and rheumatism — two frequent col- leagues of good cheer — is often as deadly as port. Preserved Wiesbaden or Bar-le-Duc strawberries, safely tucked in the folds of an omelette, are less per- nicious, and may be partaken of occasionally if con- voyed by the right wine. The raw fruit should always be sparingly indulged in by the epicure; boys and women alone may eat it with comparative impunity. 143 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE To this one exception has been chronicled — ^"Straw- berries and cream render me sad," said Mme. du DefFand; and, remembering Malherbe's praise of women and melons, madame wisely left them alone. Finally, among all those who have discoursed upon the theme, it may be said that La Reyniere comes the nearest perhaps in illustrating Montaigne's expres- sion, Vart de la gueule. And, despite the laudations of the venders with which it is so generously inter- larded, the "Almanach" well merits a full morocco binding by Ruban, with dentelle borders a Voiseau, and a pate stamped on its covers in gold. 144 THE CHEF FiTiin a ]n'iiit after ;ai olil Dutch master A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE " Beim vollen Humpen zechen wir, wir krilftigen Germanen, TJnd trinken von dem edlen Bier wie weiland unsere Ahnen ; Denn in dem edleu Gerstensaft, da spradelt noch die alte Kraft." i BY the Frencji the Germans are charged with hav- ing no cuisine that is worthy of the name, and having produced no poet of gastronomy or no work on the subject that merits serious attention. Dining at midday, and fond of Pumpernickel, what can they be but "barbarians," and how may they be expected to comprehend the finesse of an art which has been cre- ated for the elect among mankind? "Surely," argues 1 (In depths of Seidels tall we Germans find our power. As did in years agone our ancestors of yore ; Fo;* in the noble barley-wine there lingers still a might divine. ) 145 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE De Quincey, "of the rabid animal who is caught din- ing at noonday, the homo ferus who affronts the me- ridian sun by his inhuman meals, we are entitled to say that he has a maw, but nothing resembling a stomach. A nation must be barbarous which dined in the morning." As with day's decline the sun illumes with fairest hues the western sky, and Natiire gradually prepares for sleep by the restful hour of twilight, so it would seem that man, in like manner, after the cark and care of the day should refresh him- self by the solace that waits upon the evening dinner and pleasant companionship ere he too retires for the slumbers that are to fit him for the exigencies of the morrow. But habit is everything, and it is well not to accept these aspersions too seriously, and to remember that no nation surpasses the Germans in the important ^/ art of baking, including all forms of breadstuffs and pastry. From her inviting Bdckereis and Condi- toreis floats an ambrosial fragrance that may not be equalled by the patisseries of Paris, the variety of her products being as great as their cheapness and wholesomeness. One is born a poet, saith the adage; it is equally true that the German is a born baker who has no superior in his sphere. Perchance German cook-books and- gastronomical literature have been summarily passed upon, and are not uninteresting reading, after all. It should be recollected that Fred- erick the Great wrote a poem in praise of his cook, that Martin Schookius composed a book on cheese entitled "De Aversione Casei," and that still another old German work has for its theme the zest of a 146 A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE kmon-peel — a topic that assuredly calls for consum- mate skill in its elaboration. Since the latter half of the sixteenth century Ger- many has contributed her full share of manuals on cookery as compared with most countries. Already, about 1500, there appeared a work entitled "Ein niitzlichs Buchlin von der Speis des Menschen." Among the more important treatises of the same cen- tury were "Ein neu Kochbuch" (1587), by Marx Rumpolt, cook to the Elector of Mainz and to the Queen of Denmark, and Frau Anna Wecker's "Neu Kostlich und niitzliches Koch-Buch" (1597). It was about this period that Montaigne, after his travels through Italy and Germany, declared that even in the inns the Germans paid far better attention to the furbishing of their plates and dishes than was the case with the hostelries of France. Treatises relat- ing to "wohl-schmeckenden Speisen" and "vornehme Tafeln" have since continued to multiply in the Fa- therland, until Germany has become fully satisfied with her own mode of cookery and such modifications of certain French and Italian dishes as accord with her chosen ideas of nutrition. Yet the German cook-book presents serious draw- backs. For, apart from the inevitable tendency of the Zeitwort to twine itself around the end of well- nigh interminable sentences, the characters of the lan- guage itself are so trying that a scientific treatise may be perused only at the risk of being compelled to re- sort to spectacles forever afterwards. The melodious measures of Goethe arid Schiller, the cadences of Heine and Lenau, will be found less formidable, the 147 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE rhythm and flow carrying the eye over the typograph- ical boulders with greater ease. A German cook- book, however, may well deter the most insatiable stu- dent from proceeding farther than the initial chapter. Think, for example, what the difiiculties would be of absorbing a volume which presents such a title as this : "Die Feinere Kochkunst dargestellt nach den Erfor- dernissen unserer Zeit, mit Beriicksichtigung der damit in Verbindung stehenden sonstigen Zweigen der Gastronomic." Fancy endeavouring to solve the true inwardness of an ancient Niirnberg treatise which bears this ex- planation of its contents: "VoUstandig vermehrtes Trincier-Buch, von Tafeldecken Trinciren, zeitigung der Mundkoste, Schauessen und Schaugerichten, be- nebens xxiv Gast oder Tischfragen." And when we reflect that the German author who undertakes to elucidate a given theme probes it to the very bottom as far as human understanding and sci- ence can fathom it, we may readily conclude that to master the literature of German gastronomy would call for stupendous patience on the part of an alien. Yet Germany has contributed a volume in the French language respecting a province of the nation under consideration, wherein the table manners, cus- toms, alimentation, and the public and private life of the old Germans are most picturesquely and minutely set forth.^ The ancient province of Alsace, where forty-two varieties of pates and countless varieties of 'L'Ancienne Alsace a-Table. Etude cat a la Cour Imp^riale de Colmar. HistoriqueetArcheologiquesurrAli- Colmar, Iraprimerie et Lithographie mentation, les Moeurs et les Usages de Camille Decker, 1862. Large 8vo, Epulaires de I'ancienne Province pp. 269. d' Alsace: par Charles Gerard, Avo- 148 A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE cakes have been in use for several centuries, has ever been noted for the excellence of its cooks and its fond- ness for good cheer. In the tenth century Bishop Uthon of Strassburg viewed with alarm the table ex- cesses of the priests of his diocese, which he attempted to check by establishing monastic schools. In the fourteenth century, on the other hand, Bishop de Lyne, who was termed Kappen-Esser, was charged with gross intemperance by the clergy, who averred he thought only of the pleasures of the table — gulce ehrietatique deditus — and that he was unable to hold morning audiences without having previously par- taken of a rich soup and a fat capon. Dating from early times, Alsace became known as the wine-cellar, granary, and larder of the surround- ing comitries — a paradise and a garden eminently fa- vourable for good living. Charles Gerard has proved the local Dvmias, and his volume, besides its erudite presentation of the resources and olden customs of the country, contains many interesting gastronomical an- ecdotes, such as "Favourite dishes of celebrated per- sonages," "Influence of a Rhein carp on a financier of the school of Fouquet," "Frying, its nature and eflfect on manners," etc. Assuredly should a nation be credited with a natural aptitude for gastronomy which in the early part of 1700 could devise an ome- lette of brook-trout [Forellen Eyerkuchen) and cold pates of trout {Forellen Kalte Pasteten) , to say noth- ing of a certain pate of fish {Pate de langues de car pes et foies de lottes) composed of the tongues ol carp, eels' livers, and the tails of crawfish — the inven- tion of a Strassburg Koch, which he served to the 149 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Cardinal de Rohan, and which M. Gerard defines as the supreme hmit of epularly eminence. The researches of M. Gerard place the national dish, Sauerkraut, as an invention dating from beyond the middle ages and proclaim its origin as distinctly Alsatian. The date of the frog's leap into the frying- pan he places in the year 1280, and specifies Alsace as the discoverer of his edible qualities. The potage bisque or bisque d'ecrevisses has long been known to the epicures of the province, while the merits of stuffed crabs were pointed out in the "Oberrheinisches Koch-Buch" of Frau Sporlin, wife of a Protestant minister of Mulhausen. Among the strange customs described is that appertaining to the olden festival called Hirztag, at which time women and maids alone, had the right to appear in the inns and liquid dis- pensaries and avail themselves of the privileges ex- tended to men in eating and drinking. On these occa- sions any of the male sex who was brave enough to appear was seized, stripped of his hat and coat, and obliged to pay forfeit by a round of wine — a usage thus described by the poet Morcherosch: "Spitze Schue und Knopflein dran, Die Frau ist Meister und nicht der Mann." (With jaunty button'd and pointed shoe, Gretschen will riot it over you.) No work on cookery in the German language, it is true, has obtained a great reputation outside of its own country. But although the Teuton is a midday diner, a custom that must prove inimical to gastro- 150 A GERJNIAN SPEISEKARTE nomical perfection and thereby the highest social evo- lution, it were extremely unjust to charge him with a lack of understanding in eating. On the contrary, no one, not even the Gaul, enjoys eating and drink- ing more than he, or eats and drinks amid pleasanter surroundings during a large portion of the year. The open-air restaurants and beer-gardens are a feature, ' and a most delightful feature, of German life. In the shaded bowers of the Wirthshaus, under the vmi- brage of horse-chestnuts and limes, to the plash of fountains in suburban Gasthof gardens, amid the con- sonance of viols and reeds in the attractive temples of Gambrinus, do the Germans voice the refrain, "Isz, brink, sei frohlich hier auf Erd', Und denk nicht dass es besser wird." (Eat, drink, be merry, seize the present hour. Deem not the future holds a fairer flower.) It must not be forgotten that in the course of time the cookery of every nation gradually becomes com- plementary to the national beverages. Conversant with the popular drinks of a people, one may promptly form an opinion of their alimentation and characteristics. The cookery of Germany has become subservient to, and, as it were, revolves around Miinch- ner and Pilsener, Hochheimer and Deidesheimer. If, therefore, one cannot appreciate its innumerable brews and the juices of the Riesling and the Tram- iner, its forms of nutrition will naturally prove dis- tasteful, in the same manner that the virtues of French entrees would be found wanting if deprived of the 151 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE ruby pressings of the Sauvignon and Pinot. The rosy Schweinerippchen, after its bath in saltpetre, and also Sauerkraut would be impossible without their syncretic accompaniment, beer or a German white wine; and it is only since the general use of beer in the United States that the last-named dish, from being considered a vulgar one has become so popular, not- withstanding it is usually but a shade of its original as one knows it in its own home. The same may be said of sausages, in the compounding of which the Teuton is master of the world. Different nations, like different individuals, enjoy things in their own way, and who shall determine whether the Gaul or the Teuton makes the most of the fleeting hour, which necessarily includes the pleasures attendant upon the daily nourishment of man? Who that has visited the land of the three fluvial graces — the Rhein, the Neckar, and the Donau — does not retain pleasant memories of some native dish par- taken of amid picturesque surroundings ? — a Hasen- braten, a Pfannkuchen, a duck, a Backwurst, Knack- wurst, or a Wienerwiirstle that fairly melts in one's mouth. How lovely those trout which were served at the Wolf sbrunnen at Heidelberg, which you savoured in the cool of the evening after seeing them caught fresh from the spring itself! The Spatzle and Nu- deln and sour sauce, too, which rival the national dish of Italy; the veal cutlets and sauted potatoes, which one never meets as perfect as in southern Germany, and that attain their supreme excellence in a summer Gasthof garden, must likewise ever be held in grate- ful remembrance. How golden the landscape looked 152 A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE through your Rhein wine Romer, how drowsily the clouds floated over the Odenwald, and how delight- fully the evening breeze awoke the responsive chords of the beeches! In whatever direction one may turn, there is always a haven for the hungry and the thirsty. No hill is too high, no ^'alley too remote for its font of refresliment, where the tap is invariably fresh and the shrine of more substantial "restoration" is seldom to be despised. On every hand one may find the wel- come of an inn, as hearty as Shenstone's, and, where the nat\u*e of the surroundings will allow, one may readily verify the lines of the old poet: "Nun kommt der griine Berg wo selbsten audi nichts fehlt, Von dem was das Gemiith ermuntert und erf reuet ; Deshalb wird er auch vielfaltiglich erwahlet, Er hat den schonsten Stof zur grosten Frohlichkeit." (Well stored with all that gladd'neth man, The green hill rises, cool and fair ; And many a pilgrim, spent and wan. Doth quaff from font of Miinchiier there.) Clearly, the Gemiithlichkeit of the Germans, a word for which an equivalent scarcely exists in any other language, may be traced to the national beverages and an alimentation with which they harmonise — with golden opportunities to cultivate it in the Wirthshaus, Gasthof, restaurant, and beer-garden. In many of the larger restaurants and beer-gardens which are conducted on a scale that is well defined by the favourite term, "kolossal," the great Speisekarte, ornately decorated and rubricated in the olden style, is grandly in evidence. A typical index to good cheer 153 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE may be taken from almost any of the vast breweries of Munich, with their long lists of Braten, Wildpret, Pfannengerichte, Eierspeisen, Salat and Compots. On some of these appears an epitome of the corps of assistants, including the white-aproned waitresses with their names and characteristics, and the great array of help that is necessary to slake the thirst and appease the hunger of a German multitude. The conclusion of the Speisekarte of the Lowenbraukeller may be cited as an example : ^e^ammW^et^onal bet ffle^tautation Svtoenhvdntellet SS^ttind^en Soncert»<3aaI oter ©arten 1 Urfuta, t)tc DfcerfeUncrtn, 18 i 21 Smitte, bie (Strantme 2 SL^erefe, bie ©(^tuarjc, 8 22 ajJarie, bie ©c^wabitt 3 ©ret^t, bie DWe, 13 23 m\6^in 4 ajJarie, bie Sc^warje 24 ^tlbegarb ) 5 gjJorie, bie Sivolerin, 17 25 maxxt, bie Slonbe ^ ©altcrie e' 2lnno, bie @^tt»iegennutter, 13 26 Waxk, bie ©c^tuarje ) 7 ©ertraub, bie ©d^lanle, 9 27 Smma 8 Seni, bie Durftige, 7 28 glife 9 aJiarie, 6 29 a3ett9 • I. 9?e6ettfaal 10 Mavk, bie T)iSt, 6 30 maxa . 11 9)epi 31 • S^eHa — ©picl* ober 1 S^urmjimmcr 12 Una 32 3)auta J 13 Mati^i, bie ©(^wattingerin 33 Slmanba 14 SJJaric, bie greunblic^e 34 Sucie MI. 5«c6ertfoal 15 a^erefe 35 Sftofa 3 16 17 Wlaxit, bie Sc^one SBeronifa 36 37 Jpulba (|mm9 [ Siiroenterraf^e 18 tnna, bie Stilte 38 Souife ) 19 Satette 39 SWart^a > untere Serraf^e 20 Slnna, bie S5ta»e 40 ©ufti ) ^Diese Zahl bedeutet die ununterbrochenen Diensfjahre der betr. Kellnerin. 154 A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE 41 SScilte \ 42 ipanna > oteve SEevrafgc 43 3ftiel:^citi ; 44 ®retl)i, tic ^leine 45 S::^ere[c, bie @d)iuar3e 46 eiife, bie ©rofse 47 Slnna, bie Sc^tanfe 48 Senji, bie ^iiif^e 49 SEont, bie ©anfte 50 gjZarie, bie Dide 50 Jtellncrtrtert 1 Ocfc^aftafii^rer 1 erjler Safsier 2 jmeite Saf^iere 2 Seremonierg 2 SBilleteurg, 2 Sontrolcura 1 3)rogramm»3SerIaufcr 4 5)oj^fartcn»35ertaufer 1 ®arbcrobicr 2 ®arbcrot>e=Saf3iere 8 ®arberobe»®e^iIfen 1 2SeIocipeb»9tufktt)a^rcr 1 erfier Wlit^Qtv 2 jweite SJJetjger 1 Se^rjunge (J^tccolo) 6 (Sc^enf!afgiere 6 @tnf(^en!er 1 Jpaueimeiflcr 1 ^au^fc^rcincr 1 SJJonteur fiir electrif^e Selcuf^tung 1 ^auggarhter 1 ^au^fnec^t (33icraufjtet)er) 1 Sauf6urf(^e 2 Sefledputjer 1 Sud^^Uerin unb 1 Suflrctbante 4 SBuffetbamen 1 erfte unb 1 jweite ^it(^en6efc^Iie^ertn 155 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE 1 SBeifjeugkfc^Iieferin 1 DiiX'Mo^in {chef de cuisine) 1 erfie ^oc^in (fur Sraten, ©epgel u. 2BiIi))5rct) 1 jroeite ^oc^in (fiir 5)fflnnengeri(^tc u. 9iagotttg) 1 britte .^oi^trt (fiir ®emufe unb Sterfpcifen) 1 uierte ^ijc^tn (fiir Mahony {requiescat in by the versatile bard, and as one pace!). Recalling his scathing stric- must be on guard most of the time ture on "The Rogueries of Tom against the subtile spirit of fun and Moore," one were unwise not to malice which pervades his pages, it mention the name of the scholarly is probable that both the French song paraphrast and poet, for fear that and the rendition are by the same he might arise to wreak summary accomplished hand. 161 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE One should taste a pate in Strassburg itself on a crisp November day, after a protracted stroll through the sleepy town. Then one may saunter anew through its mediaeval streets and labyrinthine corridors to view the Miinster whose gargoyles glower so weirdly in the moonlight, ere pausing at the Luxhof or the Spa- ten, where cool fountains of INIiinchner continually flow. That the pate de f oie gras is a factor of gout and a prolific cause of indigestion, as is commonly as- serted, is true to the same extent that holds good with many other viands when inordinately indulged in or partaken of too frequently. It was never intended to be eaten by the "terrine," and much also depends upon its freshness and the source of its manufacture. A generous slice of a fresh authentic Strassburg pate, eaten with bread, need hold no terrors for a healthy digestion, or prove other than a source of the most de- lightsome recollections. Savouring it, one may again simimon the surroundings of its native land — the ver- dant meads of the Alsace plain, the herder tending his argent flocks, the soft contours of the Vosges outlined against the distant sky. But the alimentary resources of Germany are no- where revealed to greater advantage than in the in- numerable forms of the sausage, and it may well be questioned whether the songs of the Lorelei are not, after all, inspired by the perfection of this product, rather than called forth by the beauties of the Lurlen- berg or the merits of the vineyards of the Rheingau. To become a connoisseur of sausages in all their pro- tean phases is no simple task. Only a German may 162 A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE analyse intelligently all the species and varieties, from the huge Cervelat of Braunschweig and goose-liver TriifFelwurst of Strassburg to the Salamis of Gotha and Blutwurst of Schwahen. And as the sausage is fashioned with a special view to its harmonious com- bination with beer, it is self-evident that one must be a beer-drinker of experience in order to pronounce upon the virtues of a given kind. "Wurst" and "Durst," Uhland long since pointed out, not only rhyme, but belong together in a material way. But by this he in no wise implied that one might choose a variety at random, with no thought of consonance as regards its liquid accompaniment, or even that one should be unmindful of climatic conditions. Thus the variety that blends best with the dark, potent Gersten- saf t of Niirnberg as one quaffs it in great Seidels thick with its head of creamy foam in the Mohrenkeller, or in cool Steins in the Bratwurst-Glocklein, would be entirely out of place as a complement to the amber Pilsener of Austria, the Weiss beer of Berlin, or even the many malt extracts of Wiirttemberg. It is like- wise equally easy to understand that a particular sau- sage which might appeal to one in Hanover might be utterly incongruous to the climate of the Elbe or the Neckarthal. The delicate Bockwurst, composed of veal and pork, should be used with Bock beer, for which it was especially designed. The juicy Is:nackwurst, with its flavour of garlic, which belongs to the family of the Frankfurt and Wienerwurst, is eminently worthy its exalted place as a garnish to Sauerkraut, where the Mettwurst and the Schwertenmorgen would sound a 163 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE discordant note. To determine the precise kind that should be taken with the Miinchner Hof-Brau, as it is dispensed in the Cafe and Garten of the Hotel Royal at Stuttgart, where the regal beer of Munich reaches its apotheosis, would require a more extended experience than might be contributed by the writer. A Knackwurst, possibly, may be suggested during the summer, and a Bratwurst in winter. And yet this would depend largely upon the hour of the evening, as well as on the recommendations of the Kellnerin. Not more dissimilar are the hams of the thick- jowled swine of Westphalia and those of the long-snouted brindled hogs of Rothenburg an der Tauber, than are the various sausages of diflferent districts. Indeed, with the sausage alone Germany might form a ram- part round the world, and float a navy upon her daily tide of beer. Of the innumerable varieties, the well-known Cer- velat is the largest, and of these the most colossal come from Braunschweig, which also produces the finest Knack- and Zungenwiirste, the finest truffled geese- liver as well as calves'-liver sausages coming from Strassburg. Although the Plockwurst, the diminu- tive Wienerbriihwiirstchen, the tiny Liibecker Sau- cisschen, the Schlackwurst, and very many other kinds are not included in the subjoined list relating to this specialty, its perusal will be found of absorbing interest by the connoisseur, and its study remind the too unob- servant traveller who has sojourned in Germany of, alas ! how many neglected opportunities. The quota- tions are given in marks and kilograms, the mark equalling twenty-five cents and the kilogram being 164 A GERMAN SPEISEKARTE equivalent to a little over two pounds. The record being that of a north-German shop, southern Ger- many is only meagrely represented, and the list sounds its own praises too well to call for comment: Preis Verzeichniss. Per Kilo. Per Kilo. Brauenschweiger. M. Pf. Gothaer. M. Pf. Cervelatwurst 4. Feine Leberwurst, Mettwurst 3. 60 gerauchert 3. 60 Triiffelleberwurst 4. Knackwiirste, Paar 35 Sardellenleberwurst 3. 60 Jagd wiirste 65 Peine Leberwurst 3. Zungenblutwurst 3. 20 Zungenblutwurst 3. 20 Blutwurst 2. 80 Blutwurst, ge- Paaszsiilze 3. 60 rauchert 2. 40 Thiiringer. Frische Sulze in Cervelatwurst Blase Schwertenmorgen 2. 80 Blut und Leber Blutwurst, frische. wiirste, Stiick 25 haussch 2. 80 Gothaer. Knackwiirste, Paar 40 Cervelatwurst I 3. 60 Westfdltischer. II Schinkenroulade 4. " homoopatische Strassburger. " Grobschnitt Ganselebertriiffel- Salamis 4. wurst 7. Mortadella ge- Kalbslebertriiffel- kocht 4. wurst 4. Per Kilo. Per Kilo, Gottmger. M. Pf. M. .Pf. Mettwurst Salamis di Verona Colmar. Mortadella di Ganseleber- Bologna triiffelwurst 7 165 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Per Kilo. Per Kilo. Wiener. M. Pf. Janer'sche. M. Pf. Selchv/iirstchen, Bratwiirste, Paar 45 Paar 25 Begensburger. Saucisschen 13 Wurst, Paar Frankfurter. Berliner. Bratwiirste, Erbswurst, Stuck 65 Paar 45 Schomberger. Delikatesswiirstchen How they shine in their silken skins, these triumphs of the Metzgerei, seen through the plate-glass of a Delikatessen shop — ebon and bronze, russet and red, blonde and grey, mottled and veined, of all hues and all sizes: long and slender, plump and fat, curved like a crescent, round-barrelled and egg-shaped, as if their juices and spices were eager to be set free; some that gain in succulence by time; others that, like the rose, have but their hour in which to be plucked. An essentially south-Gf r< ^ r^ h- 1. G-rad' aiis deinWirthsliauaimnkomm'icli her- aus;,. Stra - sse, wie 2. "Was fiir ein achief Ge-siclit, Atoiid, iiiacbstdeundu? Ein Au ge 3. Und die La - ter - ueii erst, was muss ich sehn! Die Icon - nen 4. Al - les im Stur - me rmgs, Gro - sses wnd Kleiu ; Wag' icli dar - ■wuu hat al mir - der - llch siehst du er auf, eins hat er le nicht gra - de mehr ter mich, niich.-terii al aus ! - . . zu?... stehn ; leiu?.. Eech - ter Hand, lin - ker Dn wirst be - trun - ken \Va - ckeln iind fa - ckein Das scheintbe - denk - lich Hand, seiii, die mir bei - dea ver-tauacbt: Stra- sse, ich mer-ke wohl, du bist be-rau-scbt! das seh' ich hell:... Scha-me dich, scha-me dicb, al - ter Ge-sell! Kreuznnd die Qner:.. Scbei-nen be - trun-keii mir al - le-sammt schwer! ein WsL - ge- stiick! Da geli' ich lie - ber iu'sWirthshauszu-riick! 173 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE While the Germans have not yet adopted apple- sauce with green goose or cranberries with turkey, no fault can be found with their admirable choice of the "Compot" in general as an accessory and grace-note to the roast. One may even forgive them the taste Avhich permits them to serve the noted hams of West- phalia uncooked, in view of the excellence of their beer, their admirable Kuchen, and the merits of their rolls and sweets. Besides cakes innumerable, the lar- der of the Hausfrau fairly groans with "Compots," some form of which is invariably served with roast meats, poultry, or game. And inasmuch as woman in Germany is created for the special purpose of min- istering to the comforts, the tastes, and the selfish wishes of man, independent of her own inclinations, it may be assumed that her natural fondness for sweets is shared equally by the opposite sex. One may or may not be impressed with the merits of the German Kochkunst in all its branches, which perhaps requires a native or a seasoned taste to be esti- mated at its just and proper worth. But that it com- ports with those whom it chiefly concerns, and that it is appreciated by all true sons of the Fatherland, will admit of little doubt when one considers the national Gemuihlichheit, or views the profound deliberation that the perusal of a Speisekarte always evokes from the Gast, the Wirth, and the Herr Oberkellner. 174 PROMENADE NUTRITIVE Frontispiece of " Ije Gastronome Frai]i;-ais " (1?^2S) THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN "Depuis longtemps .favais un mot h dire de Brillat-Savarin. Cette figure, souriante plutot que riante, ce demi-veutre, cet esprit et cet estomac de bon ton, me tentait. " Charles Monselet. MOST noted of literary tributes to the table is that of Brillat-Savarin, who has discoursed on gastronomy with all the knowledge and discursive- ness, with all the verve, and raciness displayed by Xinon de I'Efnclos in descanting on love in her letters to the Marquis de Sevigne. He is at once the cory- pheus of good cheer and its most refined exponent. Few subjects are as difficult to treat without gross- ness as those relating to the gratification of the appe- tite, the pleasures of eating and drinking, which he has handled with such felicitous skill. Accompanying him along his alluring ambages, whose aisles are redo- 175 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE lent of truffles and vol-au-vents in lieu of balsams and flowers, all other arts appear secondary to that of gas- tronomy; for through it alone, it becomes obviously manifest, may its sister arts receive their proper in- spiration and man attain that hygienic beatitude which is essential to the greatest creative genius. Whether he was as accomplished in reality as he appears upon the printed page, whether his practice was equal to his theory, — a question some of his con- temporaries have disputed, — is of trivial moment in view of the abiding attractiveness of the "Physiologie du Gout." In his essay the distinction of a gour- mand and a gourmet was first distinctly set forth, and throughout its length and breadth the topic is dis- cussed with the dexterity that the author would ob- serve in the preparation of his favourite fondue. Rarely has a subject found a writer whose qualities so eminently fitted him for its elaboration. With a touch light as gossamer, he has run the entire gamut of taste, investing his theme with new and subtle har- monies. The pheasant and the turkey have gained in savour since he has passed them under review, and the truffle derived an added flavour through the sixth Meditation. In viewing the portrait of Savarin, we see before us a man of imposing presence, full-faced and florid large, massive, robust, with bright eyes, rounded chin, and sensuous mouth. The high, broad forehead and protuberances above the eyebrows denote the reason- ing and imaginative mind, while the full nostrils and Jips point to a highly developed physical organism— to one who might be a lawyer, . physician, banker, or 176 THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN diplomat, but whose features in any event proclaim the genial companion, the ready raconteur, and one upon whom the pleasures of the senses exercise an im- portant influence. It was this nice adjustment of the mental and physical, this happy balance of mind and being, that combined to produce a work which may justly be classed among the most original of the nine- teenth century. "To fulfil the task I propose to myself," observes the author in his preface, "it was necessary to be a physician, a physiologist, and even more or less of a classical scholar." To these qualifications he added those of a thorough man of the world, a natural epi- cure, a keen observer, a metaphysician, and a writer unusually gifted with style and sententiousness of ex- pression. Impressed by his masterly grasp of his sub- ject, La Reyniere, on reading the volume for the first time, immediately proclaimed its supremacy, assert- ing that it should open the doors of the Academy if they were to be opened by a superior mind. Among the many recognitions of the writer's genius none is more appreciative than that of Balzac, whose "Physi- ology of Marriage" was inspired by the "Physiology of Taste." Treatises innumerable on gastronomy have since appeared, but few are worthy of serious consideration, the majority being more or less offen- sive or mere echoes of a familiar strain. With Savarin gastronomy became an all-absorbing enthusiasm — a prolific vein that hitherto had been im- perfectly explored. It was, above all, an art, a potent factor in the pleasures of life, a valuable auxiliary to health, a means of advancing the amenities of ex- 177 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE istence — a finesse, in short, of which he was to be the analyst and interpreter, the La Bruyere and the Sainte-Beuve. Like the sprightly Ninon in her let- ters, who at eighty was still able to captivate and charm, Savarin might have written of the medita- tions of his advanced age: "We are not indulging in what is termed fine conversation — we are philoso- phising." The reader who will look to the "Physiology" for practical directions on cookery will be disappointed. In place of a cook-book he will find a reflective disser- tation on the aesthetics of the table, replete with wit, humour, and anecdote; a treatise dealing more with physical functions than the fashioning of sauces, and with the fork and wine-glass rather than with the chef and casserole. Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, or Brillat de Savarin, was born at Belley, in the department of the Ain, in 1755, the "Physiologie du Gout" appearing in 1825, a year previous to his death. The volimie was the out- come of a lifetime of preparation for which his tem- perament and circumstances afforded abundant op- portunity. Like La Reyniere, he was a lawyer by profession, and, like him, he became an exile for a considerable period. He had received a careful edu- cation, the early part of his life being devoted to his legal practice, medical and chemical studies, and epi- curean pleasures. He was fond of music, the fair sex, and good dinners, this triple penchant revealing itself frequently in his anecdotes. When thirty-eight years of age, he was elected mayor of Belley. Later, after sojourning in Switzerland, he visited the United 178 THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN States for a period of three years to introduce to New England the fondue — a dish which he proclaims of Swiss origin and from which the "Welsh rarebit" was derived. On his return to France he became a commissary of the government in the department of Seine-et-Oise, afterwards being appointed a coun- sellor in the Court of Cassation, a position he occu- pied dviring the remainder of his life. While engaged in this tribunal, his volume was leisurely composed. Lyons, celebrated for its cervelas, chestnuts, beer, and tiin de Rivage, was but a short distance from his native place, and it may be assumed that when tired of home fare he availed himself occasionally of its numerous markets and restaurants, and enjoyed the hospitality of its bons-vivants. Game was abun- dant in the Ain, a region he describes as "a charming country of high mountains, hills, rivers, limpid brooks, and cascades." Nor were trout wanting in its crystal waters — a delicacy that often graced his table and fur- nished him with one of his most picturesque recipes. ■ He is speaking in his oracular way to his chef, in the admirable Meditation entitled "The Theory of Fry- ing," a chapter that every cook should learn by heart: "I say nothing about choosing oils or fats, because the various cook-books which I have placed in your library give sufficient information on that hand. Do not forget, how- ever, when you have any of those trout weighing scarcely more than a quarter of a pound and caught in running brooks that murmur far from the capital — do not forget, I say, to fry them in the very finest olive oil you have. This simple dish, properly sprinkled and served up with slices of lemon, is worthy of being offered to a cardinal." 179 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE One can almost hear the music of the stream as it purls over its pebbly bed and whispers to the over- hanging alders, while one marks the leap and glitter of trout and their prompt transition to the basket and the frying-pan. And lest these lovely denizens of spring-fed waters be overlooked in a subsequent chap- ter, it will be well to, attach at once the instructions as to their mode of cooking of another author, in whom one is sure of an admirable guide, philosopher, and friend: "They are so perfumed, these little trout," says Baron Brisse, "that it is sufficient to cook them in a light court- bouillon, and as soon as they are perfectly cold to eat them au naturel; all seasonings detracting from their savour. Truites au court-bouillon. Clean the trout by the gills, dry them carefully, tie up the heads, then cook them in a court- bouillon made of white wine seasoned with slices of onion, sprigs of parsley, thyme, bay-leaf, and salt, adding a little bouillon ; let them simmer until completely done, dry them, and serve on a napkin garnished with parsley. If a sauce is desired, mix a part of the court-bouillon with butter and flour, reduce one half on a lively fire, and serve. Truites a la Vos- gienne. After dressing the trout, sprinkle with salt and let them stand an hour. Then place them on the fire with the necessary quantity of white wine for their cooking, seasoning with onions, cloves, a bouquet- garni, a clove of garlic, salt, pepper, and butter mixed with flour ; cook on a lively fire, lay out the trout on a platter, and mask them with the sauce passed through a sieve." These modes of preparation, all of which are deli- cious, will not interfere with preparing them a la ma- telote and au gratin, or the more common manner of 180 THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN frying them in butter, with a thin slice or two of salt pork and a dash of lemon and sprinkling of chopped parsley added to the sauce of the cooking. The best of sauces, however, is the sauce of catching the trout one's self — to hear with one's own ear the cool lapse of streams "that murmur far from the capital," and view the rubies at first hand as they flash from the Salmons roseate sides. If, as was stated by the Marquis de Cussy, Brillat- Savarin "ate copiously and ill, chose little, talked dully, and was preoccupied at the end of a repast," no fault can be found by the most captious critic with the conversationalist and host of the "Physiology." There is not a dull line within its covers, or a page un- marked by brilliancy. Beginning with a dissertation on the senses in general, he proceeds with a most re- '^ condite analysis of the senses relating to taste. He explains that the empire of taste has its blind and its deaf, that the sensation of taste resides principally in the papillae of the tongue, though every tongue has not the same number of papillae, but that in some there are thrice as many as in others. Hence, with two per- sons sitting at the same table, one may be deliciously affected by the viands and wines, whereas the other will seem to partake of them with restraint. Taste, he maintains, is a sense that, all things considered, procures us the greatest nmnber of enjoyments: "1st. Because the pleasure of eating is the only one that, taken in moderation, is never followed by fatigue ; "2d. Because it belongs to all times, to all ages, and to all conditions ; 181 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "Sd. Because it occurs necessarily at least once a day, and may be repeated without inconvenience two or three times in this space of time ; "4th. Because it may be combined with all our other plea- sures and even console us for their absence ; "5th. Because the impressions it receives are at the same time more durable and more dependent on our will ; "6th. Because in eating we receive a certain indefinable and special comfort which arises from the intuitive consciousness that we repair our losses and prolong our existence by the food we eat. "Lastly," he asserts, "the tongue of man, by the delicacy of its texture and the various membranes which environ it, sufficiently indicates the sublimity of the operations for which it is destined. It contains at least three movements unknown to animals, which he terms spication, rotation, and verrition. The first is when the tongue in a conical shape comes from between the lips that compress it ; the second, when the tongue moves circularly in the space comprised between the interior of the cheeks and the palate ; the third, when the tongue, curv- ing upwards or downwards, gathers anything remaining in the semicircular canal formed by the lips and the gums." Like the seasoned and thoroughbred hunter who is sure of his sinew and his stride, and before whom the stile, the ditch, and the five-barred gate present no ob- stacles, so may Savarin be freely allowed his head and be followed over the fragrant fields of taste, with no fear that anything appertaining to its province will prove impossible or difficult for him to surmount. The influence of smell on taste is closely analysed: "For myself, I am not only persuaded that without the par- ticipation of smell there is no perfect taste, but I am even 182 THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN tempted to believe that smell and taste form only one sense, of which the mouth is the laboratory and the nose the chim- ney; or, to speak more exactly, that the tongue tastes tactile substances, and the nose gases. This theory may be vigor- ously defended. "All sapid bodies must be necessarily odorous, which places them as well in the empire of smell as in the empire of taste. "We eat nothing without smelling it with more or less con- sciousness ; and for unknown foods the nose acts always as a sentinel, and cries, 'Who goes there.'" "When smell is interrupted, taste is paralysed. This is proved by three experiments, which any one may make suc- cessfully : First, when the nasal mucous membrane is irritated by a violent cold in the head, taste is entirely obliterated. In anything we swallow there is no taste. The tongue, neverthe- less, remains in its normal state. Second, if we eat whilst holding tight our nose, we are much astonished to experience the sensation of taste only in an obscure and imperfect man- ner. By this means the most nauseous medicines are swal- lowed almost without tasting them. Third, we see the same effect if, at the moment we have swallowed, instead of bring- ing back the tongue to its usual place, we keep it close to the palate. In this case the circulation of the air is intercepted, the organs of smell are not affected, and taste does not occur. These different effects depend upon the same cause, the lack of cooperation of the smell, which makes the sapid body to be appreciated only on account of its juice, and not for the odoriferous gas that emanates from it. "These principles being thus laid down, I regard it as cer- tain that taste gives riseto sensations of three different orders, namely: direct sensation, complete sensation, and reflex sen- sation. Direct sensation is that first perception which arises from the immediate operation of the organs of the mouth, whilst the appreciable body is yet found on the point of the 183 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE tongue. Complete sensation is that which is composed of this first perception and of the impression which originates when the food abandons this first position, passes into the back part of the mouth, and impresses the whole organ with both taste and perfume. Reflex sensation is the judgment of the mind upon the impressions transmitted to it by the organ." To no other writer may one turn so satisfactorily for an interpretation of the word "gastronomy," a word which belongs by right to him. Previous to his exegesis, gluttony and gastronomy had been more or less confounded. It is true that the poem of Ber- choux is entitled "La Gastronomic," but the term was not defined by the poet, nor do the piquant pages of the "Almanach" refer to the art "of having excellent cheer" under that term. The true epicure, as distin- guished from the gross eater, had long stood in need of the definition and distinction. "The gastronomer is nearly always a sage," it has been observed — a state- ment borne out by the "Dictionnaire de la Conversa- tion," which characterises this science as "the art of living, of eating worthily, properly, as a man of taste, character, and judgment." It will prove of inter- est, therefore, to those who are unfamiliar with the "Physiology" to refer to the third Meditation, and note the French savant's elaborate analysis of the word: "Gastronomy is the rational knowledge of all that relates to man as an eater. "Its object is to watch over the preservation of men by means of the best nourishment possible. "It arrives thereat by laying down certain principles to 184 THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN direct those who look for, furnish, or prepare the things which may be converted into food. "Thus it is gastronomy that sets in motion farmers, vine- growers, fishers, hunters, and the numerous family of cooks, whatever may be their title, or under whatever qualification they may disguise their occupation of preparing food. "Gastronomy is connected — "With natural history, by its classification of alimentary substances. "With physics, by the investigation of their composition and their qualities ; "With chemistry, by the different analyses and decomposi- tions which it makes them undergo; "With cookery, by the art of preparing food and ren- dering it more agreeable to taste; "With commerce, by the search for means to buy at the cheapest rate possible what is consumed by it, and selling to the greatest advantage that which is presented for sale ; "Lastly, with political economy, by the resources which it furnishes to the authorities for taxation, and by the means of exchange it establishes among nations. "Some knowledge of gastronomy is needed by all men, since it tends to increase the allotted sum of human happiness ; and the more easy a man's circumstances, the more advantages does he gain from such knowledge." Svunming up, he pronounces its material subject to be everything that may be eaten; its direct object, the preservation of individuals; and its means of execu- tion, cultivation which produces, commerce which ex- changes, industry which prepares, and experience which invents the means of turning everything to the best account. It will thus be perceived how little understood, even 185 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE at this advanced age, is the term in question, and how few, comparatively, there are who comprehend the true significance of the pleasures of the table — ^plea- sures where grossness does not enter, but where taste, refinement, the amenities, and hygiene assert their sway. Life is short at its longest ; but who shall har- vest its sweetnesses so fully as the accomplished gas- tronomer! The rustling forest glades, radiant in the pomp of October, may be summoned by the appear- ance of a finely larded grouse ; the tinkle of liberated brooks be heard with the advent of the first April trout; the flute of the whitethroat be recalled by the floral tributes to the table ; and all that is sunshine in nature be distilled when the cork sets free a noble vintage of the Medoc or the Marne. If the term "gastronomy" was imperfectly under- stood until the definition in the "Physiology," as much may be said of the word gourmandise, which oftener served as a designation of gluttony than as a synonym of refined epicureanism. Gourmandise, Savarin defines as "an impassioned, rational, and habitual preference for all objects which flatter the sense of taste. It is opposed to excess in eating and drinking. Physically, it is an indication of the wholesome state of the organs on which nutri- tion depends, and, morally, it marks implicit resigna- tion to the commands of the Creator, who, in ordering man to eat that he may live, invites him to do so by appetite, encourages him by flavour, and rewards him by pleasure. It is, moreover, most favourable to beauty, imparting more brilliancy to the eye, fresh- ness to the skin, more support to the muscles; and as 186 'POUR VOIR DE BOXS REFRAINS ECLORE, BUYONS ENCORE! Frontis|iiffe of " Le Caveau MoJfrue " (I^IJT) THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN it is certain in physiology that it is the depression of muscles that causes wrinkles, those formidable ene- mies of beauty, it is equally true that, all things being equal, those who know how to eat are comparatively ten years younger than those ignorant of that science." It was also left for him to discover that gourmandise, when it is shared, has a marked influence on the hap- piness which may be found in the conjugal state. Let us follow the accomplished chancellor farther in his physiological studies, and refer to the thir- teenth INIeditation, which treats of "gastronomic tests." In a previous chapter a famous bill of fare of the renowned Rocher de Cancale has been pre- sented, which it may be well to compare with what ap- proaches nearest to a menu or series of menus in the "Physiology." It will then be for the reader to decide whether he would rather have assisted at the feast of the Rocher alluded to, or at that prescribed by Sa- varin for an income of thirty thousand francs in the early part of the century. In both instances the list of accompanying wines is wanting, and therefore the menus are necessarily incomplete as a dinner chron- icle of the times. Happily, the long and heavy din- ners of former days have given place to repasts of a far more simple nature, as the heavy wines of Oporto and the South and the highly saccharine products of the vine have been replaced by lighter and more whole- some kinds. It is possible now to dine well and gen- erously and escape a headache or an indigestion the following morning. By "gastronomic tests," which the author claims as a personal discovery that will honour the nineteenth 187 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE century, he understands dishes of acknowledged fla- vour, of an excellence; so undoubted that the mere sight of them ought to move, in a well-organised man, every faculty of taste; so that all those whose faces under such circimistances neither flash with desire nor beam with ecstasy may justly be noted as unworthy of the honours of the banquet and its attending pleasures. A test destined for a man of limited means, he ex- plains, would have little reference to a head clerk, and would scarcely be perceived when a select few dine together at a capitalist's or a diplomatist's. Should such dishes as a truffled turkey seem out of keeping for an income of fifteen thousand francs, and the list of the "third series" appear too elaborate for an income of double that sum, due consideration should be taken of the value of the franc at the period to which the author refers. It is also to be presumed that such a bill of fare was not often served by any one person, and was therefore more highly prized and more easily digested. Gastronomic Tests. First Series. For a Presumed Income of 5000 Francs a Year (Medi- ocrity). A large fillet of veal, weU larded with bacon, done in its own gravy. A country-fed turkey stuffed with Lyons chestnuts. Fattened pigeons larded and cooked to a turn. Eggs dressed a la neige. 188 THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN A dish of Sauerkraut bristling with sausages and crowned with Strassburg bacon. Remarks. — "Bless me! that looks all right! Come on! let us do honour to it !" Second Series. For a Presumed Income of 15,000 Francs (Comfort). A fillet of beef underdone in the middle, larded and done in its own gravy. A haunch of venison, accompanied by a gherkin sauce. A boiled turbot. A leg of mutton presale, done a la provenfdle. A truffled turkey. Early green peas. Remarks. — "Ah, my dear friend, what a delightful sight! This is truly a wedding-feast." Third Series. For a Presumed Income of 30,000 Francs or more (Riches). A fowl of about seven pounds stuffed with truffles till it becomes almost round. An enormous Strassburg pate de foie gras, in the shape of a bastion. A large Rhein carp a la Chambord, richly dressed and decorated. Truffled quails, with marrow, spread on buttered toast au basilic. A river pike larded, stuffed, and smothered in a cream of crayfish secundum artem. A pheasant done to perfection, with his tail-feathers stuck in, lying on toast a la Sainte- Alliance. 189 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE A hundred early asparagus, each half an inch thick, with sauce a I'osmazome. Two dozen ortolans a la provenfale, as described in some of the cookery-books already mentioned. A pyramid of vanilla and rose meringues — a test some- times useless unless in the case of ladies and abbes. Remarks. — "Ah, my dear sir (or my lord), what a genius that cook of yours is ! It is only at your table that one meets such dishes." In order that any test should produce its full effect, the author advises that it be served plenteously, the rarest of dishes losing its influence when not in abun- dant proportion, as the first impression it produces on the guests is naturally checked by the fear of being stingily served, or, in certain cases, of being obliged to refuse out of politeness — a conclusion one may see verified frequently at a European table-d'hote when the parsimonious though perhaps extortionate land- lord deals out the roast or the fish through the inter- medium of the maligned gar^on or Kellner. There are certain dishes, nevertheless, whose zest consists in their very daintiness and lack of exuberance, such as numerous entrees, in the savouring of which even the forks and knives should be small and the proportions of the dish be restricted rather than augmented. But the rules in the "Physiology" as to a perfect dinner still hold good in the main, and will well bear reit- eration: "Let the number of guests not exceed twelve, so that the conversation may be constantly general. "Let them be so chosen that their occupations are various, 190 THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN their tastes analogous, and with such points of contact that one need not have recourse to that odious formality of in- troductions. "Let the dining-room be brilliantly lighted, the cloth as white as snow, and the temperature of the room from sixty to sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. "Let the men be witty and not pedantic, and the women amiable without being too coquettish. "Let the dishes be exquisitely choice, but small in number, and the wines of the first quaUty, each in its degree. "Let the dishes be served from the more substantial to the lighter ; and from the simpler wines to those of finer bouquet. "Let the eating proceed slowly, the dinner being the last business of the day, and let the guests look upon themselves as travellers who journey together towards a common object. "Let the coffee be hot and the liqueurs be specially chosen. "Let the drawing-room to which the guests retire be large enough to permit those who cannot do without it to have a game of cards, while leaving, however, ample scope for post- prandial conversation. "Let the guests be detained by social attraction, and ani- mated with expectation that before the evening is over there will be some further enjoyment. "Let the tea not be too strong, the toast artistically buttered, and the punch made with care. "Let the signal for departure not be given before eleven o'clock. "Let every one be in bed at midnight. "If any man has ever been a guest at a repast uniting all these conditions, he can boast of having been present at his own apotheosis; and he will have enjoyed it the less in pro- portion as these conditions have been forgotten or neglected." Exception perhaps may be taken to the tempera- ture of the dining-room as given in the above injunc- 191 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE tions, 70° to 73° Fahrenheit being a more comfortahle atmospheric medivim of dining where it is possible. The tea and toast and the punch may also be dis- pensed with to advantage, and in their stead a liqueur glass of Curapoa sec be prescribed, one of the best, as it is one of the most agreeable, digestives after a sub- stantial repast. Game has been pronounced a delight of the table by Savarin — a food healthful, warming, savoury, and easy of digestion to young stomachs. Of small game or birds, he accords the highest place to the fig-pecker, saying that if this bird were as large as a pheasant it would be worth an acre of land. Savarin was a true sportsman, who knew his game and its proper prep- aration, and among the breeziest of his chapters are those relating to field sports, wherein due regard is paid to the luncheon. A portion of the fifteenth Meditation will be sufficient to show the counsellor in his hunting costume at the halt of a shooting party; he is in his happiest vein, his theme being "The La- dies." The morning has been fine, and the birds abun- dant. Appetite is not wanting, and at a prearranged hour a party of ladies arrive, laden with the treasures of Perigord, the triumphs of Strassburg, and the bub- bles of Epernay, to assist in the repast. It is at the close of this that the chancellor becomes most eloquent and pronounces one of his most characteristic mono- logues : "I have been out shooting in the centre of France and the most remote provinces, and seen arrive at the halt charming women, girls redolent with freshness, some arriving in cabri- 192 THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN olets, others in simple country carts. I have seen them the first in laughing at the inconveniences of their conveyance. I have seen them display upon the turf the turkey in clear jelly, the household pie, the, salad all ready for mixing. I have seen them with light foot dancing round the bivouac fire lighted on this occasion. I have taken part in the games and merri- ment that accompany such a gipsy feast, and I feel thor- oughly convinced that, with less luxury, there is quite as much that is charming, gay, and delightful. "Why when they take their leave should not some kisses be interchanged with the best sportsman, who is in his glory; with the worst shot because he is most unlucky ; with the others so as not to make them jealous.? All are about to separate, custom has authorized it ; and it is permissible, and even com- manded, to take advantage of such an opportunity. "Fellow-sportsmen, ye who are prudent and look after solid things, fire straight, and bag as much as you can before the ladies arrive, for experience teaches us that after their de- parture sportsmen seem very rarely in luck. . . ." ^ As the lordly Asian pheasant is thriving and mul- tiplying with us, it will be pertinent to present Sa- varin's famous and somewhat inaccessible formula of preparing him a la Saitite- Alliance for all such as may wish to try so elaborate a plat de luxe, it being well understood that the pheasant, above all birds, re- quires to be very fully matured by hanging : "The, bird is first to be carefully larded with the best and firmest lard. Then bone two woodcocks, put their flesh aside, and keep the livers and trails of the two birds separate. Take 1 The reader who is interested in entitled " Des Parties de Campagne pastoral luncheons and all their possi- Gourmandes " in the fourth volume bilities should compare the "Halts of the "Almanach des Gourmands, of a Shooting Party" with the chapter 193 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE this meat and mince it, add some beef marrow, steamed, a little scraped bacon, pepper, salt, herbs, and enough good truffles to stuff the inner cavity of the pheasant. Be careful not to let the stuffing spread to the outside, which is sometimes a little difficult when the bird is rather high. Nevertheless, it can be done in various ways, and amongst others by fastening a crust of bread with a piece of thread on the stomach, which pre- vents its bursting. Cut a slice of bread longer and wider by two inches than the whole pheasant is ; then take the livers and trails of the woodcocks, and pound them with two large truf- fles, one anchovy, a little scraped bacon, and a goodly lump of the best fresh butter. Spread this paste on the slice of bread, and put it under the pheasant stuffed as above, so that it may receive all the gravy dripping from it while roasting. When the pheasant is cooked, serve it up lying gracefully on its toast, put some bitter oranges round it, and await the result without any uneasiness. This high-flavoured dish ought to be washed down, in preference, with some of the best wine of Upper Burgundy. Treated according to the preceding pre- scription, the pheasant, already distinguished itself, is per- meated from its outside with the savoury fat of the bacon which is browned and in its inside it is impregnated with the odoriferous gases from the woodcocks and the truffles. The toast, already so richly prepared, receives again the gravies of the triple combination which flow from the bird while roasting." Has gastronomy progressed since the time of Bril- lat-Savarin? Replying to this question, Charles Monselet, writing in 1879, states that he "looks in vain for the tables that are praised or the hosts that are renowned. 