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THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
LEEDS
Presented by Mrs. Thompson of
LEEDS UNIVERSITY LIBRARY
Classmark:
GOO&lCf
l\ I'm
This day , with a Frontispiece by John Gilbert, and 13 Views of Public
Schools, Sfc. in a closely printed volume, price 5s. cloth,
SCHOOL-DAYS OF EMINENT
MEN:
COXTAINISG
SKETCHES OF THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND, FROM TILE

REIGN OF KING ALFRED TO THAT OF QUEEN VICTORIA J
SCHOOL AND COLLEGE LIVES OF THE MOST CELEDUA7 RD BRITISH AUTHORS,

POETS AND PHILOSOPHERS; INVENTORS AND DISCOVERERS;
DIVINES, HEROES, STATESMEN, AND LEGISLATORS.
By JOHN
TIMBS, F.S.A.
Author of" Curiosities of London,” “ Things not generally Known," SfC.
5Llst of Engrabings.
frontispiece: William of Wykehain sees Cliiclieley (afterwards Archbishop
of Canterbury) tending his Father’s Sheep at Higham-Ferrers. Drawn by
John Gilbert.
Winchester School. Harrow School.
Etoft Upper School. Itugby School.
Saint Paul’s School. Charterhouse School.
Christ’s Hospital. Stratford: School of Shakspeare.
Merchant Taylor’s School. Grantham: School of Newton.
Westminster School. Birthplace of Newton.
Hornbook, 18th Century.
This Book is specialty adapted for a Prize-Book at Schools.
“ Another of the valuable and interesting little compilations whereof

Mr. Timbs is the most successful and ingenious deviser, is a volume upon
the School-Days of Eminent Men,’ which is hardly to be regarded as a
‘
boy's book only. School-days interest us all, and Mr. Timbs has crowded
his pages with matter in which even the learned may find acceptable bits of
information. The sketches of the history of education in this country aro
exceedingly suggestive.” Examiner.
“ The idea a happy one, and its execution equally so. It is a book to
is
interest all boys, butmure especially those of Westminster, Eton, Harrow,
Rugby, and Winchester; for of these, as of many other schools of high re-
pute, the accounts are full and interesting." Notes and Queries.
“The contents are exceedingly instructive and entertaining, and the

whole book beautifully illustrated and adorned. It is an elegant and judi-
cious publication, to which the man of letters will turn for reference, and
the schoolboy, we hope, cling with assiduous desire to copy those noblest
models, whose lives beckon him on to the sama eminence, and assure him of
final reward.” John Bull.
“ Like Mr. Timbs’s previous works, this contains much that is not only
interesting but much that is instructive also. . . This is altogether a most
.
amusing volume, and will be a most acceptable present to any schoolboy am-
bitious of figuring in a future edition as one of England’s Eminent Men.’”
‘
Gentleman's Mayazine.
KENT AND CO. (late BOGUS),’ FLEET STREET.

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2015
https://archive.org/details/b21531699
ortolans. (See page 72.)
( From Gould's “ Birds of Europe.")
THE PATENT ELUTRIATOR FOR DECANTING WINK. (See page 124.)

HINTS
FOR THE TABLE:
OR, THE
(gconoinij of ©00i> fiDini].
WITH A FEW WORDS ON WINES.
To form a science ami a nomenclature

From out the commonest demands of nature. — II vron'.
LONDON:
KENT AND CO. (late BOGUE), FLEET STREET.
MDCCCLIX.
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY,
LEEDS.
INTRODUCTION.
This little work has originated in the refined character
of what, in the present day, are termed, par excellence ,
“ the Pleasures of the Table.” Its main object is to
show that the perfection of social enjoyment is neither

so costly nor so difficult of attainment as is generally
supposed ;
and, that such pleasures ennoble rather than
enervate the mind —thus realizing
“ The feast of reason and the flow of soul.”
The means by which the Author has sought to work

out his design, will, it is hoped, he found to combine
entertainment with utility, and amusement with prac-
tical information. He has endeavoured to avail himself
of the latest inquiries, especially in Dietetic Chemistry,
and adapted their results to the increase of the comforts
of every-day life ;
whilst he has also called to his aid the
sister sciences of Zoology and Botany, to detei’mine
points which have not yet been tested by common ex-
perience. In this pleasant task, very many New Facts
have been assembled in the several branches of the Art
of Refection.
The subject is worthy of all the attention it has re-

ceived for the popular mind has Jong, been disabused of
:
the error associating habits- of -excess with what may be

IV Introduction.
called “ the Economy •”

of Good Living and our French
neighbours have clearly illustrated the wide contrast be-
tween the grossness of Gourmandisin, and the refined
enjoyment of the Gourmet. That such inquiries are
not derogatory to exalted genius is shown in the fact of
the most illustrious chemical philosopher of our time*
he who filled the Chair of the Royal Society to the
admiration of the scientific world —having recorded
among the most elaborate pursuits of experimental
philosophy, —the excellence of a fish-dinner on the
Danube.
As concentration produces high convenience, the fol-
lowing information is conveyed in the fewest words con-

sistent with perspicuity, so as to comprise within these
pages very nearly One Thousand Hints, on

Dietetics. Sweet Dishes.
The Art of Dining. Bread.
The Table. Cheese and Butter.
Cookery. Malt Liquors.
Carving. The Dessert.
Soups. Wines.
Turtle. New Mode of Decanting Wine.
Fish. The Art of Drinking Wine.
Whitebait. Spirits.
Oyster-eating. Liqueurs.
Meats. Making Punch.
Savoury Pies. French Coffee.
Poultry and Game. SodaWater and Summer Drinks.
Sauces and Gravies. Smoking.
Vegetables. National Dinners.
Salads. Table Aneodotes.
It should be added, that elegance and economy of ex-
penditure have been studiously kept in view : save in a
few instances of epicurean fantasies, which have been
* Sir Humphry Davy.— See page 37 of the present volume.

Introduction. v
quoted rather as the curiosities of the subject, than

for their direct example. The above enumeration may
be startling. It is, however, an excellent maxim of
home-philosophy, to “ aim at perfection in everything,

though in most things it is unattainable for they who :
aim at it, and persevere, willcome much nearer to it

than those whose laziness and despondency make them
give it up as unattainable.”
** The Quotations from the Quarterly Review which occur in

the subsequent pages, are principally from the following Papers and
Numbers of that valuable Journal
Cookery No. 104 Date 1834.

Gastronomy and Gastronomers No. 107 — 1834.
Walker’s “ Original” No. 110 — 1836.
Yarrell’s British Fishes No. 116 — 1837.
Codes of Manners and Etiquette ... No. 118 — 1837.
Portions of these Papers have been reprinted, with additions, in
“ The Artof Dining, or Gastronomy and Gastronomers,” in Murray’s
Railway Reading, 1852.
THE FRONTISPIECE.
—
Ortolans. These specimens have been engraved, by permission,
from Mr. Gould’s great work on the Birds of Europe. The Ortolan
will be found described at pp. 72, 73.
The Patent Elutriator, for Decanting Wine, is described at

pp. 124-7.
THE VIGNETTE.
The Cut has been reduced from the vignette to Nichols’s Biographical
Anecdotes of William Hogarth, Third Edition, 1785. It represents
Hogarth’s Invitation Card, engraved from the original, then “in
Charles-street, Grosvenor-square, in the possession of Dr. Wright.”
The illustrative note is as follows : “A specimen of Hogarth’s pro-
pensity to merriment, on the most trivial occasions, is observable in
one of his cards requesting the company of Dr. Arnold King to dine
with him at the Mitre. Within a circle, to which the knife and fork
are the supporters, the written part is contained. In the centre is
drawn a pie, with a mitre on the top of aDd the invitation of our
it,
artist concludes with the following sport on three of the Greek letters
— to Eta Beta Pg. The rest of the inscription is not very accurately
spelt. A quibble by Hogarth is surely as respectable as a conundrum
by Swift.” — Pages 63, 64.
CONTENTS.
Dietetics 1 — 12
Choice of Food, 1 ; Digestion. Pepsin, and Artificial Gastric J uice,
2; Digestion of various Food, 3; What an Epicure eats in his life-
time, 3; Liebig’s Theory of Nutrition, 5; Nourishment in Food
—
Digestibility Education of the Stomach, 6 ; Theory of Cookery, 7
—
Horn’s of Meals, 8 Drinking at Meals Water-drinking, 9 Remedies ;
;
for Indigestion, 10; Sportsmen’s Living —

Exercise and Meals, 11;
Home Proverbs, 12.
The Aet of Cookeby : 11 18 —
Opinions, 12; —
Gourmandize French and English Cookery, 13;
—
French Cookery Salt and the Eolish, 14; Delights of Cookery
Theory of the Kitchen, 15 Details of the Kitchen, 16 Gas Cookery
; ;
— Preservation of Food, 17; Creosote and Charcoal, 18.
The Aet of Dining : 18 — 24

Aristology, 18; Serving the Table, 19; Mr. Walker on the Art, 20;
Taking Wine — Maxims for a Dinner, 21 Careme, 22 Expensive
; ;
Parties, 23.
Management of the Table : 24 — 26

Circular Tables, Tables Volantes, and the Plateau, 24; Lighting
—
Eooms “ Thirteen to Dinner,” 25.
Caeving : 26 — 29
Honours of the Table, 26 ; Serving Soup — Meats, 27 ; Poultry and
Game—Accidents, 28, 29.
Soups : 29 — 34
French and English Soups— Liebig’s Brown Gravy, 29; Spring
—
Soups, 30; Serving Soups Turtle, 31; Dressing Turtle, 32; Edible
—
Frogs and Snails A Snail Dinner, 33.
Fish : 34 — 57
—
Digestibility Consumption in London, 34 Freshness of Fish, 35 ;
Seasons, 36; Serving Salmon, 37; Turbot, 39; Cod-fish, 40; Soles,
Haddock, Whiting, Ling and Bream, 41, 42 ; Mullet, 42 ; The Dory
Lampreys, 43; Whitebait and Shad, 45; Eels and Tench, 47 Trout, :
47, 48 Smelts and Gudgeons, 48 Flounders and Barbel, 49 ; Her-

; ;
rings, 49 ; Pike, 49 Carp, Perch, and Gurnard, 50 Mackerel

; Stur- ; —
geon, 51 ; Caviare, 52; Plaice, Skate, Basse, and Hake, 54; Kuffe
vm Contents.
Fish ( continued ).
Oysters, 53; Oysters in New York, 54; Lobsters, 65; Crabs, Mussels,
Scallops, and Cockles, 66; Water-Souchy, Sardines, Anchovies, and
Pilchards, 67.
Meats : 58 — G4
—
Preparing and Salting Venison, 58 ; Sirloin and Pound of Beef,
—
59; Steaks and Chops, 60; Veal Mutton, 61; Pork Hams, 62; —
—
Dressing Hams Bacon and Larding, 63 ; Sausage-meats, 64.
Savouey Pies : 65 — 66
Kaised Pics —Patties —Pates de Foie Gras, 65; Christmas Game
Pie, 66.
POULTEY AND GAME : .... 66 — 78

The Turkey, 66 The Bustard, 67 The Bittern and Sea-gull, 68
; ;
Fowls, Geese, and Swans, 69; The Canvas-hack Duck, 70; Black
Game, Grouse, Pheasants, Partridges, and Pochard, 71 Peacock, ;
Guinea-fowl, Quails, Redbreasts, Larks, Ruffs and Reeves, 72 Orto- ;
lans, 72, 73; The Wlieatear, Pigeon, and Heron, 74; Hare and Rab-
bit, 74; Keeping Poultry and Game, 75; Edible Birds’ Nests
—
South of France luxuries Eggs, 76; Soyer’s “Hundred Guinea
Dish,” 77 ; Memoir of the late Alexis Soyer (note), 77, 78.
Sauces and Geayies 79 — 83

A Good Sauce —Dutch, Piquante,
and Poor Man’s Ham Extract, —
Olives, and Truffles, 79 Russian Sauce, Bread Sauce, Lobster Sauce,
;
and Melted Butter, Essence of Anchovies, Ketchup and Soy, 80;

—
Cavice and Capers Chatna and Currie, 81 The Burdwan, Cayenne, ;
and other Peppers, 82 Pickles and Mustard, 83.

;
Vegetables 84 — 92
N utriment and Dressing—Potatoes, Cabbage and Marrow, 85 84
—
;
Kale, Chou-croute, and Haricot Turnips, 86; Peas and Spinach, 87

—
Beet-root, Celeriae, and Tomata Laver, 88; The Onion Horse- —
radish, mistakes about, 89; Mushrooms and Truffles, 90; Herbs
—
Covent Garden Market Vegetables and Fruit Act, 91, 92; Water-
cresses for London, 92.
Salads 92 94
Digestibility, 92 ; Sydney Smith’s Dressing— Cucumbers and Chicory,
93 ;
Salad Vinegar, 94.
Sweet Dishes: 94 9/
—
Pastry Plum-pudding, 94; Plum-broth Jellies, Jams, and Pre- —
serves-Rhubarb, 95; Bottled Fruits, Marmalade, and Maids of
Honour—Flavouring, 96; Ices, 97.
Beead 97 — 98
New and Stale—Brown, 97 ;
Various Bread, Biscuit, and Macaroni, 98-
Cheese and Buttee: 99 100

Herbs in Cheese, Potato and Cream Cheese, 99; Stilton, Parmesan,
Butter,
and Schabzieger Cheese— Butter, 99; Eppingand Cambridge
99; Dutch Butter and Cheese, 100.
Contents. IX
„
Malt T
Liquors:
100
_ -p. ... 103 — 109

104
Fruits in Britain-Forced and Natural, 103; Pines and Melons,
Easpbeirnes 105,
Water Melon and Grapes-Strawbemes and
Cherries, Gooseberries, Currants,
Plums, Peaches, •>
j] a^ cs
’
107; Walnuts and Chestnuts— Figs and Gates,

and Pears.— Filberts,
Olives, 100.
The Orange, 108 Shaddock ;
.... .... 110 — 128

strength of Wines.— Young Wine, 110;
Old Wine, Bouquet, and
Champagnes,
Crust” 111 Growths and Measures— Serving, 112 ;
Clarets, 114; îrngundy,

;
115 M. Moet and Madame Clicquot, 114?;

;
Bar, 116; German Wmes-Bhme Ho^,
115; Sauterne, and Yin de ây“d
and Steinberg, 117; The Heidelberg
T^.-Veimuth
120, 1.21 , Sher
Vinde Chvpre, 118; Constants—Port Wines, H9, Catawba and Isa-
Madeira, 122; American TV mes :
ries 121,122;
Kaisin, Grape, Gooseberry, Elder,
bella, 123; British Wines, 123;
Patent Elutnator,
and Parsnen 124; Wine and Decanting: The
123li™&g Wines; Artificial Ice, 127, 128; Best Wine-glasses
'
—To mull Wine, 128.

129 131
The Art of Drinking Wine:
131 134
Spirits, &c.
Strength, 131; Brandy, Bum, and Shrub— American Cyder-brandy.
—Whisky, 132.
Making Punch 135 — 136
Oxford
Mixed, Whisky, Summer Grin, and Regents Punch, 135;
Punch, Toddy, and Negus, 136.
Liqueurs 137 — 138

—
Chartreuse Liqueurs Parfait-amour, and Curaijoa, 137 ;
Walnut
Intoxication, 138.
Liqueur, Batafia, and Kirschenwasser ; Bemedies for
Soda Water and Summer Drinks 139 ;

142. . • •
—
Hock and Soda Water— Seltzer Water, 139; Coffee and Green Tea
—Mint Julep and Sherry Cobbler, 140; Stone Wall, Gin Slmg, and
Mississippi Punch —W enham Lake Ice, 141 ;
Artificial Ice, 142.
Smoking 1^2 144

Old and Young England Pipes— The Best Cigars, 142 ;
The Hookah
—
and Meerschaum. Snuff-taking, 143, 144.
Making Coffee 148 — 149

Coffee and its Properties, 144; Mocha and Turkey —Boasting Coffee
Coffee in France, 145 ; To Make Coffee as in France, 146 ;
Chicory,
147 ; Various Modes, 147.
Tea-making: 148 — 149

Tea in various Countries, 148 ; Properties of, 148, 149.
X Contents.
Breakfast, Luncheon, and Supper.- . . . 149 — 151

National Dinners : 152 — 158
Roman Cookery— French Cooks — German table d’hote, 162; Wei-
mar- and Nassau, Vienna and Hungary, 163; Russian, Turkish, and
—
Persian, 164; Chinese, 156; East Indies Sandwich Islands, 156;
Monastery Kitchen at Alcobasa —A
Spendthrift Club Richmond —
Dinner, in 1609, 157 Lord Mayor’s Banquet in Guildhall, 168.
;
Anecdotes of Clubs : 158 163 —