'Where are the great cooks? What names have we now to oppose to those of Careme and Robert? Shall I speak of official cookery, of minis- 194 THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN terial dinners? These are not the dinners to which people go to eat. There especially the cook is more proud of a Chinese kiosk on a rock in coloured and spim sugar, which no person dare touch, than of a carp a la Chambord treated in a masterly way. Since the days of Cambaceres official cookery has ceased to exist." The similarity of dinners complained of by Walker and Thackeray during a previous era he re- fers to as existing in Paris: "That which you eat yes- terday in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, you will eat to-morrow in the Faubourg Saint-Honore. At the end of the week you recognise that you have merely changed yoiu- knife and fork. This poverty of im- agination, this absence of research are unworthy of a country such as ours." Apart from his neglect to mention the labours of his distinguished gastronomical predecessor, Savarin is also open to censure for failing to thank the Ital- ians for their admirable lessons in the science of cook- ery, including that of frying in oil, which he particu- larly specifies as so desirable with trout "caught in running brooks that murmur far from the capital." To this day the Italian remains a great confec- tioner and pastry-cook, while an Italian maestro is a delight of the haute cuisine, his methods possess- ing much originality and holding nothing in com- mon with the greasy dishes and their superabun- dance of garlic which one meets in the average inn and in many of the restaurants of the land beyond the Alps. Upon one subject, it is to be regretted, we have not been advised by the philosophic and analytic mayor 195 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE of Belley, who is silent concerning the physiology of the cocktail, or any form of beverage composed of spirits, taken before dinner. During La Reyniere's era, on the occasion of a grand dinner the rule was the so-called coup d'avant, the coup du milieu, and the coup d'apres — the three spirituous graces, as it were, of an elaborate repast. Here was a lost opportunity for the "Physiology," which might have formulated a hygienic chapter apart from the Meditations on thirst and drinks. Unquestionably, there are rea- sons for and against the use of a liquid stimulant be- fore the principal meal. The true gastronomer, and all those who are careful of their health, without which the best dinner may not be enjoyed, will at any rate eschew all strong alcoholic beverages until evening. The question of a stimulant before the dinner will then be one for individual consideration. Its daily use may scarcely be commended, particularly if it be followed by wine: one who is in possession of good health should not require a jfictitious goad to appetite. Where a carefully planned dinner is in question, how- ever, the dry cocktail — one, and one only — taken ten minutes before the moment of sitting down at table, is undoubtedly a stimulus to appetite and pro- vocative of good-fellowship. It pitches the company in a pleasant key at the onset, and imparts a zest and an allegresse to the first part of the repast that were otherwise lacking. Then, if the sparkling wine be not postponed too long, and the dinner itself be merito- rious, the host and hostess may rest secure, without a shadow of solicitude regarding its success. Impelled by its own geniality, the company will take abundant care of itself, and the stream of conversation and rip- 196 THE SCHOOL OF SAVARIN lie of anecdote flow freely along, unimpeded by the oulders of formality or the aridity engendered by a earth of joyous fluids. Turning the leaves of the "Physiology," the reader i^ill be impressed with the fecundity of an author who reats with equal fluency of foods and drinks, appetite ,nd digestion, sport and old age, women and abbes, nd all that appertains to the physiology of gastron- my. His portrait of a pretty gourmande under arms s a genre painting worthy of Gerard Douw or Van klieris, while his Meditation on the end of the world night have been composed by a doctor of the Sor- lonne. The chapter on digestion is full of practical dvice, and from this his disquisitions on repose, on [reams, and on the influence of diet are a natural suc- ession. In the chapter on dreams we are told that 11 foods which are slightly exciting cause people to [ream — such as brown meat, pigeons, ducks, game, ,nd, above all, hare — the same property being also ecognised in asparagus, celery, truffles, sweetmeats, nd particularly vanilla. Equally suggestive are the ssays on corpulence, leanness, and fasting, and the fiany racy anecdotes of the "Varietes," while his phorisms must always occupy a place in epicurean iterature. Did Savarin feel a premonition of immediate death ^hen he penned the verses which he entitled "The Igony — A Physiological Romance," and which con- lude the work that has rendered his name a synonym or all that appertains to the table and its pleasures? "I feel through all my senses life's sad end, My dim eye sees the last few grains of sand 197 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Falling, Louisa weeps, my tender friend. And places on my breast her trembling hand. The band of morning-callers troops apace, Not to return, they bid a last good-bye, The doctor leaves, the pastor takes his place. For I must die ! "I fain would pray, my memory is gone; I fain would speak, my lips can frame no sound ; I hear, though all is still, a singing tone. And a dull shadow seems to hover round; All is now cold and dark, my panting breast Exhausts itself in heaving one poor sigh. To wander round my lips in frozen rest. For I must die !" Numerous translations of the "Physiology" have appeared in various languages. Of these the most familiar one in English, entitled "Gastronomy as a Fine Art," is well interpreted as far as it goes. But many piquant passages are condensed, and portions of chapters and at least one half of the "Varietes" are omitted altogether. The most complete rendition is the large octavo volume, with its rather unsatisfac- tory illustrations by Lalauze, termed "A Handbook of Gastronomy," wherein the English reader may commune with the French writer almost at first hand, and not be obliged to forgo "The Pullet of Bresse," "The Dish of Eels," "A Day with the Bernardines," and "The Pheasant" — a la Sainte- Alliance. 198 ALEXAXDRE DTMAS Fi-(iiii the ctrliiiig by Rajon FROM CAREME TO DUMAS " Les ecrivains-ouislnlers sont aussl n^cessaires que les autres litterateurs i il vous faut eotm^tre la theorie du plus ancien des arts. "—Charles Geeabd. AMONG the great professional cooks who were XV not alone notable practitioners, but who have written understandingly on the art, the names of Beauvilliers, Careme, Ude, Francatelli, Soyer, Ur- bain-Dubois, and GoufFe are preeminent. We have already considered the important role enacted by Beauvilliers as chef, restaurateur, and author. The unctuous name of Careme, however, is more often uttered with reverence, and even yet evokes visions of all that is most delectable in sau ces ansLeMremets de douceur. Indeed, were one to wish that he might turn an Aladdin's ring and summon some genius of the range 199 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE who would be most gladly welcomed, surely on Ca- reme the choice would fall. As for the dinner one might wish to command, what better than the feast at the Chateau de Boulogne, so eloquently described by Lady Morgan, when he presided at the Baron Roth- schild's villa — ^that dinner of an estival eventide when the landscape lay sweltering in the heat, without, but where all was deliciously cool within the vast pavilion which stood apart from the mansion in the midst of orange trees : "where distillations of the most delicate viands, extracted in silver dews, with chemical pre- cision, " 'On tepid clouds of rising steam,' formed the base of all; where every meat presented its own natural aroma, and every vegetable its own shade of verdure ; where the mayonnaise was fried in ice (like Ninon's description of Sevigne's heart) ; and the tempered chill of the plombiere anticipated the stronger shock, and broke it, of the exquisite ava- lanche, which, with the hue and odour of fresh gath- ered nectarines, satisfied every sense and dissipated every coarser flavour." The age of Careme was the era of quintessences — of the cuisine classique, when chemistry contributed new resources, and fish, meats, and fowls were dis- tilled, in order to add a heightened flavour to the sauces and viands that their etherealised essences were to accentuate. One thinks of LucuUus and Apicius, and of the "exceeding odoriferous and aromaticall vapour" of the ovens of the artist mentioned by Mon- taigne. 200 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS That success in any walk of life is the result not only of natural aptitude but of persevering applica- tion, Careme's history affords abundant proof, if such were required. Left to shift for himself when but seven years old, at fifteen he had already served his apprenticeship as a cook, to advance with rapid strides in his chosen profession. Constant sobriety, which called for much self-sacrifice on his part, and an iron constitution enabled him to carry out the most arduous labours. "My ambition was serious," he states in his memoirs, "and at an early age I became desirous of elevating my profession to an art." The better to perfect himself in its various branches, he studied for ten years under the most distinguished masters, including Robert and Laguipiere. For years, also, he was a daily student at the Imperial Library and Cabinet of Engravings, perfecting him- self in drawing and in the literature of his profession. He likewise made an exhaustive study of old Roman cookery, only to arrive at the conclusion that it was intrinsically bad and abominably heavy {fonder ement mauvaise et atrocement lourde) — an opinion con- firmed by the JVIarquis de Cussy, who declared that he would rather dine at a Parisian restaurant for twenty francs than with LucuUus in the saloon of Apollo. It was Careme's habit to take notes nightly of his progress and the modifications he had made in his work during the day, thereby fixing those ideas and combinations that otherwise would have escaped hi's memory. Amid the luxurious kitchens of the Empire he reigned supreme — the king of pastry-cooks and mar- 201 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE vellous in his sauces, galantines, and inventions. Crowned heads soon became his suitors, and princes implored his services. It was Talleyrand, one of the wittiest and most epicurean princes of the Empire, who inspired him perhaps with his greatest enthusi- asm, and of whom he says, "M. de Talleyrand under- stands the genius of a cook, he respects it, he is the most competent judge of delicate progress, and his expenditures are wise and great at the same time." Of Laguipiere, the chief cook of Murat, to whose talents he ascribes the elegance and eclat of the culi- nary art of the nineteenth century, he is unstinted in his praises. Of Beauvilliers he has little to say, and although a volume appeared bearing the combined names of Beauvilliers and Careme, one fancies that the proverbial jealousy of cooks was not wanting in their case. Careme has modified the adage on se fait cuisinier, mais on est ne rotisseur, claiming that to become a perfect cook one must first be a distinguished pastry- maker, and citing as instances his favourite teacher Laguipiere, with Robert, Lasne, Riquette, and nu- merous other celebrities. He speaks of the "light- ness," the "grace," and the "colour" of pastry; of the "order, perspicuity, and intelligence" required in its preparation. "It is easier," he says, "to cook pastry than to make it. . . . There are ovens and ovens {fours). There is the four chaud; there is the four gai; there is the four chaleur moderee. The best oven is that which is often heated and which retains its heat. If there is too much loft and too little floor, or much floor and little loft, only meagre results may be ex- 202 FROJNI CAREME TO DUMAS pected." When one orders a vol-au-vent a la finan- cier e or a pate dfecrevisses (that triumph of Or- leans) at a restaurant, therefore, it will be perceived it becomes a question of the oven as well as the capa- city of the artist directing it that counts in the success, and which the conscientious diner should take into con- sideration ere finding fault with the addition. Again, the analogy between cookery and painting becomes apparent. Thus the conditions noted by Careme find a parallel in the artist endowed with a vivid imagination, but possessed of only mediocre technique; or a painter whose feeling may be admir- able, but whose execution is deficient. The four gai — how it suggests a landscape of Cuyp steeped in the splendours of the setting sun — to say nothing of a nicely gilded omelette or a souffle of apricots! To glacer a la flamme, as Careme expressed it, calls for a four d^enfer, and one has in mind a creme gelee d' Alaska, with the fire managed by a Mephistopheles. I^et the cook and the painter continue to lay on the colours gaily — ^the one with his braise and the other with his brush. Art is art always, and finds its sure reward in whatever sphere talent, conscientiousness, and application are united. In the autobiographic preface of the "Cuisinier Parisien" an instance is cited of the care and variety which the author claims every industrious cook should bring to bear in his work, in order to excite the appe- tite of the amphitryon: "One day the Prince-Regent of England, whom I served, said to me, 'Careme, you will make me die of indigestion; I 203 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE am fond of everything you give me, and you tempt me too much.' 'Monseigneur,' I replied, 'my principal ofBce is to challenge your appetite by the variety of my service; but it is not my affair to regulate it.' The prince smiled, saying that I was right, and I continued to supply him with the best." "The charcoal shortens our lives," said Careme; "but what matter? — we lose in years and gain in glory." A born epicure, he never risked his health by over-indulgence of his epicurean taste. "I have been prudent," he states, "not by inclination, but through a profound sense of my duty." To his culi- nary accomplishments he joined those of a master di- rector and maitre-d'hotel. Witness his remarks con- cerning the functions of a chief steward : "The maitre-d'hotel cuismier should possess that unification of qualities which is seldom bestowed, even in an isolated form. He will be a cook, above all — able, alert, productiye; he will be cut out for active command and be animated by an invin- cible ardour for work ; he will be a man of parts, an enthu- siast, vigilant even to minuteness. He will see all, and know all. The maitre-d'hotel is never ill. He presides over every- thing, his impetus dominates all; he alone has the right to raise his voice, and all must obey. He must be sufficiently learned to write out, when occasion calls for it, without the aid of books, the principal part of his bills of fare. These are his book of resources, the journal of his fatigues and his vic- tories. Alas! that which he may not preserve in these copies are the spontaneous fire and ready tact he has displayed in connection with his ranges — these are things of the moment that die at their birth." Many anecdotes of the famous gastronomers and great personages of his time have been recounted by 204 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS Careme. To Cambaceres he refers at length, disput- . ing his claim to a distinguished place among epicures. The cuisine of the arch-chancellor, he states decisively, never merited its great reputation. This was through no fault of his chef, M. Grand'Manche, an excellent practitioner, but wsis due solely to the excessive par- simony of his employer, who at each service was in the habit of noting the entrees that were untouched or scarcely touched, and of forming his carte for the mor- row with their remains. "What a dinner, merciful heavens ! I would not say that the dessert may not be utiHsed, but that it may not supply a dinner for a prince and an eminent gastronomer. This is a delicate question; the master has nothing to say, nothing to .s'ee; the skill and probity of the cook alone should enter into the facts. The dessert should only be employed with precau- tion, skill, and especially in silence. "The arch-chancellor received from the departments in- numerable gifts of provisions and the finest of poultry. All such were forthwith engulfed in a vast larder of which he re- tained the key. He kept tally of the provisions, the dates of their arrival, and he alone gave orders for their utilisation. Frequently, when he issued his orders the provisions were spoiled. "Cambaceres was never a gourmand in the scientific ac- ceptance of the word ; he was naturally a great and even vora- cious eater. Can one believe that he preferred, above all dishes, the pate chaud with forcemeat balls.'' — a heavy, un- savoury, and vulgar dish. As a hors-d'ceuvre he had fre- quently a crust of pate reheated on the grill, and had brought to table the combien of a ham that had done duty for the week. And his skilful cook who never had the grand fundamental sauces ! neither his under-cooks or aids nor his bottle of Bor- 205 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE deaux ! What parsimony ! what a pity ! what an estabhsh- ment! "Neither M. Cambaceres nor M. Brillat-Savarin knew how to eat. Both were fond of strong and vulgar things, and simply filled their stomachs. This is literally true. M. de Savarin was a large eater, and talked little and without facil- ity, it seemed to me ; he had a heavy air and resembled a par- son. At the end of a repast his digestion absorbed him, and I have seen him go to sleep." Charles Monselet has termed Savarin a mere selt- zer drinker, while Dumas says he was neither a gas- tronomer nor a gourmet, but simply a vigorous eater. "His large size, his heavy carriage, his common ap- pearance, with his costume ten or twelve years behind the times, caused him to be termed the drmn-majoi: of the Court of Cassation. All at once, and a dozen " years after his death, we have inherited one of the most charming books of gastronomy that it is pos- sible to imagine — the 'Physiologic du Gout.' " "My work is a manual to be ceaselessly consulted," Careme remarked with reference to his "Maitre- d'Hotel Fran9ais." The truth of this assertion be- comes manifest at once on reading the exquisitely careful directions which characterise all his treat- ises. The published works of the versatile author- chef include "Le Maitre-d'Hotel Fran9ais," "Le Cui- sinier Parisien," "Le Patissier Royal Parisien," "Le Patissier Pittoresque," and "L'Art de la Cuisine Fran^aise au Dix-neuvieme Siecle," in several of which the copious illustrations reveal his skill as a draughtsman. His death occurred while giving a les- son in his art. The day of his decease one of his schol- 206 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS ars gave him some quenelles of sole to taste. "The quenelles are good," he remarked, "only they were prepared too hastily; you must shake the saucepan lightly." In so saying he indicated by a slight motion the movement he desired to communicate. But after two or three motions his once facile hand refused to respond to his will, and the great artist was no more. "The asparagus plumps out at the name of Ca- reme!" exclaimed one of his admirers; "the hare that roams the forest utters his name to the stag who passes by; the stag repeats it to the pheasant; the lark sings it in his flight to the sun." Louis Eustache Ude, once chef of Louis XVI, and foimder of the modern French school in England, exerted considerable influence upon the better cook- ery of his day. His "French Cook" appeared in 1822, and a few years afterwards he became chef of Crock- ford's Club, the year during which his former em- ployer, the Duke of York, died. The story is told that, on hearing of the duke's illness, Ude exclaimed, "Ah! mon pauvre Due, how greatly you will miss me where you are gone !" Of the finesse that appertains to cookery, of the difficulty to become perfect in the art, Ude wrote as follows: "What science demands more study? Every man is not born with the qualifications necessary to constitute a good cook. Music, dancing, fencing, painting, and mechanics in general possess professors under twenty years of age, whereas in the first line of cooking preeminence never occurs under thirty. We see daily at concerts and academies young men and women who display the greatest abilities, but in our line nothing but the most consummate experience can elevate a 207 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE man to the rank of chief professor. Cookery is an art appre- ciated by only a very few individuals, and which requires, in addition to most diligent and studious application, no small share of intellect and the strictest sobriety and punctuality; there are cooks and cooks — the difficulty lies in finding the perfect one." Ude was succeeded in England by Charles Elme Francatelli, a distinguished pupil of Careme, who presided as chef at Chesterfield House and various clubs until he became officier de bouche to the queen. His "Modern Cook" is still a superior treatise, and although little adapted to the average household, it will well repay careful study on the part of the expert amateur. "The palate is as capable and nearly as M^orthy of education as the eye and the ear," says Francatelli — a statement which his volume abun- dantly bears out. A scholar of Careme, Francatelli was quick to note that si Vhabit fait Vhomme, il fait aussi Ventree — that the sense of sight has its delight as well as the taste, and one sees, accordingly, an ornate observance of decoration in his grand army of side-dishes. These are excellent throughout, but generally very elabo- rate, while his sauces and recipes for pastry are espe- cially good. The same may be said of his quenelles and timbales. A competent hand will find his work a valuable guide from which to obtain ideas ; it is not a practical book for the majority. One should always remember, among numerous other things, his deli- cious sauces, numbers sixty-five and sixty-six, for venison, which may also be used with a saddle of mut- 208 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS ton, and his recipes for trout au gratin and soup a la reine. The venison sauce especially should jiot be forgotten : "Bruise one stick of cinnamon and twelve cloves, and put them into a small stewpan with two ounces of sugar and the peel of one lemon pared off very thin and perfectly free from anj' portion of white pulp ; moisten with three glasses of port wine, and set the whole to simmer gently on the fire for a quar- ter of an hour; then strain it through a sieve into a small stewpan containing a pot of red currant jelly. Just before sending the sauce to table, set it on the fire to boil, in order to melt the currant jelly, so that it may mix with the essence of spice, etc." The second sauce is made in the same manner, ex- cept that black-currant jelly is substituted for the red. Good Bordeaux may be employed in place of port to advantage, rendering the sauce less cloying, and half the prescribed quantity of cloves will be found amply sufficient. After Francatelli, Alexis Soyer did his part to- wards the improvement of the higher classes of Eng- land. As an author he was ambitious, if not distin- guished, his published works nimibering four, viz.: "The Gastronomic Regenerator," "The Modern Housewife, or Menagere," "The Panthropheon or History of Food," and "A Shilling Cookery for the People." From the fact that the last-named volimie reached its two hundred and forty-eighth thousand, it may be concluded it was not a distinguished work, and was written to attract the multitude who do not appreciate. The warm reception given to his "Mena- 209 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE gere," according to a reviewer in "Eraser's Maga- zine," indicated, "with a statistical accuracy very su- perior to the census, the lamentably small nimiber of educated palates and self -comprehending stomachs which this country possesses." Like Careme, Soyer had studied the cuisine of the ancients attentively, and in this respect his "History of Food" becomes a valu- able addition to the student's library. But his execu- tion is said to h^-ve been far below his conception, and his soups much inferior to his soup-kitchens. He refrains from giving a certain recipe for crawfish a la Sampayo, which appeared in one of his bills of fare, on account of an agreement between himself and M. Sampayo, adding that the reason of the enormous ex- pense of the dish was that "two large bottles of Peri- gord truffles, which do not cost less than four guineas, are stewed with them in champagne." But inasmuch as the virtues of the truffle are sadly dissipated in its preserved state, and chefs generally use an ordinary Chablis or other wine in place of champagne, one need not be seriously concerned with the loss of the craw- fish. As the quotation of recipes would call for consid- erable space, it may be wise to dispense with any further illustrations in the instance of the above-men- tioned artists, and pass at once to the French author of the never-failing grace whose grand "Dictionary of Cookery" is marked by that felicity of expression and fecimdity of invention so characteristic of all his works. From the somewhat stilted style of Soyer it becomes doubly pleasing to turn to the laughing pages 210 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS of Dumas, at once suggestive and inspiring, pointed in paragraph and scintillant with anecdote.^ The author of "Monte Cristo" and "The Three Musketeers" has also left an illustrious name as a cook, a host, and an epicure. And if, of all celebrated ar- tists, it might be Careme whom one would wish to prepare the dinner, who more delightful than Dumas as a vis-a-vis at the repast? But his expansive smile and his bonhomie are reflected in his writings, and his "intuition of all" is no less apparent when dealing with cookery than when detailing the intrigues of cardinals and courtiers. A Chartreuse becomes as im- portant as the missing necklace of a queen, and the theory of frying no less momentous than the fate of the prisoner of the Chateau d'If. As Octave Lacroix has phrased it, "Assuredly it is a great attainment to be a romancist, but it is by no means a mediocre glory to be a cook. . . . Romancist or cook, Alexandre Dumas is a chef, and the two vocations appear in him to go hand in hand, or rather to be joined in one." The two introductory epistles, an anecdotal review of the art, are among the most felicitous in the lan- guage. Nor should we forget the many references to the table in the "Impressions de Voyage" and numer- ous other volumes. The Marquis de Cussy, Jules Janin, Charles Monselet, and others have treated the same subject at more or less length, but none of them so comprehensively. "I wish to conclude," Dumas 1 "Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, par Alexandre Dumas. Paris, Alphonse Lemerre, Editeur, Passage Choiseul, 1873." 211 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE often said, "my literary work of five hundred volumes by a work on cookery." This was his great ambition, and to it he devoted his most zealous efforts. "I see with pleasure," he remarks in one of his volumes, "that my culinary reputation is increasing, and soon prom- ises to efface my literary reputation. ... I therefore make the announcement that as soon as I am freed from the claims of certain editors I , will show you a book of practical cookery by which the most ignorant in matters gastronomical will be able to prepare, as easily as my honourable friend Vuille- mot, an espagnole or a mirepoix." ^ With Dimias to promise was to fulfil, and in due time his book — the last volimie from his pen — ap- peared, a tall folio of over a thousand pages, with the spirited etching of the author by Raj on. While this is more especially devoted to the French kitchen, it contains a large number of recipes from foreign coun- tries where the author had travelled. It thus becomes a compendium of many different schools, offering a wide range for selection. Written, moreover, by an amateur, it is also an easier guide than many of the professional manuals of the haute cuisine. In the "Dictionary" everything is passed under review — from snails a la provenpale to the feet of elephants, from filets of kangaroo to lambs' tails glacees a la chicoree, the list of fishes including an account of the origin of the term "Poisson d'Avril" (April fool). Even the babiroussa, or wild Asian hog, is not forgotten, the author pronouncing its flesh very deli- ^ "Propos d'Art et de Cuisine." 212 L'ART DU CUISINIER, PAR A. BEAUVILLIERS, Ancicn Officier de Monsiecr, comte de Provence, attacM aux Extraordinaires des IVlaisons royalcs, et actuellement Kestaurateur, rae de Richelieu , n° 26 , a la grande Taverne de Londres. TOME DEUXlfeME. A PARIS, CHEZ PILLET AIN]6, IMPRIMEUR - LIBRAIRE, ioiTEUR DE LA COLLECTION BBS MffiURS FRAM^AISES, ude cnnisTiHE, N° 5; Br CHEZ COIiNBT, IIBRAIHE, QUAl MALAQUAlS , n" 9. 1824- "L'ART DU CUISINIER" (BEAUVILLIERS ) Facsimile of title-page, 1824, Vol. IL FROM CAREME TO DUMAS cate, and presenting this additional information con- cerning its character: " 'Ah ! mon Dieu,' asked a lady of her husband, as they were looking at a babiroussa at the Jardin des Plantes, 'what kind of an animal is that, my dear, who instead of two horns has four?' " 'Madame,' said some one who was passing by, 'that is a widower who has remarried.' " There are recipes from Beauvilliers, Careme, the Marquis de Cussy, and the cook of King Stanislas; from the manuals of the times of Louis XIV and XV; from the cafes Anglais, Verdier, Brebant, Magny, Grignon, Vefour, and Very; from Elzear- Blaze,La Reyniere, the Provincial Brothers, and Vuil- lemot, proprietor of the Tete Noire at St. Cloud. One's mouth waters as he reads the vast alphabet of dishes. There are, for example, thirty-one modes pre- sented for preparing the carp, and fifty-six for dress- ing the egg, apart from the omelet, with sixteen recipes for artichokes and a dozen for asparagus. There is the Java formula for cooking halcyons' nests, and that of the cook of Richelieu for godiveau, a dissertation on the hocco, and a prescription for bus- tards a la daube. No wonder that Dumas has de- fined the dinner as a daily and capital action that can be worthily accomplished only by gens d'esprit This is well illustrated by an anecdote in the dedi- catory epistle to Jules Janin, which shows the char- acteristic hand of Dumas to advantage : 213 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "The Viscount de Vieil-Castel, brother of Count Horace de Vieil-Castel, one of the finest epicures of France, made this proposition at a gathering of friends: " 'A single person can eat a dinner costing five hundred francs.' " 'Impossible !' was the simultaneous exclamation. " 'It is well understood,' resumed the Viscount, 'that by the term eating is included drinking as well.' " 'Parbleu !' replied his friends. " 'Very well ; I say that a man, and by a man I do not mean a carter but an epicure — a pupil of Montron or of Cour- champs — can eat a dinner of five hundred francs.' " 'You, for example?' " 'I, or any one else.' "'Can you.?' " 'Certainly.' " 'I hold the five hundred francs,' said one of the bystand- ers ; 'name your conditions.' " 'That is a simple matter. I will dine at the Cafe de Paris, make up my bill of fare, and eat my five-hundred-franc dinner.' " 'Without leaving anything on the dishes or plates.?' " 'No, indeed ; I will leave the bones.' " 'And when will the wager take place?' " 'To-morrow, if you say so.' " 'Then you will not breakfast?' asked one of the by- standers. " 'I will breakfast as usual.' " 'Be it so. To-morrow at seven, at the Cafe de Paris.' "The same evening the Viscount dined as usual at the res- taurant; then, after dinner, in order not to be influenced by stomachic cravings, he set about preparing his carte for the following day. "The maitre-d'hotel was summoned. It was midwinter ; the 214 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS A'iscount suggested numerous fruits and early vegetables. The hunting season was closed; he wanted some game. "A week's grace was asked by the maitre-d'hotel. "The dinner was postponed for a week.. "On the right and left of the table the judges were to dine. "The Viscount had two hours in which to dine — from seven to nine. "He could talk or not, as he chose. "At the appointed hour the Visc!Dunt appeared, saluted the judges, and turned towards the table. "The bill of fare was to remain a mystery to his adver- saries ; they were to have the pleasure of a surprise. "The Viscount sat down. He was served with twelve dozen Ostende oysters, with a half-bottle of Johannisberger. "The Viscount was in excellent appetite; he asked for an- other twelve dozen oysters, and another half-bottle of the same growth. "Then came a soup of swallows' nests, which the Viscount poured in a bowl and drank as a bouillon. " 'Really, gentlemen,' said he, 'I am in fine trim to-day, and I have a notion to gratify a whim.' " 'Go on, pardieu, you are the doctor.' " 'I adore beefsteak and potatoes.' " 'Gentlemen, no advice, if you please,' said a voice. " 'Pooh ! waiter,' said the Viscount, 'a beefsteak and po- tatoes.' "The waiter, astonished, looked at the Viscount. " 'Don't you understand me.'" said the latter. " 'But I thought that Monsieur le Vicomte had made up his bill of fare.?' " 'That is true, but this is an extra ; I will pay for it sepa- rately.' "The judges looked at each other. The beefsteak and po- tatoes were brought on, and were promptly despatched. 215 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "'Now for the fish!' "The fish was brought on. " 'Gentlemen,' said the Viscount, 'it is a trout from Lake Geneva. I saw it this morning while I was breakfasting; it was still alive; it was brought from Geneva to Paris in the waters of the lake. I can recompiend this fish to you — it is delicious.' "Five minutes later only the bones remained. " 'The pheasant, waiter !' said the Viscount. "A truffled pheasant was brought on. " 'Another bottle of Bordeaux of the same growth.' "The second bottle was brought. "In ten minutes the pheasant was disposed of. " 'Monsieur,' said the waiter, 'I think you have made a mis- take in calling for the truffled pheasant before the salmis of ortolans.' " 'Ah ! that is so. Fortunately it is not stated in what order the ortolans are to be eaten ; otherwise I should have lost. The salmis of ortolans, waiter !' "The salmis of ortolans was brought on. "There were twelve ortolans — twelve mouthfuls for the Viscount. " 'Gentlemen,' said the Viscount, 'my bill of fare is very simple. Now for some asparagus, green peas, a banana, and strawberries. As for wine, a half -bottle of Constance and a half-bottle of sherry that has made the voyage to India. Then, of course, some coffee and liqueurs.' "Everything appeared in its turn — vegetables and fruit were conscientiously eaten, and the wines and liqueurs were drunk to the last drop. "The Viscount was an hour and fourteen minutes in dining. " 'Gentlemen,' said he, 'has everything gone right ?' "The judges acquiesced. " 'Waiter, the carte !' 216 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS "At this epoch the term addition was not used. "The Viscount ran his eye over the total, and passed the carte to the judges. "This was the carte: fr. c. Ostende oysters, 24? dozen 30 " Soup of swallows' nests 150 " . Beefsteak and potatoes 2 " Trout from Lake Geneva 40 " Truffled pheasant 40 " Salmis of ortolans 60 " Asparagus . 15 " Bananas 24 " Strawberries 20 " Green peas 12 " Wines. Johannisberg, one bottle - 24 " Bordeaux, grand cru, two bottles 50 " Constance, a half-bottle 40 " Sherry, retour de Vlnde, a half -bottle 50 " Coffee, liqueurs 1 50 Total 548 50 "The sum total was verified and the carte was taken to the adversary of the Viscount, who was dining in an adjoining room. "In five minutes he appeared, saluted the Viscount, took six biUs of a thousand francs from his pocket, and presented them to him. "It was the amount of the wager. " 'Oh, Monsieur,' said the Viscount, 'there was no hurry ; besides, perhaps you would have liked your revenge.' 217 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE " 'You would have granted it to me?' " 'Surely !' "'When?' " 'Immediately.' " But the reputation of the Viscount as a belle four- chette was exceeded by that of a Swiss guard in the employ of the Marechal de Villars, an account of whose prowess is related by the "Journal des De- fenseurs" : "One day the guard was sent for by the Marechal, who had heard of his enormous appetite. " 'How many sirloins of beef can you eat?' he tentatively asked. " 'Ah ! Monseigneur, for me I don't require many, five or six at the most.' " 'And how many legs of mutton ?' " 'Legs of mutton? not many — seven to eight.' '"And of fat pullets?' " 'Oh ! as to pullets, only a few — a dozen.' " 'And of pigeons ?' " 'As to pigeons, Monseigneur, not many — forty, perhaps fifty.' "'And larks.?' " 'Larks, Monseigneur ? — always !' " Another example of marvellous capacity is fur- nished by the French army, a captain wagering one day that a drummer of his company could eat a whole calf. The drummer, proud of his distinction, prom- ised to do honour to the captain's compliment. Ac- cordingly, a calf was prepared in various appetising 218 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS ways, and was being promptly disposed of by the drummer. When he had finally consimied about three quarters of the repast, he paused for another draught of wine, and, placing his knife and fork on his plate, said to his superior officer: "You had better have the calf brought on, had you not? for all these little kickshaws will end in taking up room." The Cafe de Paris, first opened in 1822 on the Bou- levard des Italiens in the large suite of apartments formerly occupied by Prince Demidofif, was the best restaurant in Europe during the forties and in Du- mas' time — a position it probably occupies to-day, since the closing of Bignon's. Alfred de Musset was accustomed to say that "one could not open its door for less than fifteen francs." But if its charges were high, its cuisine and service were unsurpassed. Those who dance must pay for the piping, and the cotillion of the casseroles is no exception to the rule. Every one who honoured the establishment, it is said, was considered by the personnel a grand seigneur for whom nothing could be too good. When Balzac one day announced the arrival of a distinguished Russian friend, he asked the proprietor to put his best foot forward. "Assuredly, Monsieur, we will do so," was the answer, "because it is simply what we are in the habit of doing every day." Balzac's favourite dish was veau a la casserole, a specialty of the Cafe de Paris in the forties. Rossini, a contemporary and friend of Balzac and Dumas, was not alone a famous musician, — composer of "Tell" and the "Stabat Mater," — but was also a dis- 219 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE tinguished fourchette and a cook of ability. One of his most celebrated compositions — ^that of a certain man- ner of preparing macaroni which is said to have vied in seductiveness with the sweetest strains of the "Bar- bier de Seville" — is unfortunately lost to the world through a prejudice of Dumas. One day the great romancist, who never ate maca- roni in any form, asked the noted composer for his recipe, being anxious to add it to his culinary reper- toire. "Come and eat some with me to-morrow at dinner, and you shall have it," was the answer. But the host, perceiving that his guest would not touch a dish on which he had bestowed so much pains, refused to give him the formula, whereupon Dumas circulated the report that it was his cook, not Rossini, who was master of the secret, and forthwith presented at length a recipe given him by the famous Mme. Ristori as "the true, the only, the unique manner of preparing maca- roni a la neapolitaine." Already in 1830 the excessive charges of the fash- ionable restaurants were loudly complained of. On this subject the "ISTouvel Almanach des Gourmands" of that date says : "The Boulevard Italien is the privileged seat of the cafes- restaurants; there one may dine excellently, but it must be confessed one is cruelly plucked. From this fact has arisen the proverb, 'One must be very hardy to dine at the Cafe Riche, and very rich to dine at the Cafe Hardi.' May it not be added that one needs to be an English peer to dine at the Cafe Anglais, and a millionaire Parisian to try the Cafe de Paris? One may dine well at Very's, but one will ruin himself; while 220 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS the fish which is excellent at the Rocher de Cancale is scarcely exchanged for its weight in five-franc pieces." Often in the midst of a dinner, on tasting of some novel dish at his favourite restaurant, the Cafe de Paris, Dumas would lay down his fork — "I must get the recipe of this dish." The proprietor was then sent for to authorise the novelist to descend to the kitchens and hold a consultation with his chefs. He was the only one of the habitues to whom this privilege was ever allowed; these excursions were usually fol- lowed by an invitation to dine with Dumas a few days later, when his newly acquired knowledge would be put into practice. There were those, nevertheless, that previous to the advent of the "Dictionary" were sceptical as to Du- mas' culinary accomplishments. Among such was Dr. Veron, author of the "Memoires" and founder of the "Revue de Paris," who, with several other notabili- ties, had been invited by the novelist to partake of a carp of his own preparation. For days and days Veron, who was extremely fond of fish, talked of noth- ing else to his cordon-hleu. "Where did you taste it?" said Sophie, becoming somewhat jealous of this praise of others, — "at the Cafe de Paris?" "No, — at Monsieur Dumas'." "Well, then, I'll go to Monsieur Dumas' cook and get the recipe." "That 's of no use," objected her master. "Mon- sieur Dumas prepared the dish himself." 221 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "Well, then, I'll go to Monsieur Dumas himself and ask him to give me the recipe." Sophie was as good as her word, and at once betook herself to the Chaussee d'Antin. The great novelist felt flattered, and gave her every possible information, but somehow the dish was not like that her master had so much enjoyed at his friend's. Then Sophie grew morose, and began to throw out hints about the great man's borrowing other people's feathers in his culinary pursuits, just as he did in his literary ones. "It is with his carp as with his novels — others write them, and he merely adds his name," she said one day. "I have seen him; he is a grand diable de vaniteucv." Influenced by his cook's remarks and the failure of the dish, and forgetting that surroundings often add much to flavour, Veron, on his part, felt inclined to think that Dumas had a clever chef in the background, upon whose victories he plumed himself. A few days afterwards, meeting Veron at the Cafe de Paris, Du- mas inquired after the result of Sophie's efforts. The doctor was reticent at first, not caring to acknowledge Sophie's failure. When one of the company at last mentioned the suspicions attached to the carp, Dumas became furious. Then, after a pause, he said, "There is but one reply to such a charge: you will all dine with me to-morrow, and you will choose a delegate who will come to my house at three to see me prepare the dinner." "I was the yoxmgest," says the author of "An Eng- lishman in Paris," who relates the story, "and the choice fell upon me. That is how my lifelong friend- 222 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS ship with Dumas began. At three o'clock next day I was at the Chaussee d'Antin, and was taken by the servant into the kitchen, where the great novehst stood surrounded by his utensils, some of silver, and all of them glistening like silver. With the exception of a soupe aucc chouoc, at which, by his own confession, he had been at work since the morning, all the ingre- dients for the dinner were in their natural state — of course, washed and peeled, but nothing more. He was assisted by his own cook and a kitchen-maid, but he himself, with his sleeves rolled up to the elbows, a large apron round his waist, and bare chest, conducted the operations. I do not think I have ever seen anything more entertaining, and I came to the conclusion that when writers insisted upon the culinary challenges of Careme, Duglere, and Casimir they were not indulg- ing in mere metaphor. "At half -past six the guests began to arrive; at a quarter to seven Dumas retired to his dressing-room; at seven punctually the servant announced that 'mon- sieur etait servi.' The dinner consisted of the afore- named soupe aux chouoc, the carp that had led to the invitation, a ragout de mouton a la Hongroise, roti de faisans, and a salade Japonaise. The sweets and ices had been sent by the pdtissier. I never dined like that before or after — not even a week later, when Dr. Veron and Sophie made the amende honorable in the Rue Taitbout." As a sample of Dumas' abilities in the petite cui- sine, his potage aucc choux may be cited, — his mode of preparing Sauerkraut, like that of all French cooks, is not to be commended : 223 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "Take a sound fresh cabbage, hash up all the remains of fowl and game that may be on hand, and have a good yester- day's bouillon, which pour in place of ordinary water on the beef intended for the day's bouillon. Then cover the bottom of the stewpan with a slice of fine ham, remove the leaves of the cabbage, and introduce the forcemeat, tying up the leaves afterwards so it will not be perceptible. Boil two^ hours, fill- ing with the bouillon of the pot-au-feu as the bouillon of the boiling diminishes. After removing the bouillon from the fire, let the bouillon, cabbage, forcemeat, and ham simmer to- gether for three quarters of an hour in the stewpan, give a last turn to the bouillon, serve your cabbage in the soup- tureen, allow it to cool a minute, and serve. Then you may have the choice of eating your cabbage in the soup, or of soak- ing some bread in the bouillon and making of your cabbage a releve of the soup. Cooked in this manner, the cabbage, the bouillon, and the meat, each lending a part of its properties to the other, attain the greatest sapidity it is possible for them to attain." This is the potage aux choux. The soupe aux choux is another matter that sounds equally appetising and has the advantage to the eye of puffing up the cab- bage to far larger dimensions. The extended remarks on the pot-au-feu itself are well worth the careful attention of the housewife ; the author declaring that the French cuisine owes its supe- riority to that of other nations to the excellence of its bouillon. Seven hours of slow and continuous boiling, he maintains, are necessary for it to acquire all the requisite qualities, i. e., to faire sourire the soup. The term, "smile," is happily chosen. Every piece of bread in a good croute-au-pot wears a smile, and every 224 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS dancing globule that remains after the skimmer has performed its office is a dimple on its face. Of the basting of meats — and herein the average cook stands in need of constant advice and still more constant watching — ^he has this to say (he is speaking of a truffled turkey after the recipe of the Marquis de Cussy, which he suggests might be called Dinde des Artistes) : "Above all, never moisten your roasts, of whatever nature they may be, except with butter mixed with salt and pepper. A cook who alloA^s a single drop of bouillon in the dripping-pan should be instantly discharged and banished from France." One of the brightest chapters of the volume is an essay which appears in the appendix — a eulogium of a certain mustard, in which Dumas out-Reynieres Reyniere. But one may overlook the subtle puffery that sheds a halo over the product of "M. Bornibus," in view of the vast erudition the writer displays and the grace with which the topic is invested. The essay first appeared in Monselet's entertaining "Ahnanach Gourmand" of 1869, the etymology of the word hav- ing been the subject of a wager between the writer and some of his friends. Of Dumas it may be said, as it has been said of the truffle, he "embellishes every- thing he touches" ; or, to paraphrase Savarin's defini- tion, "Qui dit Dumas, prononce un grand mot." Among the most distinguished of modern profes- sional cooks was Jules Gouffe, former of/icier de houche of the Jockey Club of Paris, whose "Livre de Cuisine" and "Livre de Patisserie" are unexcelled as guides to the greatest triumphs of the art of which they treat. The "Livre de Cuisine," which first ap- 225 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE peared in 1865, is not a manual that can be utilised in the ordinary establishment, however; but a volume on a grand scale, written by a great chef for chefs. Francatelli, though very elaborate, is much more sim- ple. At any rate, it is possible to simplify his recipes, or to derive many new ideas from them, even where his formulas may not be executed in the average house- hold. But to follow Gouffe calls for the very high- est professional skill and the most lavish expenditure, — the hand of a master, a larder of cockscombs, craw- fish, truffles, plover and pheasants' eggs, not to men- tion a cellar of Chateau Margaux, champagne, and Chablis Moutonne. His recipe for quails a la finan- ciered one of his nine elaborate ways of preparing the bird, will serve as well as any for illustration : "Truss eight quails as for braising, put them in a stew- pan, cover them with thin slices of fat bacon, pour in one gill of Madeira and one half pint of mirepoix, and let simmer until the quails are cooked. Fill a plain border-mould one and a quarter inches high with chicken forcemeat, poach it au ham-marie, and turn the border out of the mould into a dish and fill the centre with a financiere ragout made of foies gras, truffles, cockscombs, cocks'-kernels, and chicken forcemeat quenelles mixed in financiere sauce. Drain the quails, untie them, and place them half on the border, half on the ragout, the leg towards the centre, put a cockscomb between each quail, and a large truffle in the centre; glaze the border, the quails, and truffle with a brush dipped in glaze, and serve with financiere sauce." With Jules GoufFe, Urbain-Dubois, a chef of the highest order, and author of six important works on 226 FROM CAREME TO DUMAS cooker j% will be known to posterity as one of the great- est masters of the range of the second half of the nine- teenth century. In marked contrast to those of Gouff e and Dubois are the numerous culinary works of Ildefonse-Leon Brisse, more familiarlj^ known as Baron Brisse, and who was sometimes termed the Baron FalstafF. Two of his manuals, moulded on somewhat similar lines, are excellent mentors for the modest household — "The 366 Menus" (1868) and "La Petite Cuisine" (1870), of which many editions have appeared. In these a large number of good, uncommon, and simple dishes are presented, and both works may be comprehended by all who have a fair practical knowledge of cookery at command. According to Theodore de Banville, Baron Brisse was "at once an accomplished cook, a fine and delicate gourmet, and a gourmand always tor- mented with an insatiable hunger." It may therefore be assumed that all his recipes have been personally tested, and that those he particularly recommends are well worthy of trial, bearing out the sentiment he expresses in the preface to "La Petite Cuisine," — "This book is a good action for which I will be duly credited in this world or the other." Besides his nu- merous volumes on cookery, he founded and contrib- uted to several culinary journals. He laughed and ate. He was of enormous stature, and always was obliged to secure two places in the diligence between Paris and his home at Fontenay-aux-Roses, where he resided previous to his death in 1876. With Jules Gouffe he instituted a series of dinners where the guests were expected to dine in white frocks and 227 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE round white caps, like the fat old cooks that Roland has painted — dinners presided over by the baron, whose bonhomie was proverbial, and executed under the directions of GoufFe himself. But apart from his excellent cookery-books, Baron Brisse should be held in abiding reverence by all entertainers that are worthy of the name, if only for his splendid axiom, — "The host whose guest has been obliged to ask him for anything is a dishonoured man!" 228 THE COOK'S CONFRERE "Les vues courtes, je veux dire les esprits bomez et resserrez dans leur petite sphere, ne peuvent comprendre eette universalite de talens que Ton remarque quelquef ols dans un meme sujet."— La Beuteee: Du M^rite Personnel. IT were ungracious to trace the development of gastronomy further, or to peruse its hterature at greater length, without rendering justice to the chief cause of its progress, deprived of which a Careme and a Gouffe were impossible, and cookery, from a fine art, would resolve itself into a perfunctory obligation. The reader who has followed the writer thus far will surely not require to be told that the great evolution- ist of the table is neither the cook nor yet the range or the pot-au-feu so much as the quadruped that Rome once selected for its badge and cognisance. A tout seigneur, tout honneur! — let us not be unmind- ful of the inestimable benefits the hog has conferred upon mankind. Where, indeed, may one find that 229 V THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE universality of talents referred to by La Bruyere so combined in a single individual as in the animal which the "short-sighted and narrow-minded" has so un- justly maligned? To what utilities does he not lend and blend himself, and where among Ungulata or ruminators terrene were his substitute — a piece de re- sistance for the poor, a jouissance and benison for all. If we accept the testimony of various pagan writers, pork, of which the ancients were so fond, originally came into use about a thousand years after the deluge, when Ceres, having sown a field of wheat, found it in- vaded one day by a pig. This so incensed the goddess that she forthwith punished the offender with death, and afterwards, having him cooked, discovered his su- perior virtues — to set the example of utilising him as food. The usual corn-cob placed in the mouth of a freshly killed porker, therefore, not only reflects the delicacy of his tastes, but is also classic in a measure — a symbol of his intimate relationship with mythology and his place amid the Graces. By the ancient Egyptians the flesh of the swine was held to be impure. So was that of the camel, the cony, and the hare; so also the fat of the ox or of sheep or of goat. "Every beast of the wood or the hedge or the buri'ow, over and above the beasts of the chase and the warren, according to the ancient writers, is to be called 'rascal.' " The hog is likewise placed under ban by the Hindus and strict Buddhists, and is still generally regarded as unclean by the Mohammedans. But the Mohammedans and Hindus have no cuisine worth}'^ of the name, and what were a cuisine without the resources supplied by his inexhaustible larder! 230 THE COOK'S CONFRERE The religious tenet of the Israelites by which the swine is proscribed as an article of diet is honoured more in the breach than in the observance. The Chinese have ever been fond of his savoury flesh, and it may be said that with nearly all nations he forms one of the lead- ing staples of consimiption. With the onion and that priceless herb parsley, which stimulates appetite, facili- tates digestion, and renders nearly all sauces more attractive, he forms one of the most indispensable ad- juncts of alimentation. Deprived of his lardship, the onion tribe, and parsley, cookery would soon decline, if indeed the skilled practitioner would not find it well-nigh impossible to exercise his art. Despite what slanderous tongues of the East may utter to his discredit, therefore, the weight of evidence as to his utility remains overwhelmingly in his favour. We do not necessarily require him in our parlours; his true place is the kitchen and the dining-room. Think how unendurable life would be without him! Of all beasts he is the one whose empire is most uni- versal, and whose worth is least attested. It is true that a eulogistic but now unprocurable work of forty- eight pages was written in Modena in 1761 by D. Giuseppe Ferrari, with the title "Gli Elogi del Porco." A treatise entitled "Dissertation sur le Cochon," by M. Buc'hoz, published in 1789, is also cited. But as this appeared in a series of monographs relating to coifee, cacao, and various fruits, and has been passed by without comment, it probably treats the quadruped merely from a sordid point of view, and possesses no interest unless to the husbandman and stock-raiser. Few have sung his praises, and, with the exception 231 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE of Southey's colloquial poem, no genethliac has been addressed to him in English rhyme. Monselet has apostrophised him in a poem wherein he terms him "cher ange," and M. Pouvoisin, in "La Mort du Goret," has tenderly referred to him as "mon frere." His oraison funebre is worthy of Bossuet : "Fameux par sa naissance et par son eleveur, II est mort, le goret, celebre a tant de titres : C'est un deuil, mais un deuil qui n'est pas sans saveur ; Versons des pleurs, amis, surtout versons des litres ! II etait si mignon, si larde, si soyeux: Nous I'aimions ! Maintenant qu'il a subi la flamme, Qu'il est accommode, qu'il est delicieux; Nous lui servons de tombe, et nous en mangeons I'ame. Dans la profonde paix des estomacs gourmands, Son echine avec sa fressure vont descendre ; II n'avait pas reve, dans ses gras ronflements, D'un semblable caveau pour contenir sa cendre. C'est un honneur bien du. Quel que soit ton regret Des repas plantureux, du son, de I'auge pleine, Tu peux t'enorgueillir, 6 mon frere, o goret. Nous allons te changer, nous, en substance humaine!" (Of birth renowned, entitled well to boast. And reared with care, the little pig is dead: We sorrow, but we scent the savoury roast, "And mix a bumper while our tears we shed. We loved him, silky-soft, and plump, and fine. And now that he has felt the crisping fire We wait his soul and body to enshrine, A morsel for an epicure's desire. He little thought, when grunting in his pen. That, seasoned thus to tickle gourmand taste, 232 THE COOK'S CONFRERE His chine would glide down throats of feasting men, And to a noble tomb within us haste. Regret not, little pig, thine early fate: Honours are thine beyond the fattening sty, — We eat thee, brother, and incorporate Thy substance, thus, in our humanity.)^ Another poet, in a "Hymn to the Truffle," has ac- corded him a semi-complimentary stanza, referring to him as "a useful animal." A mediocre sonnet has also been addressed to him by Ernest d'Hervilly in a series of seven tributes to the oyster, the pig, the gudgeon, the rabbit, the roe-buck, the herring, and the lobster. "Man's ingratitude toward him," as Grimod de la Reyniere remarks in the "Almanach," "has basely re- viled the name of the animal that is the most useful to the human race when he is no more. He is treated as the Abbe Geoffroy treats Voltaire ; his memory is de- famed whilst his flesh is being savoured, and he is repaid with ironical contempt for the ineffable plea- sures he procures for us." His classic Porcosity! sacred to Thor, patron of St. Anthony, the device of Richard III, the favourite animal of Morland and Jacque, how ungenerously he has been treated! "All his habits are gross, all his appetites are im- pure; his stomach is unbounded and his gluttony un- paralleled," say his calumniators. Yet, in fact, he is no more unclean than most domestic beasts, any lapses in this respect being due to man and to the evil com- munications to which he has been subjected under do- ' Rev. Joseph A. Ely's transl. 