The Roxburglie Club Dinners, London Clubs and
158, 159, 160;
Betting, 161 Duke of Wellington and Economy of Clubs
; the —
Beef Steak Society, 162; Crockford, and his Club; and James Smith
at the Union, 163.
Table Anecdotes:
— Lawyers in Company — a Veal Dinner, 164; The Duke
164 — 184
Rousseau
of Bridgewater — the Richmond Hoax — Dining with the Hat on.
166; Drinking Parties and Characteristics, 166; The Loving Cup,
Paralysis and Port Wine, Cape Madeira, Half-and-Half; 167 ; Ad-
—
dison and Sheridan at Holland House Frederick William I. and
Peter the Great, Invitation blunder, 168; Foote, Fontenellc and
Asparagus, Alderman Faulkner and the Strawberry, Lord Lyttleton,
169; Mr. Pitt’s Hospitality, Sheridan, and Ozias Linley, 170; Can-
ning, Dr. Parr, and George III., 171 ; Queen Charlotte, Fete at
Carlton House, George IV., William IV., Queen Victoria, Napoleon
I., Royal Plate at Windsor, (note,) 172 Silence and Wisdom, Sir
;
H. Davy, “ Poor-man-of-mutton,” “Right to a crack,” 173; Cur-

ran’s gratitude, 174; Sir Walter Scott and his Daughter, Csesar
and Cleopatra, Sir T. Lawrence’s Sitters, Von Raumer on London
Society, Moore’s bon mot, 175 Gasconade, Glass broken by Sound,
;
Antiquity of Tooth-picks, Origin of “Punch,” 176; Talleyrand’s

Table-wit, 177 ; Udc’s Pate d’Amando and Pate d’ Amour, 177 Cole- ;
ridge, Sir James Mackintosh, Lord Peterborough, Cambaceres, 178 ;

—
A gentleman’s proper income Dr. Johnson, Garrick, and Boswell,
179; Lord Erskine Ann ouncing Names, Travelling Fruit-garden,
Charles II. at Guildhall, 180 Hard-drinking, Hob-nob, the peach,
;
citron, and blackberry, 181 Origin of bottled Ale Pleasures of

;
—
the Table, How to preside at a party, 182 ; Conducting Entertain-
—
ments visits, 183 the true fine Gentleman and Gentlewoman, 183,
:
184.
HINTS FOR THE TABLE.
Huge volumes, like the ox roasted at Bartholomew Fair, may proclaim

plenty of labour and invention, but afford less of what is delicate, savoury,
—
and well concocted, than smaller pieces. F. Osborn.
Dietetics.
Providence has gifted man with reason : to his reason, there-
fore, is left the choice of his foodand drink, and not to instinct,
as among the lower animals it thus becomes his duty to apply
:
his reason to the regulation of his diet to shun excess in quan-

;
tity, and what is noxious in quality to adhere, in short, to the

;
simple and the natural among which the bounty of his Maker
;
has afforded him an ample selection and beyond which, if he

;
deviates, sooner or later he will suffer the penalty. Prout.

Health obviously depends in a great measure on the number,
quality, and quantity, of our meals; and the grand point for
dyspeptic persons, is to avoid hurry, agitation, anxiety, and dis-
traction of every sort whilst the digestive organs are at work.
In confirmation of this, the following anecdote is related During :
—
the time M. de Suffrein was commanding for the French in the
East, he was one day waited on by a deputation of natives, who
requested an audience just as he was sitting down to dinner.
He quietly heard out the message, and as quietly desired the
messenger to inform the deputation, that it was a precept of the
Christian religion, from which no earthly consideration would
induce him to depart, never to attend to any business of any kind
at dinner-time. The deputation went away lost in admiration at
the piety of the commandant .
—
Quarterly Review.
According to habit, a certain sum of stimulus is requisite to
keep up the necessary excitement and this sum cannot be im-
;
mediately withdrawn in weak subjects without some risk: in

health, perhaps, the experiment may be safely made at all times,
and under any circumstances, although it might be wiser to
operate the change by degrees and it must, moreover, be recol-
;
B
2 Hints for tlie Tahle.
lected, that an habitual drunkard is in a morbid condition, and

must be treated accordingly.
It is probable that a regular mode of living is the most likely

to prolong our years, whatever may be that regularity in a com-
parative point of view. A
sober man, who commits occasional
excesses, is more suffer than another man who gets
likely to
drunk every night, provided that these excesses do not differ in
regard to the quantity or quality of stimulus. In these melan-
choly instances, the excitement is constant, and the indirect
debility which it may produce, has scarcely time to break down
the system, ere it is again wound up to its usual pitch, to use the
vulgar expression, “ by a hair of the same hound.” The prin-
cipal attribute of life that renovates, for awhile, its moral and
its physical exhaustion is excitability and a constant excitement
;
is, therefore, indispensable to serve as a fuel to the consuming

fire. Dr. Millingen.
DIGESTION. —ARTIFICIAL GASTRIC JUICE.

How much gastric juice do is made and
you suppose there
poured into the stomach in twenty-four hours in an ordinary
man P There are 16 pints. There are used in the same time, of
mouth saliva, 3 pints ;
of bile, 3 pints ;
of pancreatic saliva, \ pint
of intestinal juice, \ pint; in all 23 pints of fluid are poured out
into the digestive canal in about 24 hours. About one-sixth part
of an ordinary sized man What becomes of it P Why, it goes
!
in again. During digestion it is constantly being poured out

thin, and taken in thicker. It is outward bound —
empty ; home-
—
ward bound laden with cargo. It leaves home poor, it returns
rich. By its chemical qualities it digests the food which it meets
and by its mere quantity it washes it into the blood-vessels. Is
then the bile all re-absorbed P Not all, but 15 parts out of 16
are, and furnish a fuel to the blood, very easily burned, to assist
in maintaining animal heat. Dr. liadclgffc Sail.
Dr. Corvisart, a Parisian physician, has introduced a medicine
capable of performing the functions of the digestive organs in —
short, an Artificial Gastric Juice, which is a combination of
Pepsin, (literally, the cooking principle), with an acid, probably
lactic. It has been proved that the principal element in the
digestive process is pepsin, which, if slightly acidulated, (as with
the lactic acid,) will dissolve coagulated albumen. Hence, iu

cases of impaired digestive powers, if pepsin can be introduced,
even in very small quantities, into the stomach, at the time of
taking food, the operations of nature will be wonderfully facili-
tated. M. Boudalt has succeeded in preparing pepsin from the
rennet-bags, (the fourth stomachs of the ruminants,) used in
Artificial Digestion by Pepsin. 3
making cheese : it is a syrupy solution, which being mixed with

starch 'and dried, forms a greyish powder, and is either used by
itself, or mixed with re-agents which do not affect its
digestive
properties. Thus prepared, pepsin can be taken either in water,
or between slices of bread ; and according to Dr. Ballard, who
has introduced it into London practice, it is capable of represent-
ing and replacing the normal gastric juice of the human body ; and
it not only acts per se on the food, but restores the lost activity
of the secretive organs.*
DIGESTION OF VARIOUS FOOD.

The time required, to digest various kinds offood has been
duly observed. St. Martin, the man who has an opening into his
stomach, produced by a gun-shot wound, is in New York, and
a number of physicians of that city, experimenting with a view
to ascertain the time requisite for the digestion of food, have
found that a thermometer introduced into his stomach, rises to
101° Fahrenheit. The carrot is consumed in five hours. Eoast
beef, underdone, will digest in an hour and a half. Melted
butter will not digest at all, but float about in the stomach.
Lobster is comparatively easy of digestion. Upon the application
of the gastric juice to a piece of purple tissue paper, the colour at
once fades. The patient, Martin’s, health has been uniformly
excellent; and since his recovery from the first effects of the
wound, he has supported a large family by his daily labour.
WHAT AN EPICURE EATS AND DRINKS IN HIS LIFE-TIHE.