233 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE mestication. The wild hog is proverbially cleanly, and is almost exclusively a vegetarian. In his natural state his courage is undaunted. The peccary will chal- lenge the jaguar, while the wild boar is not unfre- quently victorious in his combats with the tiger him- self. , "In this animal," says Beauvilliers, "there is almost nothing to cast aside." Without him there were, in truth, an aching void and an empty cuisine, — no lard, no hams, no bacon ; no sausages, no sparerib, no larded filets and game; no truffles and scientifically blended pates; no souse or headcheese; no "Dissertation on Roast Pig"; no chine "with rising bristles roughly spread." His ways are ways of fatness, and all his paths are progressive. He not only seeks to instruct, like Virgil ; but seeks to please, like Theocritus. Civ- ilisation radiates frotn him as light from a prism. With his increase culture advances, wealth accijmu- lates, and cookery improves. And think of the ser- vices of his ploughshare to the farmer, whose orchards in many cases would otherwise remain untilled! His unctuous Lardship! the very fat and marrow of the stock-exchange, the grease of the commercial wheel. Did he not directly furnish the inspiration to Dubuf e for one of the grandest paintings the world has produced — the "Return of the Prodigal Son" who shared his husks — to say nothing of Hogarth and the Scottish poet Hogg, whose ode "To a Skylark" is scarcely excelled by Shelley's, and whose "Kil- meny" is enduring among poetic strains? And what were the spirited hunting scenes of Weenix, Sney- ders, and Oudry without the great wild boar? 234 THE COOK'S CONFRERE In the fourth canto of "The Faerie Queene" he is pictured as the symbol of gluttony: "And by his side rode loathsome Gluttony, Deformed creature on a filthy swine. His belly was upblown with luxury, And eke with fatness swollen was his eyne. Full of diseases was his carcass blew. And a dry Dropsie through his flesh did flow. Which by misdiet daily greater grew ; Such one was Gluttony, the second of that crew." But is he a glutton? and has he not been outra- geously reviled by Spenser as well as by the poets in general? Is it fair to accept the dogmas and predica- tions concerning his status, his vulgarity, and his voracity that have been bequeathed him from time im- memorial? Is he not a gourmet rather than a gour- mand? Does he not infinitely prefer the smallest truffle of Perigord to the hugest pumpkin of the fat prairies of the West? Not only inordinately fond of the truffle, without which a pate de foie gras were a flower without perfimie, he is the great hunter of this highly prized esculent, recognising with Autoly- cus that a good nose is requisite to smell out work for the other senses. Yet even then he is thanklessly treated by man, who, instead of remunerating him with an occasional tuber, grudgingly tosses him a few kernels of corn. The despised razorback of the South, in like manner, steadfastly performs his mission of waging war upon the rattlesnake without ever having been chosen as the emblem of a State. To the epicure he must ever bring to mind the per- 233 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE filmed product of the sunny provinces of Guienne and Dauphine, the artists of Alsace, and the Wurst- machereis of Germany. His fondness for the truffle, as instanced in the wild boar, far exceeds that of the hare, the squirrel, and the deer ; and although the bas- set-hound and sheep-dog are also of service in locat- ing the tuber, the pig not only points it, but deftly uproots it for the greedy hand of man. The pig seeks it by instinct ; the dog, through long and patient training. The pig's education is accomplished in a few lessons by obtaining his confidence and appealing to his epicurean taste. A boiled potato accompanied with a few truffle peelings is placed in a mound of sand, after finding which the animal is rewarded by a few chestnuts, acorns, or kernels of maize — and the rest is left to his infallible memory. In fact, the dis- covery of the truffle is due to the animal under con- sideration. "His long snout," says La Reyniere, "perceived the odour of this treasure at a depth of several metres. Up to this time, without a doubt, it had been reserved for the table of some evil genius jealous of the happiness of man; by his cunning he concealed it from the researches of the scientist, and some fairy, a friend of the human race, charged the pig, whose keen scent the goblin had forgotten to forefend, to mine the buried marvel and bring it to the light of day. However this may be, the first pig that discovered the truffle had excellent taste ; there is no hel esprit to-day who is not eager to imitate him." ' The boar's head, likewise, how suggestive of good cheer! It at once takes one back to the great baronial 1 "Le Gastronome Francais" (1828). G. D. L. R., "De La Truffe." 236 THE COOK'S CONFRERE dining-halls, the Knights of the Round Table, and the feasts and wassails of eld. It suggests the joyous festivals of harvest-home and Yule, with the chief table on the dais and the tables for retainers and ser- vants, when the family and attendants assembled amid the blaze of the great hearth-fire and the music of the harpers and minstrels. Again, consider his lovely appetite, exquisite diges- tion, and imperturbable slumbers that many a million- aire would gladly part with half his riches to obtain. The papillse of his tongue are never furred by dys- pepsia, flatulence, gout, or the spleen. Proverbially on the best of terms with his stomach, he needs no podophyllin, bicarbonates, or Hunyadi. Sudden va- riations of temperature affect him not, while all lati- tudes are equally conducive to his longevity. Ennui is to him unknown, and life is never a burden, unless it be the trifling burden of the weight he carries. He sleeps and eats and digests, and in his own way solves the problem of content that is still unsolved by man. His blithesome Porkship! his graces steal into the heart insensibly if one be a minute philosopher. No cock-crowing or turkey-gobbling, no lowing of kine or bleating of flocks, no screaming of hawks or caw- ing of crows may vie as an expression of the rural landscape with his complacent grunt of satisfaction and "high-piping Pehlevi" of triumph. A vibrant chord of melody when snouted and bristled disputants crowd and jostle around the trough or squeal and scramble within the pen, it yet requires a more potent mediumship to draw forth in its fullest measure the piercing treble of the porcine lyre. Rather let us hear 237 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE it, arrectis auribus, rising sonorously along the high- way or drifting adown some reverberant lane, with the dog as the plectrum of the ham-strings. Thom- son, less gracious but more observant than Lamb, rec- ognised his accomplishments as a lyrist, and in a stanza in "The Castle of Indolence," a complement to the stanza cited from "The Faerie Queeiie," thus apos- trophises his power of song : "Ev'n so through Brentford town, a town of mud, An herd of bristly swine is pricked along ; The filthy beasts that never chew the cud Still grunt and squeak, and sing their troublous song. And oft they plunge themselves the mire among : But aye the ruthless driver goads them on. And aye of barking dogs the bitter throng Make them renew their unmelodious moan ; Ne ever find they rest from their unresting fone." Like Spenser, Thomson has grossly traduced him, except so far as his musical gifts are concerned, though in this respect he might have been more dis- .criminating in the use of his adjectives. Why "trou- blous" and "unmelodious," in place of expressing his thrilling arpeggio of song? But it is for qualities more sterling than those of a vocal nature that the confrere of the cook deserves recognition. He has his trifling faults, to be sure — who is without them? He is obstinate in being driven to market, perhaps, knowing the fate which awaits him, and possibly his assurance may be somewhat ob- noxious at public gatherings. It is admitted also that his savoir faire at table, while distinguished for 238 THE COOK'S CONFRERE aplomb, is not entirely without alloy. But although the ill-mannered among his tribe occasionally thrust their feet not under but upon the mahogany, and are sometimes guilty of elbowing one another at meal- time, yet it must be conceded that they are never late at their engagements to dine; neither do they ever commit that unpardonable breach of etiquette — eat- ing with a knife. It is a belle fourchette rather than a fine blade they ply. The late Horace Greeley, to repeat a well-known story, tells of a farmer who drove a herd of York- shires to market, — "When meads with slime were sprent, and ways with mire," — the march proving so fatiguing to his charges that they shrank in flesh and had to be disposed of at a "sacrifice on finally arriving at their destination. When asked on his return how much he had realised from the transaction, he replied he had made nothing out of his charges themselves — "he had had the pleas- ure of their company, though." This point, through a singular oversight, — ^the idea is the same and equally charming everywhere, — Leigh Hunt has not touched upon in his essay "On the Graces and Anxieties of Pig-Driving." It may be of interest to those whose manuscripts have been rejected to know that Hunt's exquisite conceit was refused by the magazine to which it was addressed, but fortunately it was not on this account consigned to the waste-basket, but lives and is embalmed with Lamb's dissertation. "I could never understand to this day," writes 239 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Hunt in his autobiography, "what it is that made the editor of a magazine reject an article which I wrote, with the mock-heroic title of 'The Graces and Anxie- ties of Pig-Driving.' I used to think he found some- thing vulgar in the title. He declared it was not he who rejected it, but the proprietor of the magazine. The proprietor, on the other hand, declared that it was not he who rejected it, but the editor. I pub- lished it in a magazine of my own, 'The Companion,' and found it hailed as one of my best pieces of writing." This reference of Hunt's recalls a piquant e pi- gramme of lamb that is not down in the cook-books. It was when the writer was taking his departure from an old Paris bookstall, a number of years ago, that, as he turned to leave, the proprietor remarked: "Monsieur perhaps might like to glance at an Eng- lish work, 'sur VAgneau,' which came in with some other volumes recently." The volxmie in question referred, indeed, to "lamb," and proved to be the excessively rare first edition of "The Essays of Elia" (London, 1823). It was slightly foxed, but otherwise in excellent condition, and contained some marginal annotations in manu- script. On carefully examining the handwriting, we became convinced it was that of Charles Lamb — there could be no possible doubt of it. The only writing on the fly-leaf was, "To W. W., from C. L."— the "W. W." presumably being William Wordsworth. In the volume, since attired by the binder as it de- serves, are several slight alterations in "The South Sea House," and some addenda to "Valentine's Day." 240 THE COOK'S CONFRERE But by far the most important annotation occurs in "A Dissertation on Roast Pig." It is apparent at a glance that this was a serious afterthought ere the vol- ume left the author's hands and the types confronted him with any lapses he had made — an apology, in fact, on the part of the author for whatever reference might be considered disparaging or in any wise incon- siderate as regards the worth of the elder animal. For, in consistency, a jewel that sparkles throughout the pages of "Elia," the parents might not be reviled without reflecting upon the children. Moreover, how- ever "mild and dulcet" a nursling pigling, roasted secundum artem, may be to those of educated tastes, it is a dish that cloys from its very mellifluence if re- peated too often, whereas in pork matured it is invari- ablj' a case of cut and come again. From the volume and chapter in question we tran- scribe the annotation, verbatim et literatim, where it follows, as a postscript, the concluding line, "he is a weakling — a flower": "Methinks my mind (animadverted by the infant pearl) hath been too evasive. There is he who, having shed the downy robes of childhood, is clad in the toga virilis of a glorious chief. Hast thou ever on occasion savoured his matured nether ex- tremities, if haply thou wert blessed with an appetite and ap- preciation commensurate with their unctuous worth? Regard those feet — those parsley-garnished feet ! See the pearly whiteness of the ankles, the coral pink of the petitoes ! Me- seems a man might arise in the small hours of a winter morn- ing to savour such a dish. It should summon the shade of Lucullus. It should not only reconcile man to his lot, but it should render him thankful for it. Imagine the passion of a 241 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE stricken youth (stricken by the pedal glories and fault- less poise of a Taglioni), and then note by comparison the exalted rapture which should be engendered by such feet as these ! "In wandering through Covent Garden market, and pass- ing from floral dreams to the vegetables, I often pause before the peas. Do I yearn for them in their adolescence? do I asso- ciate them with the duckling and the lamb? Nay; I await a time when they shall have folded and creased within them- selves their perfected saccharine excellence, to be released in the kitchen of the winter. "I can see a pig — a pig of one hundred and eighty pounds — classical in all the tints of its marble freshness. It sheds its internal graces in an excellent and cleanly market. With deft execution the white-aproned purveyor removes a spare-rib from a side. Then in front of the site of the spare-rib there remains an area of unequalled promise — a tract of the most delightsome possibilities. Let a piece be cut about fourteen inches long and eight wide, when after it has hung two or three days, I counsel thee to submerge it in sweet pickle for a week. Then boil it with a quart of the garden peas, with a shred, a hint, a sigh of onion. Allow it to cool, and when freed of every vestige of vegetable matter, place it in a garnished dish. "No poem ever stirred the human heart, no slab of tessel- lated pavement ever fired the archaeologist, with respectful in- terest akin to that evoked by this entrancing esculent. It is a fresh wave in the sea of sapors — an approximation, a convo- lution of two entities divinely transfused, which to conceive, it must be tasted. It elevates the sense of taste to the highest pinnacle of human aspiration. It is a memory to inspire gen- tle thoughts and tranquillize the mind; a presence that is a beatitude, and that looms in the visions of the future as a thing to live for." 242 THE COOK'S CONFRERE Less secretive than communicative in most of his ways, the hog is nevertheless an enigma as regards his natural term of life. Not that for a moment his na- tive modesty forbids his announcing his age, or that his lease of life equals that of Epimenides, but that, owing to circumstances over which he has no control, — the greed and voracity of man, — ^he is handicapped from proclaiming the full extent of his longevity. "The natural age of a hog's life is little known," ob- serves the learned* Hampshire rector-naturalist; "and the reason is plain — because it is neither profitable nor convenient to keep that turbulent animal to the full extent of its time." The man were a dolt who would take exceptions to White's natural-history observa- tions, so lucidly and delightfully set forth in the pages of "Selborne." And yet, so great was his sympathy for all animals and dumb creatures, may not the term "turbulent" have been possibly a slip of the pen or fault of the types for "buoyant" or "complacent," with no malice prepense, as in the case of Spenser and the generality of the poets? His bonhomie and engaging nature are seldom con- sidered, unless by a few humanitarians or interested trainers of animals. Yet what possibilities does he not present as a companion to man, were man not so eager for his slaughter, and were he to receive the same encouragements as the cat and the dog! A case is cited by Frand Buckland of a hog at Guildford that followed its master daily on his walks, and whose in- stinct, agility, and affection could be equalled only by the canine species. Hamerton also mentions a wild boar in France which became domesticated and 243 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE regularly accompanied his master to the village church and would not be excluded, but came at last, by the toleration of the cure, to hear mass like a Chris- tian, till finally he grew to an alarming size and was sold to a travelling menagerie. The hog has been known in numerous instances to set and retrieve vari- ous kinds of game with an intelligence equal to that of the most blue-blooded pointer or setter, and even to ex- ceed the canine species in acuteness of scent and staunchness. A wager was once made in England that with a hog trained on game the owner could kill more grouse on the moors than either of his two com- petitors with their dogs, the result being considerably in favour of the challenging party. "If the pig had wings and could soar above the hedges," says an appreciative writer in the old Ger- man "Kreuterbuch," "he would be regarded as the best and most magnificent of fowls !" Is he not, more- over, with his boon companion the domestic goose (likewise a douceur of the table when served with apple-sauce), one of the most reliable of weather prophets, becoming restless and uttering loud cries at the approach of a storm? In any event, whatever deprivation the non-devel- opment of his social qualities may have occasioned, he still shines supreme as a utilitarian, a stimulus to gas- tronomy, and a promoter of the polite arts. Some there are, perchance, who have cursorily regarded the obligations we owe him as a purveyor of our comforts so far as relates to the hair-brushes, tooth-brushes, and nail-brushes he has kindly provided. The sad- dler and trunk-maker no doubt appreciate him after 244 THE COOK'S CONFRERE a fashion, as did the conscientious bookbinder of old, with whom he figured indirectly as a confrere in belles- lettres. But who among the recipients of his many bounties has paused to consider the inestimable influ- ence he has exercised upon one of the greatest of the romantic or fine arts, without which the most cele- brated canvases of the world had never existed, and the art of painting, if not utterly abandoned, must languish of necessity for lack of his bristles to lay on the pigments? For, with the exception of the minute brushes made from the soft fur of the red sable for detail work, he contributes, if not the artist's genius itself, at least the chief vehicle with which it is possible to render it enduring. One by one he has felt the pictures of Raphael, Titian, Correggio, and Guido pulsate beneath the ar- tist's brush; while later, in another land, he was in- strumental in fixing the harmonies of Velasquez's and Murillo's marvellous colouring. He has witnessed the growing fame of Turner and surveyed the miles of glowing flesh that Rubens has painted. With Wat- teau and Boucher, he has gazed on many a fair shep- herdess and pastoral scene, and, with Jacque and Mauve, helped the shepherd drive his fleecy flock. He has basked in the sunny atmosphere of Cuyp, Wynants, and Van der Neer, and watched the radiant face of woman assume a heightened charm through the genius of Lely and Reynolds. He has viewed the frail beauties of the harem with Gerome, and marked the roseate twilight deepen over Venice with Ziem. A silent spectator of the great pageant of Art, he has beheld Le Brun and Vernet depict the carnage 245 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE of the battle-field, and Poussin, Claude, and Con- stable open enchanting vistas of landscape. Contem- plating the progress of modern art, he sees Diaz and Daubigny, Bouguereau and Meissonier, Vibert and Verestchagin, Corot and Inness, and how many others! seated upon the throne of undying fame and wielding the sceptre which he himself has supplied. His illustrious Bristleousness ! Were it not for man's ingratitude and his overpowering worth upon the shambles, he would long since have been canonised and figure as the joint symbol of the useful and the romantic arts. Consider him likewise in his ferine state as most closely related to nature, moving majestically through the fastnesses of his native stronghold, toothed and tushed for war, indigenous and mighty as the oaks • which yield him their mast or the trees of the jungles through which he treads. "The jungle path is his as much as the tiger's," writes the Indian sportsman and naturalist, Shakespeare; "the native shikarries affirm that the wild boar will quench his thirst at the river between two tigers, and I believe this to be strictly the truth. The tiger and the boar have been heard fighting in the jungle at night, and both have been found dead alongside of one another in the morning." It was a wild boar that slew Adonis ; and by none, not even by Barye, has the animal been more vividly de- picted than by Shakespeare in the warning of Venus : " 'Thou hadst been gone,' quoth she, 'sweet boy, ere this But that thou told'st me thou wouldst hunt the boar. O be advised ! thou know'st not what it is With javehn's point a churHsh swine to gore, 246 THE COOK'S CONFRERE Whose tushes, never sheathed, he whetteth still, Like to a mortal butcher, bent to kill. " 'On his bow-back he hath a battle set Of bristly pikes, that ever threat his foes ; His eyes, like glow-worms, shine when he doth fret, His snout digs sepulchres where'er he goes ; Being moved he strikes whate'er is in his way, And whom he strikes his cruel tushes slay. " 'His brawny sides, with hairy bristles arm'd. Are better proof than thy spear's point can enter; His short thick neck cannot be easily harm'd ; Being ireful, on the lion he will venture : The thorny brambles and embracing bushes, As fearful of him, part ; through whom he rushes.' " As for his domesticated brother, to come back to our cochons, let him be aspersed as he may — we have seen the manifold benefits he has procured for us and the plane he rightly occupies in the evolution of man- kind. Without him the kitchen were well-nigh im- practicable, and, deprived of his services, gastronomy were an obsolete word. 247 AMERICAN VS. ENGLISH COOKERY " The finest landscape in the world Is improved by a good inn in the foreground." Samuel Johnson. STRICTLY speaking, there exists as yet no gen- eral high-class English or American cuisine, be- yond the natural alimentary resources of these coun- tries, supplemented by the efforts of foreign cooks. There are certain native dishes of merit in England, to be sure, and there is a so-termed Southern and Eastern kitchen in the United States where not a few dishes are admirably prepared. But the art of bak- ing bread and of pastry-making, as well as that of frying, is, alas ! lacking to a great extent in both coun- tries, while the entree is still largely an uncertain quantity with the housewife. There is a lack, like- wise, both in England and in America, of a proper 248 ia tlie orii.nn;il uil-paintiiiL' ^<\ Kb'iii AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY eggs, and various soups. The introduction of soup, which is mentioned for the first time in history at the beginning of the fifteenth century, is closely connected with the clergy. Then it was that, during the fetes attendant on the marriage of Catherine de Valois to Henry V of England, the Archbishop of Sens, at the head of a procession of his priests, bore the soup and the wine to the royal chamber, accompanied by the blessing of the Papal See. Around the art of larding is likewise shed the halo of sanctity, its discovery having occurred during the Council of Bale in 1440, when Amadeus of Savoy, elected pope under the name of Felix V, was tendered a larded capon by his cook. Julienne, or a soup some- what similar, it is more than probable, is an old monas- tic dish having special reference to days when meat was proscribed, the same observation applying to nu- merous fish and vegetable soups and ragouts. There is much reason to suppose that not a few treatises on cookery and on wines have appeared whose authors were dignitaries of the church, or at least connected with clericalism, but whose role for- bade them attaching their names to works of this na- ture. Thus, during the year 1671 there was published at Molsheim, in southern Germany, an excellent cook- book which treated of the various branches of the science, by Bernardin Buchinger, Abbot of Liitzel, having for its title "Koch-Buch so fiir Geistliche als auch Weltliche Grosse und Geringe Haushaltungen," etc., — "Cook-Book for large and small Religious as well as Laical Establishments," — a culinary grammar of much merit which has since passed into several 281 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE editions. In this work the hierophant's name was omitted, the authorship being announced as "Durch Einem Geistlichen Kiichen-Meister desz Gottes- hauses Liitzel beschrieben und practicirt," — "described and practised by a rehgious Master-Cook of the Monastery of Liitzel." An important volume of three hundred pages by Vittorio Lancellotti, published in Rome, appeared in 1627, in which is presented month by month a description of a large number of feasts given by various prelates in honour of eminent per- sonages at the commencement of the seventeenth cen- tury. The volume was dedicated to Cardinal Ippo- lito Aldobrandino, and is addressed chiefly to the clergy, whose good taste in the matter of good cheer and luxury in entertaining are minutely set forth.^ To the ancient ecclesiasts the vineyards producing the finest wines of the world owe their existence and their fame — the Johannisberg, Steinberg, Hoch- heim, Dom Dechanei, Rauenthal-Pf aff enberg, and numerous other growths of the Rheingau; the Forster Kirchenstiiek and Jesuitengarten of the Rheinpfalz; the Stein and Leisten wines of Fran- conia, the Liebfrauenmilch Enclos Klostergarten of Rhenish Hessia, and the Kloster Neuberg of Austria. No less celebrated in other lands are the rich endow- ments of the monastery — the Romanee, Chambertin, and Clos-Vougeot of the Cote d'Or; the Hermitage and Chateau-neuf-du-Pape of the Rhone ; Saint-Emi- lion and Sainte-Croix-du-Mont of the Gironde, as 1 "Lo Scalco prattico di Vittorio merlengo di Santa Chiesa. In Roma Lancellotti da Camerino All'IUus- Appresso Francesco Covbelletti. trissimo, e Reuerendiss. Prencipe 11 1627." Card. Ippolito Aldobrandino Ca- 282 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY well as many of the priceless growths of the Haut- Medoe. Like the odour of old arras, around the ro- seate and golden clusters of the vine clings the incense of prelacy and circles the aureole of the church. One were more than ungrateful, too, to forget the invaluable services rendered by Dom Perignon in con- tributing to the vinous delights of the table. Fancy, if one can, a world without champagne — not as a daily beverage, but as a talisman to loosen the tongues of the timid and a wand to evoke the joyous sally and brilliant repartee! With what other potable may one so appropriately pledge not only le beau sexe des deux hemispheres, mais les deux hemispheres du beau sexe? Almost equally to be commended are the Carthu- sian friars of Dauphine, who evolved the greens and golds of Chartreuse; the cenobites of La Grace-Dieu, who produced Trappistine ; the Trappists of I'Allier, in whose cloister originated the elixir of long life, de Sept-Fonds; and the holy fathers of Rouen, who in- vented the dehcious balm of Bon-Secours. The religious orders were early famed for their dis- tillations. In the account of his travels in Italy the observant Seigneur de Montaigne mentions the Jes- uits of Vicenza, who had a liqueur-shop in their mon- astery, as well as the monks of Verona, who were ex- cellent distillers of eau de naffe, a liqueur made with the flower of citron. The famous Benedictine, how- ever, a rival of Chartreuse, though at present made by the monks of Fecamp in Normandy, and therefore possessing the stamp of monachism, was not of spirit- ual inspiration. Like the eau de vie des Carmes, Li- queur des Eveques, Eau Archie pisco pale, Liqueur 283 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE des Chartreux, Plaisir des Dames, and Huile des Jeunes Maries, it was worldly in its inception. Its history is interesting. In 1863 M. Le Grand, an enterprising wine-merchant of Fecamp, set about its manufacture, advertising it to the amount of eight hundred thousand francs, — ^his entire fortune, — the claim being made that the secret of its fabrication was consigned by a Benedictine brother to a manu- script in 1510 and opportunely discovered by the ven- der. The venture proved successful, as indeed the virtues of the liqueur merited, its annual sale now exceeding a million bottles. At first the clergy pro- tested loudly against the bald appropriation of the name of an abbey, and Cardinal Bonnechose^ petitioned Napoleon III to put an end to the scandal, the re- stored order eventually taking up the manufacture of the cordial and signing it with the name of the inven- tor, whose final Benedicite was recently pronounced. The present Archbishop of Rouen came to bless the most recent constructions of the abbey, among which is a superb Salle des Abbes, and, at the banquet fol- lowing the ceremonial, during the dessert he compared the inventor of the liqueur to several of the heroes of Christianity. Benedictine {ad majorem Dei gloriam) is the only important liqueur thus far which has es- caped analysis, although imitations of this and all others that have proved successful are freely placed upon the market. Cura9oa, it is said, was discovered by a French cha- noine, and the aroma of the wild cherry imprisoned in 1 Cardinal Bonnechose, who was " Le clerge est un regiment; 11 faut most appropiately surnamed, is es- qu'il marche." pecially remembered for his bon-mot, 284 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY Maraschino by an Italian frate. A German Pfarrer, it is averred, first dissolved gold in the eau de vie de Dantzig, and through a Spanish sacerdote is said to have come Santa Cruz, the rum of the Holy Cross. In the quest for the elixir of life the monastery be- came the great alembic of liqueurs, the study of es- sences, spirits, and distillations varying with the labour of illuminating missals and the routine of religious devotions. During the thirteenth century Arnaud de Villeneuve formulated the question of the elixir of life in these terms, which became a dogma for all his mo- nastic successors: "This is the secret, viz., to find sub- stances so homogeneous to our nature that they can increase it without inflaming it, continue it without diminishing it, . . . as our life continually loses somewhat, until at last all is lost." The outcome of the patient labours of these religious alchemists was numerous elixirs and liqueurs, of which the secret com- position was transmitted from generation to genera- tion in convents and monasteries. These liqueurs were in their origin simply a pharmaceutic product; it is only within a comparatively short time that they have been converted into after-dinner douceurs. Every useful art, however, must find perfection of expression sooner or later, notably an art which is a necessity and which likewise appeals to the lawful gratification of the senses. And if cookery was fos- tered by the cloisters of Europe, and reached its zenith during the early part of the past century in Paris, it is equally true that at no time in the history of the world has it attained such general excellence as at present. But let the religious orders and the priesthood be 285 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE credited with their full share in its advancement. They are no exception to the generality of mankind in being blessed with appetites, but they are sufficiently intelligent to recognise that in a well-appointed cuisine there exist both a prophylactic to ennui and the best of pharmacopoeias. Let the spit turn merrily, there- fore, and the carp fatten in their ponds ; let the flower of the vine and the pressings of the grape distil for them their fragrance; let them repeat their paternos- ters and chant in concert their penitential psalms : "1. One herring- and one herring make two herrings, Two herrings and one herring make three herrings. "2. Three herrings and one herring make four herrings, Four herrings and one herring make five herrings. "3. Five herrings and one herring make six herrings." And so on up to a hundred herrings. "From salted, red, or smoked herrings, libera nos, Domine; From cold water as a beverage, libera nos, Domine. A- a- a- amen!" It is most unfortunate that La Reyniere omitted to bequeath to posterity a certain monastic recipe of mar- vellous merit used in connection with wild fowl and all manner of game-birds, which is thus described in the brilliant opening essay of the first year of the "Al- manach," the author's reference being to the wild duck, which he advises to be cooked a la hroche, as it thus preserves all its fumet without losing any of its other qualities : 286 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY "After it has been roasted and carved" [he proceeds to say] "a sort of poignant salmis may be prepared on the table, the recipe for which we have been in possession of for a long time, and which was given to us by the procureur of a Ber- nardin abbey — the sole riches that the Revolution could not confiscate from him ; this formula, however, we must reserve for our most intimate friends. The recipe is not to be found in any nutritive dispensary, and it becomes all the more pre- cious inasmuch as, not being applicable to the duck alone, it may be utilized with all kinds of dark-fleshed feathered game, and especially with partridges and woodcock — which renders it inappreciable." Far less can be said of the Protestant clergy on the score of cookery or with respect to the improvement of the vine and the invention of beverages. Nearly all clerical roads lead through Rome, it would seem, in so far as relates to gastronomy. Moreover, in Prot- estant countries — at least among the lesser lights of the church — it is rather the rector who is feted than who does the feting, and who, even were he inclined to asceticism, would scarcely be allowed to practise it by his parishioners. In one of his essays, "The Country Sunday," Richard JefFeries tells how the chapel pas- tor is entertained at table in Wiltshire: "There is no man so feasted as the chapel pastor. He dines everv Sunday, and at least once a week besides, at the house of one of his stoutest upholders. . . . After dinner the cognac bottle is produced, and the pastor fills his tumbler half full of spirit, and but lightly dashes it with water. It is cognac, and not brandy, for your chapel minister thinks it an afi'ront if anything more common than the best French 28T THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE liquor is put before him; he likes it strong, and with it his long clay pipe. Very frequently another minister, some- times two or three, come in at the same time, and take the same dinner, and afterwards form a genial circle with cognac and tobacco, when the room speedily becomes full of smoke and the bottle of brandy soon disappears. In these family parties there is not the least approach to over-conviviality; it is merely the custom, no one thinks anything of a glass and a pipe ; it is perfectly innocent ; it is not a local thing, but common and understood. The consumption of brandy and tobacco and the good things of dinner, tea, and supper (for the party generally sit out the three meals) must in a month cost the host a good deal of money, but all things are cheer- fully borne for the good of the church. Never were men feasted with such honest good-will as these pastors; and if a budding Paul or Silas happens to come along who has scarce yet passed his ordination, the youthful divine may stay a week if he likes, and lick the platter clean." One also remembers the curates' dinner as described in "The Professor" by that keen observer, Charlotte Bronte: "The curates had good appetites, and though the beef"was tough, they ate a great deal of it. They swallowed, too, a tolerable allowance of the 'flat beer,' while a dish of York- shire pudding and two tureens of vegetables disappeared like leaves before locusts. The cheese, too, received distinguished marks of their attention ; and a 'spice-cake,' which followed by way of dessert, vanished like a vision and was no more found." Anthony Hayward, in "The Art of Dining," tells the story of the phenomenal appetite of a chaplain during the Old Bailey sittings, when it was the cus- 288 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY torn to serve two dinners (exact duplicates) a day, the first at three o'clock, the second at five : "The first course was rather miscellaneous, varying with the season, though marrow-puddings always formed a part of it; the second never varied and consisted exclusively of beefsteaks. As the judges relieved each other, it was imprac- ticable for them to partake of both; but a little chaplain whose duty it was to preside at the lower end of the table was never absent from his post. This invaluable public servant persevered from a sheer sense of duty till he had acquired the habit of eating two dinners a day, and practised it for nearly ten years without any perceptible injury to his health. We had the pleasure of witnessing his performance at one of the five o'clock dinners, and can assert with confidence that the vigour of his attack on the beefsteaks was wholly unimpaired by the effective execution a friend assured us he had done on them two hours before." The last communication from the Rev. Sydney Smith to Canon Barham, better known as Thomas In- goldsby, related to gastronomy, with the ethics of which he was so conversant, the canon having just sent him a pannier of pheasants. "Many thanks, my dear sir, for your kind present of game," wrote the appreciative recipient. "If there is a pure and elevated pleasure in this world, it is that of roast pheasant and bread-sauce; barn-door fowls for dissenters, but for the real churchman, the thirty- nine times articled clerk, the pheasant! the pheasant!" Why the witty rector of Combe-Florey declared that when he found himself seated next to a bishop at a dinner-party he became so nervous that he could do nothing but crumble his bread, and when his place ad- 289 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE joined that of an archbishop he crumbled it with both hands, seems inexplicable, unless it had been his mis- chance to encounter among his superiors in office more accomplished epularians than himself. Besides his celebrated poetical recipes for a salad, which are pre- sented in a following chapter, his less familiar "Re- ceipt to Roast Mutton" may not be omitted from ref- erences to ecclesiastic good cheer: "Gently stir and blow the fire, liay the mutton down to roast. Dress it quickly, I desire, In the dripping put a toast. That I hunger may remove — Mutton is the meat I love. "On the dresser see it lie ; Oh ! the charming white and red ; Finer meat ne'er met the eye. On the sweetest grass it fed : Let the jack go swiftly round, Let me have it nicely brown'd. "On the table spread the cloth, Let the knives be sharp and clean, Pickles get and salad both, Let them each be fresh and green. With small beer, good ale, and wine, O ye gods! how I shall dine!" Canon Barham, no less than Sydney Smith, wielded a valiant spoon, and to the unpunctual at dinner he has delivered one of his most forcible sermons in "The Layof St. Cuthbert": 290 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY "When asked out to dine by a Person of Quality, Mind and observe the most strict punctuahty ! For should you come late, and make dinner wait. And the victuals get cold, you '11 incur, sure as fate, The Master's displeasure, the Mistress's hate. And though both may, perhaps, be too well-bred to swear, — They '11 heartily wish you — I need not say Where." Grace before meat is usually well expressed by the reverend clergy, and perhaps the brief introductory thanksgiving of the late Canon Shuttleworth is as happy as any: "For good life and good health; for good company and good cheer, may the Giver of all good things make us thankful." So far as orthodox graces are concerned, it were difficult to improve upon the two fervent thanksgivings of Psalms xxxiv and CXLV: "The lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they who seek the Lord shall want no manner of thing that is good. "The eyes of all wait upon thee, O Lord: and thou givest them their meat in due season. "Thou openest thine hand : and fillest all things living with plenteousness." So many Protestant denominations exist in Amer- ica that the manner of entertaining the ministry varies considerably. In no religious sect does fine cham- pagne or any other form of cognac figure, as a gen- eral rule, though the use of vinous beverages is less de- nounced at present than formerly. The most genial hosts and guests among Protestant divines are unques- tionably the Episcopalians. But if claret and alco- 291 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE holic beverages are the exception on the tables of many denominations, the pastor does not lack for substantial aliments when entertained by his parishioners, who here, as in England, fairly dispute for his possession. That the duck at least, among the toothsome contri- butions to the table, is appreciated by the Protestant clergy no less than the laity is apparent from the apos- trophe to the canvasback of the Rev. Joseph Barber, who has addressed the king of the Anseres in these colourful stanzas: "A duck has been immortalized by Bryant, A wild one, too; Sweetly he hymned the creature, lithe and buoyant, Cleaving the blue. But whoso says the duck through ether flying, Seen by the bard. Equals the canvas-back before me lying. Tells a canard. "Done to a turn, the flesh a dark carnation, The gravy red; , Four slices from the breast — on such a ration Gods might have fed. Bryant, go to : to say that thy rare ghost-duck, Traced 'gainst the sky. Could e'er at all compare with this rare roast duck. Is all my eye." ^ 1 Whither, 'midst falling dew, While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Far through their rosy depths dost thou pursue Thy solitary way ? Vainly the fowler's eye Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong. As, darkly painted on the crimson sky. Thy figure floats along. . . . Bryant: Lines to a Waterfowl. 292 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY As regards wine the case is vastly different in Eu- rope, among both the clergy and those who welcome them. When Urban X resolved to remove the Papal See from Avignon to Rome grave discord resulted among his cardinals, several of whom refused to ac- company him. Petrarch, in reply to a letter received from the Pope soon afterwards, wherein his Holiness expressed his astonishment at their action, explained the reason thus briefly: "Most holy Father," he wrote, "the princes of the church esteem the wine of Pro- vence, and know that the wines of France are more rare than holy water at Rome." The anecdote of the cure of a village in the Borde- lais would indicate, furthermore, that the cloth prefer their wine in a non-diluted state. On the occasion of a wedding dinner at which the officiating pastor was present, he would exclaim after every course, as he raised his glass: "My children, with this you must drink some wine." The turn of dessert arriving, he repeated his injunction for the tenth time, again set- ting the example himself. "Pardon, Monsieur le Cure," one of the guests in- terrupted, "but with what do you not drink wine?" "With water, my son!" During the episcopate of Bishop Timon of Buffalo, a Roman Catholic prelate of great ability but of small stature, complaint was entered against a certain German priest of the diocese for his over-conviviality and partiality for the foaming glass of Gambrinus, the offender being a man of Falstaffian proportions. The priest was accordingly summoned, and, after being severely reprimanded, was asked by the bishop 293 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE if he could bring forward any extenuating circum- stances with regard to his conduct. "Your Reverence is a small man, and my detractors are men of small calibre, who require but little beer," was the reply. "I am a large man, as you are aware, with a large appetite, and what might suffice for others were scant pittance for me; the vessel should be filled according to its capacity." That so distinguished a church dignitary as a bishop should dine well goes without saying. How else might he be so urbane, so stately, and so contented ! And without wine how might he dispense such sunshine or pronounce his blessings so sonorously! For a bishop, dean, or archdeacon to be tendered scanty fare or be toasted with ice-water were as incongruous as to de- prive the beverage termed "bishop" of its main ingre- dient. When Bishop Magee of Peterborough, af- terwards Archbishop of York, was "entertained" by another church dignitary he was told on his arrival that he would find wine in his room. The dinner which he afterwards sat down to was a wineless one. A few weeks later the positions of host and guest were reversed, whereupon the bishop, shaking hands heart- ily with his visitor, informed him that he would find water in his room and wine upon the table. "Scarcely any bishop," says Sydney Smith, "is suf- ficiently a man of the world to deal with fanatics. The way is not to reason with them, but to ask them to dinner. They are armed against logic and remon- strance, but they are puzzled in a labyrinth of wines, disarmed by facilities and concessions, introduced to a new world, and come away thinking more of hot 294 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY and cold and dry and sweet than of Newman, Keble, and Pusey." A number of years ago, when long tables were in vogue at the great hostelries at Saratoga, Bishop Onderdonk of New York was among the guests. The bishop, in accordance with his station, was seated at the head of the table, where the attentive head waiter had just placed his bottle of hotel "Pontet- Canet." Among the other clerical guests was a Con- necticut divine and teetotaler who had come to test the restorative virtues of Congress water, so delicious when drunk at the fountainhead in the morning. "Ah!" said the cynical dominie to a ministerial vis- a-vis, as he frowned over his Oolong and the portly prelate beamed over his Bordeaux, "he wants to prove his apostolic descent by showing that if he drink of any deadly thing it shall not hurt him." Later, when his Right Reverence was informed of the remark, he observed, quoting Ecclesiasticus as his would-be detractor had quoted St. Mark, " 'Wine measurably drunk and in season bringeth gladness of the heart and cheerfulness of the mind,' and as a churchman it were heretical for me to take exception to so orthodox a precept." The minister whose knowledge of gastronomy is far exceeded by his zeal in "reforming," notably in an attempted extermination of all joyous fluids, is far more prevalent in the United States than abroad. While no one will object to his denunciation of "King Rum" or the "Wine-cup," — though rum is but little used as a beverage, and wine is supposed to be con- sumed in glasses at the dinner-table, — one must nev- 295 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE ertheless deplore the inconsistency which would an- nihilate all alcoholic fluids and permit the grossest heterodoxness of diet to pass unscathed. Not unde- served, perchance, are the lines addressed to this class of the clergy by a Western versifier: "He preached 'gainst whisky, rum, and gin. All use of liquor he 'd decry; He said that drinking was a sin — But eat the toughest kind of pie. "He said there was no greater vice Than that which made of man a sot — But took not water without ice. And gorged himself on biscuit hot. "He flouted the advice of Paul To drink wine for the stomach's sake — But give him dumpling in a ball. And any quantity he 'd take. "Tobacco in each form he spurned. Its soothing virtues he denied; For him no soft Havana burned — But he would eat a beefsteak fried. "Jaundiced he lived, and died of spleen, And some kept green his memory then — Called him 'reformer,' who had been The most intemperate of men." On more catholic lines is the gastronomic experi- ence of a distinguished Baptist doctor of divinity of western New York, who, though always temperate, 296 CC^ tonttMte mllmit impih fOl LA CONTEKANCE DE LA TABLE Facsimile of title-page, early part of sixteenth century " Enfant, tu ne dois charger Tant de la premiere viande Se plusieurs en as en commande Que d'austres ne puieses menger." AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY still believes in the sentiment of the grace that was once uttered by an English Episcopal clergyman: "God hath given us all things richly to enjoy; let us enjoy them." The learned divine in his younger days was one of a party of four who were concluding a long sojourn abroad, and ere leaving Paris he was desirous of testing the much-vaunted cuisine of the "Trois Freres Proven9eaux." His suggestion that the appetising odours which greeted the passer-by from without be verified from within having met with immediate approval, the officier de bouche of the famous restaurant was interviewed and a dinner ar- ranged for the following evening. "What will be the price of a nice dinner," inquired the ecclesiast, — "a dinner that will leave us no cause for regret? We do not care for the menu in advance, as we prefer a surprise ; but we wish a perfect dinner, neither too little nor too much." The reply was promptly forthcoming, and here we transcribe a leaf from the ecclesiast's note-book: " 'Pour vingt francs un diner ordinaire. " 'Pour quarante francs un tres joli diner! " 'Pour cent francs un grand diner ! !' — the voice of the res- taurateur rising with the advancing prices." These interesting notes then follow : "Tuesday, June 3, 1860. Present : , , , . Dinnfer at 7 p.m. Dress suits. Voiture de remise. Portier with red waistcoat. Cabinet in entresol hung with pink silk tapestry. Three garfons, fine china, silver and table appoint- ments. A bouquet of roses. Perfect service. 297 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "Menu. Nine courses : — Melon musque cf Algiers. Potage a la bisque (red soup with little red shrimps in centre of each dish). Vol-au-vent de saumon. . . . Salade. Checkerboard ice-cream (sixteen different colours and flavours). Great strawberries. Coffee (demi-tasse), cognac, cigars. Four wines : Sauterne, claret, and two champagnes." Unfortunately, the menu itself has been lost, and the memory of our clerical informant has retained only a portion of the carte, which we have trans- scribed from the memoranda he has contributed. Was there a chapon a la Toulouse or noix de veau a la Soubise for the relevej did lamb's ears a la Tortu'e or carbonnades de mouton a la Macedoine form the entree ; did a caneton de Rouen, a poularde truffee, or a coq-vierge do the honours of the roast; could des truces au vin de Champagne or a gelee au maras- quin have a'gured as the entremets ; and, finally, what might have been the grosse piece? Alas! these ques- tions, like many questions of theology, must remain unanswered. It will be observed, notwithstanding, how the wall furnishings, the roses, the red of the bisque, the ripe hues of the melon and the salmon, the erubescence of the strawberries, and the very waist- coat of the avertisseur were happily combined; and also that as far back as 1860 the muskmelon had al- ready been employed as an admirable prologue of the dinner during warm weather. As for the check- erboard creme glacee, with four flavours and four colours for each person, it is an addition to the dessert that is almost worthy of a sermon. The following supplementary notes conclude the interesting account of the dinner: 298 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY "The solid part of the menu I have no record or memory of. All I know is that we ate pretty much everything that was in sight, and then had just enough and no more. The dinner concluded with four toasts and four speeches, the only one I recall being on the theme, 'The Four Homes' — not one of the four speakers having at the time set up a home of his own. "A thing of beauty is a joy forever. We went upon the Latin maxim, In medio tutissimus ibis, and so we took the tres joli diner, which, with vins compris, cost us forty francs or eight dollars apiece. But the recollection of it has been worth at least two dollars a year since then ; and as it is forty years ago last summer, and two times forty is eighty, I now count that I then paid only ten per cent, of its value." It is needless to add that the sermons and addresses of the ecelesiast in question, which join to their fer- vour and scholarship an originality all their own (were they not inspired by the dinner at the "Trois Freres"?), are always listened to with marked atten- tion by his large and appreciative audiences. It also goes without saying that he has distinguished himself in literature, and that his presence is invariably in demand either at a dinner or a debate of theologians. Of dishes invented by the Roman Catholic priest- hood, the omelette a la puree de pintade, devised by the Capuchin Chabot, is well known, although "The Cure's Omelette" for which Savarin stands sponsor is far more in evidence and is difficult to improve upon either for fat or meagre days. Should the recipe be already familiar, it will well bear repetition — one can- not dine too often with a broad-minded divine ; if un- known, the reader should become acquainted with it 299 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE — it is one of the most sprightly of the Varietes. The tunny prescribed is not obligatory, and for this and the carp-roes the resources of the American sea-coast will furnish abundant equivalents: "Every one knows that for twenty years Madame R.' has occupied the throne of beauty unchallenged. It is also well known that she is extremely charitable, taking interest in most of those schemes whose object is to console and assist the wretched. "Wishing to consult M. le Cure on something connected with that subject, she called upon him at five o'clock one after- noon, and was astonished to find him already at table. She thought everj'body in Paris dined at six, not knowing that the ecclesiastics generally begin early because they take a light collation in the evening. "Madame R. was about to retire, but the cure begged her to stay, either because the matter they were to talk about need not prevent him dining, or because a pretty woman is never a mar- feast for any man; or perhaps because he bethought himself that somebody to talk to was all that was wanted to convert his dining-room into a gastronomic Ely- sium. "The table was laid with a neat white cloth, some old wine sparkled in a crystal decanter, the white porcelain was of the choicest quality, the plates had heaters of boiling water under them, and a servant, demure but neat, was in attendance. "The repast was a happy mean between the frugal and the luxurious. Some crab soup had just been removed, and there was now on the table a salmon-trout, an omelette, and a salad. " 'My dinner shows you what perhaps you did not know,' said the pastor, with a smile, 'that according to the laws of the church meat is forbidden to-day.' The visitor bowed 1 Mme. R^camier. 300 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY her assent, but at the same time, as a private note informs me, slightly blushed, which, however, by no means prevented the cure from eating. "Operations were already begun upon the trout, its upper side being fully disposed of ; the sauce gave proof of a skilful hand, and th§ pastor's features betokened inward satisfaction. That dish removed, he attacked the omelette, which was round, full-bellied, and cooked to a nicety. At the first stroke of the spoon, there ran out a thick juice, tempting both to sight and smell ; the dish seemed full of it, and my dear cousin confessed that her mouth watered. "Some signs of natural sympathy did not escape the cure, accustomed to watch the passions of men ; and, as if in answer to a question which jMadame R. took great care not to put, 'this is a tunny omelette,' said he. 'My cook has a wonder- ful knack at them. Nobody ever tastes them without compli- menting me.' 'I am not at all astonished,' replied the lady visitor; 'for on our worldly tables there is never seen an ome- lette half so tempting.' "This was followed by the salad — a finishing item which I recommend to the use of all who have faith in my teaching, for salad refreshes without fatiguing, and strengthens with- out irritating. I usually say it renews one's youth. "The dinner did not interrupt their conversation. Besides the matter in hand, they spoke of the events of the time, the hopes of the church, and other topics. The dessert passed, consisting of some Septmoncel cheese, three apples, and some preserved fruit ; and then the servant placed on a small table a cup of hot mocha, clear as amber, and filling the room with its aroma. Having sipped his coffee, the cure said grace. 'I never drink spirits,' he said as they rose ; 'it is a superfluity I offer to my guests, but personally reserve as a resource for old age should it please God that I live so long.' "In the meantime six o'clock had arrived, and Madame R., 301 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE hurrying home, found herself late for dinner, and several friends waiting for her whom she had invited for that day. I was one of the party, and thus came to hear of the cure's omelette; for our hostess did nothing but speak of it during dinner, and everybody was certain it must have been excellent. "Thus it is that as a propagator of truths I feel it my duty to make known the preparation ; and I give it the more willingly to all lovers of the art that I have not been able to find it in any cookery book. "Hash up together the roes of two carp, carefully bleached, a piece of fresh tunny, and a little minced shallot ; when well mixed throw the whole into a saucepan with a lump of the best butter, and whip it up till the butter is melted. This constitutes the specialty of the omelette. "Then in an oval dish mix separately a lump of butter with parsley and chives, and squeezing over it the juice of a lemon, place it over hot embers in readiness. Next complete the omelette by beating up twelve eggs, pouring in the roes and tunny, and stirring till all is well mixed ; then, when prop- erly finished, and of the right form and consistence, spread it out skilfully on the oval dish which you have ready to receive it, and serve up to be eaten at once. "This dish should be reserved for breakfasts of refinement, for connoisseurs in gastronomic art — ^those who understand eating, and where all eat with judgment; but especially let it be washed down with some good old wine, and you will see wonders." Among the dignitaries of the Roman Church, Riche- lieu was preeminent as an entertainer, his table being renowned for its excellence, and no one being more exacting with his cooks. A chartreuse a la Cardinal or a boudin of fowls a la Richelieu at once recalls his Eminence, and the brilliant reign during which he 302 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY himself virtually wielded the sceptre. "I do not think very highly of that man," said the Comte de M. in speaking of a candidate who had just secured an im- portant position: "he has never eaten boudin a la Richelieu, and is unacquainted with cutlets a la Sou- User During the war of Hanover, when the surround- ing country had been devastated by the French army, JSIarechal Richelieu, grandnephew of the cardinal, wished to give a suitable dinner to a large number of distinguished captives before setting them free. He was informed by his cooks that the larder was empty. "But it was only yesterday that I saw two horns passing by the window." "That is true, Monseigneur, there is a beef and some few roots; but what would you do with them?" "What would I do with them? Pardieu, I would have the best supper in the world !" "But, Monseigneur, it is impossible." "Nothing is impossible. Rudiere, write out the menu that I will dictate. Do you know how to write out a menu properly?" "I acknowledge, Monseigneur, that — " "Give me your pen." And with this the marechal, taking the place of his secretary, improvised a classic supper wor- thy of Vatel. At the end of the bill of fare was added : "If through any mischance this repast is not an ex- cellent one, I will deduct one hundred pistoles from the wages of Maret and Rouquelere. Begin, and doubt no more. Richelieu." 