It mil rather take the reader by surprise to be told, that in a
life of 65 years’ duration, with a moderate daily allowance of
mutton, for instance, he will have consumed a flock of 350 sheep
and that altogether, for dinner alone, adding to his mutton a
reasonable allowance of potatoes and vegetables, with a pint of
wine daily for 30 years of this period, above 30 tons of solids and
liquids must have passed through his stomach. Soyer, in his
popular work, the Modern Housewife, says :
Take seventy years of the life of an epicure, beyond which age many
* Among the cases recorded by Dr. Ballard is that of a lady, sixty-six

years of age, who for four years had suffered pain, which “ she had no
words to describe,” for three or four hours after every meal. The natural
consequences were excessive prostration and complete disgust for food
and she had for many weeks limited herself to four rusks and a little
milk and beef-tea per diem. The first day pepsin was used she ate and
enjoyed a mutton-chop; in a few days she ate freely, and gradually
improved, and at length was able to give up the pepsin entirely, to eat
—
without pain, and walk some miles without fatigue. Dr. Ballard, on
Artificial Digestion, p. 30.
B 2
4 Hints for the Table.
of that class of bon vivants arrive, and even above eighty, still in the full
enjoyment of degustation, &c. (for example, Talleyrand, Cambaeeres,
Lord Sefton, &c.) ; if the first of the said epicures, when entering on the
tenth spring of his extraordinary career, had been placed on an eminence
say the top of Primrose Hill— and had had exhibited before his infantine
eyes’ the enormous quantity of food his then insignificant person would
—
destroy before he attained his seventy-first year first, he would believe it
must be a delusion; then, secondly, he would inquire where the money
could come from to purchase so much luxurious extravagance ?
Imagine, on the top of the above-mentioned hill, a rushlight of a boy
just entering his tenth year, surrounded with the recherche
provision and
delicacies claimed by his rank and wealth, taking merely the
consumption
surrounded and
of his daily meals. By closely calculating, he would be
gazed at by the following number of quadrupeds, birds, fishes,
&c. By —
no lessthan 30 oxen, 200 sheep, 100 calves, 200 lambs, 50 pigs in ;
ducklings, 263 pigeons,

poultry, 1200 fowls, 300 turkeys, 150 geese, 400
and snipes ; 600
1400 partridges, pheasants, and grouse ; 600 woodcocks
wild ducks, widgeon, and teal; 450 plovers, rufTes,
and reeves; 300 quails,
ortolans, and dotterels, and a few guillemots,
and other foreign birds;
rabbits, 40 deer, 120 gumea fowl, 10 peacocks,
and
also, 500 hares and
360 ’wild fowl. In the way of fish, 120 turbot, 140 salmon, HO cod, -60
soles and slips, and 400 flounders
trout, 400 mackerel, 300 whitings, 800
;
oOOO smelts, and

400 red mullet, 200 eels, 150 haddocks, 400 herrings,
besides a few hundred
some 100 000 of those delicious silvery whitebait,
species of fresh-water fishes. In shell-fish, 20 turtles, 30,000 oysters,
or crabs, 300,000 prawns, shrimps, sardines, and anchovies
1500 lobsters
about 500 of grapes, 360 lb. of pine-apples, 600
In the way of fruit, lb.
hundred thousand plums,
neachcs 1400 apricots. 240 melons, and some
millions of cherries, strawberries,
greengages, apples, pears, and some
other small tot,
currants, mulberries, and an abundance of
:
raspberries,
1
chestnuts, dry figs, and plums. In vegetables of all kind.-,
viz walnuts,
5475 pounds weight; about 2434J
pounds of butter, 684 pounds of cheese
21 000 eggs, 800 ditto of plovers. Of bread, 44 tons, half a ton of salt
he had happened to be a biba-
and newer near 2>- tons of sugar; and if
a fortification or moat round the said
cious bov, iio could have formed
hill with the liquids he would
have to partake of to facilitate t he diges 10
provisions, which would amount to no less lian
of the above-named
£ may be taken as below- 49 hogsheads of wine
11 673 gallons, which
gallons of spirits, 342 ditto ot liqueur, 2394
1 q (!«> wafLins of beer 584
304 gallons of milk., 2736 gdlons of
him and his anticipated pio-
water—all of which would actually protect
any young thief or fellow-schoolboy. This calculation has
nertv from
of the regular meals of the day,
w hich,m
for its basis the medium scale farmêous
than 33? tons weight of meat
Styy yeLs amounts to no less which the above are in detail the pro-
of
food and vegetables, &c. out;
delicacies that would be selected

by an epicure thiough
bable
liebig’s theoey of nuteition.

“there is
« Amor- the arts
all known to man,” says Liebig,
none wK enjoys a juster appreciation,
admired, than
and
that
the products
which
ol
is con-
which are mo?e universally
Led by an instinct, which
ned the Reparation of our food.
of conscious knowledge, a-
has almost reached the dignity
Soi/er a la Liebig. 5
unerring guide, and by the sense of taste which protects the

health, the experienced cook, with respect to the choice, the
admixture, and the preparation of food, lias made acquisitions
surpassing all that chemical and physiological science have done
in regard to the doctrine or theory of nutrition.
“In soup and meat sauces he imitates the gastric juices, and
lty the cheese, which closes the banquet, he assists the action
of the dissolved epithelium (tine inner lining), which, with the
swallowed saliva, forms rennet of the stomach. The table sup-
plied with dishes appears to the observer like a machine, the
parts of which are harmoniously fitted together, and so arranged,
that when brought into action, a maximum of effect may be
obtained by means of them. The able culinary artist accom-
panies the blood, making articles with those which promote the
process of solution and re-solution into blood in due proportion he
;
avoids all kinds of unnecessary stimuli, such as do not act in re-

storing the equilibrium ; and he provides the due nourishment for
the child as well as the old man, as well as for both sexes.”
Here isSoyer discussing a la Liebig :

—
“ From infancy to old
age the human race must be continually imbibing elements of
formation or reparation, even from the lime in the mother’s milk,
which forms the bones, to the osmazome extracted from animal
matters, which creates a more lively circulation of the blood when
it becomes sluggish and dull in old age. Each period, occupation,
and station in life requires different substances of reparation, with
which we ought to make ourselves intimately acquainted.
Amongst the first, and that most generally in use with man, is
the ox, the principal nourishment of which consists in the osma-
zome, which is that liquid part of the meat that is extracted by
water at blood-heat. It is this which is the foundation and
flavour of all soups, which gives the flavour to all meats, and
which, on becoming candied by heat, forms the crust of roast
meats. The osmazome is found principally in all adult animals
having a dark flesh, and to a very small extent in those having a
white flesh ; or even in the white flesh of fowls, but in their
backs and legs, in which parts lies their principal flavour. The
bones of the ox contain gelatine and phosphate of lime. The
gelatine is also found in the muscles and other cartilaginous
parts of the animal it is extracted by boiling water, and coagu-
:
lates at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere it is the

;
foundation of all jellies, blcinc manges, and other similar prepara-
tions. The albumen is also found in the flesh, and congeals as
soon as the heat rises beyond that of the blood ; it is this which
is the scum on the pot when the meat is boiling.”
NOURISHMENT IN FOOD.
Dr. Prout has clearly proved, that our principal alimentary
matters may be reduced to three classes, of which sugar, butter,
and white of egg are the representatives. Now, milk, the only
article absolutely prepared and intended by nature as an aliment,
is a compound of all the three classes; and almost all the grani-
vorous and herbaceous matters employed as food bjr the lower
animals, contain at least two, if not all the three. The same is
true of animal aliments, which consist, at least, of albumen and
oil. In short, it is perhaps impossible to name a substance
employed by the more perfect animals as food, that does not
essentially constitute a natural compound of at least two, if not
three, of these great principles of alimentary matter.
Every one who has reached the middle of life, must have had
occasion to observe, how much his comfort and his powers of
exertion depend upon the state of his stomach, and will have lost
some of his original indifference to rules of diet. Mayo.
The stomach exercises a great influence over our daily happiness,
Mrs. Hannah More says in her quaint way “ There are only two
:
—
bad things in this world sin and bile.” When in a perfectly
healthy condition, everything goes on well; on the contrary, our
doctors tell us that the horrors of hypochondriasis are mainly
owing to dyspepsia or indigestion.
EDUCATION OF THE STOMACH.

Dr. Granville considers that the whole secret of eating and
drinking depends on the manner in which a stomach has been
educated. “ Each,” the doctor tells us, “ has had its physical
education as peculiarly different from the rest, as that which the
professor has received in the nursery or at college, and each must
be dealt with accordingly.”
A mixture of animal and vegetable food, aided by cooking and
by condiments, may be said to be essential to our well-being and
to our social existence ; for, all attempts which have been made
materially to simplify our diet, have not been attended by any
flattering results, nor have either philosophers or economists suc-
ceeded in persuading mankind, either by example or precept, that
raw vegetables and water are conducive to health and longevity ;
so that man must still submit to the distinctive definition of
being a cooking animal.
—
DIGESTIBILITY OF FOOD. THEORY OF COOKERY.
Venison is the most digestible animal food its age makes: it
fibrinous ; its texture is naturally not so close-grained as that of

Art of Cookery. 7
beef and mutton, and the period during which it is hung, gives
it additional tenderness. Next to venison, probably, follow
grouse, at least in weather which allows the bird to be kept suffi-
ciently long. All game has relatively this looseness of texture :
so a pheasant or partridge is more digestible than a turkey or
barn-door fowl. These facts, which Dr. Beaumont ascertained,
are at variance with opinions which, for a long time, held their
ground. But, Dr. Herbert Mayo, the celebrated physiologist, is
fully satisfied of their correctness by observations that he has
made on the powers of weak stomachs.
Meats contain the most nutriment, milk and eggs the next,
the best farinaceous food the next, fish the next, vegetables least.
Dr. Herbert Mayo, in his admirable work, The Philosophy of
Living, gives the following synoptical view of Cookery by
which “ meat is rendered shorter, or its texture more separable
than when raw ; when the process is wholesomest, the oil is in
part extracted. The wholesomest cookery is Broiling ; in which
the portion of meat is of no great thickness, and its fibre is cut
across. The action of heat upon the divided fibre and the con-
necting tissue, renders the texture more penetrable, and from the
cut surface the melted fat easily exudes. Boasting is next to
broiling ; not so wholesome, because the contraction of the sur-
face compresses and hardens the interior of the meat, and the oil
has a less free escape. Baking is inferior to roasting, as the
want of motion and the closeness of the oven contribute to de-
tain the oil. Frying is unwholesome, inasmuch as it adds oil,
and that partly in its worst state, the empyreumatic. Boiling
has the advantage of extracting the oil from the meat, but it
gives hardness, by coagulating the albumen. By the process of
Steioing this evil is avoided ; but, on the other hand, much that
is nutritious is parted with in exchange for the mechanical in-
crease of digestibility.
Fish, in order to be preserved fresh for the market, are allowed
to linger and die, instead of being put to death in health, as
every living thing intended for food ought to be this circum-
:
stance alters its properties as food ; and, probably, is one cause

why, with some people, fish is said to disagree, by exciting dis-
turbance in the alimentary canal.
Fish, in proportion to its bulk, may be said to be almost all
muscle; and it is readily known to be in perfection by the layer
of curdy matter interposed within its flakes. It often happens,
however, that those parts of fish, viz., the pulpy, gelatinous, or
glutinous, which are considered the most delicious, are the most
indigestible.
Concentrated nutritive matter is not so digestible as when it
is mixed up with that which is less so, or which is even not at

all so. reason that rich dishes disagree with
It is for this
healthy persons; a larger portion of nutritive matter being
thrown into the stomach than it can readily convert into chyle,
and the functions are, in consequence, deranged.
The egg is richer in fat than fat beef, and is equalled in this
respect only by pork and by eels. The white of the egg is
entirely free from fat ; but albumen is so constipating that it re-
quires much fat to be eaten with it to counteract this quality.
It no doubt, because experience has long ago proved this in the
is,
stomachs of the people, that “eggs and bacon” have been a

popular dish among Gentile nations from time immemorial.
HOTTES OF MEALS.
Lord Byron says :
Man is
a carnivorous production,
And must meals at least once a day:
liave
He cannot live like woodcocks upon suction.
But like the shark and tiger must have prey.
—
Allow him two meals a good breakfast and a good dinner 5
hut a hot luncheon is a most destructive meal; and half the
young men who lose their health or their lives in the East
Indies, are destroyed by the excitement of hot luncheons, fol-
lowed by still hotter dinners. Nimrod.
The true art in the economy of refection is to partake at one
meal only of as much as will leave the eater do honour to
free to
the next. The luncheon should not be allowed to supersede the
dinner, nor should the appetite be reserved solely for the prin-
cipal repast. — Ude.
An adult in full health requires two substantial meals daily,
and often without prejudice partakes of two additional slight
repasts in the twenty-four hour’s. Women, more delicately
organized, eat sparingly, and require three meals in the day.
The hour of dinner should be neither too late nor too early
if too late, the system will have been exhausted for want of it,
will be weakened, and the digestion enfeebled ; if too early, the
stomach will crave another substantial meal, which, taken late in
the evening, will not be digested before the hours of sleep. A
person who breakfasts at nine, should not dine later than six.
Herbert Mayo.
The enjoyment of dinner will be materially interrupted by any
strong mental excitement, which will temporarily exhaust the
digestive powers. Hence conversation at the dinner-table should
be of the lightest and least exciting kind. Dr. Beaumont made
Drinking at Meals. 9
the singular remark that anger causes bile to flow into the
stomach ; hence the indigestion of the choleric man.
A black frost gives a glorious appetite. Corned beef and
greens send up in their steam your soul to heaven. The music
of knives and forks is like that of “ flutes and soft recorders,”
“ breathing deliberate valour and think, oh think how the
!
imagination is roused by the power of contrast between the gor-

cock lying with his buttered breast on the braid of his back upon
a bed of toasted bread, and whurring away in vain down
the wind before the death shock.
—
“ Nodes ” of Blackwood.
DRINKING AT MEALS.
When or sauces composed partly of butter, are
fat meats,
taken, and cold drink directly after, the butter and fat are ren-
dered concrete, and separated from the rest of the aliment. This
congealed oily matter being then specifically lighter than the
remaining contents of the stomach, swims on the top of the food,
often causing heavy, uneasy, and painful sensations about the
cardia and breast, and sometimes a feeling of scalding and
anxiety ; at other times, when the stomach regains its heat, this
fatty matter is rejected, by little and little, from weak stomachs,
in oily regurgitations, which are very disagreeable. In such cases
a little compound spirits of hartshorn, with a glass of warm water
and sugar, will convert the fat into a soap, and give instant
relief. Sir Janies Murray's Medical Essays.
Weak alcoholic drinks gently stimulate the digestive organs, and
help them to do their work more fully and faithfully ; and thus the
body is sustained to a later period in life. Hence poets have called
Wine “ the milk of the old,” and scientific philosophy owns the
propriety of the term. If it does not nourish the old so directly
as milk nourishes the young, yet it certainly does aid in support-
ing and filling up their failing frames. And it is one of the
happy consequences of a temperate youth and manhood, that this
spirituous milk does not fail in its good effects when the weight
of years begins to press upon us. Johnston’s Chemistry of
Common Life.
Dr. Mayo observes, that nothing produces thirst so much as
quenching it, or grows more readily into habit than drinking.
Much liquid weakens the stomach, and produces flatulence and
fat.
WATER-DRINKING.
It by no means follows in all cases, perhaps not even in the
majority, that the purest water is the best for the health of a
given family, or for the population of a given district. The
bright, sparkling hard waters which gush out in frequent springs

from our chalk or other limestone rocks, are relished to drink,
not merely because they are grateful to the eye, but because
there is something exhilarating in the excess of carbonic acid
whicli they contain and give off as they pass through the warm
mouth and throat ; and because the lime they hold in solution
removes acid matters from the stomach, and thus acts as a
grateful medicine to the system. To abandon the use of such a
water, and to drink daily in its stead one entirely free from
mineral matter, so far from improving, may generally injure, the
individual or local health . —
Chemistry of Common Life.
We find these very sensible remarks on the effects of Water -
drinking, in that clever work, The Doctor :
I am decidedly opposed to the indiscriminate drinking of large quanti-

tiesof cold water. One cannot understand in what manner these large
imbibitions are to operate so as to be useful in the animal economy. We
know precisely what becomes of the water soon after entering the stomach
—
we can trace exactly what course all this water must take what channels
it must traverse —between its entrance and its exit. We
are perfectly
well acquainted with certain physiological effects produced by it after it
has been received into the system. It dilutes the blood, it lowers the
temperature, and, therefore, diminishes the vital power of the stomach ;
it puts certain systems of capillary blood-vessels on the stretch, to the
great danger of bursting, and it over-taxes the kidneys. I have seen two
very bad cases which were fairly attributable to the excessive drinking of
wafer. Thus, then, it seems there arc certain well-understood and very
obvious injuries which the large imbibition of water cannot fail to inflict,
while the supposed benefits to accrue from it are altogether mystical,
problematical, unintelligible. The quantity of water which each person
should drink during the day must always depend on his own feelings.
He may always drink when the doing so is agreeable to his sensations
when it is repulsive, nover.
REMEDIES EOE INDIGESTION.

There is a great difference between bitters and tonics. Where
weakness proceeds from an excess of irritability, there bitters act
beneficially; because all bitters are poisons, and operate by
stilling, and depressing, and lethargizing the irritability. But,
where weakness proceeds from the opposite cause of relaxation,
there tonics are good ; because they brace up and tighten the
loosened string. Bracing is a correct metaphor. Bark goes
near to be a combination of a bitter and a tonic ; but no per-
fect medical combination of the two properties is yet known.
— Coleridge.
The acidity of the stomach, and other symptoms of indiges-
tion which follow occasional indulgence in wine, may, to a
great extent, be prevented by a dose of magnesia at bed-time.
Sportsmen’s Living. 11
which saturates the acid in the stomach, and allays the febrile
action. Carbonate of Soda also neutralizes acid in the stomach ;
and Liquorice is stated to have the same salutary effect.
John Hunter used to say that most people lived above par,
which rendered the generality of diseases and accidents the more
difficult of cure. Baron Maseres who lived to be near ninety,
and who never employed a physician, used to go one day in every
week without dinner, eating only a round of dry toast at tea.
sfoetmen’s living.
Sir Humphry Davy in his Salnionia, is understood to record
the following, as the opinion of Dr. Babington, on the erroneous
idea, that high living is requisite to sustain us against the
fatigues of sporting. “ A
half-pint of wine for young men in
perfect health is enough, and you will be able to take your
exercise better, and feel better for this abstinence. How few
people calculate upon the effects of constantly renewed fever in
our luxurious system of living in England The heart is made
!
to act too powerfully, the blood is thrown upon the nobler parts,
and with the system of wading, adopted by some sportsmen,
whether in shooting or fishing, is delivered either to the hemor-
rhoidal veins, or what is worse, to the head. I have known
several free livers who have terminated their lives by apoplexy,
or have been rendered miserable by palsy, in consequence of the
joint effects of cold feet and too stimulating a diet ; that is to
say, as much animal food as they could eat, with a pint or per-
haps a bottle of wine per day. Be guided by me, my friends,
and neither drink nor wade. I know there are old men who
have done both and have enjoyed perfect health; but they
are devil’s decoys to the unwary, and ten suffer for one that
escapes.”
EXEECISE AND MEALS.