303 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE There was a certain Bishop of Burgundy who took, his share of responsibility in consuming, with a hu- mour all his own, viands which had not been come by legally. Desiring to eat venison when not quite in season, he sent half the body of the deer that tempted him as a present to the prefect, who lived in the same town, accompanying the gift with the following note : "Partageons la responsahilite : chargez-vous du tem- porelj je me charge du spirituel." (Ijct us share the responsibility; charge yourself with the temporal part; J will attend to the spiritual.) Equally felicitous is an incident recounted of Arch- bishop de Sanzai of Bordeaux, who was especially fond of the fowl which Savarin pronounced one of the finest gifts of the New World to the Old. Having won a truffled turkey on a wager from a grand vicar of his diocese, the archbishop, after waiting a week, be- came impatient at the delay of the loser in providing the bird. Accordingly, he took him to task and re- minded him that delays are dangerous, to which the Adcar replied that the truffles were not good that year. "Bah, bah!" was the rejoinder, "we will chance the truffles; depend upon it, it is only a false report that has been circulated by the turkeys." "There needs to be two to eat a truffled turkey," the Abbe Morellet was accustomed to say; "I never do otherwise. I have one to-day; we will be two — the turkey and myself." It may be of interest to note that the importation of the turkey to Europe has been attributed by vari- ous scholiasts to the Jesuits, in proof of which they assert that in many French provinces it was formerly 304 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY termed a jesuite, and that in some of the more remote departments it was the custom to refer to it in the following manner: "Come to dine with me; we will have a fat jesuite." "Monsieur, will you pass me some of the jesuite?" It is also said to have been re- ferred to as a jesuite en capilotade and a jesuite au feu d'enfer. Savarin gives the period of its importation by the order in question as the latter part of the seven- teenth century; while the Marquis de Cussy states it was imported a century earlier from Paraguay by the Jesuits, and was served for the first time in pubhc at the marriage of Charles IX of France, when, according to Montluc, the young king disposed of the left wing. The true date of the turkey's flight into history is the early part of the sixteenth century, when the learned confessor and historian to Cortez, Fra Aga- pida, returned to Spain from his first visit to Mexico, and wrote a brief narrative of the wonders of the New World. In this account he called attention to the abimdance of fine fish-food, and the excellence of the venison and a variety of "wild cattle." "There is also a bird," adds the discerning presbyter, "much greater in bigness than a peacock, that is found within the forests and vegas (meadows) all over this country. It surpasses as food any wild bird we have found up to this time. The natives do shoot these birds with arrows and catch them in various kinds of springes and snares. They are sometimes very large, being as much as thirty pounds in weight. They can fly, but prefer to run, which they can do with exceeding swift- ness." 305 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE No less is the introduction of the potato from South America due to the monks, who first brought it to Europe in the proud galleons of Spain. In Canon Barham's "A Lay of St. Nicholas," where the temptations of the flesh proved stronger than the spiritual powers of the head of the abbey, turkey and chine figure as the pieces of "resistance," with old sherris sack, hippocras, and malmsey to flank them, — "The Abbot hath donn'd his mitre and ring, His rich dalmatic and maniple fine ; And the choristers sing as the lay-brothers bring To the board a magnificent turkey and chine." The capon, however, appears to have been the /greatest favourite with the clergy; its frequent com- panion, the carp, doubtless owing its popularity to the fact that it is so easily raised, rather than that it is more esteemed than numerous other species of fish. Even more than the capon, the carp suggests the ceno- bites, bringing up a whole train of monastic orders — with the cloister and the abbey as its most congenial home. It is inalienably associated with the cassock and chasuble, the rosary and censer, the peal of the organ and the glory of old stained glass. It is essen- tially the sacred fish — the true "sole" of piety. It whispers of sanctity and breathes of Benedicites. In fancy one sees the abbot, rotund and rubicund, presid- ing at table, with one eye upon the fish and the other lifted aloft, uttering his Bonum est confiteri ere the loud "Amen" resounds through the vaulted chamber, 306 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY and carp and capon are bathed in the red juices of the monastery vineyard. Or it may be a pike, a mul- let, or a dish of eels that, cunningly prepared by the master-cook of the brotherhood, steeps the refectory with the perfimie of shallots and fine herbs, and justly merits a Benedic, anima mea from the partak- ers of the repast. From an anecdote related by the Franciscan Jean Paulli de Thann, it would appear that the olden monks had learned from the Scriptures a particular method of carving fowls when they partook of them in secular company. A gentleman had invited his confessor, who was a monk, to dine in company with his wife, his two sons, and two daughters. There was a fine capon for the roast, which the host requested the guest to carve. The latter excused himself, but the host insisted. "Inasmuch as you demand it," replied the monk, "I will carve the fowl according to biblical princi- ples." "Yes," exclaimed the hostess, "act according to the Scriptures." The theologian therefore began the carving. The baron was tendered the head of the fowl, the baroness the neck, the two daughters a wing apiece, and the two sons a first joint, the monk retaining the re- mainder. "According to what interpretation do you make such a division?" inquired the host of his confessoi', as he regarded the monk's heaping plate and the scant portions doled out to the family. "From an interpretation of my own," replied the 307 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE monk. "As the master of your house, the head be- longs to you by right; the baroness, being most near to you, should receive the neck, which is nearest the head; in the wings the young girls will recognize a symbol of their mobile thoughts, that fly from one desire to another; as to the young barons, the drum- sticks they have received will remind them that they are responsible for supporting your house, as the legs of the capon support the bird itself." In England, during Elizabeth's reign, fish was largely consumed on the festival of St. Ulric, a pious custom referred to by Barnaby Googe: "Wheresoever Huldryche hath his place, the people there brings in Both carpes and pykes, and mullets fat, his favour here to win. Amid the church there sitteth one, and to the aultar nie. That selleth fishe, and so good cheep, that every man may buie; Nor anything he loseth here, bestowing thus his paine, For when it hath been ofFred-once, 't is brought him all againe. That twise or thrise he selles the same, vngodlinesse such gaine Doth still bring in, and plenteously the kitchen doth main- taine. Whence comes this same religion newe? What kind of God is this Same Huldryche here, that so desires and so de'lightes in fishe?" With fish much is possible in the way of a generous dietary during the Lenten penance and on meagre 308 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY days. To the devout Thomas a Kempis nothing was more delicious to the taste than a salmon, always ex- cepting the Psalms of David. The possibiUties of a fish diet, however, have nowhere been more appre- ciably set forth than by Father Prout on the occasion of the classic "Watergrasshill Carousal," when Sir Walter Scott was among the guests. And though the turkey which was in readiness was forgone on account of the day being Friday and therefore a fast-day, the repast, nevertheless, did not languish. The trout, it will be remembered, the witty priest had caught himself from the neighbouring, stream, as well as a large eel from the lake at Blarney. To these were added from the excellent market at Cork a turbot, two lobsters, a salmon, and a hake, with a hundred of Cork-harbour oysters. Besides these figured also a keg of cod-sounds, a great favourite of the bishop of the diocese, which invariably appeared at the table of Father Prout when his lordship was expected. With eggs, potatoes, sauce piquante, lob- ster-sauce, whiskey and claret in addition, the sacer- dotal banquet proved a signal success, fully bearing out the sentiment expressed by the shepherd in the "Noctes" at the end of a Scottish repast, — "We 've just had a perfec' dinner, Mr. Tickler — ^neither ae dish ower mony, nor ae dish ower few." Fish naturally demands a white wine; but a carp may be prepared — and doubtless is prepared — so sauced and spiced and aromatised by practised clois- tral hands that a red wine, the favoured colour of the cowl, may accord with it perfectly. This is not saying that an abbot who may be as renowned for his 309 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE gastronomic abilities as for his oratory necessarily confines himself or his followers to red wine with fish. Much will depend, of course, upon the mode of prep- aration, — it is to be sxipposed that the cellarer has both red and white wine at command to draw from as occasion demands ; to be confined to a single variety must be as onerous to the cloth as to the layman. When the celebrated vineyard of Clos-Vougeot was the property of the Bernardin monks, before it was confiscated and declared national property, Dom Gobelot was the father-cellarer. It was he who, after being forced to retire to private life at Dijon, with a hundred dozen bottles of a famous year of his vine- yard as a souvenir, proudly replied to the young Bona- parte, conqueror in Italy and returning from Ma- rengo, when he requested some old Vougeot for his table: "If he wishes some forty-year-old Vougeot, let him come and drink it here; it is not for sale." And does not history record that Pope Gregory XVI, in the year 1371, made the Abbot of Clos-Vougeot a cardinal to express his gratitude for a present of a basket of his best old wine which the abbot had sent him? The famous wine of "Est, Est, Est" owes its celeb- rity to a German bishop named Fuger, who, while on a journey to Italy, sent his secretary in advance in order to provide the best accommodations. He was especially charged to test the wine in all the inns en route, and wherever he found it best to write the word "Est" on the wall of the albergo. Arriving at Monte- fiascone, a small town on the highroad from Florence to Rome, the secretary found the wine so superior that 310 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY he was at a loss to describe it until he bethought him of the inscription that a sultan of Lahore had en- graved on the door of his seraglio, — "If there is a paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here!" Ac- cordingly, he wrote the word "Est" thrice in large characters on the wall of the principal inn — a fatal word for the bishop, who tarried so long and drank so freely that he died ere reaching his destination — Rome. His tomb exists at Montefiascone. On either side of his mitre and his arms his secretary had carved a reversed glass, with this epitaph on the stone: Est^ Est, Est, et propter nimium est Johannes de Fuger dominus mens mortuus est. The explanation of the epitaph and emblems is given by the Roman prelate, Valery. It is still fur- ther averred that the death of Cardinal Mauri, a distin- guished Italian prelate, whose remains were interred near those of the German bishop in the Church of St. Flavien, was also hastened by his fondness for the Montefiascone wine. The story of the bibulous bishop was told in 1825 in German, in a poem of fourteen stanzas, by WiUielm Miiller, father of Professor Max Miiller.^ It has also been excellently rendered in ' Hart an dem Bolsener See, Auf des Flaschenberges Hoh', Steht ein kleiner Leichenstein Mit der kurzen Inschrift drein : Propter nimium Est, Est, Dominus meus mortuus est ! " Unter diesem Monument, Welches keinen Namen nennt, Ruht ein Herr von deutschera Blut, Deutschem Schlund und deutschera Mut, Der hler starb den schonsten Tod — Seine Schuld vergeb' ihm Gott! " 311 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE English verse by an American poetess whose name the efforts of the writer have been unable to trace: "Men have ridden for love, And men have ridden for gold, And men have ridden for honour In the chivalrous days of old. Little of love recked he, Nor honour, nor golden store. But the Abbot would ride for dinner. And he rode for good wine more. 'I will travel the world, Travel the world in quest — Taste red, white, and yellow,' Cried this jolly old fellow, 'Till I find the wine that is best.' Vanitas vanitorum! " 'My servant leal,' said he, 'Now ride thou on before. And drink where'er the branches Hang withering at the door. Then, if the wine be worthy. That I should stop at all. Write "est" — ^but if it' is not. Write "non" upon the wall.' "Promptly rode the man. In hamlet, city, and town. Alter go and osteria, He gulped the good wine down. W^here'er the wine was worthy There they slept or dined, — Before, the trusty varlet, The lazier monk behind. 312 AT TABLE WITH THE CLERGY "Among the hills and valleys, Festooned with wreathing vine, Where purple grapes and opal Drop red and golden wine. There is a wine delicious In a hamlet little known. With a taste like the mountain flower That blooms in spring alone. Here pause, O wandering Abbot! Thy ponderous frame can rest, Lo ! the prudent, observant. Intelligent servant Has written here 'Est, Est, Est.' "The Abbot he drank at dinner. The Abbot he drank at night, And he called for more fiasci , When dawned the morning light. He murmured, 'I go no farther. Per Bacco! I cease my quest; Wine of Hymettus sweetness, Nectar of gods, — est, est! "But even an Abbot has limits, Though his were exceeding wide; He passed them and, as you can fancy, Dropped from the table and died: Drowned as it were in the nectar. Dead of the wine that is best. In his hand the empty wine-cup. His last words ^Est, est, estP Vanitas vanitorum,! "This very same wine we are drinking To-night in classic Rome, 313 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Sipping it after dinner In our quiet foreign home. I have told as I heard the story, And now the white wine that is best, Let us all fill a bowl of — Here 's pea,ce to the soul of The monk of the Est, Est, Est!" To judge of the quality of Montefiascone, one must drink it at its home; like other white wines of the former Papal States, it will not bear the shock of dis- tant carriage. As for the German ecclesiast, one should not take him too seriously, but consider him rather from the picturesque point of view, as Row- landson and Combe have done with the reverend Syn- tax. "Other times, other manners," — to-day his rev- erence would have made the journey by rail and not by post, and thus, doubtless, would have missed the fiasci of Montefiascone. One must also bear in mind that the wine in question, being of the muscat type, is extremely heady and exciting to the nerves, its deleterious effects being masked by its unctuousness and engaging aroma; so that an unsuspecting beer- drinking bishop, accustomed to copious libations of a milder fluid, might readily and unwittingly find him- self under the table, and, even though a hierarch, prove an easy subject for a De Profundis. Many years have elapsed since the prelate's demise; and it is to be supposed that, meanwhile, the nectar of Est has been rendered less potent and even more delectable in heavenly vineyards. 314 PROMENADE DU GOURMAND rrontispieee of " Le Manuel dn Gastronome ou Nouvel Almanaol des Gourmands " (1830) SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER "Sir, Respect Tour IHnna r ; idolize it, enjoy it properly. You will be many hours in the week, many weeks in the year, and many years iu your life the happier if you do." — Thackeray. A REVIEW of the dinner-table were incomplete without a reference to several writers, other than those already cited, who have wielded a more or less pronounced influence on gastronomy. Of such, two English authors deserve especial mention, each of whom has sought to prove that the art of the gastron- omer is the art of being happy; and that, if blessed with a good appetite and sound digestion, one may round off" many a corner of life's miseries. To*Dr. William Kitchener the merit of reforming English cookery as it existed during the early part of the past century is due to no inconsiderable degree. The overladen table, with its pompous decorations, 315 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE heavy viands, and superabundance of wines, was first severely censured in "The Cook's Oracle," and later in Thomas Walker's periodical, "The Original," since reprinted in book form. The first edition of the "Oracle" appeared in 1817; and, like Mrs. Glasse's "Art of Cookery," was subsequently much amended and enlarged.^ An eccentric and would-be dietetic reformer, the author was ridiculed at first, as is often the case with those who advance new ideas or attempt to disturb existing conditions. "Christopher North," whose own Pegasus was often inclined to strange cur- vets, reviled him as he also did Tennyson; and Hood addressed him in three mock-heroic odes. But be- neath his mannerisms and diatribes there remained much practical sense, an extended culinary know- ledge, and no little shrewd observation. It was the author's endeavour to "improve plain cookery and to render food acceptable to the palate •^without being expensive to the purse" — a precept al- together admirable. The preface to the third edition emphasises, very truly, that among the manifold causes which concur to impair health and produce disease, the most general is the improper quality of food, this most frequently arising from the inju- dicious manner in which it is prepared. Yet it re- mains to be added that since the days of the "Oracle" man has greatly improved in this respect, even in England; that despite the multiplicity of diseases, hygiene is becoming far better understood by the masses; and that for the various ills arising through 1 "The Cook's Oracle; Containing Families, etc. The Fourth Edition. Receipts for Plain Cookery on the London: Printed for A. Constable Most Economical Han for Private & Co. 1822." 316 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER the stomach, chemistry and the doctors have devised nvimerous simple correctives which have proved of in- estimable value. The key-note of the "Oracle" is contained in the sen- tence, "Unless the stomach be in good humour, every part of the machinery of life must vibrate with lan- guor," — a sentiment with which all those who have touched two-score will profoundly agree. It is for elderly stomachs whose bloom may have been some- what brushed off that the doctor's counsels will be found preeminently deserving of attention. To the epicure he likewise proved an excellent mentor ; to the dyspeptic, a friend in need. That he was strongly influenced by the writings of Grimod de la Reyniere is readily perceptible, though he states in the introduction that his work is a bona- fide register of practical facts, and that he has not printed a recipe which has not been proved in his own kitchen. Before undertaking his task, he had consulted all the treatises obtainable on the subject, amounting to no less than two hundred and fifty vol- vmies. These, he asserts, vary very little from one another, and any one who has occasion to refer to two or three of them will find the recipes almost always the same — equally unintelligible to those who are ignorant, and useless to those who are acquainted with the business of the kitchen. The numerous "Good Housewife's Closets," "Ladies' Companions," and "Gentlewomen's Cabinets," in fact, are virtually identical, save for their titles and forewords. With the recipes of the "Oracle" the reader need not be as much concerned as with its spirit and its epicu- 317 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE rean principles, which reveal a strongly marked in- dividuality, and a comprehension far in advance of the time in Great Britain. Oracular and discursive, the author ambles pleasantly along the road of Con- viviality, scattering his maxims and dispensing his formulas, while dipping into volimne after volume to emphasise his text. The "Oracle" may be briefly de- scribed as a quaint medley of cookery, hygienic pre- cepts, science, gastronomy, and domestic economy, written by a bon vivant. A long chapter is devoted to the subject of invitations to dinner, wherein punc- tuality is strictly insisted upon — dining, according to the writer, being the only act of the day which cannot be put off with impunity for even five minutes. He would have the cook the warden in chief, as defined by Mercier, a physician who cures two mortal mala- dies. Hunger and Thirst; or a Hominum servatorem — a preserver of mankind, as designated by Plautus. A good dinner, he maintains, is one of the greatest enjoyments of human life; but it should never be at the mercy of belated guests, — "what will be agreeable to the stomach and restorative to the system at five o'clock will be uneatable and indigestible at a quarter past." When he himself gave a dinner-party, the guests were invited for five o'clock, and at five min- utes after the hour specified, the street door was locked, and the key, by his order, was set aside. But it is perhaps in the chapter on advice to cooks, and in his directions as to the minutiae of boiling, baking, roasting, and frying, that he is most suggestive. A characteristic farewell to the reader concludes the vol- imie, which even to-day may be consulted with profit 318 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER — an observation that will also apply to many por- tions of its companion treatise, "The Art of Invigor- ating and Prolonging Life." Less pretentious, and dealing more with the £es- thetic side of good living, are the essays of the "Original," by Thomas Walker, barrister at law and magistrate, which treat of the pleasures of the table under the titles, "The Art of Attaining High Health" and "The Art of Dining." ^ These critical dissertations originally appeared in 1835 in a weekly periodical of which he was the editor, the series ter- minating with his death the subsequent year. And if the influence of the "Almanach" is readily discern- ible in the case of Dr. Kitchener, so in like manner one detects a flavour of the "Physiology" in the ge- nial pages of Walker. Kitchener undoubtedly proves himself the more valiant trencherman, while Walker remains the more refined and philosophic host. His golden rule was, "Content the stomach and the stomach will content you." A little irregularity in agreeable company he deems better than the best ob- servance in solitude. When dining alone is necessary, however, he adds that the mind should be disposed to cheerfulness by a previous interval of relaxation from whatever has seriously occupied the attention, and by directing it to some agreeable object. And so contentment ought to be an accompaniment to every meal. - Punctuality becomes the more essential, and the diner and the dinner should be ready at the 1 "The Original, by the Late ited by Wm. A. Guy. London, Thomas Walker, M.A., Trinity Col- Henry Renshaw, 1875." lege, Cambridge. Fifth Edition. Ed- 319 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE same time. Concerning dining in comfort, he holds that a chief maxim is to have what you want when you want it, and not be obliged to wait for little ad- ditions to be supplied, when what they belong to is half or entirely finished. , The plates should be brought in before the dish, ^and the dish and its adjuncts appear simultaneously; in other words, the necessary condiments should al- ways be at hand, and the wines should stand ready to be poured out at the moment required, — the lesson of patience, however desirable, is not a virtue that should be inculcated at the dinner-table; and prompt service must ever form a great desideratum of the perfect meal. In dining, more than anything else, perhaps, whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well, though this were far from meaning that lavish expenditure need enter into the hospitable rela- tions of host and guests. Forethought and careful per- sonal attention, it may be reiterated, play a most im- portant part at the board of Good Cheer; and simple dishes unexceptionally prepared and served, with the beverages that naturally accompany them at the proper temperature, will garnish any table with a cloth of gold. "A good soup, a small turbot, a neck of veni- son, ducklings with green peas, or chicken with as- paragus, and an apricot tart," the Earl of Dudley was accustomed to say, "is a dinner for an emperor." There are those possibly who might prefer the much more simple menu of a French gourmet, — "A bottle of Chambertin, a ragout a la Sardanapale, and a pretty lady causeur, are the three best companions at table in France." 320 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER But it will be rendering greater justice to the au- thor to permit him to speak for himself on some of the niceties connected with the art he has expounded so wisely and so well: "Anybody can dine, but few know how to dine so as to en- sure the greatest quantity of health and enjoyment" [he agrees with Dumas and Fayot]. "Indeed, many people con- trive to destroy their health; and as to enjoyment, I shudder when I think how often I have been doomed to only a solemn mockery of it ; how often I have sat in durance stately, to go through the ceremony of dinner, the essence of which is to be without ceremony, and how often in this land of liberty I have felt myself a slave. "There is in the art of dining a matter of special impor- tance — I mean attendance, the real end of which is to do that for you which you cannot so well do for yourself. Unfortu- nately, this end is generally lost sight of, and the effect of attendance is to prevent you from doing that which you could do much better for yourself. The cause of this perversion is to be found in the practice and example of the rich and osten- tatious, who constantly keep up a sort of war-establishment, or establishment adapted to extraordinary instead of ordinary occasions, and the consequence is that, like all potentates who follow the same policy, they never really taste the sweets of peace; they are in a constant state of invasion by their own troops. It is a rule at dinners not to allow you to do anything for yourself, and I have never been able to understand how even salt, except it be from some superstition, has so long main- tained its place. I am rather a bold man at table and set form very much at defiance, so that if a salad happens to be within my reach, I make no scruple to take it to me ; but the moment I am espied, it is nipped up from the most convenient into the most inconvenient position. See a small party with a dish 321 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE of fish at each end of the table, and four silver covers stand- ing unmeaningly at the sides, whilst everything pertaining to the fish comes, even with the best attendance, provokingly lagging, one thing after another, so that contentment is out of the question ; and all this is done under pretence that it is the most convenient plan. This is an utter fallacy. The only convenient plan is to have everything actually upon the table that is 'wanted at the same time, and nothing else; as, for ex- ample, for a party of eight, turbot and salmon, with doubles of each of the adjuncts, lobster-sauce, cucumber, young po- tatoes, cayenne, and Chili vinegar, and let the guests assist one another, which with such an arrangement they could do with perfect ease. This is undisturbed and visible comfort. "A system of simple attendance would induce a system of simple dinners, which are the only dinners to be desired. With respect to wine, it is often offered when not wanted; and when wanted, is perhaps not to be had till long waited for. It is dreary to observe two guests, glass in hand, waiting the butler's leisure to take wine together, and then perchance being helped in despair to what they did not ask for ; and it is still more dreary to be one of the two yourself. How different when you can put your hand on a decanter the moment you want it ! "Perhaps the most distressing incident in a grand dinner" [the. author continues] "is to be asked to take champagne, and after much delay to see the butler extract the bottle from a cooler, and hold it nearly parallel to the horizon in order to calculate how much he is to put into the first glass to leave' any for the second. To relieve him and yourself from ihe chilling difficulty, the only alternative is to change your mind and prefer sherry, which, under the circumstances, has rather an awkward effect. These and an infinity of minor evils are constantly experienced amidst the greatest displays. Some good bread and cheese and a jug of ale comfortably set be- 322 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER fore me, and heartily given, are heaven and earth in compari- son. . . . The legitimate objects of dinner are to refresh the body, to please the palate, and to raise the social humour to the highest point; but these objects, so far from being studied, in general are not even thought of, and display and an adherence to fashion are their meagre substitutes." To be niggardly with one's champagne we have already alluded to as despicable. Yet the amount of this wine that may be dispensed at dinner should depend on the cellar of the entertainer; and where Yquem or . a grand Deidesheimer, Lafite, or I^a Tache of well-succeeded years is also to figure, it is wise for the host to let the fact be known, and for him to curtail the flow of sparkling wine, in order that proper justice may be rendered to its companions. On this subject the "Original" again proves itself a valuable sign-board, and its doctrine as to the conduct of the dinner forms a tenet worthy of all praise, — "If the master of a feast wishes his party to succeed, he must know how to command and not let his guests i-un riot, each according to his own wild fancy." We cannot agree with the "Original" and some others that it is correct to serve a sparkling wine, to the exclusion of all others, throughout an extended repast. The palate and the eye weary of a single beverage, how- ever brilliant the vintage, and yearn for a contrast in flavour and colour. Simplicity is constantly urged throughout "The Art of Dining," and again and again does the author insist upon the necessity of having whatever dish that may be served preceded by all its minor adjuncts, and 323 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE accompanied by all the proper vegetables quite hot, so that it may be enjoyed entirely and at once. The liquid accessories he would have placed upon the table in such a manner as to be as much as possible within the reach of each person; and as Mathew Bramble, in "Humphrey CUnker," talks, in his delights of rural life, of eating trout struggling from the stream, so he would have his dishes served glowing or steam- ing from the kitchen, a quality which lends a relish otherwise impossible. "There are two kinds of dinners " [he goes on to say] — "one simple, consisting of a few dishes, the other embracing a variety. Both kinds are good in their way, and both de- serve attention; but for constancy I greatly prefer the sim- ple style. ... In the first place, it is necessary not to be afraid of not having enough, and so to go into the other extreme and have a great deal too much, as is almost invaria- bly the practice. It is also necessary not to be afraid of the table looking bare, and so to crowd it with dishes not wanted, whereby they become cold and sodden. 'Enough is as good as a feast' is a sound maxim, as well in providing as in eating. The having too much, and setting dishes on the table merely for appearance, are practices arising out of prejudices which, if once broken through, would be looked upon, and deservedly, as the height of vulgarity. The excessive system is a great preventive of hospitality, by adding to the expense and trouble of entertaining, whilst it has no one advantage. It is only pursued by the majority of people for fear of being unlike the rest of the world." Every gastronomer will endorse the sentiment that in proportion to the smallness of a dinner ought to be its excellence, both as to the quality of materials and 324 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER the cooking. Nor is there less truth in the complaint that it is an existing evil that everybody is prone to strive after the same dull style — the rule generally followed being to consider what the guests are accus- tomed to; whereas it should be reversed, and what they are not accustomed to should rather be set before them. This stricture .he applies to the serving of wines as well as of viands — "we go on in the beaten track without profiting by the varieties which are to be found on every side." To order dinner well he defines as a matter of invention and combination, involving novelty, simplicity, and taste; whereas in the generality of dinners there is no character but that of dull routine, according to the season. Too little attention, he complains, is paid to the mode of din- ing according to the time of the year, summer dinners being for the most part as heavy and as hot as those in winter, with the consequence of being frequently very oppressive, both in themselves and from their effect on the room. In hot weather the chief thing to be aimed at is to produce a light and cool feeling, both by the management of the room and the nature of the repast; in winter, warmth and substantial diet afford the most satisfaction. It may be held with reason that some of the incon- veniences pointed out with reference to service could be obviated by the service a la Russe — discarding its medley of dishes on the table, and utilising its fea- tures of carving and serving. But Walker's great aim was that of a simple style of dinner-giving to a select few whose number he would limit to eight. Under these circumstances it is easy to understand 325 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE how it were more appetising to dispense with any dishes in waiting which serve to cloy rather than to stimulate appetite, and more advantageous to have the carving performed by the master himself. At a men's dinner, more especially, where a saddle of mut- ton, a haunch of venison, or other roast forms the piece de resistance^ and where, therefore, "cut and come again" is the motto of the hour, the less formal style is certainly preferable, and productive of the best results to the guests. It is only on one occasion that we find him waver- ing in the dogmas he advances so emphatically and withal so aptly, this incertitude occurring in connec- tion with a dinner he had ordered at Blackwall, the menu of which may be appropriately transcribed as a practical illustration of his ideas on gastronomy : "The party will consist of seven men beside myself, and every guest is asked for some reason — upon which good fel- lowship mainly depends ; for people brought together uncon- nectedly had, in my opinion, better be kept separate. Eight I hold to be the golden number, never to be exceeded without weakening the efficacy of concentration. The dinner is to con- sist of turtle, followed by no other fish but whitebait, which is to be followed by no other meat but grouse, which are to be succeeded simply by apple-fritters and jelly; pastry on such occasions being quite out of place. With the turtle of course there will be punch, with the whitebait champagne, and with the grouse claret : the two former I have ordered to be particularly well iced, and they will all be placed in succession on the table, so that we can help ourselves as we please. I will permit no other wines, unless, perchance, a bottle or two of port, if particularly wanted, as I hold variety of wines a 326 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER great mistake. With respect to the adjuncts, I shall take care that there is cayenne, with lemons cut in halves, not in quarters, within reach of every one for the turtle, and that brown bread and butter in abundance is set upon the table for the whitebait. The dinner will be followed by ices and a good dessert, after which coffee and one glass of hqueur each, and Surely, an excellent repast, if the cooking was all that could have been desired, as the author happily in- forms the reader was the case. But in his comments on the dinner occurs this qualifying sentence, — "There was an opinion broached that some flounders, water-zoutcheed, between the turtle and whitebait would have been an improvement"; and, for once, the "Original" proves vacillating, and adds — "Per- haps they would." Yet, if we are to believe no less an authority than Thackeray, the dish under considera- tion is one for which room may always be appropri- ately found — a dish that, when well prepared, pos- sesses ambrosial qualities. He is discoursing of a flounder-souchy in the sketch entitled, "Greenwich Whitebait" ; and one's mouth fairly waters as he reads it: "It has an almost angelic delicacy of flavour; it is as fresh as the recollections of childhood — it wants a Correggio's pencil to describe it with sufficient tenderness." The recipe for a water-souchy is thus given by Kitchener, to be made with flounders, whiting, gud- geons, or eels: "After cutting the fish in handsome pieces, place them in a stewpan with as much water as will cover them, with some 327 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE parsley or parsley roots sliced, an onion minced fine, and a little pepper and salt, to which sometimes scraped horseradish and a bay-leaf are added. Skim carefully when boiling, and when the fish is sufficiently done send it up in a deep dish lined with bread sippets, and some slices of bread and butter on a plate. Some cooks thicken the liquor the fish has been stewing in with flour and butter, and flavour it with white wine, lemon juice, essence of anchovy, and catsup, and boil down two or three flounders to make a fish broth to boil the other fish in, observing that the broth cannot be good unless the fish are boiled too much." This does not sound as palatable as a sole au gratin or en matelote Normande, or even whitebait — that "little means of obtaining a great deal of pleasure"; but one can scarcely forget Thackeray's sentence, even if his appreciation may have been heightened by the surroundings of the Ship Tavern and conge- nial companionship. Nearly ten years after Walker's day we find Thackeray also condemning many similar evils : "I would have" [he urges, and the advice is still pertinent] — "a. great deal more hospitality and less show. Everybody has the same dinner in London, and the same soup, and the same saddle of mutton, boiled fowls and tongue, entrees, champagne, and so forth. Who does not know those made dishes with the universal sauce to each: fricandeau, sweet- breads, damp dumpy cutlets, etc., seasoned with the compound of grease, onions, bad port wine, cayenne pepper, and curry- powder, the poor wiry Moselle and sparkling Burgundy in the ice-coolers, and the old story of white and brown soup, turbot, little smelts, boiled turkey, and saddle of mutton.'' . What I would recommend with all my power is that 328 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER dinners should be more simple, more frequent, and should con- tain fewer persons. Ten is the utmost number that a man of moderate means should ever invite to his table; although in a great house managed by a great establishment the case may be different. A man and a woman may look as if they were glad to see ten people; but in a great dinner they abdicate their position as host and hostess, — are mere creatures in the hands of the sham butlers, sham footmen, and tall con- fectioners' emissaries who crowd the room, — and are guests at their own table, where they are helped last, and of which they occupy the top and bottom." Thackeray has written frequently on the pleasures of the table, and his name may well figure in the an- nals of gastronomy as one of its shining lights, if only for his delicious essays "Memorials of Gormandising" and "On Some Dinners at Paris," to which in their entirety the reader is referred. Still later, Charles Dickens keenly satirises the ex- isting pomp and the lack of simplicity of the English table, notably among the higher classes, where he finds so much Powder in waiting that it flavours the repast, pulverous particles getting into the dishes, and So- ciety's meats having a seasoning of first-rate footmen — society having everything it could want, and could not want, for dinner. Perhaps in no connection with the art of which the "Original" treats is the advice more practical than in the remarks on variety, with which the refer- ence to Walker may be terminated : "Although I like, as a rule, to abstain from much variety at the same meal, I think it both wholesome and agreeable to 329 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE vary the food on different days, both as to the materials and mode of dressing them. The palate is better pleased and the digestion more active, and the food, I believe, assimilates in a greater degree with the system. The productions of the different seasons and of different climates point out to us unerringly that it is proper to vary our food ; and one good general rule I take to be, to select those things which are most in season, and to abandon them as soon as they begin to deteriorate in quality. Most people mistake the doctrine of variety in their mode of living; they have great variety at the same meals, and great sameness at different meals. These agreeable varieties are never met with, or even thought of, in the formal routine of society, though they contribute much, when appropriately devised, to the enjoyment of a party. With respect to variety of vegetables, I think the same rule applies as to other dishes. I would not have many sorts on the same occasion, but would study appropriateness and particular excellence. One of the greatest luxuries, to my mind, in dining is to be able to command plenty of good vegetables, well served up. Excellent potatoes, smoking hot, and accompanied by melted butter of the first quality, would alone stamp merit on any dinner; but they are as rare on state occasions, so served, as if they were of the cost of pearls." It may be subjoined to the many pertinent observa- tions respecting the duties of the entertainer, that so far as it is within his power he should consider his guests individually, weighing their personal likes and dislikes to such extent as may comport with the gen- eral welfare. The first thing he should recognise as his imperative duty is to please. Yet while a surprise in the components of the dinner is to be desired, the choice of dishes should nevertheless be made with ref- 330 LA TABLE Frontispiece of the Second Canto of "La Conversation" of the Abb6 D61ille, 1822 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER erence to the taste of the majority, in distinction to one's own preference or the predilections of the few. With the stiff and formal dinner, or with large dinner- parties, fine discrimination is less practicable, these functions being necessarily a burden to all concerned. Les diners fins se font en petits comites; and, equally, in informal gatherings. The deft hand and nice judgment may be thoroughly manifested only among intimate friends, where the personality of the master may guide and direct, free from the trammels of con- ventionality. Then that false etiquette which pi-e- scribes that the entertainer should never rise from the table may be waived; and where he may enhance the pleasure of his friends by an inpromptu visit to the wine-cellar in pursuit of some special vintage that the moment calls for, or carry out a happy thought that the occasion may create, it is his bounden duty to perform for himself what others may not perform as well, or perform not at all. With the absence of formality, the wit may rise to the full height of his genius, the humorist may shine, and the accomplished and graceful liar draw a treble measure of delight from the font of a genial and exuberant fancy. "The Art of Dining" also forms the title of a work by the scholarly essayist Abraham Hayward, a re- arrangement of two articles he had contributed to the "Quarterly Review" in 1835 and 1836.^ By few writers has the subject been treated so invitingly. There is no taint of grossness throughout his review ; and if it be true that next to partaking of a good din- 1 " The Art of Dining, or Gastronomy and Gastronomers. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1852." 12mo, pp. 137. 331 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE ner is to read about one, we must thank him fox* the enjoyment he has contributed. A distinguished scholar and epicure, he had travelled widely, and was equally at home in the French and English capitals. All the celebrated restaurants, chefs, and maitres- d'hotel of Paris were familiar to him, while few have shown themselves as conversant with the literature of his theme. He had, moreover, an entree into the most distinguished circles ; and, last but not least, possessed a marvellous memory to recall the people he had met, and the dinners and festivities at which he had assisted — with the bon-mots, repartees, and anecdotes that the popping of corks without number had set free. As a raconteur, with an unlimited repertory of inci- dents concerning the notables who were prominent in society, politics, and gastronomy, he is said to have been unsurpassed. His subject, he states, has been discussed with the object of facilitating convivial enjoyment and promot- ing sociability; and in these matters he will be found both a brilliant causeur and connoisseur. Passing by his anecdotal review of Parisian cookery, his reference to the simple expedients by which the success of a din- ner may be insured will serve to show his resources, and his grasp of the practical side of the topic: "We have seen Painter's turtle prepare the way for a suc- cess which was crowned by a lark pudding. We have seen a kidney dumpling perform wonders ; and a noble-looking shield of Canterbury brawn from Groves's diffuse a sensation of unmitigated delight. One of Morell's Montanches hams, or a woodcock pie from Bsivier's of Boulogne, would be a sure 332 SUXDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER card ; but a home-made partridge pie would be more likely to come upon your company by surprise, provided a beefsteak be put over as well as under the birds, and the birds be placed with their breasts downwards in the dish. Game or wild fowl is never better than broiled; and a boiled shoulder of mut- ton, or boiled duck or pheasant, might alone found a reputa- tion. A still more original notion was struck out by a party of eminent connoisseurs who entertained the Right Hon. Sir Henry Ellis at Fricceur's, just before he started on his Per- sian embassy. They actually ordered a roasted turbot, and were boasting loudly of the success of the invention when a friend of ours had the curiosity to ask M. Fricoeur in what manner he set about the dressing of the fish. 'Why, sare, you no tell ; we no roast him at all ; we put him in oven and bake him.' " Some there are who would seriously object to boiled mutton as opposed to roast, and who assuredly would cry out in horror at a duck or game-bird boiled. Yet boiled mutton with capers is oi-thodox — like corned beef and cabbage, or the Rindfleisch with horse-rad- ish sauce, which blends so well with the Miinchner where one meets it in the middle of the day in Ger- many. A broiled teal, wood-duck, or butterball, by all means; but a roast canvasback, redhead, or mal- lard in preference always. "Marrowbones are always popular" [the author con- tinues]. "So is a well-made devil or a broil. When a picture of the Dutch school, representing a tradesman in a passion with his wife for bringing up an underdone leg of mutton, was shown to the late Lord Hertford, his lordship's first remark was, 'What a fool that fellow is not to see that he may have a capital broil!' A genuine hure de sanglier, or 333 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE wild- boar's head, would elevate the plainest dinner into dig- nity- The comparative merits of pies and puddings present a problem which it is no easy matter to decide. On the whole, we give the preference to puddings, as affording more scope to the inventive genius of the cook. A plum-pudding, for instance, our national dish, is hardly ever boiled enough. A green apricot tart is commonly considered the best tart that is made; but a green apricot pudding is a much better thing. A cherry dumpling is better than a cherry tart. A beefsteak pudding, again, is better than the corresponding pie; but oysters and mushrooms are essential to its success. A mutton-chop pudding with oysters, but without mush- rooms, is excellent." Never having tried the last-mentioned "remove," the writer is willing to trust to its excellence, and to the general good taste of Hayward. But one has his doubts sometimes, the proof of the pudding being in the eating; and possibly a mutton-chop and oyster compound may be spoiling two things intrinsically good in themselves, and the dish deserve to be placed in the same category with a boiled pheasant or a wild fowl. Moreover, what may taste or appear excellent in one place does not always appear the same in another, this holding true with many things besides dishes, which may be affected by the climate, the sur- roundings, or one's mood at the time. The topic of fish is particularly well treated by Hayward. On the subject of game, he has this to say concerning a native marsh-bird of the sandpiper tribe, highly prized for its eggs and flesh, which has become even yet more rare with the draining of the English meres and fens : 334 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER "RufFs and reeves are little known to the public at large, though honourable mention is made of them by Bewick. The season for them is August and September. They are found in fenny countries (those from Whittlesea Meer in Lincolnshire are best), and must be taken alive and fattened on boiled wheat or bread and milk mixed with hemp-seed, for about a fortnight, taking good care never to put two males to feed together, or they will fight a Voutrance. Prince Talleyrand was extremely fond of ruffs and reeves, his regular allowance during the season being two a day: they are dressed like woodcocks. These birds are worth nothing in their wild state ; and the art of fattening them is traditionally said to have been discovered by the monks in Yorkshire, where they are still in high favour with the clerical profession, as a current anecdote will show. At a grfind dinner at Bishop- thorpe (in Archbishop jMarkham's time) a dish of ruffs and reeves chanced to be placed immediately in front of a young divine who had come up to be examined for priest's orders, and was considerately (or, as it turned out, inconsiderately) asked to dinner by his grace. Out of sheer modesty, the cleri- cal tyro confined himself exclusively to the dish before him, and persevered in his indiscriminating attentions to it till one of the resident dignitaries (all of whom were waiting only the proper moment to participate) observed him, and called the attention of the company by a loud exclamation of alarm. But the warning came too late : the ruffs and reeves had van- ished to a bird, and with them, we are concerned to add, all the candidate's hopes of Yorkshire preferment are said to have vanished too. "A similar anecdote is current touching wheatears, which, in our opinion, are a greater delicacy. A Scotch officer was dining with the late Lord George Lennox, then commandant at Portsmouth, and was placed near a dish of wheatears, which was rapidly disappearing under his repeated attacks. Lady 335 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Louisa Lentiox tried to divert his attention to another dish. 'Na, na, my leddy,' was the reply, 'these wee birdies will do verra weel.' " In vivid contrast to the works of Walker and Hay- ward is a volume entitled "Apieian Morsels" (Lon- don, 1829), wherein the author, who veils his identity under a facetious jjseudonym, has unblushingly garbled whole chapters from the old historians, the "Almanach," and various writers, interspersed with coarse stories of gluttony. It is to be deplored that La Reyniere cannot arise from his final resting- place to administer the castigation the author deserves. From him it is refreshing to turn to the "Dipsychus" of Arthur Hugh Clough and read his animated poem, "Le Diner," with its resonant refrain which, strangely, has been omitted from the later editions: "Come along, 't is the time, ten or more minutes past. And he who came first had to wait for the last. The oysters ere this had been in and been out ; While I have been sitting and thinking about How pleasant it is to have money, heigh-ho ! How pleasant it is to have money ! "A clear soup with eggs; voila tout; of the fish The filets de sole are a moderate dish A la Orly, but you 're for red mullet, you say. By the gods of good fare, who can question to-day How pleasant it is, etc. "After oysters, Sauterne; then sherry; champagne; Ere one bottle goes, comes another again ; 336 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER Fly up, thou bold cork, to the ceiling above. And tell to our ears in the sounds that we love How pleasant it is, etc. "I 've the simplest of tastes ; absurd it may be. But I almost could dine on a poulet au riz, Fish and soup and omelette, and that — but the deuce — There were to be woodcocks, and not charlotte russe! So pleasant it is, etc. "Your Chablis is acid, away with the Hock, Give me the pure juice of the purple Medoc; St. Peray is exquisite; but, if you please. Some Burgundy first, before tasting the cheese. So pleasant it is, etc. "As for that, pass the bottle, and hang the expense — I 've seen it observed by a writer of sense That the labouring classes could scarce live a day If people like us did n't eat, drink, and pay. So useful it is, etc. "One ought to be grateful, I quite apprehend, Having dinner and supper and plenty to spend. And so, suppose now, while the things go away, By way of a grace we all stand up and say. How pleasant it is to have money, heigh-ho \ How pleasant it is to have money!" To English guides, so far as the metropolis is con- cerned, should be added Lieutenant-Colonel Newn- ham Davis' recent volume — a veritable Murray to the table of London.^ In this gossipy and sprightly 1 " Dinners and Diners, Where and larged and Revised Edition. Lon- Howto Dine in London. By Lieut.- don: Grant Richards, 1901." Chap- Col. Newnham Davis. A New En- ters liii, pp. 376. 337 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE manual one may dine by proxy in nearly all the lead- ing restaurants as well as in many of the more Bohe- mian resorts. The appointments and surroundings of each are picturesquely set forth, with the exact menu and price of each dinner, together with an occasional recipe of some distinguished foreign master of the range, or a dish for which a restaurant is especially renowned. And while one may marvel at the writer's facile receptivity for an almost unvaried round of vin- tage champagnes, and sympathise with him in the fre- quent iteration of certain dishes, one must recognise, nevertheless, that if the dinners he discussed as an offi- cial representative of the "Pall Mall Gazette" could be duplicated by the average diner, London were not to be despised as a stamping-ground for the accom- plished gastronomer. The author does not hesitate to criticise, though his exceptions are usually in the nature of a sauce piquante, rather than a drastic condi- ment; and it is evident in the majority of the feasts he passes under review — now with a boon companion, and now with a pretty and well-gowned causeuse — that the special resources of the chef and maitre-d'ho- tel, who are duly introduced to the reader, have been brought into Aladdin-like play for his special delecta- tion. The Benedict will doubtless envy him his petits- diners with so varied a menu of charming women to stimulate his appetite and share his champagne and entremets de douceur; the bachelor will recognise how a prolonged series of such dinners with supplementary flowers, a loge at the theatre, and a concluding supper swell the addition, and render rising with the lark or any attention to business the following morning ut- 338 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER terly beyond the compass of mortal power. To assist in a repast with Colonel Davis, however, is to be as- sured of dining excellently in London, with pleasant company and a double assurance of the truth of the aphorism, that one can never grow old at table. Reference has already been made to numerous French minor writers on gastronomy; among whom should not be omitted the name of the eminent Dr. Reveille-Parise, author of several works on hygiene, whose dissertation on the oyster, presented with all the. charm that a brilliant style and profound erudi- tion may impart, is unrivalled in the language.^ Much has natm-ally been said, both by English and by French writers, concerning the restaurant. The celebrated Dr. Veron, who was nearly always accus- tomed to dine at a restaurant in preference to din- ing at his own home, gave these as his reasons : "In your own home the soup is on the table at a certain hour, the roast is taken off the jack, the dessert is spread out on the sideboard. Your servants, in order to get more time over their meals, hurry you up ; they do not serve you, they gorge you. At the restaurant, on the contrary, they are never in a hurry, they let you wait, and, besides, I always tell the waiters not to mind me ; that I like being kept a long while — that is one of the reasons why I come here. Another thing, at the restaurant the door is opened at every moment and something happens. A friend, a chum, or a mere ac- quaintance comes in ; one chats and laughs : all this aids diges- tion. A man ought not to make digestion a business apart. He ought to dine and digest at the same time, and nothing aids this dual function like good conversation. Perhaps the 1 "L'Hygiene des Hommes llvre's aux Travaux de I'Esprit." 