Exercise should neither be taken immediately before, nor im-
mediately after a full meal. Mr. Abernethy’s prescription is to —
rise early and to use active exercise in the open air, till slight
fatigue be felt, then to rest one hour and breakfast. After this
rest three hours, in order that the energies of the constitution
may be concentrated in the work of digestion ; “ then take active
exercise again for two hours, rest one, and dine. After dinner
rest for three hours ; and afterwards, in summer, take a gentle
stroll, which, with an hour’s rest before supper, will constitute
the plan of exercise for the day. In wet weather, the exercise
may be taken in the house, by walking actively backwards and
forwards, as sailors do on shipboard.”
HOME PKOVEEBS.
Here is a string of Home Proverbs worth observance.
A bit in the morning is better than nothing all day.
Old young and old long.
They who would be young when they are old, must be old
when they are young.
Good haleis half a meal.
Butter gold in the morning, silver at noon, lead at night.
is
He that would live for age, must eat sage in May.

After cheese comes nothing.
You must drink as much after an egg as after an ox.
He that goes to bed thirsty rises healthy.
Often and little eating makes a man fat.
Pish must swim thrice.
Drink wine and have the gout, drink no wine and have it (oo.
Young men’s knocks, old men feel.
Eat at pleasure, drink by measure.
Cheese is a peevish elf,
It digests all but itself.
Drink in the morning staring,
Then all the day be sparing.
Eat a bit before you drink.
Peed sparingly and dupe the physician.
Better be meals many than one too many.
Pish spoils water, but flesh mends it.
Apples, pears, and nuts spoil the voice.
Old fish, old oil, and an old friend.
Raw pullet, veal, and fish make the churchyard fat.
Of wine the middle, of oil the top, of honey the bottom.
If you take away the salt, throw the meat to the dogs.
—
Qui a bu boira Ever drunk ever dry.
.
Bitter to the mouth, sweet to the heart.

Dr. Hunter says “ Instead of drinking three glasses of wine
:
after dinner, drink only two and if you want more, drink a glass
;
of ale. The saving will bring wine back to its old price.”
Rise from table with an appetite, and you will not be in danger
down without one.
of sitting
It is a mistaken notion that good cookery is expensive; on the
contrary, it is the cheapest. By good cookery, we make the most
of everything ; by bad cookery, the least.
Gourmandise. 13
Art of Cookery.
Dpgald Stewart was struck by the analogy between cookery,

poetry,and the appears from the following passage
fine arts, as
“ Agreeably to this view of the subject, sweet may be said to
he intrinsically pleasing, and bitter to be relatively pleasing
both which are in many cases equally essential to those effects,
which, in the art of cookery correspond to that composite beauty
which it is the object of the painter and the poet to create.”
The Duke of York called the Almanack des Gourmands the
most delightful book that ever issued from the press. Before it
appeared, a man of fashion would have blushed to be heard
speaking of cookery.
“ Cookery, so far from possessing any deleterious tendency, is,
on the contrary, highly conducive to the preservation of health,
inasmuch as it protects the appetite against the disadvantageous
monotony of plain food,” says Ude; yet Dr. Philip, in his
Treatise on Indigestion, gives the following pithy opinion on
the art of Cookery “ Beyond a certain degree of roasting and
:
boiling, the art of cookery is nothing but that of pleasing the

palate at the expense of the stomach.”
The Drench term gourmandise applies to the most refined

epicurism, as distinguished from gluttony. It has its name in
French alone it can be designated neither by the Latin gula,
:
the English gluttony, nor the German lustern. Gourmandise,

when partaken, has the most marked influence on the happiness
of the conjugal state. A
wedded pair endowed with this taste,
have once a day, at least, an agreeable cause of meeting a com-
:
mon want summons the pair to the table the same inclination
;
retains them there they naturally practise towards one another

;
those little attentions which show a wish to oblige; and the

manner in which their meals are conducted enters materially into
the happiness of life. From the French.
“ English
cookery is by no means agreeable, as everybody is
obliged to bite and chew twice as much as in France, Italy, and
Germany; which is trying enough to young teeth, but utter
destruction to older masticators.” Such is the opinion of Yon
Raumer, whose experience ranged from a banquet at Devonshire
House, to a basin of leg-of-beef soup in Drury-lane.
Diet should be varied in the same meal ; this salutary object
may be obtained by a meal of different dishes. It may be
desirable to take nourishment, when the appetite, from whatever
cause, lias faded and gone off. In that case, a spoonful of soup,
a flake of fish, a slice of cold beef, in succession, will provoke an
appetite, and with it digestion, where the nicest mutton cutlet, or
the most tempting slice of venison, would have turned the
stomach. Mayo.
A notion once generally prevailed that viands cooked in the
French fashion were deprived of their nutritive properties in the
process. This was unfounded for, according to Dr. Prout, in
;
France most substances are exposed, through the medium of oil

or butter, to a temperature of at least 600 degrees, by the opera-
tion of frying, or some analogous process. They are then intro-
duced into a macerating vessel, with a little water, and kept for
several hours at a temperature far below the boiling point, not
perhaps higher than 180 degrees, and by these united processes,
the articles, whether of animal or vegetable origin, are reduced
more or less to a state of pulp, and admirably adapted for the
farther action of the stomach.
Numbers of persons attribute gout to the frequent use of
“
dishes dressed in the French fashion. Many years’ experience
and observation,” says M. Ude, ‘‘have proved to me that this
disorder has not its origin in good cheer, but in excesses of other
kinds. * * A copious and sustained exercise is the surest pre-
ventive. It is true the gout more frequently attacks the wealthy
than the indigent; hence it has been attributed to their way of
living ; but this is an error. It is exercise only they need.”
We all know how unpalatable fresh meat and vegetables are

without salt ; but few are aware of the mischief which has arisen
from not eating salt at meals. Dr. Paris relates that he once
had a gentleman of rank under his care for a deranged state of
the digestive organs ; from some unexplainable cause, the patient
had never eaten any salt with his meals, when the doctor en-
forced the necessity of his taking it in moderation, and the
recovery of his digestive powers was the consequence.
Dr. A. Hunter notes: “I was once so presumptuous as to
suppose that the seasoning in cookery might be weighed out
after the manner directed by physicians in their prescriptions;
but I soon found that my plan was too mechanical. I have,
therefore, abandoned it, and now freely give to the cooks the
exercise of their right, in all matters that regard the kitchen.”
Dr. King has well observed
The fundamental principle of all

Is what ingenious cooks the relish call
For when the markets send in loads of food,
They all arc tasteless till that makes them good.
Theory of the Kitchen. 15
“ C’est la Soupe,” says the proverb, “quifaitle Soldat:”

"It is the Soup that makes the Soldier.” Excellent as our
troops are in the field, they are very inferior to the French in
cookery. The English soldier lays his piece, or ration, of beef
at once on the coals, by which means the one and the better half
is lost, and the other burnt to a cinder whereas, six French
:
troopers fling their messes into the same pot, and extract a
delicious soup, ten times more nutritious than the simple r6ti
ever could be.
Cookery is the soul of festivity at all times, and to all ages.
How many marriages have been the consequence of meeting at
dinner How much good fortune has been the result of a good
!
supper ! of our existence are we happier than

At what moment
when at table There hatred and animosity are lulled to sleep,
!
and pleasure alone reigns. It is at table that an amiable lady or

gentleman shines in sallies of wit, where they display the ease
and graceful manner with which they perform “ the honours.”
Here their wants are satisfied, their minds and bodies invigorated,
and themselves qualified for the high delights of love, music,
poetry, dancing, and other pleasures. Many people rail against
attributing much importance to the pleasures of the table but, :
it is not observable that these moralists are more averse than

others to the gratification of the palate when opportunity occurs.
— Tide,
The Cooking of Meat is thus scientifically illustrated in