339 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE servant of Madame de Maintenon, when the latter was still Madame Scarron, was a greater philosopher than we suspect when he whispered to his mistress, 'Madame, the roast has run short; give them another story. 5 )> It was after a dinner in a Fifth Avenue restaurant, at which terrapin and '89 Pol Roger, canvasback, and '78 Haut-Bailly figured, that while smoking his Vuelta-Abajo — ^impressed with the excellence of the repast, and smitten at the thought of his absent ones — the host observed to his companions, "Hea- vens! how I wish I could afford to treat my family to a dinner like this !" The stomach also has its con- science. But Thackeray has covered precisely such a case in the essay, "On some Dinners at Paris." "What is the use," he asks, "of having your children, who live on roast mutton in the nursery, to sit down and take the best three-fourths of a perdreau truffe with you? What is the use of helping your wife, who does n't know the diif erence between sherry and Madeira, to a glass of priceless Romance or sweetly odoriferous Chateau Lafite of '42?" Besides his sonnets "Le Toast" and "Barriere du Maine," Charles Monselet has written most enter- tainingly of the restaurant under the title, "Les Cabinets Particuliers," a sketch which figured in "Le Double Almanach Gourmand" of 1866, of which he was the editor for several years. In this publication appeared Albert Glatigny's "Rue des Poitevins," one of several poems with the restaurant as their theme, the stanzas being not unworthy of the melodi- ous lyre of "Les Vignes Folks" and "Les Fleches d'Or": 340 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER "C'est le vieux restaurant ou vont les ecoliers Qui n'ont point submerges les cols brises encore. Dans I'atmosphere chaude et franche on voit eclore, Entre deux brocs de vin des refrains cavaliers. "Les peintres, les rimeurs, — leurs soucis oublies, — Y vont rire le soir d'un bon rire sonore, Et pour mon corapte, moi dans mon for, je m'honore D'avoir allegrement grimpe ses escaliers. "Des escaliers du temps de la serrurerie, Larges, la rampe en fer, ouvrages, bien dalles, Donnant sur un cour propre a la reverie. "Maison Laveur ! hier, c'etait la qu'attables Devant la soupe aux choux, nous guettions, mon Lemoyne, La petite servante aux rougeurs de pivoine." The student of Glatigny, who must always admire the rhythm and melody of his Muse, will also remem- ber his quaint sonnet published in "Gilles et Pas- quins," entitled "Monselet devoured by the Lobsters." The works of Henri Murger are replete with epu- lary sketches of the old Latin Quarter of Paris, a district from which Victor Hugo has also drawn. Theodore de Banville has likewise depicted many a picturesque restaurant scene in his airy "Odes Fu- nambulesques." The lyrists, too, have not been un- mindful of the poetry of the kitchen. Many visitors to Paris will remember dining at Bignon's, and doubtless will equally recall the figures of the addition. Of this restaurant, whose carte was devoid of prices, it was said that a man who dined 341 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE at the corner table for a period of years became a cosmopolite — in every capital of Europe he would be recognised and feted; for that matter, he did not need to rise from his chair, as all Europe would pass in review before him. A provincial dining there in April, on perceiving melons on the card, ordered one. "What!" he ex- claimed, after examining his bill, "thirty francs for a melon! You are joking!" "Monsieur," replied Bignon, "if you can find me three or four at the same price, I will buy them imme- diately." "Fifteen francs for a peach?" inquired Prince Narischkin; "they must be very scarce." "It is n't the peaches that are scarce, mon prince; it is the Narischkins." "Monsieur Bignon, a red herring at two and a half francs! It seems to me that is excessive." "But these prices are marked in your interest," re- joined the restaurateur. "It is the barrier I have es- tablished between my clients and the vulgar. Why do you come here ? To be among yourselves, to avoid embarrassing or compromising surroundings. If I changed my prices, the house would be invaded, and you would all leave." Another patron who complained of a sauce was asked, "Did you dine here last evening?" "No," he replied. "That is the trouble, then; you spoiled your taste in the other restaurant." Still another guest objected to the charges on his bill, comparing it with an identical breakfast of a 342 SUNDRY GUIDES TO GOOD CHEER few days previous which amounted to eighteen and a half francs, whereas the breakfast in question was charged twenty-one francs, eighty centimes. "I will investigate the mistake," said Bignon, who, with the two bills, proceeded to the desk, returning shortly afterwards. "It is very true, Monsieur, that a mistake was made in your favour last JNIonday; but I make no claim for restitution!" Do the anecdotes and cook-books and treatises on eating and drinking savour of gluttony to some who eat only to live, and who are lacking in the finesse of Good Cheer? Let all such consult a volume written by one of the gentler sex, and hearken to her admir- able definition of the Tenth Muse : "Gluttony is ranked with the deadly sins ; it should be hon- oured among the cardinal virtues. To-day women, as a rule, think all too little of the joys of eating; they hold lightly the treasures that should prove invaluable. They refrain to recognise that there is no less art in eating well than in paint- ing well or writing well. For the gourmande, or glutton, duty and amusement go hand in hand. Mind and body ahke are satisfied. The good of a pleasantly planned dinner out- balances the evil of daily trials and tribulations. By artistic gluttony, beauty is increased, if not actually created. Re- joice in the knowledge that gluttony is the best cosmetic. Gross are they who see in eating and drinking nought but grossness. Gluttony is a vice only when it leads to stupid, inartistic excess." ^ 1 " The Feasts of Autolycus— The don: John Lane. New York: The Diary of a Greedy Woman. Edited Merriam Co. 1896." by Elizabeth Robins Pennell. Lon- 343 OF SAUCES " Je la redoute, cette sauce. Avec elle on mangerait toujours. La lecture seule de sa recette donne faim. " Babon Bbisse : La Petite Cuisine. THE supreme triumph of the French cuisine con- sists in its sauces; for nothing can so vary the routine of daily cookery as the different combinations of herbs and seasonings that may be utihsed by a com- petent artist as an adjunct and a finish to a dish. King's "Art of Cookery" has admirably versified the mission of the sauce: "The spirit of each dish and zest of all Is what ingenious cooks the Relish call; For though the market sends in loads of food, They all are tasteless till that makes them good." 344 A SUPPER IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY From the engi-aving after Masquelier OF SAUCES As without flattery there were no society, so without sauces there were no gastronomy. Properly prepared, with a thorough understanding of the hygienic nature of flavourings and their harmony with reference to the special viands they are to enhance, a finely com- posed sauce is a digestive as well as a stimulus to the organs of taste. No better illustration of the qualities of a perfect sauce occurs in the annals of the art than that of Baron Brisse, which refers to sauce bearnaise, and La Reyniere's comment on anchovy sauce, — "Lorsque cette sauce est bien traittee, elle ferait man- ger un elephant/' This is La Reyniere's recipe, in- cluding its proper belongings, as given in the sixth year of the " Almanach " : "The anchovy figures as a stimulant and aperient in a great number of sauces, whose presence imparts to them their principal virtues. Such are the sauces a VAllemande, a I'anchois, aux cdpres, etc. ; we shall confine ourselves to the recipe of that which bears its name. Anchovy sauce is pre- pared by first carefully washing the anchovies in vinegar ; the bones are then removed, the fish finely minced and placed in a stewpan with a clear coulis ^ of veal and ham, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and fine spices; after heating reduce to the proper consistence and give it the finishing touch. This sauce serves for the roast. The anchovy plays the principal role in the sauce served with roast sirloin of beef and hare a la broche. It is made with their juices and a little bouillon, anchovies coarsely chopped, capers, fine herbs, tarragon, pepper, salt, and vinegar. With this sauce well prepared, one might eat an elephant. , . 1 Coulis — a thick gravy, and also a term formerly applied to the fundamental sauces. . 345 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "Anchovy sauce is also employed in several sorts of gravies, and one may say that it is not misplaced in any piquante sauce; for it is in itself an excellent epigramme. It follows from these remarks that the anchovy is an indispensable ad- junct to good cheer. Its body figures admirably for the dejeuner and with the hors-d'oeuvres, and its spirit makes itself distinctly felt in all sauces that it permeates. It im- parts to them a savour which stimulates the appetite and agreeably captivates the palate." In the middle ages the office of the saucier, or master sauce-maker, was invested with great importance. A chief functionary in all grand houses, under him were clerks, varlets, and youths termed galopins de saucerie, who stood ever ready to do his bidding. Old wood- cuts depict him presiding over his receptacles — as im- posing in his dignity as the master-carver himself. Even then the adage held good that the sauce wa« often worth more than the fish. Indeed, the sauce is the sonnet of the table, as varied in its forms as the structure of the sonnet itself. The Gaul is its master, and to him belongs the majority of its most pleasing tenses. In the words of the dis- tinguished Marquis de Cussy, who maintained that a good cook can remove your gout as you would re- move your gloves, — "Point de sauce, point de salut, point de cuisine; where would we be if the grand sauces, the lesser ones, and the special ones that have rendered the French school illustrious had not been discovered by men of the greatest genius? The life labours of one alone would not have sufficed. What a brilliant ladder to scale, that which, leaving the last round — the sauce pauvre homme — is lost in the clouds 346 OF SAUCES with the veloute, the grande and petite espagnole, and the reductions!" ^ Sauce Soubise, sauce d'Orleans, sauce d'XJxelles, and sauce a la Regence are all credited to great minds of the eighteenth century, so prolific of new culinary discoveries. Through their piquant instrumentality we may in imagination summon the splendours of the Regency and the reign of Louis, surnamed "le Bien- Aime," with the brilliant toilets of its gay and pretty women — the high-heeled pointed shoe, the powdered hair, the rouge and beauty-spot, the painted fan and walking-stick of fille, duchesse, and marquise that still look at us from the canvases of Boucher and Watteau. We may see, too, the V-shaped satin corsage, the ex- pansive pannier, the diaphanous robe deshabillee, — flounced, frilled, flowered, and furbelowed, — the em- broidered petticoat and surge of lace and ribband, as fair dame and plumed gallant repair to the suppers of the Palais-Royal and the Pare aux Cerfs, or sit down amid rmibrageous glades to the revels of a fete champetre. Almost as many varieties of sauces exist as of soups. But these may vary little or largely from their usually accepted names. The cook will tell you, if you are unacquainted with the fact yourself, that by adding to simple melted butter a liberal amount of finely chopped parsley (some ruin the relish with grated nutmeg, a spice which should be used with great dis- cretion), salt and pepper, and a dash of lemon, you have what is termed a maitre-d'hotel sauce. Add to this finely minced garden-cress, chervil, and a little 1 "L'Art Culinaire." 347 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE tarragon and burnet, and you produce a different sauce under the same name. Thus plain onion sauce and sauce Soubise, in each of which the onion forms the dominant chord, may differ equally, and sauce piquante and sauce Robert vary only in their titles and the additional mustard called for by the latter. Sauce poivrade, in like manner, is a sauce piquante with an increased supply of pepper and without the pickled cucimiber. Among the most valuable of all sauces, though em- ployed only cold and served with cold viands, is that which at once suggests what Jules Janin in an inad- vertent moment termed the "cardinal of the seas," and that at a luncheon or a late supper possesses a merit distinctively its own. This Careme has dealt with at length in his treatise on cold sauces. The origin of the word "mayonnaise," a blending supposed to be the invention of the Marechal de Richelieu, has always remained in doubt. Its etymology has been attributed to Mahon, a town of southern France. Yet this sup- posed derivation is extremely dubious; and as it was also known as 'Tsayonnaise," it might be ascribed equally to Bayonne, famous for its hams, its cheese, and its chocolate, and for having invented the bay- onet.^ It has been variously termed mahonaise, bayonnaise, mahonnoise, magnonaise, and mayonnaise. But Ca- reme, after minutely describing its preparation, from the first drop of oil to its final silky, white, and unctu- ous cream, denies its accepted derivation, and pro- 1 "All the entries having the name the Marechal, Due de Richelieu." — Bayonnaises (a corrupt term for Manuel des AjirHiTRVONS. Mahonnoise) were the inventibn of 348 OF SAUCES nounces it magnonaise, from the verb manier — to stir ; as it may be prepared only through the continual stir- ring it undergoes, which results in a marrowy, velvety, and very appetising sauce, unique of its kind, and bearing no resemblance to others that are obtained only through reductions of the range. Despite this ingenious explanation, the word is still written "mayonnaise"; and while lights shine brilliantly, and champagne sparkles, and the great crawfish, subli- mated into salad, receives the encomiums of apprecia- tive guests, the famous chef of the Empire is forgot- ten, and the chapter of the "Cuisinier Parisien" exists only as a tale that is told. It may be observed that a good sauce should be perfiect in flavour, colour, smell, and consistency. It should be savoury, flowing, and well defined. On the proper liaison, a correct apportionment of the flavour- ings, a knowledge of the range, and a discriminating palate, supplemented by long experience, depends its triumph. Of course the bain-marie will be readily accessible when the sauce is obliged to wait, the butter will be unexceptionable, and the shallot especially will never be lacking when its virtues are in request. As has been previously stated in the case of numerous other culinary preparations, success depends more upon the practitioner than the formula. It is as diffi- cult, therefore, to describe the subtle chiaroscuro of a perfect sauce as to define the hues that mantle the petals of the rose "Beaute Inconstante," or the combined odours hived by a windless night of June. Comparatively few sauces may suffice for the mod- est household to supplement the espagnole, or brown 349 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE sauce, and the veloute, or white sauce, the foundations from which most others are compounded. These two rudimentary sauces, to be well made, should not be greasy, but contain just enough fat, according to the authorities, to present the velvety appearance of a full-blown damask rose. Careme devotes twenty- five pages to these "mother sauces" and their two slight modifications, bechamel and allemande; while Francatelli points out that although great care and watchful attention are requisite in every branch of cookery, the exercise of these qualities is most essential in the preparation of the grand stock sauces. In the home kitchen these are naturally prepared in an in- finitely more simple manner than according to the elaborate recipes of the great professors of the table. The mistress of the household who would render herself trebly appreciated, and who by ministering to man's palate may the more readily guide, direct, and control his character, should train herself imerringly in the art of compounding appetising and wholesome sauces. To be sure, some of these manipulated by competent masculine hands — but how often slurred by some fatigued or indifferent sous-chef! — may be ob- tained at one's club or the better-class restaurants. But here in many instances the wine-cellar is apt to be uncertain; while frequent dining out is not to be compared with the sense of comfort of dining at home when the kitchen, even though unpretentious, is care- fully administered, the menu varied, the wines perfect of their kind, and where Her Gracious Serenity's ad- dress may have conjured some dainty entree whose sauce, sapid and velvety, leaves nothing to be de- 350 OF SAUCES sired. One might tire of this, perchance, with no change for a sixmonth, as one might weary of constant sunshine or a too lavish profusion of tender epithets. Yet it is a desirable condition, nevertheless, to fall back upon; and in the end far the safest for digestion. And this despite Balzac, who well understood the cuisine no less than the "Comedie Humaine," — that "marriage must necessarily combat a monster who de- vours everything — daily routine"; or his other defini- tion in the "Physiology of Marriage," a physiological study that was inspired by Savarin's "Physiology of Taste,"^ — "Pressurez le manage, il nen sortira jamais rien que du plaisir pour les garpons et de I' ennui pour les maris." The wise woman will have many side-lights in her composition; and in the kitchen her sauces will have many shadings. Let us toast her in a glass of sparkling St. Peray, and acknowledge that without her there were no home cuisine and consequently no home life. So closely does the art advocated by the late lamented Mrs. Glasse touch upon the fundamental happiness of man- kind; and sauces which render it an art supreme still further accentuate the amenities. It has been said that it is not obligatory for lovely arms and shoulders to be acquainted with rhetoric. However this may ob- tain — and there are admirers both of shapely shoulders and of the graces of languages, there can be no doubt that charming women who possess a taste for gas- tronomy which they can put to practical use upon oc- casion, are an infinitely greater desideratum than 351 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE whose energies may be centred strictly upon flounces or the study of metaphysics. With the following sauces, besides the simpler forms of espagnole and veloute, much may be ac- complished at home: cream bechamel, sauce pi- quante, sauce bordelaise, maitre-d'hotel and bearnaise, hoUandaise, sauce au vin blanc, sauce au beurre noir (plain, or with shallots and parsley added), tomato sauce and its special form a, la Richelieu, and, finally, Francatelli's sauce Number 65 for mutton and dark- fleshed game/ If, apart from those emmierated, madame be an artist in the fashioning of sauce tartare, the mayonnaise and its shadings, and a plain French salad dressing, all will be lovely sailing. What 's sauce for the goose, however, is not necessarily sauce for the gander, and vice versa. Women will prefer the cream bechamel, mayonnaise, and Francatelli, and the sterner sex will like them all. It may not prove entirely without profit if to these be added sauce a la Schonberg, which harmonises not only with halibut, flounder, sea-bass, and sole, but with chicken-breasts and white-fleshed game-birds as well, when one desires a change from the usual modes of preparation : "Sauce a la Schonberg. Make a rbux of a tablespoon of butter and flour, brown slightly, add two shallots finely minced, and a pint of chicken broth, three tablespoons of to- mato sauce, a small bay-leaf, two cloves, some finely minced parsley, a teaspoon of cognac, and a little white wine. Sea- son with salt and pepper, and strain. Then add a half can 1 The recipes for sauce a la Richelieu and Francatelli's sauce are presented respectively in the following and in a previous chapter. 352 OF SAUCES of mushrooms, slice and brown them in a little butter with a few dice of sweetbreads previously cooked, and, just before removing from the range, the yolk of an egg and a half cup of cream." The professional chef may possibly criticise it, — mesdames the " 'Compleat' Housewives" will discover in it a fragrant note of satisfaction. Will new sauces continue to be invented? Assur- edly; of culinary as well as other novelties there will always be an abundant supply, however bizarre or lacking in excellence compared with the old. But in new dishes it will be new combinations for the most part, varying but little from the classics and those al- ready known, rather than any distinctly novel forms of superior merit, such as have been recently evolved in floriculture, for instance. For the art of cookery is of ancient time, while the evolution of the flower, especially the floral queen, the rose, is comparatively new; and where the one has still untold possibilities, the other has well-nigh attained its full tide of savour and perfection, at least in theory and understanding, if not nearly so often in practice as were to be desired. An extended disquisition, redolent of truffles and odorous of the herb-garden, might be devoted to the subject of sauces, of which Charles Ranhofer in his recent manual, "The Epicurean," presents two hun- dred and forty-six. But this were invading the prac- tical domain of the cookery books, and wandering too far from the lines of the subject under consideration — ^the history and province of Gastronomy. 353 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER "It is difficxilt to imagine a liappier conjunction than the blend- ing of the symbols when the arms of a sportsman are quartered with those of a cook. The tints of the autumnal woods reflected in the plumage of mature and lusty game are types of rich ex- periences' and genial sentiments which flit about the sportsman's board and linger at his hearth with as gracious a fitness as that which diffuses a faint blush through the russet of a well-cooked mallard's breast, and with a zest equal to the relish which lurks within a woodcock's thigh." — John AldEegbove. HOW that beechwood on a distant hillside, its tall trees despoiled of their foliage, and its skirts lighted with the clinging gold of the saplings, stands out against a hoar November sky and the tablets of memory, as one recollects an accommodating covey of grouse, a successful "right and left," and the hoarse clamour of the crows whose conclave was disturbed by the salvo of the barrels ! Of the wealth of aliments bestowed upon man by a 354 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER bountiful Providence for his sustenance and delecta- tion, none lends a greater grace or ministers more to the variety of the table than game. The offspring of wild nature, nursed upon its fruits, its mast, and its vegetation, and exhaling the very essence of its most secluded recesses, it sheds an added lustre even upon the most elaborate repast. Its comparative rarity, to- gether with that quality which may be best defined as distinction, invests it with a heightened charm; while to the sportsman it is indelibly associated with scenes the recollection of which causes the pulse to throb with a renewed joy in the sense of living. Its pursuit natu- rally leads to an abiding love for nature; so that the bird in the thicket, the wild fowl in the marsh, and the hare in the covert become to the votary of sport more than mere adjuncts of gustatory delight. Who shall ever forget the first game-bird he has killed, or the first " pound trout " he has captured with the fly? — the souvenir comes like a burst of autumnal radiance, or the redolence of vernal flowers. To what enchant- ments is not game the open-sesame ; and what halcyon visions does it not enshrine ! It is the emblem of plen- teousness, the symbol of maturity. The gilded woods and ripened fruits, the teeming fields and garnered sheaves, the purple haze and mellow afterglow, the harvest moon and the elixir of the frost — all the lar- gesse of the year is typified in the least of the wild life that is included in the term "game." These woodcock, for instance, do they not at once bring to mind the beauties of their native haunts? — the devious alder tangle and jungle of wild grape where the dragon-fly flits above the murmurous 355 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE stream, and the cardinal-flower reflects itself within the glassy pool. This ruffed grouse, in turn, how he recalls the pageant of the upland! Once more you scent ,the breath of the wildwood and drink the exhil- arating draught of October. Again are you thrilled by the roar of strong pinions as the quarry rises in his strength, to fall beneath the leaden charge and fold his wings in everlasting sleep. Or, with the advent upon the board of that much-in-little, the snipe, the lonely marsh with its whispering flags and shift- ing cloud-shadow extends in imagination before you — where the killdeer calls, and the bittern booms, and the bird of mottled breast twists away with raucous cry to be lost in the grey horizon's marge. Thus game to the sportsman embodies an aesthetic / attribute unknown to the majority, the very associa- tions of sport in themselves conferring the keenest appreciation of the true instincts of gastronomy. The range and the breech-loader are closely allied, and the field and the table become merged in ties of mutual afiinity. Nor may we overlook the great worth of game in the sick-room, and as a ministering agent for the invalid and convalescent. It possesses, in addi- tion, a virtue equalled by scarcely any other form of food, in calling forth the bouquet and flavour of wine — whether it be a white wine with the denizens of fresh and salt water that figure as game-fish, or a grand growth of Bordeaux or Burgundy that is appropri- ately served with the furred and feathered tenants of Sylva's court. Then if one has killed it himself, or a friend whose skill has checked its flight has been 356 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER the means of contributing its graces, its quintessence becomes all the more adorable. Combining so many advantages, it is to be deplored that the preservation of game in this country is not more carefully guarded, and that the scarcity of many species is becoming more and more apparent. The practice of spring shooting of snipe, duck, and shore- birds, when on their migrations to their northern nest- ing-grounds, cannot be too severely censured; while the laxity in enforcing the laws and the dissimilarity of close seasons in different counties operates still further to cause the depletion of wild life. The pot- hunter and the spaniel, the trap and the gin, are gradually exterminating the ruffed grouse; the olden flocks of plover and wild pigeon have well-nigh vanished; while snipe, woodcock, quail, and duck are now as rare in many localities where they formerly abounded as the trout which once swarmed in the streams. Deer and its con- geners, it is true, have received better protection of recent years, the increasing numbers of deer at least attesting the wisdom of stringent laws stringently en- forced. It will therefore be readily evident that pres- ervation and protection become a question of para- mount importance which may no longer be loosely considered, or soon the last grouse will have sounded his reveille, and the whistle of the woodcock will re- main only as a memory. The remedy is easily pre- scribed, and may be briefly summarised — legitimate shooting and fishing, rigid enforcement of the laws with heavy penalties for the offender, a single close season for the smaller species that are found in prox- 357 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE imity, abolishment of spring shooting, and a rigor- ous surveillance of the covers. By this means the table may possess one of its greatest luxuries in abundance, and sport resume its former sphere as the greatest of recuperative and edifying recreations. In its relation to the table, the term "game" is held to include wild fowl as well as most furred and feathered 1/ spoils of the chase. Or, defined more accurately in its connection with gastronomy, it embraces everything belonging to the province of sport that is edible. Cor- rectly speaking, no species of wild fowl, or species like the plover, rail, pigeon, etc., may be accounted game, the quality of which consists in the subtle presence of scent, instinctively recognised and followed by thor- oughbred dogs,- — a trait expressed by Hollar's lines, "The Feasant Cocke the woods doth most frequent, Where Spaniells spring and pearche him by the sent." Yet species foreign to the blue blood of flax and fea- ther may, nevertheless, afford sport, and prove acqui- sitions for the table. The little spotted sandpiper, ac- cordingly, whose musical peet, weet, weet rings along the brooksides and moist meadow-lands, and even the . squirrel if killed in cold weather, are entitled to rank as table-game, providing they be properly prepared. It should not be supposed, however, that all indi- viduals of a given species taste alike, flavour being the result of two important conditions. Neither should it be presumed that a game-bird, usually re- ferred to as masculine, is preferable for the larder in that gender; the truth being that for culinary pur- 358 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER poses the hen is generally preferable to the cock. Every sportsman will recall the diflference in the taste of certain game-birds, more especially snipe and wood- cock — depending upon the nature of their feeding- groimds, and upon the season. Like celery, moreover, most game requires a touch of the cold to develop its qualities. The snipe that bores in sweet, moist pas- tures, and the woodcock shot on high grounds during late autumn, would hardly be recognised as the same birds bagged under widely dissimilar conditions. The bobolink of our summer fields is scarcely prized until as a migrant he has fattened on the rice-fields of the South, to acquire an added bloom under the name of reed-bird or rice-bunting. Similarly, the sheep of Pre-Sale, the succulent salt-marsh mutton of the Brit- tany coasts, renowned for its delicious flavour, owe this quality largely to the herb absinthe which grows amid the herbage on which they browse. The mutton of sheep fed on pastures where thyme abounds also ac- quires a particularly fine savour. In like manner, when the ruffed grouse through stress of weather has been compelled to feed on birch-buds, or when he has dined on the berries and foliage of the wintergreen, his aroma is strikingly accentuated, becoming a veri- table "steam of rich-distilled perfumes." The wild duck is an apposite example of the effect of food upon flavour ; and even a pheasant a la Sainte Alliance must pale before a celery-fed canvasback or redhead bathed in its own carmine juices. The redhead, who dives down for the roots of the Vallis- neria which the lazier canvasback purloins, is identi- cal in quality with the latter when shot on the same 359 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE feeding-grounds ; the only difference between the two when cooked consisting in the larger size of the canvas- back. Equally, the blackbird and starling, when killed on the shocked corn-fields where the hazy sun- light broods, or in autumn woods where they are gar- rulously discussing the date of their approaching flight and marvelling at the exquisite gradations of the maples' changing hues, become possessed of a tenderness and succulence unknown to the glare and greenness of summer. Another much esteemed native table-bird is the sora, crake, or Carolina rail, who should not be con- founded with the British and European corn-crake or land-rail whom Michael Drayton refers to as "seldom coming but on rich man's spits," and Gilbert White represents as crying crex! creoc! from the low, wet bean-fields of Christian Malford and the meadows near Paradise Gardens at Oxford. The sora throngs the marshes of the Atlantic coast in early autumn, con- gregating in the greatest quantities south of the Rap- pahannock, where he is slaughtered by wholesale with comparatively little diminution of his ranks. He is a small dark-fleshed bird of great delicacy when broiled, and by many is prized more highly than the toothsome reed-bird or the golden plover. Though resembling the corn-crake in many ways, his nearest relative abroad is the spotted crake. The great- breasted or king-rail of the fresh-water marshes is like- wise much esteemed. In flavour the sora is not unlike the wild duck; or, if the comparison may be made, a cross between the qualities of a teal and a snipe — de- riving his special richness from the seeds of the Zizania 360 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER aquatica, or tall, wild reed of the tidewater shores. The juicy little bobolink whose rippling scherzo, flving over the fallows and buttercups of June, is basely for- gotten by the epicure in the fall, may be crunched in a mouthful ; the sora is thrice his size, and, though sel- dom as fat, is richer in the quality of his ruddy flesh. It were a parlous task to attempt to describe from memory the respective merits of the reed-bird, the famed European ortolan, and the English wheatear, fieldfare, and mistletoe-thrush. One stands helpless under such a contretemps, and must necessarily await the advent and the edict of another La Reyniere. The fig-pecker of southern Europe is more easily passed upon, and readily ranks first among small table-birds. The tall yellowshank or stone-snipe, with his slim gilded stilts and snow-white breast, familiar to the gunner as a migrant and a frequent companion of the upland-plover, would be esteemed by* the sportsman- epicure if only for the recollection of his splendid spread of wing, his graceful circlings, his loud whis- tling notes, and his lovely silvery plumage. Although considered less desirable than the snipe and woodcock, the upland- or grass-plover — in reality a sandpiper — should by no means be overlooked. One intuitively thanks him for the scenes he graciously leads to — the placid September day steeped in sun- shine, the tender green of sprouting wheat-fields, the pageant of asters, and the billowy roll of mushroom- studded pastures. One hears anew his weird, plaintive cry in the arc overhead — like the bleat of distant folds — audible long ere the grey forms are discernible, as the sportsman imitates their notes, and the wavering 361 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE flock, with a flutter of white wings, drops down to the sward below. Besides the salad which should accom- pany all species of game, the upland-plover, therefore, should be garnished with his accessory, the fleld-mush- room, whose snowy pileus and pink gills his dainty tread is constantly brushing, but never ruffling, amid the old pastures, stump-lots, and sheep-walks he fre- quents. But the graceful Bartramian sandpiper has other aliases than those of upland-, fleld-, and grass-plover. Besides his comutnon appellation of "tattler," he is known in Louisiana as the " pepperpot," and more generally as the "papabotte" — a local name, from the Creole French, significant of all that is most prized in edible game. "Arriving from the vast prairies of Mexico and Texas, where they spend the winter," says Audubon, "the dry upland plains of Louisiana called Opellousas and Attacapas are amply peopled with this species in early spring as well as in autumn. About New Orleans they appear in great bands in spring, and are met with on the open plains and large grassy savannahs." Upon the restaurant cards of New Orleans and other Southern cities he figures much as the truffle does in France — his particular food imparting to his flesh a peculiar flavour and certain peculiar virtues. The favourite mode of preparing him by the New Or- leans clubs is to roast him and serve him slightly un- derdone with the trail finely minced on toast. His appearance is nearly simultaneous with that of a blis- ter-beetle known as the "Spanish fly" — one of the ex- tremely numerous members of the genus Coleoptera 362 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER and family Cantharididce, of which a large portion are common to the haunts of the bird. This destruc- tive insect comes in myriads to prey upon growing vegetation, but the papabotte consumes vast numbers until his disappearance during latter September, as the upland-plover does of grasshoppers and crickets in the North — waxing so fat upon his favourite diet that when he falls before the gunner he often bursts open like an overripe fruit. He is known chiefly as the plover in Texas, where, in addition to a diet of grass- hoppers, etc., he subsists largely on the striped blister- beetle {Lytta vitatta) , and doubtless also on the black blister-beetle {Lytta atrata), which is likewise quite common to Texas during certain years. It is proba- ble that both these species of cantharides form a large portion of his diet in Louisiana as well. A wary bird when approached on foot, and not lying to the dog, he is frequently hunted on horseback, or by employing a horse and wagon, when he is easily brought to bag. The flesh of the cantharide-fed bird is always ex- tremely heating in its effects; and, indeed, owing to the absorption of cantharidin, the active principle of the insect, it not unfrequently acts as a violent irritant and poison. Yet the papabotte is eagerly sought for, and by the epicure his flesh is more highly esteemed than that of the woodcock, snipe, or sora.^ Notable among indigenous game-birds are the ruffed grouse, the quail, the pinnated grouse, and the woodcock, together with numerous other varieties of 1 "Those which feed much on can- have assured me that they have seen tharides require to be very carefully persons at dinner obliged to leave the cleaned, othervpise persons eating room at once, under such circum- them are liable to suffer severely, stances as cannot well be described." Several gentlemen of New Orleans — Aidubok: The Birds of America. 363 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE the family Tetraonidce, variously classed by the orni- thologists, that are less familiar or less widely dis- tributed, and are locally known under various names. With these may be included not a few species that do not figure properly as game, such as the wild turkey, canvasback duck, etc. All things considered, the ruffed grouse — the "par- /cridge" of the North and "pheasant" of the South — is entitled to rank first among feathered game. No- thing swifter or more valiant in plxunage tests the sportsman's nerve and skill. So far as sport is con- cerned, he may be placed, from his alertness, swift- ness, and the trying nature of his usual habitat, on a par with the trout of the clear Hampshire chalk- streams, whose fastidiousness in rising to the artificial fly so taxes the angler's resources on the placid reaches of the'Itchen, the Anton, and the Test. He is preem- inently the bird of the woodlands, supreme in his sturdiness and his strength. His roll-call awakens the wind-flower, and his thunderous whir! fans the September air into freshness. He blends with the buffs of the beech and russets of the oak, and is elo- quent with the lustihood of the ripened year. And how artfully he assimilates with the shadows and thrusts a tree-trunk between himself and the gunner! See him as he springs from the tangle of the sap- lings, a shaft of mottled splendour where the sun- light strikes his sides; and the hoarse boom of the double-barrel fails to check his tumultuous flight. Be- hold him in the spring while he struts upon his chosen log with extended tufts and expanded feathers, beat- ing the air with his wings, and sounding his reverber- 364 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER ating peal of defiance and of love. Consider him amid the rigours of the frost, loyal to his native haunts, true to the instincts of his race, when niost of his companions have deserted him for more congenial climes. Observe him once more when the deadly vol- ley has stopped his career, and he falls upon the russet carpet, in glossy black ruff, and plumage in blended hues of olive, brown, black, and grey — the noblest game-bird that treads the forest aisles! And if no other member of his family requires more address in bringing to bag, none may surpass, if equal, him in his wild woodland flavour. His back is the very incarnation of poignancjs while no bird that flies can vie with the whiteness and plumpness of his breast. This is saying nothing against the prairie-chicken in his younger stage, or the eastern quail, or even the two long-billed beauties beloved by the sportsman and the epicure. But the assertion may be safely ventured that he will lend himself to more varieties of wine in evolving their seve than any other representative of the haunts of Pan. Bonasa umhellus! may birch-bud and beech-nut, winter- green and partridge-vine, never fail thee in snow and storm ! With the speckled trout, the rainbow-trout, the sun- apee-trout or saibling, the black-bass and muscalonge should also be included among distinctly native game- fish. The brown trout of Europe has recently been introduced into many American waters, as the Mon- golian pheasant has been introduced in the fields. But the American speckled trout, who is in reality a char and smaller than the European trout, is higher fla- 365 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE voured, and, like the saibling and the rainbow-trout of the Rockies, is a far more beautiful fish. The brown trout thrives under warmer conditions than the speckled trout, and consequently is an acquisition. But as he attains a much larger size, it is unwise to place him in waters tenanted by the native species, as the larger fish has already proved very destructive to the smaller fry of the Salvelinus fontinalis. It is superfluous to state that fish cannot be too '^ fresh, in which respect it is the reverse of game. The quail, and especially the ruffed grouse, should be hung long enough to develop their flavour. Eaten too soon, they do not represent game, as their quality is not at- tained ; hung too long, on the other hand, they are not fit for the table. To cook quite fresh game is to deride its mission on earth. A happy medium should be ob- served in the case of maturing most species. The duck, woodcock, and snipe should only be mellowed or kept under favourable conditions for a short period. They are like a peach, which is best when recently plucked, as opposed to a pear, which requires to be slowly ripened after gathering. It is possible to eat a "high" grouse or pheasant, if not too gamy; but a duck past the meridian of maturity is well-nigh im- possible, as is also a shore-bird or either of the long- bills. There is no occasion to bury the wild boar, as is sometimes done in Europe for the purpose of mellow- ing him; inasmuch as he does not exist in America, and the razor-back hog of the South, however well he may have feasted on beech-mast, cannot take his place. But in place of the wild boar we have the 366 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER lordly moose, elk, and caribou, and the picturesque Rocky Mountain sheep and goat, which, if not all de- sirable for the larder, nevertheless afford magnificent sport; while by many a young caribou or elk, as also a mountain sheep, is considered among the graces of edible furred game. The relative time of keeping all game to savour it under the best conditions M-ill depend upon the wea- ther. It is always better when hung in the fur or feathers, and where it may have a circulation of air, than when confined in a close receptacle. When frozen it loses in flavour and succulence. Dark-fleshed birds, with few exceptions, are best rather underdone — rosy, but not raw. White-fleshed birds should be done sufficiently, but not cooked to the ex- tent of drying their juices. The cooking of mutton will serve as a type for the one, and veal for the other. Most game-birds are best plainly roasted or broiled, although for variety they may be served in various appetising ways. In roasting the smaller species, the vine-leaf and a strip of larding-pork should not be overlooked; and where these or well-buttered paper are not employed, as in the case of over-fat birds, the basting-spoon should be kept in constant agitation. Larding lightly often improves a white-fleshed bird where he has not been enveloped in pork. Especially-, let game be zealously watched in the cooking; let its appropriate wine be carefully consid- ered; and let no delay occur in its flight through the butler's pantry to the dining-room. Its garnishing also should be studied, that it may flatter the eye as well as the palate; and, for the most part, with fea- 367 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE thered game water-cress or filets of lemon should lend their colour and their zest. Game-birds should always be hung by the head, not for the purpose of sending the juices to the legs, as is fantastically supposed by some, but to allow the lower viscera and their contents an approach to the natural exit. Were they hung by the feet, the visceral machinery — softening more and more, as it always does — would of course press upwards to their bodies and probably taint them. A game-bird should never be drawn until that office is performed by the cook. Hares are usually hung by their hind legs, it is true ; but hares, if hung for any time, are invariably "paunched," so that no lower viscera remain in them. Fish, it has been pointed out, should never be cov- ered up, or it will suffer fatally from the condensation of the steam. It may be noted that for an all-round sauce for broiled fish, none wears better than a maitre- d'hotel and, occasionally, its modification, a sauce au beurre noir. A well-made bread-sauce, an accessory which we owe to England, always accords with quail and grouse, and is not amiss with prairie-chicken, €ven if they are already well moistened with the sauce of cooking them with pork and basting with bouillon. Francatelli's delicious sauce. Number 65, the. recipe for which has been presented in a previous chapter, will need no recommendation as an adjunct for venison and mut- ton where it has once been enjoyed. Apple-sauce is indispensable with the domestic duck, and boiled onions should not be omitted by way of a vegetable accompaniment. Canard saignant is reprehensible, 368 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER and equally so is the overdone bird. A wildling should be fresh and sweet, and "passed through the kitchen" not "once," but thrice; the domestic fowl will, of course, be allowed more time on the range to plume himself for the table. The celery-fed bird (O avis jucundissima!) calls for no other sauce than his own, but with some species a stuffing of olives and an olive sauce are excellent additions. Then, if your bins of tetes de cuvee of the Vosne be not lacking, you may hear your whistler simply praying to be engulfed in Richebourg or Romalnee. The wild turkey, the "spruce-partridge," and the "cottontail" will prove more desirable subjects for the seasonings and provocative sauces of the French cookery books than their more princely companions. The wild turkey, notably, despite his splendid wattles and emerald pliunage, it must be conceded cannot compare with the tamer fowl in edible qualities; and it were well, where a stately gobbler has been sent as the result of the prowess of a friend, to dispense at once with his drum-sticks, which, owing to his roving habits and wide ranging, have become tougher than the ham-strings of a patriarchal sage-cock. He should be treated as a somewhat plain-looking woman, who has passed the hey-day of her charms, pranks and accoutres herself for a ball, and the aid of art be summoned to amplify his good points and gloze over any of his deficiencies. His resonant voice of course will be stilled by the cooking, but his volup- tuous breast will remain. Thus by neatly cutting across the lower part of the back and thighs, removing his shapely legs, and then inverting him, he will have 369 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE been formed into a boat-like receptacle for an artistic chestnut stuffing. One may then proceed to lard him ; and, while roasting, baste him thoroughly, send him to the table with some oak-leaves en couronne, a cur- rant-jelly sauce in a saucier e, and, with the assistance of a perfumed and generous red wine, make the most of his seductive contours. All this may be contrary to the tenets of Savarin, who pronounces the wild turkey superior to the tame. But it must be remem- bered that he is speaking of a wild turkey that he had the good fortune to kill by his own hand while in Con- necticut — a fact which, with the appetite engendered by his shooting-outings, will readily account for the preference he expresses for the wild form of this noble member of the Phasianidce. At a certain season, how- ever, when he has fattened on pecan-nuts, the flesh of the wild turkey is of excellent flavour; and to this circimistance Audubon's eulogy is probably due: "The rufl'ed grouse, in my humble opinion, far sur- passes as an article of food every other land bird which we have in the United States, except the wild turkey when in good condition." Furred game is more amenable to variety in prep- aration than feathered ; and while manned venison and a civet of hare may be delicious, the fewer culinary frills on a grouse, woodcock, or snipe the better. A salmis, nevertheless, has its virtues ; and as for the lord of the woodlands, when tired of him au naturel, if that be possible, he may be invested with a new glory as partridge aux choux, if one but follow the counsels of Baron Brisse, whose prescript is well worth transcrib- ing and comes within the compass of all : 370 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER "Perdrix aux choux. All housewives do not succeed with perdrix aux choux. This is the way to set about it in order to be complimented. Pluck, draw, singe, truss, and tie up the partridges. Blanch some cabbages, cut in quarters from which the cores have been removed ; put them to soak in fresh water, dry them and press out all the water. Blanch also a small piece of lean pork from the breast. Make a light roux in a large stewpan, put the cabbages in with the small pieces of pork, some uncooked sausages, some carrots, an onion piqued with two cloves, a bouquet- garni, salt and pepper. Plunge the partridges in the centre of the cabbages, cover with broth and cook gently in a closed stewpan. When done, remove the birds, the pork and sausages, dry off the juice of the cooking, then drain the cabbages — that is, turn them in a stewpan, on a quick fire, until they are free from liquid. Untruss and dress the partridges on a platter, on a bed of cabbages, with the backs underneath, cut the pork and sau- sages in pieces, slice the carrots, and garnish with all. Par- tridge aux choux is accompanied with a sauce made from a roux moistened with broth and added to the juice of the cooking." -^ The touch of the baron in everything relating to the all-important office of eating is invariably delicate and sure. Nevertheless, if one may venture to suggest an improvement, not in the mode of cooking, wherein he is impeccable, but in the shading of the plat, it would be to remove the birds after they have simmered sufficiently in the cabbage, glaze them with melted butter, and place them for an instant in the oven, with a very lively fire, in order to brighten their otherwise somewhat blanched complexion. Sauerkraut, instead of cabbage, is frequently employed by the French, but 1 " La Petite-Cuisine." 371 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE with far less happy results. With care in its employ- ment, the Brussels sprout, after it has felt the finger of the frost, might be used as a medium with no re- grets unless on the score of a slight indigestion. Were one an ostrich, nothing could serve as a more delicious or colourful vehicle than the German roth-Kohl. Of sausages, the highly spiced little Wienerwurst is best adapted to the dish. A game-pie composed of numerous spoils of field and cover — -seasoned and stuffed with herbs, shallots, bay-leaf, mushrooms, truffles, chestnuts, sweetbreads, and various vegetables, and cooked in broth and red wine, with a fingerful of brandy and another or two of Madeira — is a triumph of the chef when well exe- cuted. But to indulge in this requires a vigorous di- gestion and toes impervious to arthriticism. In its relation to wine, the maturity of game should be taken into consideration; as, for example, with dark-fleshed birds that are comparatively fresh, a fine Bordeaux ; with those that are more matured, and par- ticularly duck, the warmer and more generous red vin- tages of the Cote d'Or and the Cote du Rhone. For a well-hung prairie-chicken, a red wine will naturally be selected; for a "partridge" that inclines to freshness, either champagne or Bordeaux, Burgundy or a Dei- desheimer Auslese may serve for a bath with equally good results. But game is too often undeservedly treated and served at the end of a dinner of numerous courses, when, whatever its merit or that of its accom- panying wine, the palate and appetite are in scant mood to appreciate it. With the advent of the autumnal equinox the calen- 372 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER dar of seasonable sport begins. There is then an ex- hilaration in the air that irresistibly invites to out-of- door exercise and an exploration of the covers. Game is then matured, fleet of foot and strong of wing; and at no other period do upland and vale present such varied attractions. September is the true adagio of sport, October and November the allegro, and De- cember the diminuendo. For pure sylvan beauty, no month may compare with October, when the torch of autumn kindles the woodlands into living flame, although the dreamy Indian summer possesses a charm that is matched only by May when she rolls away the resurrection-stone. Then when the purple landscape lies hushed in slumber, one may recall anew the forgotten ode of an unknown bard, in whose haunt- ing cadences are subtly expressed all the rest and peace and rhythm, all the tone, the tenderness, and benediction, of the latter-year; I. Nothing stirs the stillness save a leaf that slowly rustles down. Dim, through sunny mists the trees uplift their branches bare and brown; Winds are hushed, and skies are soft and grey, and grassy slopes are sere, — Calm and sweet and still, ah ! sure is this the twilight of the year. II. There is this in these November days, the message that is sent — • Peace undying, rest, and sweet and measureless content ; 373 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Life's wild fever over, sleep's soft mood enchanting, such as fills Golden dreams of gods immortal, sits enthroned upon these hills. III. Offered in day's golden chalice, sweet and dreamy peace is mine; All 's forgotten, lying here and watching tides of glorious light divine Slowly sweep along the hills, and vaguely thrilling to their sway — All that love hath lost or wrong hath won, O calm and royal day! Days there are in late November and December, too, when the beauties of leafless vegetation are scarcely surpassed by the pomp of October or the glamour of the Red Man's summer; when tender tones of russet and grey bask over bare fields and. fallows, and wanton amid mysterious woods ; and strange, ripe hues, rich as those of old tap- estries, smoulder and gleam the livelong day from the southern horizon's verge. There is a charm as well in the clear crispness of a winter's day, when the woods are cushioned with snow on which the sylvan denizens have left their imprint, and when one may penetrate into the swamp's most secluded labyrinths, where the hare and fox have gone before. But October and No- vember for the delights of the chase and glories of the countryside! The gay medley of suminer has passed, and in its place are the aster and goldenrod 374 Q |33 P^' ei ;, a ,=1 p=i ^ S H ■^ H 'i THE SPOILS OF THE COVER hosts, the bright berries of bittersweet and black al- der, the fragrant life-everlasting and lingering yar- row. Ceased is the drone of insect choirs, and birds are silent save for the chattering of congregating flocks and call-notes of passing migrants. But through the rustle of Autumn amid her falling leaves the quail cries aloud from the coppice, "I am here!" the squirrel barks, and far within the woodland's depths the drum of the grouse proclaims the reign of sport. What more appropriate at this most alluring mo- ment, when everything incites to an outing, than a hunting-party in the woods? — especially as one re- members that both the fall woodcock and time are on the wing. To a shooting- jaunt, therefore, with a well- prepared luncheon in the hampers, the reader is in- vited ; it being understood that this is to include, 'as nearly as possible, an equal number of both sexes. We will suppose a day in mid-October, after the frost has vivified the air, when the tints of vegetation vie with those of the noblest pressings of the vine, and the matured plumage of a game-bird in the cover far ex- ceeds the liveliest gilding the chef may bestow upon him on the table. Here, still more than at the dinner-table, success will depend largely upon careful forethought; for even should the birds be unusually wary, and there be not enough game in the pockets to weigh very heavy, the excursion will prove none the less enjoy- able, provided the party and the lunch be well com- posed. And whether the goal be within driving dis- tance, or accessible only by train, the details will have 375 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE been planned by one who is thoroughly conversant with the region to be visited, and the refection have been looked after by hands that never fail. Let the luncheon never be neglected. If the sportsman's ef- forts turn to good account, appetite is a certain se- quence; if not, an appetising spread will help to bridge over any chagrin at lapses of marksmanship, or the drawing of sparsely populated covers. Thus, under the most divergent circumstances, a choicely filled hamper answers an admirable purpose. Granted that one may shoot better during the first hour after a meagre repast, yet should an outing possess other features than mere weight and numbers. For hath not wise Montaigne declared, "He who hath no jouis- sance but in enjoying; who shoots not but to hit the marke ; who loves not hunting but for the prey ; it be- longs not to him to intermeddle with our schoole." The start will necessarily follow a reasonably early breakfast; and ere arriving at the final destination of the morning, various covers may be explored by the devotees of the gun. And while the music of the bar- rels rings through the painted woods, and the russet bird of October tops the ranks of the aspens, there will be sufficient novelty in the situation and in the attractions of their own company, no doubt, to prevent any ennui on the part of those in waiting. Meantime, while the bag of woodcock mounts, or an old cock grouse is neatly stopped in his rush through the thicket, the manifold beauties which the autumnal season weaves will naturally arrest one's attention; for he is callous indeed to all sense of beauty who even in the midst of exciting sport can 376 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER fail to note the harmonies of the October countryside. To the true nature-lover, the shooting will be more of an excuse than the principal reason for the ex- cursion, of which the surroundings and the joys of social companionship should constitute the greater entertainment. And thus ere leaving the scene of the last hour's sport, one involuntarily pauses at the skirts of the wood for a final survey, — to mark the gorgeous ambers of the beech, the garnets of the shad-blow and splendours of the dogwood and liquidambar ; to view the fires of the swamp-maple, the ochres of the sassa- fras and clarets of the oak; while, fringing the edges of the thicket, the bronzed fronds of the ostrich-fern and gilded pennants of the aspens flutter their fare- well to the passing year. On every side the insignia of autumn blaze. Thorns hang heavy with their bur- den of ruddy fruit, the black-alder berries gleam crim- son in the swamp, hickory and ehn shower down their ore. And but for the patter of dropping nuts, the robin's angelus, and the lisping of migrants pluming for their southward flight, one might suppose the ar- rased woodland halls had never hearkened to the her- mit's song or echoed to the veery's strain. In the air overhead the midges are holding their final dance; while from the lengthening shadows and plaintive au- tumn breeze comes a whispered admonition to seize the fleeting moment and make the most of the golden hour. Nevertheless, however alive to the enchantments of nature, the tonical quality of the air will have asserted its sway, and the gunner's appetite have mounted apace with the bag. So, in that contented frame of 377 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE mind and body which out-of-door exercise imparts, one arrives at the scene of the luncheon, which has been happily chosen in a glade through which the slanting sunbeam strays. And here the arrivals will note with delight the presence not only of certain vitreous receptacles with gilded capsules that are cool- ing in the stream, but also that of St. Ange, who so distinguished himself on a previous occasion with his wonderful salmis of quail. With the first glass of the foaming essence of the Marne, which blends admirably with the lobster-cutlets and tartare sauce, even the most enthusiastic of sportsmen will experience no regret at the change from the covers of the upland to those of the table. The more so as, passing to a vintage of the Haut-Medoc with its accompaniment of eggs farcis, chicken-breasts with a chestnut stuffing, lettuce sandwiches with pate de foie gras, and the final tartlets of puff -paste, the brightness of bright eyes increases, the merry tale goes round, and St. Ange arises to this gastronomic homily: "The collation to which we have done such merited justice demonstrates that not only in the society of the fair sex may man enjoy a delightful hunting- jaunt, but that the care they are capable of bestowing upon the spread renders their com- panionship even yet more desirable. The best of all sauces is hunger engendered by exercise in the open air, and, equally, the best of digestives is pleasant company.- But you have asked me to present my views of a fete champetre. In the present instance, as I consider the excellence of the repast, and survey the ideal scene that surrounds us, where even the trees disburse a golden tribute, I have but to draw from the hour itself to find all the elements that are neces- 378 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER sary for an ideal rural outing — congenial company, a fault- less day, an unexceptionable lunch, and picturesque environ- ment. As for the luncheon, its perfection consists in its piquancy and lightness. All heavy dishes should be scrupu- lously avoided. Taken at an unaccustomed time during the middle of the day, they are not only more or less indigestible and conducive to plethora, but they are inimical to the dinner which necessarily succeeds at a later hour, and which, how- ever well prepared, must prove a failure without appetite. In planning the luncheon one should always see to it that some tart relishes, as well as sweets, accompany the more substan- tial portions ; for the taste out-of-doors invariably craves one or the other, if not both. It is equally important that the wines be served at the right temperature, — " 'The Roederer chilly to a charm, As Juno's breath the claret warm,' — and that some one person be held strictly accountable for their condition. Where exercise is to be freely partaken of, beer or ale and some effervescent water should always form a part of the provision-box. At all seasons during which an outing may be taken with comfort, ice should be liberally provided. Its absence may spoil the day. If not wanted, its burden is light ; and if required, nothing can take its place. Where women lend their attractions to the party, champagne of a fine vintage, neither too sweet nor too dry, should be allowed to flow freely. The advantage of this form of wine consists not only in the exhilarating sparkle and play of its mantling life, where the beads that airily rise are ever in pursuit of those that have merrily passed ; but in the magnetism it pos- sesses above all other wines — of tempting the fair sex to drink an extra glass. The location for the midday symposium, if well chosen, will add greatly to the enjoyment of the occa- 379 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE sion. This should be free from draughts, by the side of a stream if possible, and offer an attractive view. These condi- tions fulfilled, nothing but pleasant remembrances can remain until the next villeggiatura. "You have requested of me a new dish. And if you forget La Bruyere's sentence that 'all has been said, and we arrive too late by more than seven thousand years since man has lived and thought,' I may observe that cookery is older than literature, and that new dishes are as difficult to devise as new thoughts are to be born; it is only by new combinations in both that one may hope to achieve applause. Yet there is everything in a delicate touch in cooking, which is always more inherent than acquired, a connaissance of herbs and flavourings, and a natural love for the good things of the table, inspired by robust health and inheritance. With pre- cisely the same components, no two artisans will produce the same results. There is an art even in the boiling of a potato, as there is in the blending of a salad, the gilding of a roast fowl, and a game-bird cooked a point. "Baron Brisse, you will recollect, has contributed an in- valuable recipe for a gigot rechauffe, whereby a leg of mutton may be made to do duty for two consecutive days. Here is the mode to prepare a gigot a la Richelieu which is not chronicled in the cook-books, — ^the allusion to the distin- guished Cardinal referring both to its cardinal virtues and the colour of the sauce. It is unnecessary to state that this dish belongs to the dinner and not to the luncheon : "Gigot de mouton d la Richelieu. In the leg of mutton you have chosen, which should be that of a Pre-Sale or a South Down wether two years old and properly hung — ^the four-year-olds are too fat and are apt to taste tallowy — you will make a dozen incisions, placing in each its tithe or twelfth part of a clove of garlic. The gigot will then be rubbed over with flour, salt, and a little cayenne. Then roast, 380 THE SPOILS OF THE COVER basting thoroughly, and serve somewhat underdone, witli a tomato sauce composed as follows : Take half a can of toma- toes, add half a clove of garlic, a small piece of bay-leaf, two cloves, a sprig of parsley, a stick of celery, two small carrots, and a small piece of raw ham. Cook half an hour, pass through a sieve ; take a tablespoonful each of flour and butter and make a roux in a separate stewpan ; then add the tomato sauce, together with a little broth, salt and pepper, cooking until the proper consistency of the sauce is attained. On the sauce, to a great extent, depends the success of the dish, which, when well executed, is altogether too good to last for two con- secutive days. I concede the merits of my deceased friend, the worthy baron ; but try a gigot de mouton a la Richelieu! With this dish alone, including its vegetable accessories, and a .salad, a bit of Rocquefort and a sound bottle of old Bor- deaux, one may say with Joseph Delorme, — " 'Jouissons, jouissons de la douce journee, Et ne la troublous pas, cette heure fortunee.' (To the fullest enjoy the sweets of the day, And stay the bright hour ere it passeth away. ) "I have now only to propose the health of the ladies who have so enhanced the pleasures of the occasion; and, finally, to remind the sportsmen who, with all their distractions, have admirably distinguished themselves prior to the luncheon, that sending game, which one may have secured at the expense of many a league of toil through field and covert-side, to certain friends is sometimes a waste of good-will: " 'It will soon be time for you to pull the trigger again,' observed one of two enthusiasts of the gun to a companion, as they were discussing the vinous virtues of the 1895 Clos- Lamarche, whilst the dun September evening rapidly shut out the twilight and proclaimed the advent of autumn once more. 381 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "'Yes,' was the rejoinder; 'I intend to try the woodcock to-morrow. But I shall not repeat the experience I had last year on the same date, when, sending my bag of the long- bills to a convalescing patient who was a connoisseur in art but not in ferw natura, I received a most appreciative acknow- ledgment by return mail, thanking me for the "delicious quail" I had sent him.' " But the cigars are finished, the golden afternoon is waning, and the chill of the autumnal evening will descend swiftly upon the scene. There remains time, ere the return, only for a brief drawing of a neigh- bouring cover of alders, where a flight of fall wood- cock may be probing amid their secluded glooms. The birds prove plentiful, the pointers are staunch, and notwithstanding the somewhat prolonged repast, the aim of the sportsmen is true. A bevy of quail, which at the final moment rise wildly from the edge of the covert and twist down the hillside, must be left for another occasion, with but three of their number to swell the score. How darkly blue the contours of the distant hills, seen athwart a patch of flaming sumach and bramble! With what brilliancy the beams of the sinking sun irradiate the gold of the beeches and the spun silver of the gossamer! And how the bright eyes of those in waiting sparkle at the sight of the wood- cocks, as the hampers are hastily repacked, and the orange crescent of the hunter's moon speeds the party onward through the paling twilight and a wan mist that is stealthily creeping over the landscape, — the grey ghost of the departed October day! 382 S 5 2 s TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE "Avee les tniffes, et avee quelques-uns de ce.s excellents champi- gnons si admirablement analyses par M. Roques, vous refaites la enisine ; vous en avez une du moins qui ne vieillit jamais, meme ponr vous."— Maequis de Cusst: L'Art Culinaire. THE truffle! what a fragrance its very name ex- hales. A flower like the rose, but more endur- ing, say its admirers. This strange food product has been studied by botanists, sung by poets, extolled by epicures, and accorded certain rare attributes by phy- sicians. Unseen, it is sought for by entire communi- ties ; and discovered, it is treasured as a priceless gem of the table. Savarin defined it as the diamond of the kitchen. By La Reyniere it was previously re- ferred to as a sample of Paradise, and later eulogised as possessing a torrent of delights; while by Dumas it was pronounced the sacrum sacrorum of the gas- 383 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE tronomer. It may, in truth, be regarded as the super- lative of esculents, its powerful and delectable aroma dominating that of all other aliments with which it may come in contact. To the cuisine of winter it is what the violet is to the chaplet of spring. The old Greeks and Romans were extremely partial to it, al- though the varieties known to them and mentioned by Pliny differed from the famous Tuber melano- sporum of southern France — the blackest and, as re- garded by many, the most perfumed and delicious of its curious and widely distributed family. About 1825, under Minister Villele, it came into greatest vogue in Paris, when the subject was taken up by the press, and so much was written in praise of the tuber that the demand soon increased threefold, and its price became correspondingly augmented. Like the mushroom, the truffle is impatient of keep- ing when gathered. Preserved truffles, as a rule, are but a semblance of the fresh product when eaten at its precise maturity; and those who know this thallo- gen only in the former state have little idea of its mar- vellous flavour when fresh and in full possession of its virtues, whether it be served by itself or utilised as a vehicle for heightening the flavours of other dishes. Its use demands the knowledge of an artist; for it is only with certain forms of aliments that it should be employed. The onion and the mushroom detract from its savour, and it is chiefly in conjunction with fatty substances that its most expressive results are attained. By French epicures it is tacitly understood that there \J can be no grand dinner without truffles. "Who would dare to say," exclaims Savarin, "that he has attended 384 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE a repast where a piece trufee did not figure ! How- ever good an entree may be, it should always be ac- companied by truffles to set it off advantageously." Its harmonious association with grain-fed fowls is proverbial, — so much so, it has been remarked, that at a well-composed dinner every phrase which may have begun should be suspended upon the arrival of a truf- fled turkey. Berchoux thus alludes to its use with fowls, — "L'abondance est unie a la delicatesse. La truffe a parfume la poularde de Bresse." (The truffle yields its most adored caress When tuck'd within a tender fowl of Bresse.) At a dinner where the renowned naturalist Buff on was present, a truffled Perigueux turkey was brought in with great eclat. Inspired by the penetrating aroma, an elderly lady who was among the guests inquired of Buffon where the tuber grew. "At your feet, Madame," was the ready reply. The lady not understanding, it was thus explained to her: "C'est aux pieds des charmes" (at the feet of yoke-elm trees) . The compliment passed as a happy one. To- wards the end of the dinner some one asked the same question of Buffon, who, forgetful of his elderly vis-a-vis, innocently replied, "They grow aux pieds des vieux charmes" (old yoke-elm trees). The lady overheard him, and it is unnecessary to state was no longer impressed with his genius as a naturalist, or with the fact that a soup had been named in his hon- our by the great Careme. 385 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Though common to many countries, and compris- ing numerous species, the truffle attains its greatest excellence in France, unless the white truffle of Italy, which is considered equally good by many, be ex- cepted. Its chosen haunts are clayey soils mixed with sand and limestone, moist, shaded, and temperate lo- calities, southerly and easterly expositions, protected slopes, and especially the umbrage of oaks, as also of aspens, black poplars, nut-trees, yoke-elms, willows, and white birches. Limestone or carbonate of lime is accounted as necessary to its formation, while the presence of iron imparts to it an added firmness and aroma. Despite pel"sistent efforts, all attempts to cultivate it have proved fruitless. It is only of recent years that it has become known in part how it is propa- gated or how it grows. Among trees, the oak is its most favoured companion, its artificial production having been a,ccomplished wholly through the culti- vation of oaks and certain other trees in soils and expositions corresponding to its natural habitat. By general consent Perigord is credited with pro- ducing the best truffles, the next in commercial repute being those obtained from Provence and Dauphine; the finest of the former come from the canton of Sar- lat, the best of Dauphine from the cantons of Tain and Valence. Among authorities, Beauvilliers pre- ferred the black product of Provence (T. mela- nosporum), of which there are two varieties, the so- termed violet and the grey; and Savarin the white species (T. magnatum), obtained preferably from Piedmont, where it occurs beneath poplars and oaks during svimmer. The whitish-brown truffle of Italy, 386 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE in its early stage, similar to the whitebait described by Thackeray, possesses an "ambrosial flavour," and is difficult to surpass, combining as it does all the most ethereal qvialities of the Allium tribe with the dulcet pungency of Gorgonzola when in its fresh- est flower. A species exists which emits a powerful scent of musk, while nmnerous others occur with odours so rank as to be utterly unfit for edible pur- poses. Northern Spain produces excellent truffles, but these are comparatively short-lived. T. asstivum, called "summer truffle," indigenous to many countries, is extremely plentiful in southern France. It is com- mon to England, where it grows most frequently under beech-trees. This exhales a strong and pene- trating smell which has been compared to that of sheep-folds. The effluvium of garlic is always very marked in the white truffle of Italy, and by some it is said to recall the odour of garlic mixed with onion, high game, and matured cheese. After standing for a time, when its garlic flavour has become somewhat modified, it is also suggestive of the flavour of vege- table-oysters. Indeed, the truffle is as strange in its odours as it is in its manner of growth, and in certain respects it brings to mind some characteristics of that strangest of flowers, the orchid. From November to March is the season when the prized dark tuber is most abundant, and during which its highest qualities are evolved. The black pearl of Provence and Perigord begins to take on its rich ebon hue in October, lasting until April: aestivum and its varieties being gathered during May and June in Provence, and from October to January in Burgundy 387 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE and Champagne. The species of greatest repute in southern France is found at variable depths, mostly beneath certain oaks known as chines truffiers, or truffle-oaks. With it often occurs another species, T. brumale, which is likewise held in much esteem and figures as a large commercial factor. Among the in- habitants the truffle harvest forms an extensive in- dustry; pigs, dogs, and professional hunters being iitilised for the quest, and the crop always command- ing high prices, which are fixed by the Paris market. When the supply happens to be short, many infe- rior species are substituted or are mixed with the genuine. Of recent years artificial truffieres have been largely planted in the favoured districts of southern France. To M. Rousseau, a proprietor of Vaucluse, has been erroneously ascribed the discovery of this means of production. Already during the middle of the eigh- teenth century M. de Montclar, procureur-general at Aix, discovered truffles as the result of sowing acorns on his lands ; but, the truffles disappearing sub- sequently, no further attention was paid to the matter, and the relation between cause and eif ect passed un- noticed or was forgotten. Since then Poitou, Peri- gord, and Provence have each claimed to be the dis- coverer of artificial truffle culture. It is within a comparatively short period only that the merit of originating the system, now a source of great revenue, was adjudged, after painstaking investigation, to Joseph Talon, a small landholder of Vaucluse, who about eighty years ago sowed some acorns in an un- remunerative piece of ground. Ten years afterwards, 388 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE while passing through the plantation with the pig he employed in hunting, he was not a little surprised to find truffles beneath the oaks; when, recollecting that he had obtained the acorns from a truffle-oak, he re- peated the sowing on another plot, which in course of time proved equally successful. The theory was es- tablished beyond a doubt, and the result finally be- came generally known, despite his efforts to keep it secret. Many unsuccessful attempts at artificial truffle- raising have been made. In 1830 Alexander Bern- holz, a German, published a long treatise on the sub- ject, his theory being that by planting truffles in soil composed of certain ingredients, and in localities and expositions corresponding to their natural habitat, they could be successfully grown. Count Noe, in the south of France, is said to have succeeded in raising truffles in his woods by irrigating the ground, after a certain degree of preparation, with water in which the skins of truffles had been rubbed. But this state- ment, as well as other reputed successful attempts at reproduction, would not seem to have been borne out in France, where the planting of young truffle-oaks, the acorns of truffle-oaks, or certain other truffle- producing trees alone has accomplished the desired result. In artificial plantations the truffles form in from six to ten years, usually disappearing when the trees are twenty-five or thirty years old. Then, after a variable period of non-production, the tuber often forms again. As the truffle-tree develops, the vege- table growth which surrounds it begins to decline, 389 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE a certain index that truffles are commencing to form — the ground round a truffle-producing tree being al- ways sterile. When the truffles cease the herbage again appears. Though many unsatisfactory reasons have been ascribed for the phenomenon, it has been traced by M. Grimblot to. the simple fact that the filaments of the mycelium invade and destroy the roots of herbaceous vegetation. Similarly, vegetation as- serts itself when the cause is removed. With young trees the truffles are usually found close to the trunk, whereas with old trees they generally appear near the periphery of the circle formed by the outer roots, as well as at a distance further removed, but usually within the shade of the tree. To what extent the humus of the soil formed by the droppings of the leaves is responsible is not stated. In many respects the subject remains, as it has always remained, a complex phenomenon that baffles the naturalist, who is usually content to refer to the truffle as an "un- derground fungus," or "an order of sporidiiferous fungi of subterranean habit." Perhaps the definition of Dr. C. de Ferry de la Bellone, which may be sum- marised as follows, is as accurate as any: "A sub- terraneous mushroom with a mycelium or filamen- tous body, from which it is developed, like the mush- room, and which requires the roots of certain trees for its formation." ^ The theory that the truffle owes 1 " I have not defined the truffle as La Truffe. Etude sur les Truffes yet, but the definition of this sub- et les Truffiferes. Par le Dr. C. de terranean mushroom which em- Ferry de la Bellone, Ancien Prfei- braees within its outer covering the dent de la Society do M^decine de sporangiums filled vnth spores sub- Vaucluse, President du Cornice Agri- sequently destined to reproduce it, cole, etc., etc. Paris, Librairie J. B. is the result ofall I have said. "—Ibid. : Bailliere et Fils, 1888. 8vo, pp. 312. 390 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE its genesis to the roots of trees, or is in some mysteri- ous manner connected with them, might be accepted as satisfactory were it not that species are also found in open places where the argimient could not apply. While the roots of most kinds of oaks, both decid- uous and evergreen, appear to be favourable for its generation, it has been foimd that in a given region the best species to propagate are those which have already produced the tuber in the locality in question, certain varieties seeming to be more liable to repro- duce it than others. Climate, altitude, and exposition are also to be considered as regards the choice of the kinds selected for plantations. The arboriculturist and mycologist will be interested in the various truffle- producing oaks that may be utilised, according to the site, soil, and climatic conditions. These embrace the following species and varieties : Quercus pedunculata, Q. ped. pubescens, Q. semi-ped., Q. sessiliflora nigra, Q. nigra sessil. glabra, Q. nigra sessil. pub., Q. sessil. pub., Q. sessil. laciniata, Q. sessil. magna pubes, Q. ilex, Q. coccifera. All kinds of nut-trees are likewise favourable to its production, and may be planted almost indiscriminately. The range of T. melano- sporum is broadly defined as between latitude 49° north and 40° south; the question of quality depend- ing, like that of many other esculents, largely on cli- mate and habitat. As in the same vineyard certain portions yield a superior wine, so on particular slopes of localities that favour the truffle a product of finer quality is obtained. Besides the usual means of locating the truffle, its presence is revealed by several species of coleopterous 391 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE and dipterous insects which, during late autumn and winter, on temperate days swarm in the truffle-woods, attracted by the scent. These insects seek the tuber in which to deposit their eggs, and are observed en- tering and leaving the ground — a circimistance which gave rise to the opinion that the truffle was only a gall. This form of truffle-hunting is practised chiefly by poachers, and is known as la chasse a la mouche. The statement that the canned truffle is but a shade of its original will bear modifying in certain in- stances where only the best species have been utilised, after scrupulous selection, before they are wormy or overripe, and where they have been preserved by the "Appert process," au naturel, without oil, brandy, or vinegar, in hermetically sealed cans, and used before they have been thus preserved for a long period. Un- der these conditions the species melanosporum and magnatum retain no little of their pristine virtues, and may still glorify a sauce or dignify a Chateaubriand. To the skill of the cook the result will be principally due. Inasmuch as the truffles have already been sub- jected to several hours' ebullition, they should only be finely sliced and gently heated in order that their flavour may not be dissipated by the cooking. The dish they are to grace should be prepared first, and so soon as the truffles are ready it should be immedi- ately served under cover. Perhaps as good a medium for utilising the preserved prodvict is a steak with a bordelaise sauce in which garlic or shallots should figure very lightly. The comparative excellence of the preserved truffle will depend, of course, upon freshness and the pi'obity and care of the merchant. 392 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE One may obtain all sorts of truffles with attractive labels, as one may obtain attractively labelled Cha- teau wines that may "leave everything to be desired." At a dinner where a bon vivant was expected, the truffle figured in a novel manner. "A friend who is very fond of good things is to be my guest over Sunday," said the host to the cook, who was an excellent practitioner in certain lines; "and I want you to use truffles plentifully some way." "How shall I cook them, Mr. S? Mrs. S. is n't here." " Oh, I don't know; anyway, I 'm in a great hurry, and I '11 leave it to you." The soup was admirable, the lobster a la New- burgh perfect, and the entree and pommes soufflees left nothing to be wished for. To the surprise of all, a large, heaping dish of truffles, charred, highly spiced, and finely minced and served as a vegetable, appeared with the roast. The host remained imperturbable, a vestige of a frown clouded the usually placid face of madame, the butler poured the Chambertin, and the truffles were passed by. "You are the most expensive guest I have had in a long time," remarked the host, with a smile, the following day. "I must think what we can have this evening for dinner; or, better, consult with madame. There is plenty of champagne in which to cook truf- fles, if the cook and the truffles were in evidence. I told her I wanted plenty of truffles for you, and the remaining eleven cans of the dozen in the larder were tendered you last night." 393 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE The truffle has formed the theme of nirmerous books and treatises. To the French gastronomer who may obtain the fresh product during a large portion of the year, the work of M. M. Moynier will unques- tionably prove of the greatest value — a major portion being devoted to a scientific analysis of the various dishes, with their recipes, in which the esculent may properly figure. It is justly claimed by the author that wine is an indispensable accompaniment of this "astonishing production" or any dish in which it may enter; but that sweet champagne to which women are so partial masks rather than quickens its flavour.^ The mycologist who simply wishes to know the species and habits of hypogeeus fungi will no doubt prefer the monograph of Vittatini, Milan, 1831; that of M. Tulasne, Paris, 1852; and the in- structive work of Dr. de Ferry already cited. Few more interesting fields for research offer themselves than that presented by the black pearl which is con- cealed beneath the soil — living its strange life beyond the ken of human eye, and revealing itself only through the agency of the animals employed by man to discover it, and of the insect tribes that hover above it in their dance of rivalry and love. Savarin, above all writers, has considered the truffle philosophically in his comparatively brief reference; and although he failed to answer the question, "What 1 " De la TrufFe, Traite Complet de culinaires ; las meilleures methodes ce Tubercle, contenant sa Descrip- d'en faire des conserves certaines ; les tlon et son Histoire Naturelle la indications, recettes et moyens les plus detaillee, son Exploitation Com- plus positifs et les plus compliques merciale et sa Position dans I'Art sur tout ce qui concerne cette sub- Culinaire; suivi d'une Quatrifeme stance; par M. M. Moynier. Paris, Partie contenant les meilleurs moy- Barba. 1836." pp. 400. ens d'employer les truffes en apprets 394 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE is the truffle, how is it produced, and how does it grow?" he has still appraised its virtues in his own in- imitable way. That it is digestible has been amply proven before, and this point did not require his re- searches to substantiate. The only charges that his- tory records against it are gluttony in eating it, and the fact that Lartius Licinius, a person of praetorian rank, while minister of justice at Carthage in Spain, upon biting a truffle found a denarius inside, which cost him the loss of a tooth — a proof to Pliny that it was nothing but an agglomeration of elementary earth. Of certain attributes it is supposed to possess, the sixth JNIeditation of the " Physiology," to which the reader is referred, will speak clearly for itself ; and it will be sufficient to transcribe the conclusion of the learned chancellor's deductions: "La truffe n^est point un aphrodisiaque positif; mais elle peut en certaines occasions rendre les femmes plus tendres et les hommes plus aimables." Referring to Savarin's conclusion, Dr. de Ferry makes this statement, based on professional experi- ence : "Sur Vindividu sain et bien portant, la truffe excite des fonctions speciales. . . . La truffe peut ajouter seule- ment aux qualites de ceux qui possedent; elle n'est plus d'aucun secours a ceux qui, n^ayant pas gere leur capital en bons peres de famille, ont consomme leur ruine." Little attention has been paid to the question whe- ther edible truffles equal to the best European species 395 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE exist within the broad area of the United States, whence so many useful and delicious food products and flavourings have sprung. M. Moynier states that he has tasted most excellent truffles from Brazil; and that a grey species of merit, round in form, is found on the right bank of the Mississippi — a somewhat vague statement, in view of the length of that river. The only species that Saccardo's "Sylloge" credits to this country is T. macrosporimi, said to have been found in Pennsylvania. Some years ago Mr. W. R. Gerard reported having discovered T. dryophilum on Staten Island. Rhizopogon rubescens, a pufF-ball, grows underground in the Southern States, and is sometimes mistaken for the truffle; also certain spe- cies of Scleroderma, or puiF-balls which are partially underground. There are besides some of the false truffles of the genus Elaphomyus in the Eastern States. It will thus be seen that the subterranean fungi belong to three distinct orders. Dr. H. W. Harkness, in 1899, issued in the California Academy of Science Proceedings an illustrated article on the Hypogseus Fungi of California, wherein he describes thirteen species, of which seven are new and all of which he pronounces edible, though few, if any, of them are found in abundance or are worth considering from a practical standpoint. From this it may be inferred that if these fungi could be diligently sought for in other States by those who have carefully studied the haunts and habi- tat of the tuber abroad, many desirable species might be found to belong to our country. Dr. Harkness does not mention T. melanosporum among Califor- 396 ■'NOUVEL MANUEL COMPLET DV CUrSlXIEK ET DE LA CUISIXIEEE" Ftiesimile of fvontispiuce, l.^lili TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE nian species. At present we do not know whether this or T. magnatum, or some form possessing equally adorable qualities, occurs in our country at all; but they and others, it is possible, may yet be unearthed to disclose to the epicure a true "sample of Paradise." To do this, trained truffle-pigs and -dogs must be brought into requisition; and should the search then be unrewarded, the truffle-oak must needs be imported and planted under conditions corresponding to those of its native habitat. Let America add the truffle to her already rich alimentary resources, by all means, even if she must remain content with the wines of France as supplied from oversea. If the truffle may be described as an occult vegetable substance with no stem, cap, or visible mycelium, in great repute with epicures, and most generally found firmly embedded beneath the surface of 2)dte de foie gras, — the mushroom, common to nearly all latitudes, grows in visible profusion, and may be readily ob- tained for the seeking. Some knowledge of genera and species, nevertheless, becomes necessary if one would avail himself of this nutritious esculent. One must know what to avoid as well as what to choose; for often highly dangerous sorts are very nearly al- lied to the harmless. Of recent years the study of fungi has received considerable attention, and the mushroom has become much better known with us than formerly. Com- pared with European countries, however, the average person still knows little concerning its edible varieties. Few are unacquainted with the most prevalent form, 397 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Agaricus campestris, whose shining white pileus dots the meadows, pastures, and roadsides. But whether famihar or unknown out of doors, no introduction to it will be required at table. Its very mention makes one's mouth water, and evokes a longing for the cool shadows of fall and the restful minor of the crickets' choir. To appreciate it thoroughly, one should gather it himself, or, rather, in congenial companionship. And as its form is typical of femininity in its rounded contours, its white satiny gown and rose-silk petti- coat, to say nothing of its dainty veil and frill, it is eminently proper that madame or mademoiselle, as the case may be, should join in the quest. On a bland September day, therefore, let the lanes and pastures remote from the highway be explored in company when the first ripening sprays of the sugar-maple are commencing to brighten and the clusters of the everlasting are beginning to unfold. Then will the delights of the chase prove doubly enjoyable; and with the common agaric as the object of pursuit there will equally be little danger from mistaken varieties. At most, the harniless horse-mushroom may obtrude, to be plucked and cast aside. But the mushroom is far from being confined to the pastures and fields, or its duration limited to a few weeks of autumn; and despite the excellent general dietetic advice of the fourth satire of the second book, Horace's dictum should not be taken too seriously, — "Best flavoured mushrooms meadow-land supplies, In other kinds a dangerous poison lies." 398 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE By many A. Rodmani, the small compact species common to cities and found growing along the side- walks and curb, is preferred to campestris. Less rich, it still possesses a full, nutty fragrance and flavour, and is more digestible. Even more distinguished is another agaric, Lepiota proeura, or the tall parasol- mushroom— one of the most delicious of all edible fungi. jMany valuable species throng the woods and shady places during a large portion of the genial sea- son, to push through the mould or clothe the stumps and decaying logs — in most instances ungathered or imseen. And though Claudius, Tiberius, Pope Clem- ent VII, Charles V of France, Czar Alexis of Russia, and many other celebrated personages met their death from eating deleterious mushrooms, and every year scores of families are poisoned through them, the escu- lent continues to occupy a highly exalted place among aliments. Ignorance and carelessness are almost en- tirely responsible for disastrous results, owing to its use as food, although ill efl'ects naturally occur through over-indulgence in eating perfectly harm- less varieties, or where these may have passed the edible stage. Extremely rich in nitrogenous elements as well as in sapid properties, mushrooms should be sparingly partaken of. Sliced and placed on hot toast which has been moistened with broth and the juices of the cooking, one may often obtain all the flavour of the mushroom by its employment in moderate quanti- ties, and thus over-ingestion will be avoided. The study of fungi has always proved a fascinating one for the botanist. With the aid of nearly any of numerous monographs in which the various genera 399 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE are described, as also faithfully reproduced in colours, the student and nature-lover may easily familiarize himself with at least the more important species. In his search for practical information he will be led through many a smiling scene removed from the haunts of man ; while his chief precaution in his pur- suit out of doors need only be to avoid the Taurus and the deadly Amanita. The trained mycologist, however, will readily distinguish between, the beauti- ful toxic Fly- Amanita and the inviting edible orange variety, which, having graced the table of a Roman emperor, received the name "Csesar's mushroom," whence its botanical appellation. This is the "Oronge" of the French and "Kaiserling" of the Germans, more prized, perhaps, than the Morel, the white Helvella, or the handsome Chanterelle. Its odour is said to resemble a combination of vanilla and truffles. The variety rubescens is also regarded as one of the best of edible mushrooms. Of all fungi the Amanitas are most to be feared; and while numer- ous other kinds possess unwholesome and forbidden properties, the dangerously poisonous belong princi- pally to this single genus. To them Gerard's defini- tions, "excressences," "Toadstooles," "very venomous and full of poison," may well apply. By the seventeenth-century poet William Browne, bard of "Britannia's Pastorals" and "The Shepherd's Pipe," the mushroom is thus alluded to: "Down in a valley by a forest's side, Near where the crystal Thames rolls on her waves, I saw a mushroom stand in haughty pride As if the lilies grew to be his slaves." 400 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE Then, after praising the daisy, violet, and other flow- ers whose beauty was overpowered by the fungus, he thus concludes a much-admired sonnet : "These, with a many more, methought complained That Nature should those needless things produce. Which not alone the sun from others gained, But turn it wholly to their proper use. I could not choose but grieve that Nature made So glorious flowers to live in such a shade." Where noisome toadstools crowd out violets and daisies, it may be right for poets to pro1;est. As it is, we have little in the description to guide us to the spe- cies, whether it was a desirable or an undesirable kind. There is no allusion as to its toxic properties, nor yet to its colour ; and its seeming size — if the simile of the lilies be considered — may only be a license which poets are allowed. But the bard of Tavistock, whose "oaten melodye" still rings sweet and clear, has written too lovingly of trees to suppose he could perceive no use or beauty in a striking vegetable growth; and there- fore the particular form he refers to would appear to have been a noxious one. Surely, it was not the lovely mauve-coloured Cor- tinarius, that seeks the "forest's shade"; the expanded pea-green cope of the sweet and nutty Russula; or the glowing orange hood of. the dulcet Lactarius that incurred his disapproval! Nor can one conceive it to have been the tall-stemmed, fluted-capped Coprinus, or the stylish parasolled Lepiota, which stands as up- right as the stilted Bartramian sandpiper, and that is held in equal esteem by the epicure. Rather let us 401 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE suppose it was the great poison Amanita, which has slain its thousands, and whose briUiant reds and sal- mons and yellows, and white scales borne aloft on their hollow pedestal, cry aloud from every gill, "Beware!" Or if it was not this or the equally deadly A. phal- loides on which his graceful sonnet was based, it must have been the Lycoperdon which cast its shade upon the violets — the giant puff-ball that the poet did not recognise as a valuable food product when neatly sliced and fried, and that it is still the rule to kick out of one's way. In like manner, one is curious to know what was the enormous fungus or mushroom Thoreau describes as meeting on one of his rambles, and which, in turn, incurs his malediction, — the huge thallogen he found and plucked high up on the open side of a dry hill, in the midst of and rising above the thin June grass, its sharply conical parasol in the form of a sugar- loaf slightly turned up at the edges, which were rent half an inch for every inch or two. The whole length, he states, was sixteen inches, the cap being six inches long by seven wide, the stem about one inch in diam- eter and naked, the top of the cap pure white within and without. He marvels how its soft cone ever broke through the earth. It represents to him a vege- table f dree which may almost make man tremble for his dominion. It carries him back to the era of the formation of the coal measures, the age of the Saurus and the Pliosaurus, when bull-frogs were as big as bulls. What part has it to perform in the economy of the world? It brought before him pictures of parasols of Chinese mandarins ; or it might have been 402 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE used by the great fossil bull-frog in his walks. Re- turning home with it, he placed it in the cellar to note its decay. Like the mighty, it fell. By night there remained not more than two of the six inches of the height of the cap, and it went on rapidly melting from the edges upward, spreading as it dissolved till it was shaped like a dish-cover and the barrel head beneath it and its own stem looked as if a large bottle of ink had been broken there. It defiled all it touched. Is it not a giant mildew or mould? he inquires. The offspring of a night, it was wasted in a day. One thinks of Coprinus comatus — a colossal specimen of the "shaggy mane"; and doubtless this was the spe- cies encoxmtered by the Walden sage, rearing its silver shaft through the thin June grass in his early morning tramp to Pinxter Spring. Who has not seen and wondered at the Fairy-ring, dotting the lawns or pastures, with its eccentric habit of growing in circles or arcs of circles, and shrinking and expanding under the influence of drought and moisture ? Yet how few are acquainted with its admir- able qualities! But even here one must distinguish between the false and the true, and not mistake it for two of its genus, the poison buff -coloured Cham- pignon and poison Fairy-ring, which it resembles and with which it is sometimes found associated. In like manner, the rufous hues of several edible Russulas must not be confounded with the engaging crimsons of the alveolate Boletus, or the brilliant shades of the unwholesome R. emetica, one of the most tempting of fungi to the eye. Its glowing satiny scarlet cap, set off by its white stem and gills, forms a dash of col- 403 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Duration on the woodland carpet that immediately challenges admiration. With various others of the alluring but dangerous fungi, it suggests some lus- cious tropic fruit, the flame of tulips, or the flush of Ghent azaleas. What a revel of reds, what greens and golds, what soft violets and greys, what rich russets and maroons are not unfolded by these strange fun- goid flowers! The beefsteak-mushroom (Fistulina hepatica) is familiar to many as it reveals its red vel- vety layers or shelves on the dead trunks of oaks and chestnuts in the midsummer woods. But despite its appetising name, it has a somewhat acid flavour and leathery taste, and cannot be said to possess very palatable qualities, conditions also shared by the com- mon Agaricus ostreatus, or oyster-mushroom. While the canned French button-mushroom of com- merce is not to be compared with the same species in its freshly gathered stage, it is nevertheless useful as a garnish, and possesses a certain flavour. Far diff'er- ent is the large French cepe, one of the most delicious of esculents, corresponding to the German "Stein- pilz" and our own edible Boletus, which is much less known than it deserves to be. Of the French Boletus there are two principal varieties — the cepe franc a la tSte noir or charbonnier, common to oak woods, and the tete rousse or hrune, common to chestnut woods. The former is much more esteemed, and is most abun- dant in the southern departments. These, like the truffle in the preserved state, should be as fresh as possible, and those of the previous autumn gather- ing, put up au naturel in large cans, be selected in preference. Boletus edulis, though not over-plentiful 404 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE with us, may be found during warm, damp weather from July to September in woods and their margins, and sometimes in open places. Prepared a la horde- laise, it is a most delicious and nutritious dish, a form of preparation that may be utilised to advantage with many other firm-fleshed species. Dumas' favourite mode of preparing them was after Vuillemot's recipe ; and for those who are not fond of oil, which the borde- laise and provengale manner calls for, this will doubt- less prove more acceptable: "Cut and chop the stems, adding minced parsley, bread- crumbs, shallots, fresh butter, and a clove of chopped garlic; make a pate of it all, season with salt, pepper, and a Httle allspice, garnish the bottom of the cepes, sprinkle some bread- crumbs on top, brown in a hot oven, and serve." Here again, as Baron Brisse would say, "the trouble is trifling and the succulence extreme." The United States has a nmnber of edible Boleti, some distinctive and some identical with the best French species. Unfortunately, the genus contains several deleterious sorts, and these frequently are not readily distinguishable from description alone. Sev- eral of the Boleti have long been considered as among the most dangerous of the toadstool or mushroom tribe; but recent investigations tend to show that the majority are at least harmless, while many are most desirable. Of Morels and puff'-balls none is said to be poi- sonous. The puif-ball, however, is unfit for eating, if not absolutely poisonous, after the formation and ripening of its spores; and in gathering pufF-balls 405 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE great care should be taken not to mistake for them several of the poison Amanitas in their younger stage, these being similarly enveloped in a spherical sack or volva. Most mushrooms, apart from the Amanitas, are now regarded as not deadly poisonous. Indeed, Mcllvaine declares that R. emetica, which he and others repeatedly partook of in liberal quantities while in the Carolinas, proved to be perfectly harmless. The viscid, glutinous types, all the so-called trembling toadstools, together with such as are unpleasant to the sense of smell, will of course be shunned, while those not well acquainted With fungi will also view with distrust the various beautiful and gorgeous species which haunt the shade. No reliance may be placed in the "test" of the silver spoon. The novice should first of all familiarise him- self with the more common species through some of the less technical treatises, or take a practical lesson from a specialist out of doors. The manner of distin- guishing doubtful varieties adopted by mycologists may also be utilised by the amateur: first be guided by the shape and smell, being careful to avoid all cup-shaped kinds, or those whose juices change colour on cutting; then taste sparingly without swallowing, when, if not acrid, burning, or disagreeable, a little of the juice may be swallowed the following day, increas- ing the amount day by day, if no feelings of nausea occur, until the wholesomeness of the species is dem- onstrated. By discarding all kinds with cups or sug- gestion of cups, the Amanitas will be avoided. "Any mushroom, omitting the Amanita, which is pleasant to- the taste and otherwise 'agreeable as to odour and 406 TWO ESCULENTS PAR EXCELLENCE texture when raw, is probably harmless," says Gibson, "and may safely be thus ventured on with a view of establishing its edibility." Still, it is always well, even by the initiated, to remember the apothegm of Gavarni, "Mushrooms are like men — the bad most closely counterfeit the good." Of the scores of treatises devoted to the subject may be specially instanced W. Hamilton Gibson's artistic volume,' the finely illustrated "Report of the New York State Botanist," ^ Professor Atkinson's illus- trated "Studies of American Fungi," ^ and, finally. Captain Mcllvaine's elaborate and exhaustive mono- graph.* Recipes for the cookery of mushrooms are abun- dant in the cook-books and treatises on fungi ; and, like the cook-books themselves, these vary from good to 1 "Our Edible Toadstools and Mush- rooms,and How to Distinguish Them. A Selection of Thirty Native Food Varieties Easily Recognizable by Their Marked Individualities, with Simple Rules for the . Identification of Poisonous Species. By W. Hamil- ton Gibson. With Thirty Colored Plates and Fifty-seven Other Illus- trations by the Author. New York, Harper &Brothers,Publishers,1895." ^ "Annual Report of the State Bota- nist of the State of New York. Made to the Regents of the University, Pursuant to Chapter 355 of the Laws of 1883. By Charles H. Peck. Al- bany, James B. Lyon, Publisher, 1895. Second Edition, 1897." ' "Studies of American Fungi, Mushrooms Edible, Poisonous, etc. By George Francis Atkinson, Pro- fessor of Botany in Cornell Univer- sity and Botanist of the Cornell Uni- versity Experiment Station, Author of 'Studies and f Illustrations of Mushrooms,' 'Biology of Ferns,' 'Elementary Botany,' 'Lessons in Botany.' With a Chapter on Re- 407 cipes for Cooking Mushrooms, by Mrs. Sarah Tyson Rorer ; on the Chemistry and Toxicology of Mush- rooms, by J. F. Clark; on the Struc- tural Characters of Mushrooms, by H. Hasselbring. With 200 Photo- graphs by the Author, and Coloured Plates by F. R. Rathbun. Ithaca, N. Y. : Andrus and Church, Pub- lishers, 1900." * "Toadstools, Mushrooms, Fungi, Edible and Poisonous. One Thou- sand American Fungi. How to Se- lect and Cook the Edible; How to Distinguish and Avoid the Poison- ous, Giving Full Botanic Descriptions Made Easy for Reader and Student. By Charles Mcllvaine, President Philadelphia Mycological Centre, Honorary Member Salem County and Gloucester County, N. J., Medi- cal Societies; Assisted by Robert K. Macadam. Toadstool Poisons and Their Treatment, Instructions to Students, Recipes for Cooking, etc., etc. Indianapolis, U. S. A. : The Bowen-Merrill Company, Publishers. Edition limited to 750 copies." THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE bad and indiJEFerent, Some general rules regarding their proper preparation are well and briefly laid down by the Marquis de Cussy in his "Art Culi- naire" : "This kind has a thick and firm texture — you will see that it is cooked long. This other has a fine and tender flesh — you will cook it gently in a hermetically sealed receptacle in order that its light particles, full of life and dainty fragrance, are not dissipated. If your mushrooms contain a fixed and resin- ous matter, sprinkle them with a dry wine to dissolve this sapid principle. With these plants you may make intoxi- cating mixtures, unique infusions. Turn to Careme, he will guide you and tell you what wine belongs to such and such kinds — whether Pomard with its fresh taste, or Saint- Georges ; whether the delicate and sparkling Ai, or the stomachic Haut-Brion. Read also the witty and elegant pages of M. Joseph Roques." The group of fungi known as mushrooms and toad- stools constitutes a valuable accessory, both in them- selves and in their properties of accentuating the fla- vour of other foods; and to those who are capable of distinguishing their many delicious species they may form, through a considerable portion of the year, a marked addition to the variety and pleasures of the table. 408 --?i SALLETS AND SALADS "First then to speak of Sallets, there he some simple, some com- pounded, some only to furnish out the table, and some both for use and adomation." — G-eevaise Markham: The English Housewife. TO remember a successful salad is generally to re- member a successful dinner; at all events, the perfect dinner necessarily includes the perfect salad. The mere process of salad-making is among the most simple of all those that appertain to the table : a little oil, a little vinegar, of salt and pepper each a little, the onion and the mixing, with such other herbs and condiments as the artist may elect. And yet an unex- ceptionable salad is as rare in the average household as a piece of old Gubbio, or a fine old Ghiordes prayer- rug. Seldom, indeed, is this refreshing dish met with as one usually finds it in France — crisp, tender, and appetising, with none of its ingredients perceptibly 409 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE dominant in the liaison which, first pleasingly ad- dressing the taste, is afterwards destined to soothe and tranquillise digestion. The reason is not difficult to analyse; the happy touch which is necessary in salads and sauces being largely a matter of individual ad- dress and a growth of advanced gastronomy. For in the preparing of ;salads no formula that is absolute may be given, success depending upon practice, a cor- rect taste, and minute attention to detail. Here, as in everything else that is faultless, care and experience are factors requisite to attainment. But though an infallible recipe may not be laid down, certain broad lines may be specified, the observance of which, with application, will render a good salad possible even to the neophyte. At every season of the year some of the innumer- able products of the vegetable world present them- selves to be converted with the aid of the caster from the crude into the finished form ; and more is the pity that the artists are not as numerous as the esculents. From the first tributes of the hot-bed — ^the lettuces, radishes, and garden-cress of early spring, and the ,cos, lettuces, and water-cresses of summer to the en- dives of autumn and corn-salad and chicory of win- ter, one has an abundance of material to choose from in what may be broadly designated the lettuce tribe, alone. When to these are added other esculents like celery, the tomato, cucumber, potato, beets, carrots, beans, celery -root, celery -turnip, etc., together with the manifold herbs and bulbous plants that may be utilised in connection with them, surely the roast should never be lacking in this its most harmonious 410 SALLETS AND SALADS appoggiatura, or the supper-table fail in one of its greatest attractions. The salad imparts a zest to the dinner that were otherwise unattainable. What were those most delec- table of game-birds that reward the sportsman's skill — the snipe and the partridge — without it? It was rightly held by Evelyn that sallets are an essential part of the daily food of man, and that no dinner is complete without one ; although those who are not con- firmed devotees of the salad-bowl might possibly prove sceptical as to two forms which he specifies in "Sylva," — "I am told that those small young Acorns which we find in the Stock-doves Craws are a delicious fare, as well as those incomparable Salads of young herbs taken out of the maws of Partridge at a certain season of the year, which gives them a preparation far exceeding all the art of Cookery." Of the virtues of lettuce, at any rate, there can be no doubt, Parkinson having declared that "Lettices all cool a hot and fainting stomache," and Gerarde averring that "Lettuce cooleth the heate of the stom- ache, called the heart-burning, and helpeth it when it is troubled with choUer." And if these assertions be not sufiScient, we have Savarin's assurance that "salad refreshes without weakening, and comforts without irritating"; not to mention the dictum of his illustrious predecessor La Reyniere, that "the insepa- rable partner of the roast may reappear at each meal without ever wearying." In 1758 a German work by J. F. Schutze was published in Leipzig with the title, "Treatise on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Salads." It is difficult to imagine how a German 411 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE could find aught but delight in this form of food, un- less the native black radish was alluded to, or possibly the cucumber when improperly served. Rather let us at once accept the unqualified encomium of Jack Cade while in Iden's Kentish garden, — "I think this word 'sallet' was born to do me good." By the majority, ■the name of Sydney Smith is held to be almost syn- onymous with that of salad; and even though his recipe be widely familiar, it may not be overlooked in considering the literature of gastronomy: "Our forte in the culinary line" [says the witty prelate] "is our salads ; I pique myself on our salads. Saba always dresses them after my recipe. I have put it into verse. Taste it, and if you like it I will give it you. I was not aware how much it had contributed to my reputation till I met Lady at Bowood, who begged to be introduced to me, saying she had so long wished to know me. I was of course highly flattered till she added, 'For, Mr. Smith, I have heard so much, of your recipe for salads, that I was most anxious to obtain it from you.' Such and so various are the sources of fame. " "To make this condiment your poet begs The pounded yellow of two hard-boil'd eggs ; Two boiled potatoes, pass'd through kitchen sieve, Smoothness and softness to the salad give. Let onion atoms lurk within the bowl. And, scarce suspected, animate the whole. Of mordant mustard add a single spoon. Distrust the condiment that bites so soon; But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault To add a double quantity of salt. Four times the spoon with oil from Lucca crown. And twice with vinegar procured from town; 412 SALLETS AND SALADS And, lastly, o'er the flavour'd compound toss A magic soup9on of anchovy sauce. Oh, green and glorious! Oh, herbaceous treat! 'T would tempt the dying anchorite to eat ; Back to the world he 'd turn his fleeting soul. And plunge his fingers in the salad bowl. Serenely full, the epicure would say, 'Fate cannot harm me, I have dined to-day.' " This is the original and more famihar "A Recipe for Salad," as given by the author's daughter. Lady Holland, in her "Memoir" — a recipe that was subse- quently placed by the gifted divine in somewhat al- tered form, slightly abridged, and the quantity of the ingredients in one or two instances slightly changed. In the variant it will be seen that the por- tions of potato and anchovy were increased and the relative quantities of oil and vinegar were amended.