Johnston’s Chemistry of Common Life. A
well-cooked piece
of meat should be full of its own juice or natural gravy. In
roasting, therefore, it should be exposed to a quick fire, that the
external surface may be made to contract at once, and the albumen
to coagulate before the juice has had time to escape from within.
And so in boiling. When a piece of beef or mutton is plunged
into boiling water, the outer part contracts, the albumen which is
near the surface coagulates, and the internal juice is prevented
either from escaping into the water by which it is surrounded,
or from being diluted aud weakened by the admission of water
among it. When cut up, therefore, the meat yields much gravy,
and is rich in flavour. Hence a beef-steak or a mutton-chop is
done quickly, and over a quick fire, that the natural juices may
be retained.
The Theoryof the Kitchen appears trilling, but its practice is
extensive. Many
persons talk of it, yet know nothing of it
beyond a mutton-chop or a beef-steak. Ude. —
It remarkable that the first decisive proof of genius given
is
by Careme (the chef of French cookery), was a sauce for Fast
dinners. He began his studies by attending a regular course of
roasting, under some of the leading roasters of the day. This

is a valuable hint for some of the “ professed cooks” of our country.
Daubing consists in passing bacon through meat ; while lard-
ing is only on the top and sides, or surface only.
Braising is now common in large kitchens it enriches meats,
:
game, and poultry, which may be kept ten days or a fortnight in

the braise. Braising is well managed in France by burying the
braising kettle in live wood-ashes. A
fricandeau is best pre-
pared by putting red-hot embers upon the cover of, as well as
beneath, the stewpan.
A
Bain-marie, or Water-bath, and a Hot-plate, are very useful
to cooks for keeping articles warm without altering the quantity
or quality. If you keep sauce, broth, or soup by the fire-side,
the soup reduces and becomes too strong, and the sauce thickens
as well as reduces.
Broiling and frying are nicer arts than commonly thought.

For all articles the gridiron should be allowed to get bot, and be
rubbed with fat, or chalked for fish, lest the bars mark the article
broiled. Crumbs for frying are best prepared by drying bread
before the fire, then pounding it in a mortar, and sifting it.
Charcoal makes the best broiling and frying fire. The saute - pan
is very useful to fry meat lightly before stewing it.
Entrees are those dishes which are served in the first course
with the fish.
Entremets are the second course which comes, between the
roast meat and the dessert.
Entrees and Entremets should never be attempted without
means and appliances to boot for “ better first in a village than
;
second at Rome,” is a maxim peculiarly applicable to cookery.
The danger from copper cooking vessels is threefold : 1. From

their being untinned, and the prepared in them affecting
articles
the copper. 2. From their contracting the poisonous rust, ver-
digris, when put away damp. 3. From soups and stews being
left to cool in them. The instance of a party of gentlemen being

poisoned at Salt Hill, from neglect of the latter kind, is well
known. In 1829, a gentleman was poisoned in Paris by par-
taking of soup which had been warmed in a foul copper sauce-
pan. And, in 1837, the daughter of the Countess of L. and all
her family, residing in Paris, were poisoned by a stew, which had
been allowed to stand and get cold in a copper pan.
In our system of cookery, the paucity of standards of taste is

a great disadvantage. In France, a dish once tasted is always
known again but in England, such is not the case, for a ragout,
:
fricassee, or curry, will vary in flavour at different tables.

This
Cooking by Gas. 17
is mainly owing to the contradictory receipts in different cookery-

books, and the liberties taken with them.
Cooking by Gas is now generally adopted in large establish-
ments with success. One of the earliest Gas Kitchens is en-
graved in Conrad Cooke’s Cookery and Confectionery, published
in 1824 it consists of a platform 2ft. 8in. high, the upper part
;
brick, with shelves for saucepans, &c., beneath. It is contrived

for stewing, the gas being conveyed in moveable burners, over
which are set the stewpans upon trivets. Another mode is as
follows : A
large round or oval of burners, or jets of flame, is
provided, in the midst of which is fixed a perpendicular spit, to
hold the meat to be roasted. Over the flame is placed a cover of
sheet iron, at bottom surrounding the jets, and contracted towards
the top, so as to bring all the heat of the gas as near as possible
to the meat. This cover resembles a large inverted funnel, the
pipe of which resembles a chimney, to let out the gas ; the heat
of which boils a tin vessel placed over it.
Soyer was one of the earliest persons to improve Gas Cookery. For the
Keform Club kitchen he invented gas stoves, each divided into five com-
partments, and each having a separate pipe and brass cock, with a main
to each stove, thus supplying gas to heat the five compartments at once,
the flame being regulated by the cocks. Thus, the same heat is obtained
as from charcoal, the moment the gas is lit; it is a fire that never requires
making up ; creates neither dust nor smell (except the gas be not properly
turned off), and is quite free from smoke. Upon Ins octagonal trivet,
Soyer could place nine stewpans over the gas, some simmering, others
boiling, at the same time. In another of his contrivances, the gas ascends
from a gridiron perforated pipe through a layer of pumice-stone, on emerg-
ing from which it is lighted, when the flame keeps the pumice-stone
red-hot, and the cooking is as convenient as if done by charcoal.
In 1850, Soyer cooked at Exeter, for the Agricultural Society’s Dinner,
“ a baron with saddle-back of beef a la Magna Charta,” weighing 535
—
pounds, the joint being the whole length of the bullock rumps, rounds,
loins, ribs, and shoulders, to the neck. It was roasted in the open air,
within a temporary inclosure of brickwork ; the monster joint frizzling
and steaming away over 216 jets of gas from pipes half an inch in diameter,
the whole being covered in with sheet-iron ; when, in five hours, the beef
was dressed for 5s.
Gas Cooking Apparatus is too numerous for us to detail. One
of its latest extensive adoptions is for cooking the great Guildhall
dinner, on Lord Mayor’s Day, in the kitchen in the crypt beneath
the hall.
PBESEKVATION OP POOD.
Charcoal, when recently burned, has much efficiency in pre-
venting the offensiveness of animal decay from becoming sensible
to the smell. Sprinkled in the state of powder over the parts of
dead animals, it preserves them sweet for a length of time.
Placed in pieces between the wings of a fowl, it keeps away
c
much longer than usual any appearance of taint ; or. if strewed

over substances already tainted, or mixed with liquids which
have acquired the unpleasant smell of decaying organic matter,
it removes the evil odour, and makes them sweet again. It is
for this reason that pieces of fresh charcoal are now and then
introduced into our common water-filters. In all these cases,
charcoal appears to act rather as a smell remover than as a decay
and smell preventer. Johnston's Chemistry of Common Life.
Creosote used for preserving meat, but gives it a disagreeable
is
taste and smell. This, Dr. Stenhouse has obviated, by placing
a small plate containing a little creosote immediately under each
piece of meat as it hangs in the larder, and covering both with a
cloth. The creosote soon forms an atmosphere around the meat,
and will keep it three or four days longer than otherwise, and
the meat will not have, when cooked, the slightest smell or taste
of creosote. Or, the joint may be suspended in a wooden box or
earthen jar, to be with a lid. Another advantage attending the
use of creosote is, that it frees a larder from liies.
A room in which meat in an advanced degree of decomposition
had been kept some time, has been instantly deprived of all
smell, on an open coffee-roaster being carried through it, con-
taining a pound of coffee, newly roasted. In another room,
exposed to the effluvium occasioned by the clearing out of a
dung-pit, so that sulphuretted hydrogen and ammonia in great
quantity could be chemically diluted, the stench was completely
removed within half-a-minute, on the employment of three
ounces of fresh-roasted coffee ; whilst the other parts of the house
were permanently cleared of the same smell by being simply
traversed with the coffee-roaster, although the cleansing of the
dung-pit lasted several hours longer. Even the smell of musk
and castoreum, which cannot be overpowered by any other sub-
stance, is completetely dispelled by the fumes of coffee : and the
same applies to asafcetida.
The Art of Dining.

According to the lexicons, the Greek word for dinner is Ariston,
and, therefore, for the convenience of the terms, the art of dining
is called Aristology, and those who study it, Aristologists
.
The late Mr. Walker, in the Original.