^ It is a question whether this celebrated recipe, so enthusiastically expressed and so tempting to the un- initiated who would naturally be led astray by the climax of the ode, has done more harm or more good i " Two large potatoes, passed through kitchen sieve, 1 Unwonted softness to the salad give. Of mordant mustard add a single spoon, Distrust the condiment that bites so soon; But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault To add a double quantity of salt. Three times the spoon with oil from Lucca crown, And once with vinegar procured from town. True flavour needs it, and your poet begs The pounded yellow of two well-boiled eggs; Let onion atoms lurk within the bowl, And, scarce suspected, animate the whole. And, lastly, on the flavoured compound toss A magic teaspoon of anchovy sauce. Then though green turtle fail, though venison 's tough. And ham and turkey are not boiled enough. Serenely full, the epicure may say, 'Fate cannot harm me, I have dined to-day.' " 413 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE in the important interests of salad-making — whether the evil inculcated in the prescription as a whole has not overbalanced the good results of extolling the vir- tues of salad itself. The niceties of salad-making are so subtle — so little may make or mar — it were unwise to prescribe either eggs or potato to the inexperienced. The anchovy sauce must, perforce, be banished as fa- tal; while mashed potatoes should always be used with discretion. In corn-salad a little potato assuredly adds to the unctuousness ; and where lettuce is in- clined to be tough or stringy, it may be advanta- geously employed. It is likewise eminently useful where the vinegar may have been dealt out too liber- ally. But with tender, brittle, well-blanched cos or endive, who would think of utilising either egg or potato! And how may mustard be appropriately blended with chicory, water-cresses, or radishes, so rich themselves in pungency? In the employment of con- diments one should ever well consider the special greenmeat to be treated, or what Montaigne has termed "the differences of Sallets according to their seasons." Cayenne, tabasco, and garlic are yet more dangerous in unpractised hands, and may readily, like the brass of an orchestra run riot, drown with their dissonance the arpeggio passages and more dulcet notes of the other instruments. All things considered, the counsels to the little boys and girls in the olden French reader, "Roti-Cochon," such as "the ham of the pig, well minced, is good to eat, but not without drinking," and "fresh eggs and salt herrings are good for Lent and other days either fat or meagre, according to one's appetite and the state 414 SALLETS AND SALADS of the market," are perchance safer gastronomic guides than the recipe of the worthy English preb- endary. For in any formula bearing upon the fash- ioning of salads for the benefit of the many, it is better to hold strictly to oil, vinegar, pepper, salt, and onion, and thus create no confusion in the mind of the tyro, who should proceed by degrees imtil he becomes proficient in the art, — "And thus, complete in figure and in kind, Obtains at length the salad he designed." But Sydney Smith has contributed such a host of good things, that any slight divergence from orthodoxy in his salad may be freely forgiven. Infinitely more baneful than anchovy sauce is the bottled "salad- dressing" of commerce, in whatever guise it may ap- pear — ^that milky, mysterious compound which is set upon certain restaurant and hotel tables, and through the cajoleries of the merchant-grocer or blandish- ments of the advertiser often even invades otherwise respectable households. As for the abominations that so frequently masquerade as "pure olive-oil," and boldly flaunt themselves as "wine vinegar" in many hostelries, they are too dreadful to consider; and one's only recourse is to order them off, with the cat- sup, pepper-sauce, sour pickles, and other "incongru- ities of good cheer," and subsist in imagination on the salads that have been. If oil has been termed the soul of a salad, it is no less true that vinegar is its vivendi causa. There should be no trouble in procuring excellent virgin olive-oil, 415 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE French or Italian, at a moderate price. It should be bright and limpid, and possess a delicate, not a strong flavour of the olive from the first gentle pressing of the slightly underripe fruit. The juice expressed by heavy crushing of overripe fruit is to be avoided, being dark in colour and possessed of a strong taste. No other product, however refined or clarified, or how- ever vaunted in the interests of trade, can take the place of olive-oil. For those who are indifferent to quality, cottonseed oil, as well as the juices of count- less other seeds, will continue to be supplied or used as adulterants in connection with olive-oil. Good oil, like good wine, is a gift from the gods. The grape and the olive are among the priceless benefactions of the soil, and were destined, each in its way, to promote the welfare of man. It is even more rare to find good vinegar than good oil or wine on the average hotel, restaurant, or house- hold table. Pure cider or sound wine vinegar should alone be employed, and this is best obtained by making it one's self and not tinisting to the labels and brands of commerce. The best wine vinegar is that made from red Bordeaux or red or white Burgundy ; the best cider vinegar being the product of fine, selected apples like the Russet or Northern Spy, with absolute cleanli- ness in manufacture. The liquid should draw clear and be possessed of a fresh vinous fragrance; and no other material should be mixed with it than what is necessary of the same kind for replenishing the barrel. Where vinegar is excessively sharp, it may be corrected, when using, by the addition of a little Bor- deaux wine. Lemon juice is an excellent substitute 416 SALLETS AND SALADS for vinegar where this may be lacking in quality; and by some is preferred in the dressing of delicate salads like cos and lettuce. The use of tarragon vinegar is extremely unadvisable in company dinners. To many it is very disagreeable; and even to those who might not be averse to it occasionally, its frequent abuse causes them to anathematise instead of bless the ar- chitect of the salad. As regards pepper, the adulterated powdered ar- ticle is far superior to the genuine Piper nigrvmi ; the white pepper being the same condiment freed from its outer husk by maceration in water and subsequent rubbing. The genuine black peppercorn is much too spicy and high-flavoured to enter largely as a salad component; and where it is laboriously ground out from a mill at table, as is often the case, — the host pre- occupied with the task where he should be consider- ing the sequence and temperature of his wines, — it is always coarse; while its pronounced resemblance to allspice mars the delicacy which is the charm of a salad. Moreover, the energy which should be ex- pended upon the mixing, where the nature of the salad renders it advisable to be made just before serving, is largely spent upon the exacting process of turning the box-wood mill.^ "The difference between a perfect salad and one that has failed is immense," says the observant Baron Brisse. It must be remembered that in salad- making many forms of the crude material may not 1 " As for the pepper, never use the per worthy to titillate the papillae powdered pepper that you buy at the of a civilised man is that ground out grocer's and which has generally lost of the peppercorn, at the moment its flavour before it reaches the depths of use, in a little hand-mill. ' ' — Theo- of the pepper-caster. The only pep- dore Child : Delicate Feasting. 417 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE be prepared to advantage immediately before serving. Among such may be included corn-salad, dandelion, curled endive, cabbage, and all species of lettuce, endive, or chicory that may be in the least coriaceous. These require to be prepared a considerable period before using and to be thoroughly mixed, even to pressing them with the fork and spoon, in order that the dressing may be partly absorbed by the leaves to render them tender. The same rule will apply to all species in which the bitter element is pronounced. Thorough mixing should never be neglected. The bowl should be ample, the material dry and freshly plucked, and the onion, chives, parsley, celery, or whatever herbs are employed should not be chopped until just before they are required. Above all, a salad, like white wine, should be served cold. The too frequent latter-day custom of creating a separate course of salad and cheese, in order to pro- long the number of courses, is incongruous. The salad belongs to the roast, and it should not be called upon to perform the service of a separate bridge be- tween this and the sweets. The mission of the salad is to correct the too liberal ingestion of rich and fatty substances, to prepare for the dessert, to stimulate and divert the taste, and to promote stomachic har- mony at a time when the appetite has begun to flag and the palate is impatient of a long delay between the roast and the demi-tasse. It is next to impossible, as has already been re- marked, to give absolute directions for the compound- ing of a salad, so far as the precise amount of each component is concerned, some exacting more oil and 418 SALLETS AND SALADS salt, some more vinegar and pepper than others — the acidity of vinegar withal being an extremely variable quantity. Some are enhanced by mustard or red pepper, and with some the pounded yellow of the egg and mashed potato are improvements. The place of the salad, too, requires to be considered — whether it is to be an accompaniment of the roast or is designed as something more substantial for the luncheon or sup- per-table. In the latter case a macedoine of freshly cooked vegetables composed of beets, potatoes, tur- nips, carrots, parsnips, Lima beans, cauliflower, celery- turnip, etc., might be excellent, whereas it would hardly prove appropriate with roast game at the din- ner. After all, — ^to revert to formulas, — the best re- cipe for a salad, perhaps, is the oft-quoted Spanish proverb which calls for a quartet to compose it — a spendthrift for oil, a miser for vinegar, a counsellor for salt, and a madman for mixing. An excellent addition to nearly any form of salad is chopped onion, parsley, and celery. Some onion, however small a quantity, is invariably required, un- less chives be used instead, or the bowl be rubbed with garlic, or bread rubbed with garlic be stirred in, for those who may prefer. Of the several modes of mix- ing salads, each of which is extolled by different au- thorities, some may be better than others, but all are good, as a philosopher has observed with respect to the merits of whiskey. And of these different methods, again a distinction needs to be made according to the material. Once more it may be said, plus pa change, plus c'est la meme chose, and that alone through practice and intelligent study of the perspec- 419 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE tive of blending may the art of salad-making be mas- tered. As simple and as good a so-termed French dress- ing as any for general use is to add to the minced onion the requisite quantity of salt, letting this stand for five or ten minutes; then, after adding to this the proper quantity of oil, vinegar, and pepper, stir thoroughly and pour over the salad. If English mus- tard is required, this should be previously incorpor- ated with the oil. The result still depends upon the fine adjustment of the ingredients, the mixing, and the quality and character of the material. Another method is to mix the salt and mustard, where mustard may be employed, with the oil, incor- porating them by degrees, then adding the vinegar; pepper the salad material separately, and lastly pour on and mix in the dressing thoroughly. Separate pep- pering of the leaves, however, possesses no advantage ; on the contrary, it is more trying to the eyes, and the pepper is much less evenly distributed. A third method consists in placing the necessary salt and pepper in the salad-spoon, then pouring the vinegar into the spoon and stirring with the fork until the salt and pepper become well amalgamated with the vinegar. This is subsequently to be well mixed with the salad material, on which chopped onion and herbs have been placed, vigorously agitated, and af- terwards, when the oil has been added, mixed a second time. By the jewelled white fingers of a pretty and well-gowned hostess who has a knack at salad-mak- ing this formula may be executed at table with highly artistic results. 420 SALLETS AND SALADS There is finally the plan adopted by Chaptal, which consists in saturating and mixing the salad material with oil, seasoned with pepper and salt, before em- ploying the vinegar. By this treatment the salad can never become too acid, for should the vinegar happen to be excessive, it slips over the oil to the bottom of the bowl. This means, while advantageous for tender jCos or lettuce, is not so desirable for any material that may have a tendency to toughness, as the vinegar may not as readily penetrate and soften the leaves. Good oil, vinegar, and pepper and careful incorporating of the ingredients, with a judicious use of herbs, and the tact bom of experience, count for everything in the preparation of salads. Mayonnaise dressing of course belongs to certain greenmeat salads, as well as the so-called French dressing — ^the most easily prepared and wholesome of all. The mayonnaise is especially favoured by femininity, and the French dressing by the sterner sex; though for meat salads, as a general rule, the mayonnaise, mayonnaise a la ravigotte, or sauce pro- venfale is prescriptive. Growing salad is an art of the kitchen-garden, in which soil, selection of varieties, watering, shading, blanching, and protection have their part. But with a httle space and care, salads may be had by almost every one during the greater portion of the year. For late autumn and winter use, the different varieties of endive, corn-salad, and chicory are easily raised ; corn- salad requiring no other trouble than two or three sowings in August, a little attention in watering and shading, and the gathering of the hardy green tufts 421 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE beneath the snow. Late endive calls for a dry, well- protected root-house, while chicory needs to be taken up by the roots and forced in boxes in the cellar, due attention being paid to excluding the light. Of this excellent winter salad, the comparatively new variety "Witloof," largely grown in Belgium for the Paris market, is an improvement on the old "Barbe de Ca- pucin." Of late years the useful and easily grown, broad-leaved Batavian endive has deteriorated, hav- ing become coarser-grained and often recalling the cabbage in flavour. Cos is the most difficult of all salads to grow under our tropical summer sun, and unless well grown — brittle, blanched, and free from bitterness — it is next to worthless. Many good vari- eties of lettuce have a tendency to run out, and these should be carefully watched by the gardener. On the restaurant cards salads usually appear with their French appellations, which are sometimes con- fusing. In France, for instance, chicory is generally termed endive, and endive is termed chicory. Let- tuce is naturally laitue, cos being known as romaine, broad-leaved Batavian endive as escarolle — ^the curled-leaved varieties of endive being familiar as chicoree frisee. Corn-salad is the mache or doucette, chicory is the "Barbe de Capucin," though the variety "Witloof" passes current as endive. Thei'e is no- thing mysterious, therefore, as some suppose, in French salads and French names of salads beyond the fact that in restaurants of the higher class special attention is paid to procure the best possible material from skilled market-gardeners, and the dressing is 422 SALLETS AND SALADS supposed to be performed by a competent practitioner who has the best of condiments at command. "The field is never wholly void of cypress and tu- lip," saith a ghazel of Hafiz ; "one goeth, but another yet appeareth in its place." It is much the same with the successive profusion of sallets. By way of vari- ety, a salad of raw celery-root with a mayonnaise dressing, somewhat thinned, in which a generous amount of mustard has been blended, affords a pleas- ing distinction from celery in the usual form and the green material which constantly offers itself; as does also an occasional salad of the scarcer celery-turnip, beloved by Europeans. Sliced radishes, and young green onions from the garden, as an accompaniment to the first trout or shad, need no apology. The appe- tising but indigestible and flatulent German black radish is not to be recommended, although one may retain the most grateful recollections of the potato, cucimaber, and herring salads of the Fatherland. Spain has always borne a reputation for its salads in inverse ratio to that of its cookery; and if one is fond of pepper and peppers, green or red, as well as garlic, the Spanish salad, whether of tomato, cucum- ber, beans, potato, or lettuce, is to be commended. The Italian may be relied upon never to neglect garlic wherever any excuse for utilising it is presented ; but the Spaniard, in addition, deems it a heresy if the live pepper does not sting, stimulate, and permeate. For the highest expression of the potato-salad — and the cucumber-salad should be equally included — ■ we must go to the Germans, masters of sausage- and 423 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE cake-making and everything appertaining to "Com- pots." However one may regard the Pumpernickel and the Maitrank, the specialties just enumerated must challenge our respect and admiration. Potato- salad is particularly appropriate with beer; and it is, therefore, natural that the home of Miinchner and Niirnberger should excel in its preparation. In mak- ing a potato-salad, the Teuton for once forgets the caraway seed and substitutes the onion. In all the restaurants, Wirthschafts, and beer-gardens where the hungry and the thirsty throng, great bowls of it, dusted with the fresh greens of finely minced herbs, always stand ready for immediate use. It is served separately and employed with many other dishes — a chain of russet sausages may surround it, or it may inclose a mound of cheese, ham, or caviare. In some form it is ever present. Like Montgomery's daisy, — "It smiles upon the lap of May, To sultry August spreads its charm, Lights pale October on his way, And twines December's arm." To attain the best results, young potatoes of a firm kind, with no tendency to mealiness, known as "salad- potatoes," are chosen, boiled in salt water, allowed to cool, and then sliced and seasoned while they are fresh. Potato-salad may be combined with numer- ous esculents; and of its complementary adjuncts, none blend better with it than corn-salad and water- cress. Deprived of the cucumber, the list of salads were equally shorn of one of its most useful and appre- 424 SALLETS AND SALADS ciated members. And whether, as Gerarde affirms, that "of the divers sorts — some greater, some lesser, some of the garden, some wilde, some of one fashion, and some of another — all of the cucumbers are of temperature cold and moist of the second degree, and yield unto the body a cold nourishment, and that very little and the same not good" — ^who would consent for a moment to have the cucvmiber eliminated from the list of edibles! Think of its hidden "Vertues"! "It openeth and clenseth, openeth the stoppings of the liver, helpeth the chest and lungs that are inflamed ; and being stamped and outwardly applied instead of a denser, it maketh the skin smooth and faire." No wonder it was such a favourite with Tiberius, who was never without it, and had frames made upon wheels, by means of which the growing fruit might be moved and exposed to the full heat of the sun; while in win- ter they were withdrawn and placed under the protec- tion of frames glazed with mirror-stone. No wonder that Isaiah, in speaking of the desolation of Judah, declared: "The daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers." The main point with the cucumber is to eliminate the prussic acid it contains, by slicing it and soaking it in ice-water and salt for a short time before using. Then, the Hock! — the shad, the whitefish, the pom- pano, the turbot, the sole! And when endive is nicely blanched, and the first dark-blue double violets appear in the greenhouse — though skies lower and the storm frown without — what in the varied round of the seasons presents itself more delicious than a blue-violet salad, with a flask of 425 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE some noble vintage worthy to bear it company! The recipe, which cannot be too widely known, has been presented at length in a previous volume : ^ "There was a great bunch of double violets on the table, the lovely dark variety (Viola odoratissima flore plena) with their short stems, freshly plucked from the garden, and the room was scented by their delicious breath. "A bowl of broad-leaved Batavian endive, blanched to a nicety and alluring as a siren's smile, was placed upon the table. I almost fancied it was smiling at the violets. A blue- violet salad, by all means ! there are violets and to spare. "On a separate dish there was a little minced celery, parsley, and chives. Four heaped salad-spoonfuls of olive-oil were poured upon the herbs, with a dessert-spoonful of white wine vinegar, the necessary salt and white pepper, and a table- spoonful of Bordeaux. The petals of two dozen violets were detached from their stems, and two thirds of them were in- corporated with the dressing. The dressing being thoroughly mixed with the endive, the remaining flower petals were sprinkled over the salad and a half-dozen whole violets placed in the centre. "The lovely blue sapphires glowed upon the white bosom of the endive. "A white-labelled bottle, capsuled Yquem, and the cork branded 'Lur Saluces,' was served with the salad. You note the subtle aroma of pineapple and fragrance of flower ottos with the detonation of the cork — ^the grand vintages of Yquem have a pronounced Ananassa flavour and bouquet that steeps the palate with its richness and scents the surrounding at- mosphere. "Now try your blue-violet salad. "Is it fragrant .f is it cool? is it delicious? is it divine?" 1 "The Story of My House": "A Blue- Violet Salad." 426 . SALLETS AND SALADS The deep-golden, marrowy Yquem, crime, of 1861 and 1864 is now alas! unobtainable; and even were it to be procured, it must ere this have parted with much of its marvellous bouquet and seve. But the violet yet sheds its colour and distils its perfume for the gather- ing. Other vintages, too, have been pressed and have mellowed along the classic banks of the Ciron and the Rhein, that may worthily accentuate the violet and endive as the crown of the repast. 427 SWEETS TO THE SWEET Jam jam e^aci do mantts scientice.i Horace, Epode xyii, 1. HOWEVER scholiasts may have interpreted Horace's line, — and by no two is it interpreted alike, — the repetition or intensification of the first word in connection with the thought that follows must certainly carry conviction to the gastronomer that no mere stress upon a common adverb was in- tended, but rather a definite allusion to some particu- lar object. The more the sentence is analysed, the greater seems the emphasis laid upon the power of sweets to attract and charm. Apart, moreover, from the iteration of the subject extolled, one is impressed by the force of the expression "do manus" which 1 "Jam! jam! I yield me to thy potent charm." 428 "APR6s BON VIN" From the engraving by Eisen in the Fermieis-G^n^reaus edition of the " Contes et Nouvelles " (1762) SWEETS TO THE SWEET means here, not, as one would suspect, to shake hands ; but "I yield," "I surrender," "I throw up my hands" — ^the strongest form of complete capitulation. And when it is further considered that one who was so careful in his advice and hygienic precepts, as well as so dainty in epithet {curiosa felicitas) , has ex- pressed his love for an entremets sucre in such em- phatic terms, it should be conceded that woman is justified in her predilection for the final course of the dinner, which man is apt to decry. The question of dessert, indeed, is only another instance of where a man thinks he knows, but a woman knows better. Le dessert est tout le diner pour une jolie femme. Let her enjoy it and the sweet champagne or Muscat- Lunel that goes with it, even if to her opposite "things sweet to taste prove in digestion sour." For, after all, it is unquestionably to woman that we must look~) for the improvement of cookery. The highest art will still find its expression through the professional chef; the useful, the daily alimentation of the household, must depend upon the ministrations of the house- wife and her capacity for extending and improving the list of dishes a la bonne femme. Assuredly, appe- tising cookery will tend more than any other means to maintain the masculine element in good humour, and thereby foster a spirit of liberality and the condoning j of feminine foibles. The dessert is said to be to the dinner what the madrigal is to literature — it is the light poetry of the kitchen, addressed largely to the gentler sex. To the finer fancy of woman, the many forms of dainties which figure in the last course are mainly 429 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE due; and that they are not more appreciated by man is no doubt owing to the fact that the consump- tion of tobacco and the use of ardent spirits have blunted his perceptivity in this respect. Herein he is the loser; the mission of the dessert being that of a comforter of the stomach, which, already appeased, nevertheless craves a little reflex flattery through the palate. There are those of the sterner sex, notwith- standing, who still preserve the sweet tooth of child- hood, and others who enjoy pastry equally with its most devoted feminine admirers. Charles Lamb held that a man cannot have a pure mind who refuses apple-dtmiplings. Tasso was so fond of sweetmeats that he even ate his salad with sugar. Henry VIII presented a manor to the inventor of a new pudding- sauce. Goethe adored sweet champagne, and of Horace's partiality for sweets he has doubly as- sured us. For all such the cook whose pies are perfect will not have lived in vain; the more so as the artist in pie- making is usually an adept at frying, — and to bad frying and poor pie-making may be charged much of the misery inflicted upon mankind where eating is regarded solely as a necessary function. A cook, moreover, who can make fine puff'-paste is more apt to succeed in all the more substantial parts of the art. So that to encourage the dessert and sweetmeats is to beguile and conciliate woman, and thus indirectly pro- mote progress in other branches of cookery. With a little tact and perseverance it becomes relatively easy to persuade her that her fondness for sweets is injurious to her complexion; and this much instilled, 430 SWEETS TO THE SWEET it is the less difficult to lead her by gradual steps to the perfection of the entree and dishes more favoured hy man. There are comparatively few, nevertheless, who really are averse to the dessert if it unite all the quali- ties that should compose the final course — if it be light and palatable, if it flatter the eye, and if it convey the greatest amount of pleasure to the taste with little sense of fulness. Good pies or puddings and various entremets de douceur are as much a feature of the well-appointed dinner as a well-made salad; and all have their part to perform. Coming last in the order of the repast, like the peroration of a discourse, they should receive more than ordinary attention, both with respect to their immediate impression and the sensa- tion they leave. To the dessert is often unjustly at- tributed a consequent that really belongs to the repre- hensible practice of serving brut champagne at the end of the dinner, whereby digestion is seriously dis- turbed through the acidity it necessarily provokes. Already pernicious during the early stages, it becomes still more baneful when appetite has palled. The lamb thus must answer for the crime of the wolf ; and woman is held responsible for what is directly the fault of man himself. If a sparkling wine must be served at the end of a dinner, to the exclusion of the early portion, let it par- take of the nature of the dainties themselves, in order that it may leave the most dulcet souvenirs. But, apart from the dessert, sweets enter into many forms of aliments that lend variety and distinction to the table. Who is so wedded to acidity as not to hail 431 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE with renewed pleasure the appearance of a rum ome- lette, or that entremets par excellence — omelette aux confitures — if served by a pretty woman at a dinner of two and accompanied by a Rhein Auslese of noble growth? The soufflee, too, has its charms, if woman be present, for which one should always be grateful. What were the turkey without cranberry sauce, in which sugar forms a component, or a mallard without currant- jelly to match the rosy richness of his breast? But in lieu of this universal accessory to many forms of game, a pleasing variety may be had if a lesson be only taken from the Germans, with whom the "Com- pot" is so highly esteemed in various guises and vari- ous grades of sweetness. Of such, one of the most delicious is composed of strawberries and sour cherries in combination, flavoured with Kirsch. An exquisite preserve of southern Germany is the "Hagenmark," which one sees in brimming pails in the market-places during November: a conserve prepared by the peas- ant women from the hips of the wild dog-rose, as vivid in colour as a cardinal by Vibert. As for the strawberry, so fragrant and delicious when fresh, but so deadly to the uric-acid diathesis, how safely it may be partaken of when, through ma- dame's deft manipulations, it attains the form of shortcake or preserves ! Served with sugar and cream, after baking, as a prelude to the winter breakfast, even the flatulence of the apple is dissipated and the fruit which tempted Eve becomes innocuous. Through sugar and stewing, the currant loses its ver- juice, the raspberry under similar treatment is trans- formed, the acrid quince acquires new virtues, the 432 SWEETS TO THE SWEET puckery crab-apple diiFuses a silken softness. Cooked with sugar and brandy, the peach may appeal to the most hardened total abstainer, and the fruit of the Psidium, through the magic touch of saccharine, at- tain a magnificent triumph as guava jelly. Tfljre- move sugar from the kitchen were to deprive alimen- tation of many of its benefits and pleasures, as well as to rob woman of much of her allurement. She would become lean and scrawny, her rounded outlines would gradually disappear, the contours of her tailor- made gown would end by becoming rectilinear, and for her habiliment a strait- jacket would usurp the place of her proud corsage and bouffant petticoat. There would then be no more love-poetry, for there would exist no incentive for the poet, nor could a pretty heroine figure in a novel, or the bust of woman prove the most convincing illustration that the line of beauty is a curve. One should never lose sight of that excellent senti- ment of Blaze de Bury, which will apply to desserts as well, Qui ne veut point vieillir doit aimer les femmeSj et, pour bien les aimer ^ il faut les aimer toutes. What a wave of grateful coolness the ice and its yet more seductive sister, ice-cream, contribute when the dog-star reigns and cicadas have begun to shrill! Who among the caltmmiators of sweets could wish them banished in support of a fallacious theory that sweetmeats render woman more capricious, and are injurious to the roses and lilies of her skin? For the plainer form of these refreshing entremets we are in- debted to Catherine de' Medici and her cooks who accompanied her to France from Italy, where ices 433 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE were already much esteemed. The discoverer of ice- cream is said to be a French chef in the employ of the Due de Chartres, who exultingly set the dish be- fore him on a hot day in 1774. This was subsequent to the discovery of the pate de Chartres, which, accord- ing to Anatole France, is of itself sufficient to make one revere the country of its origin. About this period the baba, beloved by the fair sex, met with great favour in France. The baba was the invention of King Stanislas Leszcynski of Poland, a noted epicure, to make amends for the harshness of his name ; its ingredients being German yeast, flour, but- ter, eggs, cream, sugar, saffron, candied citron, Co- rinthian raisins, currants, and Madeira, Malaga, or rum. It is said to be a difficult entremets to "seize," so as to preserve its attractive reddish colour, which should recall a late October afterglow. It at once ap- pealed to the sweet tooth of femininity, even though that most delectable of garden herbs, angelica, when candied, was overlooked among the sweet ingredients. Like the truffle as described by Savarin, the baba was supposed to render woman more plastic and man more expansive, — rien que le voir, les yeux rient et les cceurs chantent. The date of the introduction of plum-pudding and mince-pie is difficult to ascertain. As early as 1424 appears a mention in an English bill of fare of "Vy- aunt ardent," which suggests the former and may have been its precursor. The original recipe of either must have been formidable to follow when one reflects how even now they are provocative of a nightmare, unless executed by the deftest of hands. Plum-pud- 434 SWEETS TO THE SWEET ding in anything like its present form does not ap- pear in cookery books anterior to 1675. Previous to this, plum-porridge, which always served as a first course at Christmas, was prepared by boiling beef or mutton with broth thickened by brown bread. When half cooked, raisins, currants, prunes, cloves, nutmeg, mace, ginger, and other condiments were added, and after the mixture had been thoroughly boiled it was served with meats — a dish fit for the digestive ca- pacities of Jack the Giant-killer. An essentially English product, the plum-pudding has rarely found favour in France, although Louis XVIII was ac- customed to serve it at Christmas, and it has long had a place on the menus of many Parisian restaurants. A very elaborate recipe for "Plumbuting" is given by Beauvilliers ; but preferable to all formulas is the comparatively simple one of Blot, a dish which may be digested as well as enjoyed, and which is within the range of the average cook. Of course plum-pudding is best during the holiday season, and best of all at the feast of Christmas day. Mince-pie is an ancient English dish which Amer- ica has refined. The Year-Book of William Hone of the early part of the past century contains an ex- tended "Ode to the Mince-Pye," which met the appro- bation of Scott, Lamb, and Southey. In this it is referred to as the "King of Cates," "whose pastry-bounded reign Is felt and own'd o'er pastry's wide domain; Whom greater gluttons own their sovereign lord Than ever bowed beneath the dubbing sword. 435 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE "Like Albion's rich plum-pudding, famous grown, The mince-pye reigns in realms beyond his own. Through foreign latitudes his power extends. And only terminates where eating ends. "Sovereign of Gates, all hail! nor then refuse This cordial off'ring from an English muse. Who pours the brandy in libation free, And finds plum-pudding realiz'd in thee." But of all forms of pie, that with the apple for its basis is doubtless the most wholesome and by the ma- jority is most relished, A woman who is infallible in her apple-pies and successful with her sauces de- serves an annual trip abroad. But such, like first editions of "The Faerie Queene," are rare. No better instructions regarding the fashioning of apple-pies can be formulated than those of the late Henry Ward Beecher, who so thoroughly understood women, gems, sweetmeats, and gardening. His counsels are worthy of Elia, and the housewife should commit them to memory : "There is, for example, one made without undercrust, in a deep plate, and the apples laid in full quarters ; or the apples, being stewed, are beaten to a mush and seasoned and put be- tween the double paste; or they are sliced thin and cooked entirely within the covers ; or they are put without seasoning into their bed, and when baked the upper lid is raised and the butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, and sugar are added, the whole well mixed and the crust returned as if nothing had happened. But, oh ! be careful of the paste ! Let it be not like putty, nor rush to the other extreme and make it so flaky that one holds his breath while eating, for fear of blowing it away. Let it 436 SWEETS TO THE SWEET not be plain as bread, nor yet rich like cake. Aim at that glorious medium in which it is tender without being too fuga- ciously flaky; short without being too short; a mild, sapid, brittle thing, that lies upon the tongue, so as to let the apple strike through and touch the papillae with a more affluent flavour. But this, like all high art, must be a thing of inspi- ration or instinct. A true cook will understand us, and we care not if others do not! Do not suppose that we limit the apple-pie to the kinds and methods enumerated. Its capacity in variation is endless, and every diversity discovers some new charm or flavour. It will accept almost every flavour of every spice. And yet nothing is so fatal to the rare and higher graces of apple-pie as inconsiderate, vulgar spicing. It is not meant to be a mere vehicle for the exhibition of these spices in their own natures ; it is a glorious unity in which sugar gives up its nature as sugar, and butter ceases to be butter, and each flavoursome spice gladly vanishes from its own full nature, that all of them, by a common death, may rise into the new life of apple-pie. Not that apple is longer apple. It, too, is transformed ; and the final pie, though born of apple, sugar, butter, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon, is like none of these, but the compound ideal of them all, refined, purified, and by fire fixed in blissful perfection." "Do you eat pie?" was once asked of Emerson. "What is pie for?" was the ready and philosophic re- ply. "Pie, often foolishly abused," said Artemus Ward, "is a good creature at the right time and in angles of thirty or forty degrees, although in semi- circles and quadrants it may sometimes prove too much for delicate stomachs." But think of the pies of two centuries ago! To appreciate the improvement which has taken place in the dessert and the preparation of sweet entre- 437 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE mets, one has only to refer to Mrs. Glasse or con- temporaneous and previous treatises on cookery. One marvels equally at the strange recipes, the assimilative prowess of the dames of yore, and the progress of the centuries. Canon Barham, who never fails to intro- duce his bills of fare, though these may not always be strictly reliable from the point of view of the times and the manner of the service, presents this in "The Lay of St. Romwold" as the termination of an olden feast : "Then came 'sweets' — served in silver were tartlets and pies in glass, ^ Jellies composed of punch, calves' feet, and isinglass. Creams and whipt-syllabubs, some hot, some cool, Blancmange, and quince-custards, and goosberry-fool." This was long before the dessert proper — from the French desservir, to clear the table — ^became an es- tablished course of the dinner; and when the sweet- ened dishes of eld might scarcely figure under the pretty Italian title of Giardinetto, or "little garden," sometimes applied to the dessert, and suggestive of all that is fragrant and ambrosial. While there is no reason for supposing that sweet champagne was not as greatly relished by the women of Colonial times as it is to-day, it is true, notwith- standing, that, owing to the greater need of economy, they were obliged to be content for the most part with saccharine tipples of a less expensive nature. Among such, besides mulled wine, was the sack-pos- set, a favourite drink at weddings and social festivi- ties, borrowed from England, with its numerous 438 SWEETS TO THE SWEET ingredients, and favoured alike by miss and matron. The recipe in rhyme for this concoction, after Sir Fleetwood Fletcher, soon became as familiar as Sydney Smith's recipe for salad in the following century : "A recipe for all Young Ladies that are going to be Mar- ried. To make a Sack-Posset : From fanied Barbadoes on the Western Main Fetch sugar half a pound; fetch Sack from Spain A pint ; and from the Eastern Indian Coast Nutmeg, the glory of our Northern toast; O'er flaming coals together let them heat Till the all-conquering Sack dissolves the sweet. O'er such another fire set eggs, twice ten New born from crowing cock and speckled hen ; Stir them with steady hand, and conscience pricking To see the untimely fate of twenty chicken. From shining shelf take down your brazen skillet, A quart of milk from gentle cow will fill it ; When boiled and cooked put milk and Sack to egg, Unite them firmly like the triple league. Then, covered close, together let them dwell Till jNIiss twice sings, 'You must not kiss and tell!' Each lad and lass snatch up their murdering sppon. And fall on fiercely like a starved dragoon." Metheglin and negus were well known to our fore- mothers. There is no record to show that they be- came partial to "sack," except as sweetened and spiced according to the manner of posset. It is recorded, however, that, eschewing the stronger punch composed of spirits, they were fond of mulled wine, Malaga and Madeira, and were far from disdaining the uni- 439 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE versal beverage, cider, even in its "hard" form, when mulled. Cheese is naturally an obligatory portion of the dessert at all company dinners — at least at all dinners where men are present. By dint of persuasion, it has become tolerated by women, not a few of whom regard it with favour if Rocquefort or Gorgonzola is in question, or even Camembert or Brie when per- fectly fresh. Its place in the order of the dinner is a matter somewhat in dispute. It figures variously after the roast, — as its successor before the sweets, or as the imriiediate precursor of the demi-tasse, — and it is also asked to do duty with the salad by some who elect to serve the salad as a course apart to succeed the roast. On the continent of Europe it is generally supposed to precede the coffee, after the sweets, and be ready for those who may not care for them; in Eng- land it is often served with celery before the dessert. The custom of serving it with the salad, which is purely American, is certainly not to be commended. The mission of cheese is twofold — to change the taste and to act as the concluding digestive. To subserve the latter purpose it should be old, if of a fine-grained kind ; and as a digestive few such are equal to Rocque- fort. As to its proper place at dessert, it must be rec- ognized that it accords best with the coffee and final glass of port or other dessert wine where these may be employed, and leaves the taste fresher when it con- cludes the repast. Let appropriate sweets be served with it for those who desire them, but let it not de- stroy the salad which belongs to the roast, or anticipate the dulcitudes of the final course. 440 SWEETS TO THE SWEET A chapter might be devoted to this suave product of the dairy, but it will be sufficient to present a form of serving it that will appeal to many, inclusive of woman. Like the fondue, it is of Swiss origin. In Switzerland, where cheese figures largely, there is known to the initiated a sweet entremets termed "the hunter's sandwich," composed of bread, fresh butter, cheese, and honey in combination, its only drawback being the too cloying nature of the honey. In Amer- ica this objection may be happily avoided by employ- ing the nectar of the sugar-maple in its stead, and the dish prove all the better either for the sportsman out of doors or served at the dinner with the dessert. On fresh bread cut in thin slices for its base, you will place a layer of the freshest of butter, then a layer of Brie or other fresh cream-cheese, and, finally, a gilding of maple-syrup. For the dessert it may be shaped in various ways, and made as dainty as fem- inine fingers can devise. Its virtues need no pane- gyric, — it will succeed the ices with as buoyant a grace as the daffodil follows the snowdrop of spring. Cap- tivated by its charms, the epicure will say, with the van-courier of Bishop Fuger in his chase for the ideal wine, "Est, est, est"; while madame and mademoiselle will attach a new significance to the poet's mellifluous lines, — "As the last taste of sweets is sweetest last. Writ in remembrance more than things long past." With the dessert the dinner ends ; and with it, also, properly terminates a review of gastronomy. It may be asked, however, after the somewhat extended re- 441 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE ference to cooks and cookery and the literature and ethics of the art, which of the numerous manuals referred to, or of the countless existing works that have not been enumerated, is the best and most ser- viceable for those who would perfect themselves in the subtleties of the range. The question is easier asked than answered. To specify any one authority, so far as any one writer on cookery may be considered authoritative, were scarcely satisfactory — a compre- hensive answer being dependent to no inconsiderable extent upon the tastes, adaptabilities, and qualifica- tions of the person concerned. As there is no one poet, moreover, who may satisfy all or even a single individ- ual, so there is no one author-cook or compiler who has yet compassed the subject. "The cuisine," says Beau- villiers, "simple in its origin, refined from century to century, has become a difficult art, a complicated sci- ence on which many authors have written, without having been able to embrace it in its entirety." The model cook-book — the manual that should ap- peal to all, the vade mecum that would instruct and delight the amateur, that would tell him just what he should know, eliminating all he should not know — is still numbered among things unaccomplished. So long as every chef is jealous of his every competitor, so long as the professionalist writes solely from the standpoint of his elaborately mounted kitchen, with no deference to the requirements of the more modest household, so long as works on cookery continue to be a mere dry digest of the preparation of food, it will not be achieved. They have come nearer to such a work in France. But who may say that even Dvrnias' 442 A AiniterdanL, Chez LoMvsiet-'Damel Elzevter m^. j6^i^. LE PATISSIER PEANgAlS Facsimile of title-page SWEETS TO THE SWEET sprightly though bulky treatise is perfect, or that any of the voluminous " 'Cuisiniers' des Cuisiniers" has indicated the perfect road to happiness? And of the enormous number of books on the subject, how many are not so technical as to be of little service, or so lack- ing in comprehensive grasp as to fall utterly short of their aim? The perfect cook-book, as near as a cook- book can be perfect, has yet to find its author and its publisher. It may be assimied, therefore, that it will be written by an amateur — a man devoid of prejudices so far as any rivalry in his craft is concerned, whose sole ob- ject will be to write for his own pleasure and the gratification it will afford his readers. For, it will be readily perceived, a cook-book for the professional is one thing ; a manual for the amateur, another. To a lucid, delightful style and grace of expression its author will unite the widest familiarity with the cuisine of the past and the present. He will have at his beck and call a culinary library like that of Baron Pichon, an executive genius equal to Careme's, a phys- iological perceptivity rivalling that of Savarin, a knowledge of the subject in all that relates to its ma- terial sense as great as La Reyniere's. A man of unbounded capacities, whose appetite can never be ap- peased, he will himself have savoured the multitudi- nous dishes he treats of, before recommending them to others of less assimilative capabilities than his own. Thoroughly conversant with hygiene and the constit- uent elements of foods, he will add, as it were, to the qualifications of a gourmet and epicurean mentor, the knowledge of a physician and chemist, or one who 443 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE can distinguish the digestive sequents of different ar- ticles of diet. He will be a learned oenologist as well, acquainted with the wines of all countries, their best growths and most desirable vintages; as also the widely varying effects upon the system of different wines. Endowed with perfect physical faculties, furthered by long inti- macy with and daily use of wine, his sense of taste and smell will have attained the highest possible develop- ment, enabling him to trace and compare the flavours and ethers of different growths ; thus indicating what one should avoid, as also what one should choose, ac- cording to individual requirements. Supplementing his monograph on wines will occur as its natural con- sequent a profound dissertation on gout, dealing at length with the true causes of the malady in all its phases, and indicating a cure within the power of the wine-drinker to compass without abstaining from the beverage he loves. Some magical lozenge that is guileless of colchicum, some marvellous elixir distilled in the alembics of the past, or some special essence of the vine itself will be prescribed, to be taken with the dinner, when the afflicted may once more eat and drink in moderation, "without fear and without reproach." The author will have travelled far and wide, and will intelligently contribute the spoils of his gasti'o- nomic chase, retrenching from a dish here and elabor- ating there, if need be, as he dispenses his appetising formulas. Yet so delicate his taste, of such discrimi- nating nicety his judgment, that, barring individual dislikes for certain aliments, one may trust implicitly to the form of preparation he prescribes. From the 444 SWEETS TO THE SWEET manuscripts of the ancient monks he will have rescued many a simple though priceless dish, and from Bau- delaire, Theodore de Banville, and Jules Janin have committed many an unpublished poem of the table to his storehouse of delights. And while conversant with all that is best in existing works by the great mas- ters of the art, as well as the lesser lights of the science, and quoting freely from them, he will nevertheless avoid the elaborate recipes and interminable menus that GouiFe and others pride themselves upon, which require a maitre-d'hotel to understand, a corps of as- sistants to execute, and a Croesus to liquidate. Spiced with anecdote and seasoned with humour and phi- losophy, his chapters will glide on in lucid flow, and his recipes leave no nightmares behind. His text will be free from grossness, and be tainted with no worn- out aphorisms ; so clear that all may understand, and, understanding, turn its counsels to practical account. He will be familiar, as a sportsman, with game ; and will have contemplated the masterpieces of Weenix, Sneyders, and Hondius to impart additional colour in his references to the wild furred and feathered tribes. And to the further embellishment of his text, he will also have studied the other great pictures of still-life of the old Dutch and Flemish schools, — the fowls of Hondecoeter; the fruits of Utrecht and De Heem; the fishes of_ Seghers ; the flower-laden tables of Van Huysum and Jan Fyt; the kitchen-pieces beloved by Metzu and Zorg; the eating-bouts of Brockenburg; the gay Kermesse and merrymakings of Brouwer, Teniers, and Ostade. Nor will his knowledge of the products of the vegetable world, apart from those em- 44.5 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE ployed for food alone, — the spices and condiments that make or mar a dish, that aid or harm digestion, — be less carefully set forth upon his golden page. The volumes will be small, so they may be unburdensome to peruse, as inviting in their letterpress as the dain- tiest of Elzevirs. In fine, a combination of the quali- ties of the scholar, the master-cook, the painter, the gastronomer, the sportsman, and the pantologist, as- sisted by the skill of the bookmaker and etcher, will be required to compose the cook-book par excellence. In the interval, while it yet slumbers upon the shelves of dreamland, one must remain satisfied as nearly as may be with the manuals that are already accessible ; and, like the wind in the trees, draw a note here and a chord there from the existing strings of the harp of Good Cheer. 446 BIBLIOGRAPHY BIBLIOGRAPHY A FEW among English, American, and French works, both ancient and modern, that relate to gastronomy and cook- ery are presented herewith. As may be perceived at a glance, the list is not intended to be comprehensive, so multitudinous are the monographs relating to the subject, but a mere index or signboard pointing to the nature of the vast and varied literature, both good, bad, and indifferent, that the topic has inspired. Works relating strictly to wines and alcoholic beverages have not been included, as these, though intimately con- nected with the table, belong more properly to a volume on the cellar itself. It will be observed that works by women predomi- nate in the English language, whereas, in French, masculinity for the greater part has superintended the larder and the sauce- pans and elaborated the literature of the art. The scholar who is especially interested in the bibliography of gastronomy may be referred to the valuable work of M. Georges Vicaire as the most comprehensive on the theme, particularly so far as foreign contributions to epulary literature are concerned. Evelyn (John). Acetahia: A Discourse of Sallets, 1706. (8vo.) The American Salad-book. By Maximilian De Loup. Second Edition. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1900. (8vo) pp. 144. Warner (Rev. Richard). Antiquitates Culinarije; or. Curious Tracts Relating to the Culinary Affairs of the Old English. London: Printed for R. Blamire, 1791. (4to) pp. 137. Apician Morsels; or, Tales of the Table, Kitchen, and Larder. By Dick Humelbergius Secundus. New York: J. & J. Harper, 1829. (8vo) pp. 212. (A volume largely pirated from Grimod de la Reyniere.) 449 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE King (Wm.)- The Art op Cookery. A Poem in Imitation of Horace's Art of Poetry. By the Author of a Tale of a Tub. Coqus omnia tniscet — Juven. London: Printed, and are to be Sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster, 1708. (Small folio) pp. 22. King (Wm.) The Art of Cookery. With some Letters to Dr. Lister and Others, etc., to which is added Horace's Art of Poetry, in Latin. Printed for Bernard Lintott, 1740. (8vo) pp. 160. Hay ward (Anthony). The Art of Dining; or, Gastronomy AND Gastronomers. London: John Murray, 1852. (4-| x 7 in.) pp. 137. Banquett of Dainties: For All Suche Gests that Loue Moderatt Dyate. By Theo. Hackett. London, 1566. (8vo) pp. 42. Murrey (Thomas J.). The Book of Entrees. New York: White, Stokes & Allen, 1886. (4^ x 6 in.) Farmer (Fannie Merritt). The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. By Fannie Merritt Farmer, Principal of the Bos- ton Cooking School. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1896. (8vo) pp. XXX, 567. Breakfast, Dinner, and Tea: Viewed Classically, Poeti- cally AND Practically. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1869- (6 X 7i in.) pp. 351. Breakfasts, Luncheons and Dinners at Home. How to Order, Cook, and Serve Them. By Short. Sixth Edition. Lon- don: Kerby & Endean,'1886. (8vo) pp. 204. Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery. With Numerous Engrav- ings and Coloured Plates, Containing About 9000 Recipes. London, Paris, and New York: Cassell, Petter & Galpin. n. d. (Large 8vo) pp. xcvi, 1178. Ronald (Mary). The Century Cook-book. New York: The Century Co., 1895. (8vo) pp. 587. The Chafing-dish Supper. By Christine Terhime Herrick. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1899. (12mo) pp. 112. 450 BIBLIOGRAPHY A Closet for Ladies and Gentlemen; or^ The Art of Pre- serving, Conserving and Candying. With the Manner how to make Diverse Kindes of Syrupes, and All Kinde of Banquet- ting Stuffes, etc. London: Printed for Arthur Johnson, 1618. (l6mo) pp. 190. The Closet op the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digby, Kt., Opened. Whereby is Discovered several ways for Making of Metheglin, Syder, Cherry- Wine, etc.. Together with Excellent Directions for Cookery, as also for Preserving, Con- serving, Candying, etc. London, 1677. (12mo.) Carter (Charles). The Compleat City and Country Cook; or, Accomplish'd Housewife. Containing Several Hundred of the Most Approv'd Receipts in Cookery, Confectionary, etc. Il- lustrated with Forty-nine large Copper-plates. London, 1732. (8vo) pp. 280. Peckham (Ann). The Complete English Cook; or, Pru- dent Housewife. Being a Collection of the Most General, yet Least Expensive Receipts in Every Branch of Cookery and Good Housewifery, etc. By Ann Peckham, of Leeds. The Third Edition. Leeds, 1770. (12mo) pp. 242. The Complete Family Piece. A very Choice Collection of Receipts in Cookery. Seventh Edition. London, 1744. (8vo.) Smith (E.). The Complete Housewife; or, Accomplished Gentlewoman's Companion. Being a Collection of upwards of Seven Hundred of the Most Approved Receipts in Cookery, Pastry, Confectionary, etc., etc. The Seventeenth Edition, with Additions. London: Printed for J. Buckland, etc., 1766. (8vo) pp. 364. The Complete Servant-maid. London, 1682. (12mo.) The Cook-book. By " Oscar " of the Waldorf (Oscar Tschirky, Maitre d'Hotel, the Waldorf). Chicago and New York: The Werner Co., 1896. (Large 4to) pp. 907. Reeve (Mrs. Henry). Cookery and Housekeeping. A Man- ual of Domestic Economy for Large and Small Families. Fourth Edition. London and New York: Longmans, Green & Co., 1888. (8vo) pp. 540. 451 THE PLEASURES' OF THE TABLE Kitchener (Dr. Wm.). The Cook's Oracle. Fourth Edition. London^ 1822. (4-J x 7^ in.)^ pp. xviii, 545. Athenasus. The Deipnosophists; or. Banquet of the Learned of Athen^us. Literally Translated by C. D. Yonge, B.A. 3 vols. London: Henry C. Bohn, 1854. (5x7i in.) Child (Theodore). Delicate Feasting. New-York: Harper & Brothers, 1890. (5j x 6^ in.) pp. 214. Newnham-Davis (Lieut.-Col.). Dinners and Diners: Where and How to Dine in London. A New Enlarged and Revised Edition. London: Grant Richards, IQOl. (5x7 in.) pp. 376. Harland (Marion). The Dinner Year-book. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1878. (8vo) pp. 713. Domestic Cookery (A New System of). Formed Upon Principles of Economy. By a Lady. A New Edition, Cor- rected. London: John Murray, 1814. (4x7 in.) pp. xxx, 352. Early English Meals and Manners. London: The Early English Text Society, 1868. (5^ x 8j in.) Hoy (Albert Harris, M.D.). Eating and Drinking: The Alkalinity of the Blood. The Test of Food and Drink in Health and Disease. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1896. (5j X 8 in.) pp. 304. Egg Cookery: One Hundred and Fifty Ways of Cooking and Serving Eggs. By Alfred Suzanne, Twenty-eight Years Chef to the Earl of Wilton, now Chef to the Duke of Bedford. Second Edition. London: Newton & Eskell, 1887. (12mo) pp. 97. The ENCYCLOP.ffi:DiA of Practical Cookery. A Complete Dictionary of all pertaining to the Art of Cookery and Table Service, Illustrated with Coloured Plates and Engravings, by Harold Furness, George Cruikshank, W. Munn Andrew, and others. Edited by Thomas Francis Garrett, etc., etc., etc. Lon- don: L. Upcott Gill. Philadelphia: Hudson Importing Co. 8 vols. (Large 4to) pp. 1898. Markham (G.). The English Housewife. Containing the Inward and Outward Vertues which ought to be in a Compleat 452 BIBLIOGRAPHY Woman, etc., etc. Eighth Edition. London: George Sawbridge, 1675. (6 X 7| in.) pp. 188. An Englishman in Paris. Notes and Recollections. Two vols, in one. New York: D. Appleton & Co. (Town and Country Library). (12mo) pp. 478. The Epicurean. A Complete Treatise of Analytical and Practical Studies on the Culinary Art. By Charles Ranhofer, Chef of Delmonico's. Illustrated with 800 Plates. New York: Charles Ranhofer, 1894. (Large 4to) pp. 1183. Raffald (Elizabeth). The Experienced English House- keeper. For the Use and Ease of Ladies, Housekeepers, and Cooks, etc. Wrote purely from Practice, etc. The Third Edition. London: R. Baldwin, 1773. (8vo) pp. 366. The Expert Waitress. A Manual for the Pantry, Kitchen, and Dining-room. By Anne Frances Springsteed. New York and London: Harper & Bros., 1902. (12mo) pp. 131. Pennell (Elizabeth Robins). The Feasts of Autolycus: The Diary of a Greedy Woman. London: John Lane. New York: The Merriam Co., 1896. (5x7 in.) pp. 264. Fifty Dinners. By A. Kenney Herbert (" Wyvern"). Lon- don and New York: Edward Arnold, 1895. (12mo) pp. 188. Food and Feeding. By Sir Henry Thompson, Bart. Tenth Edition. London and New York: Frederick Warne & Co., 1899- (8vo) pp. 312. Food Materials and Their Adulterations. By Ellen H. Richards. New Edition. Boston: Home Science Publishing Co., 1898. (Small 4to) pp. 183. Gastronomy as a Fine Art. A Translation of the Physi- ologic du Gout of Brillat-Savarin. By R. E. Anderson, M.A. London: Chatto & Windus, 1877. (Sj x 7^ in.) pp. xxxvii, 280. • Dawson (Thos.). The Good Huswiuve's Jewell. In two Parts. London, 1596-7. (l6mo.) Brugiere (Sarah Van Buren). Good Living. A Practical Cookery-book for Town and County. Second Edition. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1890. (8vo) pp. 606. 453 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE A Handbook or Gastronomy. New and Complete Transla- tion of Brillat-Savarin's Physiologie du Gout. With 52 Original Etchings by A. Lalauze; Preface by Charles Monselet. London: John C. Nimmo. New York: J. W. Bouton, 1884. (Tall 8vo) pp. 516. Blot (Pierre). Hand-book of Practical Cookery. For Ladies and Professional Cooks. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1888. (5 X 7i in.) pp. 478. Health's Improvement; or, Rules Comprising and Dis- covering THE Nature, Method and Manner of Preparing ALL Sorts of Food used in this Nation. Written by that ever Famous Thomas MuiFett, Doctor in Physick; Corrected and En- larged by Christopher Bennet, Doctor in Physick, and Fellow of the CoUedge of Physitions in London, 1655. (Small 4to.) Larwood (Jacob) and Hotten (John Camden). The His- tory OF Signboards. Third Edition. London: John Camden Hotten, 1866. (5^ x 6^ in.) pp. 536. Harrison (Mrs. Sarah). The Housekeeper's Pocket Book, AND Compleat Family Cook. Containing above Seven Hundred Curious and Uncommon Receipts, etc., etc. London: Printed for R. Ware, 1751. (12mo) pp. 268. Ice-Cream and Cakes. A New Collection of Standard Fresh and Original Receipts for Household and Commercial Use, by an American. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1883. (8vo) pp. 384. I Go a-Marketing. By Henrietta Sowle (" Henriette "). Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1900. (8vo) pp. 237. Leaves from Our Tuscan Kitchen ; or. How to Cook Vege- tables. By Janet Ross. London: J. M. Dent & Co., 1899. (12mo) pp. 150. Mrs. Lincoln's Boston Cook-book. What To Do and What Not To Do in Cooking. Revised Edition. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1901. (8vo) pp. 578. Farley (John). The London Art op Cookery and House- keeper's Complete Assistant. On a New Plan made Plain and 454 BIBLIOGRAPHY Easy to every Housekeeper, Cook, and Servant in the Kingdom, etc., etc. London: Printed for J. Scatcherd and J. Whitaker, 1790. (8vo) pp. 459. The Majestic Family Cook-book. By Adolph Gallier. Containing 1300 Selected Recipes Simplified for the Use of Housekeepers. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897. (8vo) pp. 419. Mrs. a. B. Marshall's Large Cookery Book op Extra Recipes. With 284 Illustrations. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton Kent & Co., 1894. Sixth thousand. (Tall 8vo) pp. 656. EUwanger (George H.). Meditations on Gout: With a Con- sideration of Its Cure Through the Use of Wine. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1898. (5 x 6f in.) pp. xvi, 208. Memoirs of a Stomach. Written by Himself, That All Who Eat May Read. With Notes Critical and Explanatory. By a Minister of the Interior. London: W. E. Painter, 1853. (5i X 6f in.) pp. 135. Francatelli (Charles Elme). The Modern Cook. A Practi- cal Guide to the Culinary Art in All its Branches. Twenty-sixth Edition. Philadelphia: David McKay. (Tall 8vo) pp. 592. La Chapelle (Vincent). The Modern Cook. By Mr. Vin- cent La Chapelle, Chief Cook to the Right Hon. the Earl of Chesterfield. London: Printed for the Author, and sold by Nicolas Prevost, 1733. 3 vols. (8vo) pp. 328, 3l6, 307. Modern Method of Regulating and Forming a Table Explained and Displayed. Containing a great Variety of Din- ners laid out in the most elegant taste, finely represented on 152 large copper-plates with descriptions, also 12 elegant dinners for different seasons of the year, list of such particulars as are in season for the use of Ladies Housekeepers. London, 1750. (Folio.) Mother Hubbard's Cupboard. Receipts Collected by the Young Ladies' Society, First Baptist Church, Rochester, N. Y. Rochester: Scrantom, Wetmore & Co., 1895. (8vo) pp. 87. 455 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE A Noble Boke op Cookry (1467). Edited by Mrs. Alexan- der Napier. London: Elliot Stock, 1882. Hazlitt (W. Carew). Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine. London: Elliot Stock, 1886. (4^x6^ in.) pp. 263. Walker (Thomas, M.D.). The Original. Fifth Edition. (Part II. The Art of Attaining High Health. The Art OF Dining.) London: Henry Renshaw, 1875. (6 x 8-J in.) Soyer (A.). The Pantropheon; or. History of Food and Its Preparation from the Earliest Ages of the World. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1853. (6^ x 9j in.) pp. 474. Miss Parloa's Kitchen Companion. A Guide for All who would be Good Housekeepers. By Maria Parloa. Twenty-first Edition. Boston: Dana, Estes & Co., 1887. (8vo) pp. 966. Marnette (M.). The Perfect Cook. Being the most exact Directions for the making of all kind of Pastes, etc., as also the Perfect English Cook, or right method of the whole Art of Cookery, with the true ordering of French, Spanish, and Italian Kickshaws, with A-la-mode Varieties for Persons of Honour. London: Printed for Obadiah Blagrave, 1686. (12mo.) Philosopher's Banquet (The). Newly furnished and decked forth with much variety of many several Dishes, etc. By W. B. London, 1633. (12mo.) Hill (Janet McKenzie). Practical Cooking and Serving. A Compleat Manual of How to Select, Prepare, and Serve Food, with many Illustrations. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., 1902. (8vo) pp. xiii, 712. Cook (Ann). Professed Cookery. Third Edition. Lon- don, 1760. The Queen's Closet Opened. Incomparable Secrets in Physick, Chyrurgery, Preserving and Canning, etc. London: Printed for Obadiah Blagrave, 1679. (12mo) pp. 190. Mrs. Roreh's Philadelphia Cook-book. A Manual of Home Economics. Philadelphia: Arnold & Co. (8vo) pp. 581. Round the Table: Notes on Cookery and Plain Recipes. With a Selection of Bills of Fare for Every Month. By " The G. 456 BIBLIOGRAPHY C." London: Horace Cox, 1873, 2nd edition. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1876, reprint. (5x7 in.) pp. 303. Gouffe (Jules). The Royal Cookery Book (Le Livre de Cuisine). Translated and adapted for English use by Alphonse Gouffe, Head Pastry-cook to Her Majesty the Queen. Compris- ing Domestic and High-class Cookery; 16 full-page coloured plates and l6l woodcut illustrations. (Thick royal 8vo) 1883. Lamb (Patrick). Royal Cookery; or. The Compleat Court- Cook. Containing the choicest Receipts in all the several Branches of Cookery, viz., for making of Soops, Bisques, Olios, Terrines, Surtouts, Ragoos, Forc'd-meats, Sauces, Pattys, Pies, Tarts, Tansies, etc., etc. Second Edition. London: E. Nutt, at the Middle Temple Gate, 1716. (8vo) pp. 302. Cozzens (Frederic S.). The Sayings of Dr. Bushwhacker AND Other Learned Men. New York: A. Simpson & Co., 1867. (5i X 6i in.) pp. 213. Mrs. Seely's Cook-book. A Manual of French and Ameri- can Cookery, etc., etc. By Mrs. L. Seely. New York and Lon- don: The Macmillan Co., 1902. (4to) pp. 432. Spon's Household Manual. A Treasury of Domestic Receipts and Guide for Home Management. London: E. & F. N. Spon. New York: Spon & Chamberlain, 1894. (Tall 8vo) pp. 1010. The Table. How to Buy Food, How to Cook It, and How to Serve It. By Alessandro Filippini. Revised Edition. New York: The Merriam Co., 1895. (Large 8vo) pp. 505. Three Hundred and Sixty-six Menus and Recipes of the Baron Brisse. In French and English. Translated by Mrs. Matthew Clark. Sixth Edition. London: Sampson Low, Mars- ton, Searle & Rivington, 1888. (8vo) pp. xvi, 400. Peck (Harry Thurston). Trimalchio's Dinner. Translated from the Original Latin of Petronius Arbiter. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1898. (5x7 in.) pp. 202. Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books. Harleian MS. 279 and Harleian MS. 4016. London: The Early English Text Society, 1848. (Sj x 8| in.) pp. xix, 151. 457 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE The White House Cook-book. A Comprehensive Cyclo- pedia of Information for the Home, Containing Cooking, Toilet and Household Recipes, Menus, Dinner-giving, Table Etiquette, etc. By Hugo Ziemann and Mrs. F. L. Gillette. Chicago: The Saalfield Publishing Co., 1900. (Large 4to) pp. 508. Almanach de la Salle a Manger redige par des Gourmets LiTTERAiRES ET DES Maitres DE BoucHE. Parfs : Burcau du Journal la Salle a Manger, 1865. (l6mo) pp. 176. ALMAi>fACH DE LA Table, 1846. Avcc la cartc gastronomique de Paris. Paris, 1845. (32mo) pp. 128. Almanack des Chasseurs et des Gourmands. Paris: Au Depot de Librairie, Rue des Moulins. s. d. (12mo) pp. 144. La Reyniere (Grimod de). Almanach des Gourmands; ou, Calendrier Nutritif Servant de Guide dans les Moyens de Faihe Excellente Chere. Suivi de I'itineraire d'un Gourmand dans divers quartiers de Paris, et de quelques varietes morales, nutritives, anecdotes gourmandes, etc. Par un vieil amateur. Paris: Chez Maradan, 1803, 1804, 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808; chez Joseph Chaumerot, 1810, 1812. (18mo) pp. 247, 282, 342, 336, 362, 331, 340, 360. Raisson (Horace). Almanach Perpetuel des Gourmands. Contenant le Code Gourmand. Sixieme edition, et des explications et meditations de gastronomic transcendante. Paris, au Palais Royal, 1829. (18mo.) Almanach perpetuel des pauvres diables pour servir de correctif a l'Almanach des Gourmands. A Paris, chez Ma- dame Caillot, 1803. (18mo) pp. 124. Gerard (Charles). L'Ancienne Alsace a Table. Etude Historique et Archeologique sur ii'Alimentation, les MffiURS ET les Usages Epulaires de l'Ancienne Province d' Alsace. Colmar: Camilla Decker, 1862. (8vo) pp. 301. 458 BIBLIOGRAPHY Antigastronomie (L') ; ou, L'Homme de Ville Sortaxt de Table. Poeme en IV chants. Manuscrit trouve dans un pate et augmente de remarques importantes, avec figure. A Paris, chez Hubert et C^^ 1806. (12mo) pp. 215. Fulbert-Dumonteil. L'Art de Bien Manger. Fins et joyeux croquis gastronomiques, ecrits pour les gourmets. Paris : Nilsson, 1901. (12mo) pp. 716. Colnet. L'Art de Diner en Ville a l'Usage des Gens de Lettres. Poeme en IV Chants. Seconde edition revue et cor- rigee. Paris: Delaimay, 1810. (12mo) pp. 144. Careme (A.). L'Art de la Cuisine Francaise au Dix-Neu- viEME SiECLE, ETC., ETC. Paris, I'Auteur, 1833-1835. S vols. (8vo). Mangenville (Feu le chavalier de). L'Art de ne jamais Dejeuner chez soi et de Diner tojours chez les Autres. Enseigne en huit le9ons, indiquant les diverses recettes pour se faire inviter tous les jours, toute I'annee, toute la vie. A Paris, a la Librairie Universelle, 1827. (18mo) pp. 140. BeauvUliers (A.). L'Art du Cuisinier. Par A. Beauvilliers, Ancien OfEcier de Monsieur, Comte de Provence. A Paris: Chez PiUet Aine, 1824. 2 vols. (8vo), pp. xx, 388, 408. Vincard (Pierre). Le Banquet des Sept Gourmands, Roman Gastronomique. Paris: Gustave Sandre, 1853. (12mo) pp. 210. Vicaire (Georges). Bibliographie Gastronomique. La cuisine — La Table — L'Office — Les Aliments — Les Vins — Les Cuisiniers et les Cuisinieres — Les Gourmands et les Gastronomes. L'Economie domestique — Faceties — Dissertations singulieres. Pieces de Theatre, etc., etc., depuis le XV? siecle jusqu'a nos jours. Avec des fac-similes. Paris, chez P. Rouquette et Fils, Editeurs, 1890. (Large 8vo) pp. xviii, 971. Dubarry (Armand). Le Boire et le Manger. Histoire Aneedotique des Aliments. Paris: Fume, Jouvet et C^^, 1884. (l6mo) pp. 256. Souchay (Leon). Le bon Cuisinier Illustre. Paris: Audot, 1886. (8vo) pp. 780. 459 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Dumont (Emile). La Bonne Cuisine Francaise, tout ce QUI A Rapport a la Table. Manuel-guide de la cuisiniere et de la maitresse de maison. Dessins de A. B., graves par Ysabeau.. Paris: Degorce-Cadot^ 1873. (12mo) pp. 674. Croizette. La Bonne et Parfaite Cuisiniere Grande et Simple Cuisine. Paris: Bernardin-Bechet et fils, 1885. Dix septieme edition. (18mo) pp. 283. Hachebee. Cent Trente Eecettes pour Appreter le Lapin. Paris: Librairie Centrale d'Agriculture et de Jardinage, 1879. (18mo) pp. 176. Remy (Jules). Champignons et Truffes. Paris: Librairie Agricole de la Maison Rustique, 1861. (18mo) pp. 173. Chansonnier (Le Nouveau) de la Table et du Lit. Paris: Davi et Locard, 1816. (32mo) pp. 125. Jobey (Charles). La Chasse et la Table. Nouveau traite en vers et en prose donnant la maniere de chasser^ de tuer, et d'appreter le gibier. Paris: Fume et C®, 1864. (12mo) pp. 204. Classiques (Les) de la Table, a l'Usage des Practitiens et DES Gens du Monde. Beau volume de 550 pages, avee les por- traits graves au burin par nos premiers artistes, de M. le Prince de Talleyrand, M. Grimod de la Reyniere, Berchoux, Marquis de Cussy, Colnet, feu le Docteur Marcel Gaubert, Careme, Appert, etc. Des illustrations sont entremelees au texte. Paris, 1844. .(8vo) pp. 550. Asseline (Alfred). Le Cceur et l'Estomac. Paris: Michel Levy Freres, 1853. (l6mo) pp. 162. Contenance (La) de la Table. Nouvellement imprimee a. Paris. (Poeme.) (8vo.) s. d. Dupertuis (Mme.). La Cuisine au Chocolat. Dediee aux dames. Neuchatel: Delachaux et Niestle, 1885. (12mo.) Dubois (Urbain). La Cuisine Classique. Etudes pratiques, raisonnees et demonstratives de I'ecole fran9aise par Urbain Du- bois et Emile Bernard, chefs de cuisine de LL. M.M. I'Empereur et rimperatrice d'AUemagne. Douzieme edition. Paris: E. 460 BIBLIOGRAPHY Dentu, 1886. 2 vols. (4to), pp. 467, 491. Do. Paris, Flam- marion, 1899. 2 vols. (4to), pp. 500, 500. Dubois (Urbain). La Cuisine d'Aujourdhui, Ecole des Jeunes Cuisiniehs. Service des dejeuners — Service des diners, 250 manieres de prepares les oeufs, 260 dessins, dont 40 planches gravees. Par Urbain Dubois, auteur de la Cuisine de Tous les Pays, etc. Paris: E. Dentu, 1889. (4to) pp. xv, 760. Cuisine (La) de nos Peres. L'Art d'accomoder le Gibier suivant les Principes de Vatel et des Grands OfEciers de Bouche. Deux cents recettes a la portee de Tout le Monde. Paris: Li- brairie Illustree, 1886. (8vo.) Cuisine (La) de Sante. Preservatif des Maladies. Paris: Audot; Crochard, 1831. (12mo.) Dubois (Urbain). Cuisine de Tous les Pays. Paris: Dentu, 1901. (Large 8vo, illustrated) pp. 900. Durand (C). Cuisine du Midi et du Nord. Paris: Garnier Freres, 1877. 9- edition. (8vo.) Le Cointe (Jourdan). Le Cuisinier des Cuisiniers; ou, L'Aht de la Cuisine enseigne economiquement d'apres les PLUS grands Maitres anciens et modernes, etc. 18° edition. Paris: Laplace, 1867. (12mo) pp. 684. Martin (Alexandre). Le Cuisinier des Gourmands; ou. La Cuisine Moderne. Enseignee d'apres les plus grands maitres par A. Martin, auteur du Breviaire du Gastronome. Paris: Ch. Froment, 1829. (18mo) pp. 320. Cuisinier (Le) de Tout le Monde, ou la Cuisine sans Cuisi- nier. Paris: Bureau de 1' Encyclopedic, 1835. (18mo) pp. 240. Cuisiniere (La) Bourgeoise. Suivie de I'office a I'usage de tous ceux qui se melent de depenses de maisons. A Paris, chez Guillyn, 1746. (12mo) pp. 400. 22? edition. Paris : Moronval, 1866. Audot (Louis-Eustache). La Cuisiniere de la Campagne et de la Ville. Paris: Audot, 1818. (12mo) pp. 248. Do. 1887. 65th edition. Do., 1902. 400 illustrations. (12mo) pp. 700. 461 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE CuisiNiERE (Nouvelle) Canadienne. Montreal, 1865. (18mo.) Ebert (Jenny-Lena). La Cuisinieke Suisse. Nouveau manuel de cuisine bernoise pour la ville et la campagne. Berne: R. Jenni, 1871. (8vo.) Breteuil (Jules). Le Cuisinier Europeen. Ouvrage con- tenant les Meilleures Recettes des Cuisines Frangaise et Etran- gere. Paris: Garnier Freres, I860. (12mo.) La Varenne. Le Cuisinier Francois; ou, l'Ecole des Ra- gouts. Ou est enseigne la maniere d'appreter toutes sortes de viandes, de patisseries et confitures. Par le Sieur de la Varenne, ecuyer de cuisine de M. le Marquis d'Uxelles. A Lyon, 1699- (12mo.) Garlin, de Tonnere. Le Cuisinier Moderne ; ou, Les Secrets DE l'Art Culinaire. Menus — Haute Cuisine — Patisserie — Glaces — Office, etc. Suivi d'un Dictionnaire Complet des Termes Techniques. Paris: Garnier Freres, 1887. 2 vols. (4to), pp. xliv, 278, 357. Careme (A.). Le Cuisinier Parisien; ou, L'Art de la Cuisine Francaise au Dix-Neuvieme Siecle, etc., etc Paris, I'Auteur, 1828. (8vo) pp, 422. Place (Charles). De l' Alimentation des Classes Guvrieres. Choix, conservation et preparation hygienique et economique des substances alimentaires. Bruxelles: Philippe Hen, 1859- (12mo) pp. 166. Moynier (M. M.). De la Truffe: Traite Complet de ce Tubercule, etc, etc. Paris: Barba; Legrand et Bourgou- gnioux, 1836. (8vo) pp. 404. Delices (Les) de la Campagne. Suitte du Jardinier Fran- 5ois ou est Enseigne a Preparer pour I'Usage de la Vie tout ce qui croist sur la Terre & dans les Eaux. ' Dedie aux Dames Mesnageres. A Paris, chez Pierre des-Hayes, 1654. (12mo) pp. 384. Dessert (Le) du Gastronome, chansonnier des Amateurs de la Table. A Paris, chez Tiger, s. d. (l6mo.) 462 BIBLIOGRAPHY Burnet. Dictionnaihe de Cuisine et d'Economie menagehe. A I'usage des Maitres et Maitresses de Maison^ Fermiers, Maitres d'Hotel, Chefs de Cuisine, Chefs d'Office, Restaurateurs, Patissiers, etc. Par M. Burnet, ex-officier de bouche. Paris, a la Librairie Usuelle, 1836. (8vo) pp. 788. Le Page (Auguste). Les Diners Artistiques et Litteraires DE Paris. 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Gastronomania. Proverbes — Aphorismes — Preceptes et Anecdotes en Vers, precedes de Notes relatives a I'Histoire de la Table. Paris: Rouquette, 1870. (18mo) pp. l69. Gastronome (Le) Francais; ou, L'Art de Bien Vivre. Par les anciens Auteurs du Journal des Gourmands, MM. G. D. L. R***, D. D***, Gastermann, G***, Clytophon, Charles Sartrou- ville, C. L. C***, C***, Marie de Saint-Ursin, B***, etc. Paris : Charles-Bechet, 1828. (8vo) pp. 503. Gastronome (Le Manuel du) ; ou, Nouvel Almanack des Gourmands. Paris: Lebige, 1830. (3^ x 6 in.) pp. 246. 463 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Gastronomiana; ou, Recueil Curieux et Amusant d' Anec- dotes, BoNS Mots, Plaisanteries, Maximes et Reflexions Gastronomiques. Precede d'une Dissertation Historique sur la Science de la Gueule. Paris: Librairie Economique, 1809. (18mo) pp. 175. Berchoux (J. de). La Gastronomie. Poeme en Quatre Chants publiee avec une Notice et des Notes par Felix Desver- nay. Paris: Librairie des Bibliophiles, 1876. (18mo) pp. 87. Gardeton (Cesar). La Gastronomie pour Rire; ou. Anec- dotes, Reflexions, Maximes et Folies Gourmandes sur la Bonne Chere, les Indigestions, le Vin, les Ivrognes, les Buveurs d'Eau, les Gourmands, la Gourmandise, les Cuisi- niers, les Alimens, les Boissons, etc. Paris: J. G. Dentu, 1827. (18mo) pp. 281. Gastronomie (La), Revue de l'Art Culinaire Ancien et Moderne. Redige par une Societe de Gens de Lettres et de Gas- tronomes formes a I'Ecole de Grimod de la Reyniere et de Brillat- Savarin. Paris, 1 83.9-1841. (Periodical, 59 numbers published.) Dumas (Alexandre). Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine. Paris: Alphonse Lamerre, 1873. (8vo) pp. 1152. Desnoiresterres (Gustave). Grimod de la Reyniere et son Grouppe. D'Apres des documents entierement inedits. Paris: Librairie Academique, Didier et C®, 1877. (12mo) pp. 399. Nicolardot (Louis). Histoire de la Table. Curiosites Gas- tronomiques de Tous les Temps et de Tous les Pays. Paris: E. Dentu, 1868. (12mo) pp. xxiv, 435. Verdot (C). Historiographie de la Table; ou, Abrege Historique, Philosophique, Anecdotique et Litteraire des Substances Alimentaires et des Objets qui leur sont rela- TiFS, des Principales Fetes, M(euhs, Usages et Coutumes de tous les Peuples Anciens et Modernes. Deuxieme edition. Paris, chez I'Auteur, 1833. (18mo) pp. 384. Gaubert. Hygiene de la Digestion. Suivi d'un nouveau dic- tionnaire des alimens par le Dr. Paul Gaubert, de la Legion d'Honneur, etc. Paris, 1845. (8vo) pp. 552. 464 BIBLIOGRAPHY Porte (Dr. J. P. A. de la). Hygiene de la Table. Traite du choix des aliments dans leurs rapports avee la sante. Paris: F. Savy, 1870. (Large 8vo) pp. 516. La Reyniere (Grimod de). Journal des Gourmands et des Belles; ou, L'Epicurien Francais. Redige par I'auteur de I'Almanach des Gourmands^ etc. Paris: Capelle et Renaud, 1806. Loire (Louis). Les Joyeux Propos de Table. Anecdotes — bons mots — ^traits plaisants — ^boutades entre-melees de curieuses recettes culinaires recueillis par Louis Loire. Paris: E. Dentu, 1879- (18mo) pp. 216. Gouffe (Jules). Le Livre de Cuisine. Par Jules GouflFe, ancien oflScier de bouche du Jockey Club de Paris, comprenant la Cuisine de Menage et la grande Cuisine. Cinquieme edition. Paris: Hachette et O^, 1881. (Tall 8vo) pp. 864. Do. Hachette et C^^ 1902. pp. 760. Gouffe (Jules). Le Livre de Patisserie. Paris: Hachette et C^e, 1873. (TaU 8vo) pp. 506. Seignobos (Mme.). Le Livre des Petits Menages. Ouvrage contenant 206 gravures. Paris, Hachette, 1894. (12mo) pp. 474. Taillevent (Guillaume Tirel). Le Livre de Taillevent, Grand Cuisinier de France. Suivi du livre de honneste volupte, contenant la maniere d'habiller toute sorte de viandes — le tout revue nouvellement. Lyon: pour Pierre Rigaud, 1602. (l6mo.) Fournier (Edouard). Livre d'Or des Metiers. Histoire des hotelleries, cabarets, hotels garnis, restaurants et cafes et des anciennes communautes et confreries d'hoteliers, des marchands de vins, de restaurateurs, de limonadiers, etc., etc. Paris-, 1851. 2 vols. (8vo), pp. 348, 410. Najac (Emile de). Madame est servie. Paris: E. Dentu, 1874. (18mo) pp. 284. Careme (A.). Le Maitre d'Hotel Francais j ou, Paral' LELE DE la Cuisine Ancienne ET MoDERNE, ETC., ETC. Paris: Firmin-Didot, 1822. 2 vols. (8vo). 465 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Manuel de la Cuisiniere Provenjiale. Contenant la Prepa- ration et la Conservation des Aliments particuliers a la Provence ; suivi de la Cuisine bourgeoise. Marseille: Chauffard, 1858. (12mo) pp. 276. Manuel (Le) de la Fhlindise; ou, les Talents de ma Cuisi- niere Isabeau mis en Lumiere. Contenant I'Art de faire spi- meme une excellente Cuisine, et de manger de bons morceaux sans faire trop dfe depense, etc. Par I'Auteur du petit cuisinier econome. A Paris, chez Janet, 1796. (18mo) pp. xxxviii, 264. Martin (Alexandre). Manuel de l'Amateur de Melons; ou, L'Art de reconnaitre et d'acheter de sons Melons. Precede d'une histoire de ce fruit, avec un traite sur sa culture, etc. Paris: Aug. Udron, 1827. (18mo) pp. 156. Martin (Alexandre). Manuel de l'Amateur des Trupfes; ou, L'Art d'obtenir des Truffes. Au moyen des plants artifi- ciels, dans les pares, bosquets, jardins, etc., etc., precede d'une histoire de la truffe et d'anecdotes gourmandes, et suivi d'un traite sur la culture des champignons. Seconde edition. Paris: Leroi; Audin, 1829. (18mo) pp. xii, 143. La Reyniere (Grimod de). Manuel des Amphitryons. Con- tenant un Traite de la Dissection des Viandes a Table, la Nomen- clature des Menus les plus Nouveaux pour chacque Saison, et des Elemens de Politesse Gourmande. Ouvrage indispensable a tous ceux qui sont jaloux de faire bonne chere, et de la faire faire aux autres. Orne d'un grand nombre de planches gravees en taille-douce. A Paris, chez Capelle et Renand, 1808. (8vo) pp. 384. Cardelli (M.). Manuel des Gourmands; ou, l'Art de faire LES HoNNEURS DE SA Table. Paris : Librairie Roret. s. d. (18mo). Courchamps (Maurice Cousin, Comte de). Neo-Physiologie DU Gout par Ordre Alphabetique ; ou, Dictionnaire General DE LA Cuisine Francaise Ancienne et Moderne, etc., etc. Enrichi de plusieurs menus, prescriptions culinaires, et autres opuscules inedits de M. de la Reyniere, auteur de I'Almanach des Gourmands; suivi d'une collection generale des menus fran9ais 466 BIBLIOGRAPHY depuis le douzieme siecle. Paris, 1839. (8vo) pp. 635. (Du- mas' favourite work on cookery.) Perigord (A. B. de). Nouvel Almanack des Gourmands. Paris: ]^andouin Freres, 1825. (8vo) pp. xxiv, 224. Cardelli (M.). Nouvel Manuel Complet du Cuisinier et de LA Cuisiniere a l'Usage de la Ville et de la Campagne. Nouvelle Edition. Paris: Librairie Roret, 1848. (18mo) pp. 472. BrifFault (Eugene). Paris a Table. lUustre par Bertall. Paris: J. Hetzel, 1846. (8vo) pp. 184. Pastissier (Le) Francois. Ou est enseigne la maniere de faire toute sorte de Pastisserie, tres-utile a toutes sortes de per- sonnes. A Amsterdam, chez Louys et Daniel Elzevier, 1654. (12mo) pp. 252. Careme (A.). Le Patissier Pittoresque, etc., etc. Nou- veUe edition. Paris, au Depot de la Librairie, 1854. (8vo) pp. 56. Careme (A.). Le Patissier Royal Parisien; ou, Traite Elementaire et Pratique de la Patisserie Ancienne et Moderne, etc., etc. Paris: J. G. Dentu, 1815. 2 vols. (8vo), pp. 482, 447. Brisse (Baron). La Petite Cuisine. 3*™® Edition. Paris: E. Donnaud, 1875. (18mo) pp. 429. Geair (MUe. J.). La Petite Cuisiniere Bourgeoise, avec Renseignements Utiles aux Familles. Par MUe. Julie Geair, professeur. Paris, impr. Barnagaud, 1889. (l6mo) pp. 738. Brillat-Savarin. Physiologie du Gout; ou. Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante. Ouvrage theorique, historique et a I'ordre du jour, dedie aux gastronomes parisiens, par im pro- fesseur, membra de plusieurs societes litteraires et savantes. Paris: A. Sautelet et C^^, 1826. 2 vols. (8vo), pp. 390, 422. (First edition of the "Physiologic.") Delveau (Alfred). Les Plaisirs de Paris. Guide pratique et illustre. Paris: Aehille Faure, 1867. (l6mo) pp. 299- Promenade Gastronomique dans Paris. Presentant un tab- leau fidele, anecdotique et comique des faits et gestes des cuisi- 467 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE niers et cuisinieres de tous les etages, ainsi que des traiteurs, res- taurateurs, consommateurs, etc. Par un Amateur. Paris: Li- brairie Orientale de Dondey-Dupre, 1833. (18mo) pp. 171. Reiber (Emile). Les Propos de Table de la Vieille Al- sace. lUustres tout au long de Dessins originaux des anciens Maitres alsaciens. Paris: chez Launette, 1886. (4to) pp. xvi, 231. Rouviere. Quelques Conseils sur l'Hygiene du Cuisinier. Par F. Rouviere, restaurateur. Bordeaux, impr. J. Durand, 1886. (18mo) pp. 108. Chavette (Eugene). Restaurateurs et restaures. Dessins par Cham. Paris: A. Le Chevalier, 1867. (l6mo) pp. 126. Cauderlier. La Sante par les Aliments. Pour vivre de 50 a 80 ans et plus. Gand: Imprimerie de Leon de Busscher, 1882. (8vo) pp. 304. Gogue. Les Secrets de la Cuisine Francaise. Par A. Gogue, ancien chef des cuisines du Comte Ducayla, de Lord Mel- ville, etc. Ouvrage illustre de 45 gravures sur bois par Rouyer. Paris, Librairie Hachette, 1856. (12mo) pp. 438. Les Soupers de la Cour; ou, L'Art de Travailler Toutes Sortes d'Alimens pour servir les Meilleurs Tables, suivant LES QuATRE Saisons. A Paris, chez Guillyn, 1755. 4 vols. (12mo). Staffe (B°""^). Traditions Culinaires et l'Art^ de Man- ger Toutes Choses a Table. Paris, Havard, 1896. (12mo) pp. 400. Bontou. Traite de Cuisine Bourgeoise Bordelaise. Bor- deaux: Feret et Fils, 1898. (12mo) pp. 682. Ferry de la Bellone (De^. La Truffe: Etude sur les Truffes et les Truffieres. Paris: J. B. Bailliere et Fils, 1888. (l6mo.) Chatillon-Plessis. La Vie a Table a la Fin du XIX? Siecle. Theorie pratique et historique de Gastronomic moderne, etc. Paris: Librairie de Firmin-Didot et C®, 1894. (8vo) pp. 411". Franklin (Alfred). La Vie Privee d'Autrefois . . . Les Repas. Paris: Plon, Nourrit et C»e, 1887. (18mo) pp. 300. 468 INDEX INDEX " Accomplish'd Cook (The),"B,obert May's, 99 Ahasaerus (King), feast of, 12 Aigrefeuille (M. d'), as an epicure, 69, 70, 129 Aldergrove (John), on game, 354 '* Almanacli des Gourmands," quoted, 70 ; re- ferred to, 73, 112 et aeq., 157, 184, 233, 336; its purpose, 132; aphorisms of, 138-139. Tide also "G. de la Reynifere " ** Almanach Gourmand (L')," referred to, 225 "Almanaoh Gourmand (Le Double)," quoted, 258 Alsace, excellence of its cooks, 149 " Ancienne Alsace & Table (L')," 148-150 Angelica, 434 Anne (Queen), as a gourmande, 102 '* Apician Morsels," a piratical volume, 336 Apicius, as a cook, 29 ; referred to, 40, 41, 50, 200 Aplos tuberosa, or ground-nut, 255 Appetites (great) , anecdote of the "Vicomte de Viel-Castel, 214 ; anecdote of a Swiss guard, 218 ; anecdote of a French drummer, 218 ; anecdote of an English chaplain, 288 Archestratus, bis lost poem on gastronomy, 13 " Art CuUnalre (L)," 121, 347, 408 " Art de Diner en Ville (L')," 76 " Art de la Cuisine Fran^aise au Dix-neu- Tiftme Si^cle (L')," 206 ■" Art du Cuisinier (L')," 71-72 Arthus (D^sir^), on old taVem-signs, 68 "Art of Cookery (The)," Mrs. Glasse's, 107- 111, 316 " Art of Cookery (King's)," quoted, 93, 344 " Art of Dining (The)," Thos. Walker's, 319 ; Abraham Hayward's, 331 et aeq. Arts (the) and their masters, 131 Athenseus, quoted, 8, 13, 16, 18, 21-23 Attendance, importance of perfect, 321 Audubon, on game, 362, 363, 370 Autumn, glories of, 373 et seq., 398 "Avalanche" (the), of CarSme, 200 Azincourt (Albouis), referred to, 130 Baba. its history and virtues, 434 Babiroussa (the), anecdote of, 212 Bakers, the art of the German, 146, 171 Baldng, an ancient form of cooking, 10 Balzac, quoted, 5, 361 ; referred to, 177 ; as a gastronomer, 219 Banquets, early English, 90, 91 Banville (Theodore de), quoted, 227; referred to, 341, 445 Baron Brisse, quoted, 32, 180, 344, 371, 405, 417 ; as a gastronomer, 227-228 ; his splen- did gastronomic axiom, 228 Barras (Vicomte de), dinner of, 65 Bary^, referred to, 246 Basting, importance of, 228 Baudelaire (Charles), referred to, 446 BeauviUiers, referred to, 6, 69, 70, 199, 202, 213, 386, 435 ; quoted, 71, 110, 234, 442 471 Bechamel, referred to, 64-56 Beecher (Eev. Henry Ward), on pies, 436 Beef, baron of, a royal dish, 92 ; sirloin of, its origin, 99 Beer, quotation in praise of, 145 Beer-gardens, German, 161 et seq. Beers, of Germany, 163-164, 168 BeUone (Dr. de la), on the truffle, 390, 395 Benedictine, liqueur of, its history, 283-284 Stranger, poem on the restaurant, 140 Berchoux, referred to, 58, 72, 184 ; his poem on gastronomy, 73 etseq., 386 Bernard (Gentil), referred to, 73 Bertinazzi (Carlin), referred to, 129 Beverages, importance of, 4 ; their relation to national cookery, 151-152, 163-164 Bignon, anecdotes of, 342-348 Bishop (a) of Burgundy, anecdote of, 304 Blaze de Bury, on women, 433 Blot (Pierre), 435 Boar, the wild, 26, 39, 234, 236, 243, 246-247, 366 Boar's-head, carols on the, 91, 93 Boileau, axiom on punctuality, 269 Boiling, a primitive method of cooidng, 11 " Boke of Keruynge," quoted, 85-87 " Boke of Nurture," quoted, 84-85 Bonaparte, Napoleon, as a gastronomer, 76 Bonnechose (Cardinal), his famous Tnot, 284 Bossuet, his " Oraison Funfebre" referred to, 232 Bramble (Mathew), referred to, 324 Bratwurst-Glbcldein, 163 Breadstuffs, the first, 7 ; used by the early English, 83 Breckenridge (Vioe-Pres.), anecdote of, 253- 255 Bronte (Charlotte), on the curate's dinner, 288 Brouwer (Adrian), referred to, 445 Browne (Wm.), sonnet on the mushroom, 400 Bryant, "Lines to a Waterfowl," 292 Bubble and Squeak, 278 Buckland (Prank), referred to, 243 Buflon, anecdote of, 385 Bulwer, on the fox, 161 Caesar, his prodigal feasts, 44 Cafd (mdealso "Restaurant,") V^ry, referred to, 6, 62, 213, 220, 268; Voisin, referred to, 62 ; Hardy, referred to, 62, 69, 220 ; Eiche, referred to, 62, 220, 250 ; Vdfour, referred to, 213, 258 ; de Paris, referred to, 214, 219, 220, 221, 222, 258 ; its great vogue in the '40'8, 219; Anglais, referred to, 220, 268; Philippe, referred to, 258. Caligula, referred to, 43 Cambacerfes, as a gastronomer, 69, 205 ; re- ferred to, 196 Camerani (M.), referred to, 129 Capon (the), as a favourite of the clergy, 306 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Caraway-seed, abuse of, in Germany, 169 CarSme, referred to, 13, 70, 194, 199-207, 211, 223, 229, 348-349, 350, 386, 408, 443; eulogy of, 207 Carp (the), as a favourite of the clergy, 306, 308 Carver, Vatel's definition of a, 60 Carving, importance of, 87, 138; » novel monastic method of, 307 "Castle of Indolence (The)," quoted, 238 O^pes. Fide "Mushrooms" Charles H, as an epicure, 99 Chateaui'Dux (Duchesse de), 63 Chatillon-Plessis, gastronomical axiom of, 265 Cheese, Martin Schookius' book on, 146 ; Ger- man varieties of, 167 ; its proper place at dinner, 263 ; its place and mission at din- ner, 440 Child (Theodore), as a false dietetic mentor, 417 Civet of hare, 51 Clar^, 98 Claudius, his great dining-room, 43 Clergy (the), elaborate banquets given by, 90 ; table excesses of, in old Alsace, 149. Vide also individual references Climate vs. alimentation, 168, 270, 334 Clough (Arthur Hugh), poem on "The Din- ner," 336 " Cobbe's Prophecies," quoted, 80 Cocktail, physiology of the, 196 Coffee, remote use of, 9 Colbert, referred to, 55 "Compleat Housewife (The)," Mrs. E. Smith's, 98, 106, 109 "Compleat Practical Cook (The)," Charles Carter's, 103 CompotS, 167, 174, 432 Cond^ (Prince de), referred to, 54, 58, 60 Contades (Mar^chal de), referred to, 159 Cook, Montaigne's reference to a, 61-52; Berchoux's reference to a, 74; importance of a good, 113 ; attributes necessary for a good, 203, 207 ; anecdote of a new, 259 ; anecdote of a, 393 Cook-book, the ideal, defined, 442-446 Cook-books, early Italian, 49 ; early Spanish, 60 ; early French, 52 ; early English, 81 et seq., 317 ; 17th-century English, 93 et sea. ; old (German, 147-148, 150; modem (mde specific references), written by the clergy, 281 Cookery, its relation to life and health, 3, 70, 71, 251, 267-258, 286, 430 ; modem progress in, 4 ; vs. matrimony, 6 ; Italian school of, 6, 49, 51, 196; compared to painting, 6, 203 ; in Biblical times, 7, 8, 9 ; of the ancient Persians, 11, 12 ; of the ancient Greeks, 13 et seq. ; of the ancient Sicilians, 14 ; of the ancient Romans, 24 et seq. ; period of its greatest distinction in Home, 25; decline of ancient, 48 ; vs. literature and art, 48 ; the renaissance of, 49 et seq. ; of Spain, 50, 423 ; its relation to the mind, 64, 176 ; vs. diplomacy, 70 ; home vs. the haute-cuisine, 72, 360, 429 ; cry of its decadence, 79, 258 ; Parisian school of, in England, 99 ; of the English rural classes, 101, 102 ; modern Eng- lish, 111, 269 et seq.; importance of good writers on, 113, 199 ; period of its greatest distinction in France, 116 ; complementary to national beverages, 151, 163 ; excellence of German, 166, 174 ; CarSme's and the Mar- quis de Cussy's opinion of old Roman, 201 ; of America, 249 et seq. ; of the modern French, 269 (vide also special references) ; its relation to the church, 280 et seq. ; a. difiicult art, 442. Vide also "Gastronomy" Cooking-schools, 251, 260 Cooks, jealousy of, 14, 202; regulating the health of, 136 " Cook's Oracle (The)," 316 et seq. Cordon-bleu, origin of the teim, 62 Cucumber, remote use of, 9 ; its virtues, 425 Cuisine, the ideal, defined, 258 Cuisine classique (the), 200 "Cuisinier Parisien (Le)," quoted, 203; re- ferred to, 206, 349 Cura^oa sec, as a digestive, 192 Cur^, anecdote of a, 293 Cuasy (Marquis de), referred to, 67, 127, 211, 213, 225, 305; quoted, 120, 181, 201, 346„ 383, 408 Cuyp, referred to, 6, 203, 245 Davis, Lieutenant-Colonel Newnham,337-33& De CandoUe, referred to, 266 Deffand(Mme. du), on strawberries, 144 Delavigne (Caasimir), on dinners, 112 " D^lices de la Campagne (Les)," 59 D^lille (I'Abb^), on gardening, 71 De Quincey on midday dining, 146 " De re Culinaria," 29, 41, 50 D^saugiers, poem on women, 119 Dessert, its mission defined, 430 ; etymology of the term, 438 Dickens (Charles), on dining, 329 Dinner, hours of, 83 ; a good one, a simple one, 116, 320, 322, 324; punctuality at, 126, 269, 291, 318, 319; a wineless, 127, 263-266, 294, 296; inhuman hours of, 145-146, 160; its true hygienic hour, 146, 268, 269 ; Sava- rin's definition of a perfect, 190 ; (^arfime's- classic, at the Baron Rothschild's villa, 200 ; Dumas' definition of a good, 213 ; of the Vicomte de Viel-Castel, 214 ; the Sunday engorgement, 266; evils of the "theatre" 267 ; a good, as defined by an eminent Bap- tist ecclesiast, 299; by the Ettrick Shepherd, 309; by Thackeray, 316; by Kitchener, 318; by the Earl of Dudley, 320 : French defini- tion of a perfect, 320 ; importance of vaiiety in the bill of fare, 329 ; the graceful liar as an adjunct to, 331 ; Arthur Hugh Clough'a poem on the, 336 Dinners, poor "company," 126, 261, 321, 329; ministerial, 195 ; similarity of, 195, 325, 328; false etiquette of, 331 "Dinners and Diners," 337-339 Dish, the first recorded, 7 Dishes, new, 72, 353, 380; testmg of, 136; Hungarian, 167 ; abuse of certain, 261 Dom Gobelot, anecdote of, 310 Domitian, referred to, 43 Dom P^rignon, the inventor of champagne,. 283 Don Quixote, referred to, 50 "Double Almanach Gourmand (Le)," referred to, 340 Douw (Gerard), referred to, 197 Drayton (Michael), quoted, 360 Dreams, viands provocative of, 197 Drinking-Cups, of the ancients, 31 Du Barry (Mme.), a supper of, 62 Dubufe, referred to, 234 Duck, wild, the art of carving a, 87 ; "When Father carves the " (poem), 87; canvasback. 472 INDEX 249, 369 ; oanvasback, Rev. Joseph Barber's poem on, 292 ; wild, 359, 366, 369 Dumas (Alexandre), quoted, 5, 49, 66, 206, 213, 214, 224, 225, 383 ; referred to, 131, 149, 211- 22S, 321 ; as a cook, 211 ; as a gastronomer, 221 ; anecdote of, as a chef, 222, 223 Dumas flls (Alexandre), referred to, 6 Dumonteil (Fulbert), his saying about truf- fles, 10 Eating, evils of irregular, 267 Egyptians, table appointments of, 10 Elephant^ proper sauce to eat one with, 346 Ely (Kev. Joseph A.), translation of poem on the pig, 232 Emerson, his mot on pies, 437 Emetics, use of, among the ancients, 16 English, meals of the early, 82 ; not apprecia- tive of fine cooking, 210, 274 "Englishman in Paris (An)," quoted, 222 Epicure, definition of an, 128, 131 *' Epicurean (The)," referred to, 353 Epicurus, his maxims, 16 Evelyn (John), on salads, 411 Exercise, virtues of, 76, 378 "Faerie Queene (The)," quoted, 235 Fairy-rings. Tide '* Mushrooms" Fayot (M.), quoted, 1, 5 ; referred to, 321 "Feasts of Autolycus (The)," quoted, 343 Fite champ^tre. Fide " A shooting jaunt" Fieldfare, 361 Fig-pecker (the), 44, 192, 361 Fish, fondness of the old latins for, 26 ; days in Elizabeth's era, 90, 308 ; omelettes and p&t^s of, 149; variety and superiority of American, 251; its complementary wine, 309 ; proper cookery of, 368 Flamingo (the), as a table bird, 44 Fletcher (John), quoted, 96 Flint cracker, origin of the, 263 Fouquet, referred to, 54, 55, 68 FrancateUi, referred to, 6, 106, 199, 208, 226, 350 France (Anatole), his mot on the pat6 de Chartres, 434 Frederick the Great, his poem to his cook, 146 Frog (the), his first leap into the frying-pan, 160 Fruit, after dinner, 267 Fruits, the first cultivated, 9 ; glass-grown m England, 273 ; superiority of those of wes- tern New York, 274 Frying, theory of, 179 Fuger (Bishop), anecdote of, 310 et eeq. Game, Savarin's references to, 192, 193, 197 ; Anthony Hayward on its cookery, 333; preservation and protection of, 357-358; definition of the term, 368 ; effect of food upon flavour of, 359-360, 362-363, 370; proper wines to accompany, 372 ; species, haunts, pursuit, protection, value, and cookery of. Vide chapter "The Spoils of the Cover " Garum, of the ancients, 46 Gastaldy (Dr.), anecdote of, 120; as an epi- cure, 130 , ^ J ,,„ ,,» Gastronomer, the ideal, defined, 442-446 Gastronomic tests, Savarin's illustration of, 190 Gastronomy, Archestratus' lost poem on, 13 ; Berchoux's poem on, 73-76, 184; as defined 473 by M. de Borose, 81; as defined by La Reyni^re, 128; French vs. German, 146, 151, 162 ; finesse of its ethics, 157-158 ; one of the most important arts, 176 ; as defined by the " Dictionnaire de la Conversation," 184 ; as defined by Savarin, 184 ; cry of its decadence, 194; its mainspring the pig, 229 et seq. ; as promoted by the religious orders, 286 et seq., 336; in relation to sauces, 345; St. Ange's disquisition on, 378-381 ; in relation to sport, 354, 356, 446. Vide also "Cookery," "Dinners,'' and in- dividual references Gavarni, his mot on the mushroom, 407 Gemiitlilichkeit,"of the Germans, 153, 174 G(Srard (Charles), referred to, 148-160 Gerarde, quoted, 256, 400, 411 Gibson (W. Hamilton), 406, 407 Glaoer ^ la flamme, 203 Glatigny (Albert), quoted, 63, 341 Gluttony, as defined by woman, 343 Goethe, referred to, 147, 430 ; poem on game, 169 Goldsmith (Oliver), quoted, 108 Gonthier (Johann), referred to, 52 Good-wiU, a sportsman's waste of, 381 Goose (the), merits of, in Germany, 156 ; in Strassburg and Alsace, 169-161 ; and apple- sauce, 244 " Goret (La Mort du)," poem, 232 (Jouff^ (Jules), referred to, 199, 226-226, 227, 229, 445 Gourmand, La Eeynifere's definition of a, 127- 128 Gourmandise, as defined by Savarin, 186; vs. beauty, 187 ; Gerard (Charles), quoted, 199 Gout, 143, 270, 346, 444 ; prevalence of, among the ancients, 46: prevalence of in Eng- land, 96, 102 ; vs. pat^ de foie gras, 162 Grace before meat, 291, 297 Graces, the three spirituous, 196 " Grad' aus dem Wirthshaus," German con- vivial song, 173 " Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine," 211 et seq. Greeks, meals of the ancient, 19 ; gluttony of the ancient, 23 Greeley (Horace), anecdote of, 239 Grog, origin of the word, 97 Grouse, ruffed, 356, 359, 364, 366, 370, 376, 376, 411; pinnated, or prairie-chicken, 363, 365 Haflz, quoted, 423 Hagenmark, 432 Hamerton, referred to, 243 " Hare, first catch your," origin of the term, 110 Harvest-home, poem on the celebration of, 101 Hasenbraten and Hasenpfefler, 168 Hayward (Abraham), referred to, 331 et seq. Hayward (Anthony), on a chaplain's appe- tite, 288 Heidelberg, a dinner at the Wolfsbrunnen, 162 Heliogabalus, gluttony of his reign, 46-48; inventor of vol-au-vent h la financi^re, 48 Henry VIII, his fondness for sweets, 430 Herodotus, quoted, 10 Herrick, quoted, 79, 102 Herring, the " marinirte," 167 Hertford (Lord), anecdote of, 333 HervUly (Ernest d'), referred to, 233 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Hippocras, 67, 93, 94, 96 Hirztag, a strange custom of that festival, 160 HoUar, quoted, 368 Homer, quoted, 20 Hone (Wm,), poem on mlnce-pie, IBS' Hood (Thomas), referred to, 316 Horace, quoted, 11, 26, 39, 40, 113,'398 ; re- ferred to, 38, 39 ; bis fondness for sweets, 428-429 Host, a delicate, as defined by ta Beyni^re, 139 ; vs. guest, Baron Brisse's aphorism on, 228 ; bis duty to his guests, 264-265, 330- 331 Housewife, troubles of the, 260 Hugo (Victor), referred to, 341 Hunt (Leigh), on pig-driving, 239 Ice-cream, discoverer of, 434 Indian summer, poem on, 373 Indigestion, La Beyni^re on the causes of, 133 Ingoldsby (Thomas), referred to, 289; quoted, 280, 291, 306, 438 Jacque (Charles), referred to, 233, 246 Janin (Jules), referred to, 6, 211, 213, 348, 445 Jefferies (Kichard), on feasting the chapel- pastor, 287 Johnson (Dr.), quoted. 111, 248 Jordaens, referred to, 6 Jury d^gustateur (the), 120 et seq. Juvenal, referred to, 34, 37, 40 ; quoted, 37, 42 **Kalendare de Fotages dyuers," 88, 90 Kempis (Thomas k), his fondness for sal- mon, 309 King (Wm.), poem on cookery, 279 Kitchener (Dr. Wra.), referred to, 106 Kuchen, merits of the German, 169, 174 "Kuchenmeisterey," 171 La Bruyfere, quoted, 229, 380 Lacroix (Octave), his tribute to Dumas, 211 La Fontaine, referred to, 116 Laguipifere, referred to, 6, 201, 202 Lamb (Charles), referred to, 17, 239, 210-242, 430 ; his apology to the pig, 240 Lampridius, quoted, 47 Larding (art of), its discoverer, 281 La Reynifere ((Jriraod de), referred to, 66, 72, 112 et seq., 178, 196, 213, 226, 317, 336, 361, 443 ; poem of, 117 ; quoted, 118, 233, 236, 287, 345, 348, 383, 411; his home kitchen, 131, 132; as a gastronomer, 132; denounced by Savarin, 168 ; his tribute to Savarin, 177. Vide also " I'Almanach des Gourmands " La Eochefoucauld, quoted, 6 Leckerbissen and Frauenessen, 172 Lennox (Lady), anecdote of, 335 Liar, charm of the accomplished, 331 Liqueurs (celebrated), of monastic invention, 283-286 *'Livre de Cuisine (Le)," 225 Locust (the), as an article of diet, 7 Louis XIII, as a gastronomer, 53 ; XIV, as a gastronomer, 64 et seq.; XV, as a gas- tronomer, 61; XVIII, as a gastronomer, 76, 78 Lucnllus, as an epicure, 41-43 ; referred to, 46, 20O, 201 Luncheon, an ideal woodland, 375 et seq, Lyne (Bishop de), referred to, 149 Macaroni, Dr. Gastaldy on, 120 Macaroni, Kossini's lost recipe for, 220 Madeleine (the), Dumas' story of, 169 Msecenas, referred to, 38, 39 Hagee (Bishop), anecdote of, 394 Mahony (Bev. Francis), poem on pat^ de foie grae, 161; his "Watergrasshill Carou- sal," 309 Maintenon (Mme. de), referred to, 57, 63, 340 Maitre d'hOtel, duties and importance of the, 136-138, 204 "Maitre d'H6tel Franpais (Le)," 206 " Manuel des Amphiti^ons," quoted, 69 ; re- ferred to, 93-95 Markham (Gervaise), referred to, 93-95; quoted, 409 Marriage, Balzac's definition of, 361 Martial, quoted, 24, 31, 33, 44 ; referred to, 37, 38, 40 Marvell (Andrew), referred to, 81, 262 Mauri (Cardinal), his fondness for "Est, Est, Est," 311 Mead, it« composition, 97 Medici (Catherine de), 52, 433 Melons, 9, 273, 298 "Memoirs of a Stomach," quoted, 271 "Memorials of Gormandizing," 329 Metheglin, 96, 98, 439 Metzelsuppe,Uhland's poem on, 166 M^zeray (Mile.), referred to, 117-119, 126, 126 Mind vs. stomach, 5 ' Mistletoe-thrush, 361 "Modern Cook (The), "[208 Mohrenkeller, of Niimberg, 163 Molifere, referred to, 57, 58, 113 Monselet (Charles), quoted, 176, 194, 206, 264 ; referred to, 211, 225, 232, 340 Montaigne, quoted, 6, 51, 200, 376, 414; re- ferred to, 147, 283 Montauron (Seigneur de), 54 Montausier (Duo de), 64, 65 Montespan (Mme. de), 58, 63 Montgomery (James), poem on the daisy, 424 Horellet (I'Abb^), anecdote of, 304 Morgan (Lady), referred to, 62; quoted, 200 Mouchy (Mar^chal de), anecdote of, 64 Moynier (M. M.), referred to, 394, 396 Miiller (Wilhelm), poem of, quoted, 311 Mullet, a much-valued flsfa, 32, 47; origin of the name, 33 Murger (Henri), referred to, 341 Mushrooms, 3Q2; species, qualities, history, haunts, literature, and cookery of, 397- 408 Musset (Alfred de), quoted, 219 Mutton, ,Pre-SaW and Southdown, 369, 380 Napoleon I, as a gastronomer, 61 Nasidienus, the feast of, 39, 40 Nero, his Domus aurea, 43 Ninon de TEnclos, referred to, 175, 178, 200 North (Christopher), 309, 316 "NouvelAlmanach des Gourmands," quoted, 220 Nudels, 167 Oaks, list of truffle-producing, 391 Oil and vinegar, 416-416 " Old Cookery Books," quoted, 275 Olive-oil, remote use of, 8 OUa podrida, 50 ; en grande, 60 474 INDEX Omelette (the curb's), anecdote of, 299-302 Onderdonk (Bishop), anecdote ot, 296 Onion, an ancient vegetable, 9; tribe, virtues ol the, 106, 107, 231, 387 " Original (The)," 319 et sea. Orsay (Comte d'X on French cookery, 258 Ortolans, 76, 361 Ostade, referred to, 74, 445 Oudiy, ref en'ed to, 234 Ovens, Car6me*s remarks on, 202 Oyster-beds, first artificial, 27 Oysters, ancient modes of cooking, 89 ; supe- riority of American, 262 Pain perdu, 89 Painting, Italian school of, 6, 48, 246 ; Dutch and Flemish schools of, 6, 246, 446 ; French school of, 246 "Panthropeon, or History of Food (The)," 17 209 Papabctte (the), 362-363 Parkinson (John), 81, 411 Parsley, virtues of, 106, 231 Pastry, La Iteynl4re*s definitions of, 138; CarSme's definition of, 202 P4te de foie gras, 7, 130, 166, 168, 161, 162, 189, 235, 236, 397 ; La Reyni^re's account of a, 123 ; its history, 169 ; d'^crevisses, 203 ; de Chartres, 434 ** P&tissier frangais (Le)," 69 Pennell (Elizabeth Robins), quoted, 107, 342 Pensey (Heurion de), his famous gastronomic axiom, 252 Pepper, superiority of adulterated, 417 Pepys (Diary of), quoted, 99-101 Perdrix k Tespagnol, 50 Perfumes, use of, at feasts, 13, 28 Petit-Eadel (M.), anecdote of, 77 "Petite Cuisine (La)," 227 Petrarch, on wine, 293 Petronius Arbiter, referred to, 35, 37 Pheasant (the), 289, 359 Philippe d'OrWans, as a gastronomer, 61 " Philosopher's Banquet (The)," quoted, 106 Physicians, as gastronomers, 78, 267 " Physiologle du Goflt (La)," referred to and quoted, 175 et seq., 206, 351, 395. Vide also " Savarin" Pie (pimipkin), its origin, 273 ; a game, 372 Pies, 249, 430 et seq. ; wUd-boar, 89 ; strange early English, 95 Pig (the), his popularity as a sign-hoard, 67 ; of Westphalia and Rothenburg, 164 ; as a factor of gastronomy, 229 et seq.; "Dis- sertation sur leCochon," 231; "Gli Elogi del Porco," 231 ; M. Pouvoisin's eulogy of, 232 ; Rev. Joseph A. Ely's eulogy of, 232; Monselet's eulogy of, 232 ; Southey's eulogy of, 232; La Reyniftre's eulogies of, 233, 236; Ernest d'Hervllly's sonnet to, 233; Spenser's and Thomson's unjust strictures on, 235, 238 ; the Southern razorback, 235, 306; fondness for truflles, 236, 389; Leigh Hunt's essay on, 239 ; Charles Lamb's apol- ogy to the elder animal, 240 ; as a retriever of game, 244; a German eulogy ot, 244; his influence upon the polite arts, 245-246 ; " R6ti.Cochon," 261, 414 " Pig-Driving, On the Graces and Anxieties of," 239 Planked shad, origin of, 253 et seq. Pliny, quoted, 31 ; referred to, 40, 384, 395 Hover, upland or grass, 361 et seq. Plum-porridge, 435 475 Plum-puddlng, and history of, 334, 434-435 Pompadour (Marquise de), 63 Pope, quoted, 83, 103 Pork, the favourite dish of the ancients, 17 ; origin ot, 230 Pork-pie, 89 Porridge, use ot, by the ancients, 24 Potato, history of the, 265-266, 306 Potatoes, in England, 272, 330 Pot-au.feu, importance of the, 224 Propertius, quoted, 38 Prout (Father). Vide Rev. Francis Mahony "Psalm, a penitential," 286 Puff-balls. Vide " Mushrooms " Punch, origin of the word, 97 Punctuality. Fide "Dinner, punctuality at" Pumpkin, an ancient vegetable, 9 Quail, 363, 366, 366, 376, 382 Recipes A Blue-violet Salad ("The Story ot My House"), 426 "A Bride's Pie" (Mrs. Glasse), 110 A good brown gravy (Mrs. Glasse), 109 A liver-pudding boiled (Mrs. Glasse), 109 Bakewell pudding, 276 Bouillon, Dumas' mode of preparing, 224 Brook trout (Savarin), 179 ; (Baron Brisse's formulas), 180 Cabbage, Apicius' recipes tor, 29 Cfepes (Vuillemot's recipe for), 405 Chicken, Artimidor's recipe for, Cock -ale, Markham's formula for, 98 " Dish of Roses" (the), Laurentius' recipe for, 18 Flounder-Bouchy (Kitchener), 327 Gigot de mouton & la Richelieu (St. Ange), 380 Guisado, the Spanish, 61 How to collar a pig (Mrs. Smith), 109 How to roast a pig (Mrs. Glasse), 110 Kalter Aufschnitt, 169 Mutton Cutlets (Mrs. Walter Ellis), 276 Partridge aux choux (Baron Brisse), 371 Pheasant k la Sainte- Alliance (Savarin), 193 Potage aux choux (Dumas), 224 Quail k la flnanci^re (Gouffi), 226 Roast goose d rallemande^ 157 Sack-posset (Sir Fleetwood Fletcher), 439 Sauce for venison , mutton, an d game (Fran- catelli), 208; for green geese and duck- lings, 278 ; k la Schonberg (Her Gracious Serenity), 362 Spare-rib (Charles Lamb's new formula), 242 "The Curd's Omelette" (Savarin), 302 The hunter's sandwich, 441 Ranhofer (Charles), referred to, 353 Rdcamier(Mme.), referred to, 300 Reed-birds, 369, 361 Rembrandt, referred'to, 6 Restaurants, first Parisian, 64, 66 ; excessive charges of Parisian, 140, 220, 342 ; Bignon, referred to, 219 ; American, 250 ; advantage ot dining at, 339; Glatigny's sonnet on, 341; Bignon's, 341-343; Trois Frferes Pro- ven^eaux, referred to. 268; a dinner at, in 1860, 297 ; English, 270, 276, 338. Vide also "Cutis," and specific references Retz (Cardinal de), referred to, 171 RSveilld-Parise (Dr.), referred to, 339 THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE Bichelieu (Oardinal de),54,302,380; (Mar^chal, Due de), 303, 348 Riquette, referred to, 202 Bistori (Mme.), referred to, 220 Boasting, as defined by the Marquis de Cussy, 120 Bobert, referred to, 6, 69,. 194, 201, 202 Eocher de Cancale (restaurant of), 62, 115, 117, 118, 187, 221; a celebrated menu of, 140-142 Eohan (Cardinal), referred to, 160 Bomans, luxury of the ancient, 26 et seq. ; meals of the ancient, 27 Bonsard, referred to, 62 ; quoted, 79 Eoques (Joseph), 408 Bossini, as a gastronomer, 219 "Boyal Cookery" (Patrick Lamb's), 102 Bubens, referred to, 6, 246 Buffs and reeves, 336 Buysdael, referred to, 6 Sack-posset, 96 St. Ange, gastronomic homily of, 378-382 Ste. Beuve, quoted, 381 Saint-Simon, quoted, 66 Salad, 362 ; virtues of, as defined by Savarin, 301, 411 ; virtues of, as defined by La Eey- iii^re, 411 ; its mission and place at the dinner, 418 Salads, remote use of, 10 Salmis, La Eeyni^re's lost monastic recipe for, 286 Sandpiper (Bartramian) . Vide " Plover " and "Papabotte" Sanzai (Archbishop), anecdote of, 304 Sardanapalus, as a gastronomer, 12 Sauce, a good, as defined by Baron Brisse, 334; a good, as defined by La Beynifere, 346 ; anchovy, 345 ; (a good), its qualifica- tions, 349 Sauce tartare, a novel, 266 Sauces, old English, 84; best for brook trout, 191 ; (Francatelli's), for mutton and game, 209, 868 ; (English), 277 ; merits of, 249, 346; Harvey's, origin and anecdote of, 277 ; bread, 289, 368 ; their relation to gastronomy, 345; Marquis de Cussy on, 346 ; mayonnaise, its history and etymol- ogy, 348-349, 421 ; h, la Schonberg, 362 ; a list of, for the home cuisine, 352 ; apple, 368 ; k la Bichelieu, 381 Saucier (the), 346 Sauerkraut, 371; when invented, 160; (French), not to be commended, 223 Sausages, the German the master-maker of, 162, 423 ; German species and varieties of, 163-166 Savarin, referred to, 75, 113, 114, 226, 305, 351, 370, 434, 443; denounced by M. de Gourchamps, 158; as a gastronomer, 181, 206 ; his discourtesy to La Eeynifere, 195 ; poem of, 197 ; quoted, 800-302, 383, 384, 395, 411. Vide also "Physiologic du Godt (La) " Scott (Sir Walter), referred to, 309 Seasonings, used by the ancients, 28-30; used by the English, 83, 108; importance of, 446 Seneca, quoted, 5, 31, 32, 41, 46 ; referred to, 40,44 S^vign^ (Marquis de), referred to, 175, 200 Shakespeare, quoted, 246, 441 Shelley, referred to, 234 Shooting-jaunt a, 3*76 et seq. ShutUeworth (Canon), his famous " grace," 291 Signboards (old), and their mottoes, 67 Smell (the), its infiuence on the taste, 182 Smith (Bev. Sydney), his mot on p&t^ de foie gras, 168 ; gastronomic anecdote of, 249 ; his mot on the pheasant, 286 ; his poem on roast mutton, 290 ; on fanatics, 294 ; his poem on salad, 412 Sneyders, referred to, 6, 234, 445 Snipe, 356, 859, 366, 366, 411 Socidt^ des Mercredis, 118, 129, 130 Solomon, his table, 11 Sora, or rail (the), 360 Soubise (Prince de), anecdote of his chef, 37 Soup, bisque d'^crevisses, 160; aux choux, 224; croHte-au-pot, 224, 276; Julienne, 281 ; first mention of, 281 "Soupers de la Cour (Les)," 62 Soups, German, 167 Southey, referred to, 232 Soyer, referred to, 17, 106, 199, 209-210 Spartan black broth, 13 Spatzle, 167 Speaking-tube, invented by La Beyniere, 126 Speisek^e, a typical, 154 Spenser, quoted, 236 ; referred to, 238 Sport. Vide chapter "The Spoils of the Cover " Stimulants, before dinner, 196 Stomach (the), its joys and sorrows, 5; its offices, 267, 317, 319 Strawberries vs. gout, 143, 432 (Bev. Dr.), anecdote of, 296- 299 Sweetmeats, 379 Sweet potato, 256 Sydney (Sir Bobert), anecdote of, 89 Tables volantes, 62 Talleyrand (Prince de), as a gastronomer, 69, 202 Talon (Joseph), discoverer of truffle culture, 388 Taste (the), Savarin 's analysis of, 181-184; influence of smell on, 182 Teniers, referred to, 6, 446 Tennyson, referred to, 316 Thackeray, referred to, 169, 195, 387; as a gastronomer, 316, 329 ; quoted, 327, 340 Thomson, quoted, 238 Thoreao, on the mushroom, 402, 403 Tiberius, death from poisoned mushrooms, 43; as an epicure,~44; his fondness for cu- cumbers, 426 Timon (Bishop), of Buffalo, anecdote of, 293 Toast, a celebrated French, to femininity, 283 Toasts, form of, among the ancients, 27 Tobacco, introduction of, 28 Total abstainer, anecdote of a, 265 ; absti- nence, poem on, 296 Total abstainers vs. guests, 263-266 ; brandied peaches, 433 Trimalchio, dinner of, 35 Trout, brook, best sauce for, 181; of the English chalk streams, 364; American vs. the European, 365 "TniflfeODela),"394 " Truffe (La)," 390 Truffles, 143, 169, 210, 235,434; species, quali- ties, history, cultivation, cookery, litera- ture, and phenomena of. Vide chapter "Two Esculents par excellence" 476 INDEX Turbot (the), 33 Turkey, a truffled, 122, 304, 885 ; history of the, 804, 306; wild, 869-370; wild vs. the domestic, 869, 370 Turtle feasts, Ainerican, 267 Tide, referred to, 6, 106, 199, 207 TJhland, referred to, 163, 166 TJlric (St.), festival of, 308 Frbain Dubois, referred to, 199, 226 Tan Mieris, referred to, 197 Vatel, referred to, 6, B4, 68, 130 ; on carving, 69 Vegetables, used by the ancients, 9, 10, 28, 29 ; poor cookery of, in Great Britain, 272; importance of good, 330 Temeuil (G. de), referred to, 130 V6ron (Dr.), anecdote of, 221 ; on the res- taurant, 339 Verres, referred to, 43 "Viel-Castel (Vicomte de), anecdote of, 214 Vienna roll (the), origin of, 171 Vincent La Chapelle, 61 Vineyards (celebrated), flrst founded by the ecclesiasts, 282 Virgil, referred to, 234 Vitellius, referred to, 43, 44 Vol-an-vent k la flnanci^re, 203 ; inventor of, 48 Vopallifere (Marquis de), referred to, 71 Vuillemot, referred to, 212, 213 Walker (Thos.), 106, 195, 319 et aeq.; as a gastronomer, 326 Walton (Isaac), referred to, 81 Ward (Artemus), his mot on hasty pudding, 134; his mot on pies, 437 Weenix, referred to, 234, 445 Wheat, original home of, 9 Wheatears, 335, 361 White (Gilbert), referred to, 243, 272 ; quoted. Whitebait, as eulogized by Thackeray, 328, 887 Whiteflsh (the), 45 Wines, of the ancients, 13, 17, 30, 40 ; of the ancient Romans, 30; in use in England, 96-98 ; difficulty of testing, 136 ; German, 168 ; of old Alsace. 169 ; brut champagne, 262, 431; importance of good, 262, 264, 266; champagne, 262, 270, 323, 337, 438; champagne, its virtues, 283, 379 ; their rela- tion to the clergy, 282, 291, 293, 295, 309 et 8eq.\ **Est, Est, Est," history of, 310 ct aeg.; importance of a sufficient variety, 322-323 ; their relation to game, 356, 372; to truffles and mushrooms, 394, 408 ; Ch&teau Yquem, crfime, of 1861 and 1864, 427 ; as a medium of hygiene, 444 Woman, jealousy of, 14 ; imitating man's ex- cesses, 46; Talleyrand's precept regarding, 79 ; compared to peaches, 119 ; as gastron- omers, 125, 343, 351 ; La Reyni^re's distinc- tion of, as guests, 139; created for the selfish wishes of man , 174 ; her fondness for sweetmeats, 174, 429, 430, 433; Savarin's references to, 192 ; as an addition to a shooting-party, 192-193, 378 ; a French toast to, 283; as an adjunct to the dinner, 320; disadvantages of dining with, 338, 340 ; in the eighteenth century, 347; how she may hypnotise the Btemer sex, 350, 429 ; a toast in sparkling St. P^ray to her, 361 ; Balzac's reference to, 361; the wise one defined, 361 ; m. champ£^ne, 379, 429 ; compared to mushrooms, 398 ; pretty one should mix a salad, 420; her relation to cookery, 429; a foil for man's mistakes, 431 ; as a gar- nish to an omelette, 432; her pet tipples in colonial times, 438, 439 Woodcock, 365, 359, 365, 366, 376 Wordsworth, referred to, 240 Yellowshank (the), 361 Yuan Mel, quoted, 6 477