A first-rate dinner in England, is out of all comparison better
than a dinner of the same class in any other country ; for we
get the best cooks, as we get the best singers and dancers, by
bidding highest for them, and we have cultivated certain
national dishes to a point which makes them the envy ol the
The Art of Dining. 19
world.
—(
Quarterly Review.) To support this assertion, we
have the unqualified admission of Ude : “ I will venture to affirm,
that cookery in England, when well done, is superior to that in
any country in the world.” The class of cookery to which Ude
refers is Anglo-French, or English relieved by French.
The golden rule for the art of giving dinners is — let all men’s
dinners be according to their means,
In order to have a table regularly served, two points are im-
portant one of which belongs to the cook, and the other to the
:
housekeeper. The duty of the cook is to dress the dinner well,

and to dish it up elegantly. The housekeeper’s duty, among
other things, is to make out the bill of fare, and to direct the
dishes to be so placed upon the table as to accord with each other,
thereby forming a picture that, by pleasing the eye, may whet
the appetite; and here a quick eye, to measure distances, and a
correct distributive taste, are requisite. Dr. King, in his Art of
Cookery, addressed to Dr. Martin Lister, thus humorously
touches upon the subject :
Ingenious Lister, were a picture drawn

With. Cynthia’s face, but with a neck of brawn
With wings of turkey, and with feet of calf.
Though drawn by Kneller, it would make you laugh.
Such is (good sir) the figure of a feast,
By some rich farmer’s wife and sister drest
Which, were it not for plenty and for steam.
Might be resembled to a sick man’s dream,
Whore all ideas huddling run so fast,
That syllabubs come first, and soups the last.
Mr. Walker has written a series of papers full of information
on the Art of Dining. One of his objections to the present
arrangement of a dinner-table, is forcibly illustrated as fol-
lows :
—See a small party with a dish of fish at each end of
the table, and four silver covers unmeaningly starving 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 the pretence that it is the most convenient plan This is
!
an utter fallacy. The oidy convenient plan is, to have every

thing actually upon the table that is wanted at the same time,
and nothing else as, for example, for a party of eight, turbot
:
and salmon, with doubles of each of the adjuncts, lobster-sauce,

cucumbers, young potatoes, cayenne, and chili vinegar ; and let
the guests assist one another, which, with such an arrangement,
they could do with perfect ease.” Among the practices which
interfere with comfort, are, attendants handing round vegetables,
and helping wine to the company.
c 2
20 Hints for the Tabic.
To order dinner well is a matter of invention and combination.

It involves novelty, simplicity, and taste; whereas, in the
generality of dinners, there is no character but that of dull
routine, according to the season. The same things are seen
everywhere at the same season, and, as the rules for providing
limit the range very much, there are a great many good things
which never make their appearance at all, and a great many
others which, being served in a fixed order, are seldom half
enjoyed.
To form an agreeable dinner-party, every guest should be
asked for some reason, upon which good fellowship mainly de-
pends; for, people brought together unconnectedly, had better
be kept separate.
If the master of a feast wishes his party to succeed, he must
know how to command, and not let his guests run riot, each
according to his own fancy.
In entertaining those who are in a different class from our-
selves, it is expedient to provide for them what they are least
used and that which we are most in the way of procuring of
to,
superior quality. Many people, from their connexion with foreign
countries, and with different parts of their own, are enabled to
command with ease to themselves, what are interesting rarities
to others and one sure way to entertain with effect, is, to culti-
;
vate a good understanding with those with whom we deal for the
supply of the table. —
Wallcer.
To ensure a well-dressed dinner, provide enough, but beware
of the common practice of having too much. The table had much
better appear bare than crowded with dishes not wanted, or such
as will become cold before they are partaken of.
The smaller the dinner, the better will be the chance of its
being well cooked. Plain dinners are often spoiled by the
addition of delicacies ; for so much time is consumed in dressing
the latter, that the more simple cooking is neglected.
The elements of a good dinner are fewer than is generally sup-
posed. Mr. Walker observes that, “common soup, made at
home, fish of little cost, any joints, the cheapest vegetables, some
happy and unexpensive introduction (as a finely-dressed crab, or
a pudding), provided everything is good in quality, and the dishes
are well dressed, and served hot and in succession, with their
—
adjuncts will ensure a quantity of enjoyment which no one need
he afraid to offer.”
All strong dishes should be eaten last, for any mild dish after
them will taste flat and insipid. As a rule, take the light-coloured
sauce first ; for high colour is always obtained by intense reduc-
The Art oj Dining. 21
tion of meat, and it is easy to conclude that the brown sauce

must be stronger.
State without the machinery of state, is of all states the worst.
Mr. Walker relates that he once received a severe frown from a
lady, at the head of her table, next to whom he was sitting,
because he offered to take some fish from her, to which she had
helped him, instead of waiting till it could be handed to him by
her one servant.
The old English habit of talcing wine together affords one ot
the most pleasing modes of recognition when distant, and one of
the prettiest occasions for coquetry when near. There is a well-
known lady-killer, who esteems his mode of taking wine to be,
of all his manifold attractions, the chief; and, to do him justice,
the tact with which he chooses his time, the air with which he
gives the invitation, the empressement he contrives to throw
into it, the studied carelessness with which he keeps his eye on
the fair one’s every movement till she is prepared, and the seem-
ing timidity of his bow, when he is all the while looking full
into her eyes —all these little graces are inimitable. —
Quarterly
Review.
The difficulty of getting a glass of wine in the regular way,
has often exercised the ingenuity of mankind. Mr. Theodore
Hook was once observed, during dinner at Hatfield House, nod-
ding like a Chinese mandarin in a tea-shop. On being asked the
reason, he replied, “ Why, Lady Salisbury, when no one else asks
me to take champagne, i take sherry with the epergne, and bow
to the flowers.”
The expense of a dinner at a restaurant in Paris, is pretty
nearly the same as at an English coffee-house, and greater than
at an English club. At the respectable houses, a gentleman
may dine for six or seven francs, or augment the expenses to the
prices of the Albion or the Clarendon ; but, a large party may
be furnished at the best restaurant in Paris, the Rocker de
Cancale, for two Napoleons, or 35 s. a head, with such a dinner
as would be charged in London at five guineas a head.
Metropolitan.
When the allied monarchs arrived in Paris, in 1814, they were
compelled to contract with a restaurateur (Very) for the supply
,
of their table, at the moderate sum of 3000 francs a day, ex-

clusive of wine.
The following maxims for giving a dinner are translated from

Physiologie de Gout :
How is a meal to bo regulated in order to unite all things requisite to

the highest pleasures of the table ? I proceed to answer this question.
1. Let not the number of tlio company exceed twelve, that the conver-
sation may be constantly general.
2. Let them be so selected that their occupations shall be varied, their
tastes analogous, and with such points of contact that there shall be no
necessity for the odious formality of presentations.
3. Let the eating-room be luxuriously lighted, the cloth remarkably
clean (!), and the atmosphere at the temperature of from thirteen to six-
teen degrees Reaumur. (60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit.)
4. Let the men be spirituels without pretension —
the women pleasant
without too much coquetry. (‘ I write,’ says the author, in a note,
‘between the Palais Royal and the Chaussce 3’ Antin ’)
6. Let the dishes be exceedingly choice, but limited in number, and the
wines of the first quality, each in its degree.
6. Let the order of progression be, for the first (the dishes), from the
most substantial to the lightest; and for the second (the wines), from the
simplest to the most perfumed.
7. Let the act of consumption be deliberate, the dinner being the last
business of the day; and let the guests consider themselves as travellers
who are to arrive together at the same place of destination.
8. Let the coffee be hot, and the liqueurs chosen by the master.
9. Let the saloon be large enough to admit of a game at cards for those
who cannot do without it, and so that there may, notwithstanding, remain
space enough for post-meridian colloquy.
10. Let the party be detained by the charms of society, and animated
by the hope that the evening will not pass without some ulterior
enjoyment.
11. Let the tea be not too strong; let the toast be scientifically buttered,
and the punch carefully prepared.
12. Let no retreat commence before eleven, but let everybody be in bed
by twelve.
If any one has been present at a party uniting these twelve requisites,
he may boast of having been present at his own apotheosis.
Lady Morgan has described a dinner by Careme, at the Baron
Bothsehild’s villa, near Paris ; wherein “ no burnished gold re-
flected the glaring sunset, no brilliant silver dazzled the eyes;
porcelain, beyond the price of all precious metals, by its beauty
and its fragility, every piece a picture, consorted with the gene-
ral character of sumptuous simplicity which reigned over the
whole.” The crowning merit of this splendid repast appeared to
he that “every meat presented its own natural aroma every —
vegetable its own shade of verdure.”
The accomplished Earl of Dudley said : a good soup, a small
turbot, a neck of venison, ducklings with green peas, or chicken
with asparagus, and apricot tart, is a dinner fit for an emperor
when he cannot get a better.
Mr. Walker well observes : Anybody can dine, but very few
know how to dine so as to ensure the greatest quantity of health
and enjoyment. Indeed many people contrive to destroy their
health ;
and as to enjoyment, I shudder when I think how otten
Giving Dinners. 23
1 have silt in durance stately to go through the ceremony of a

dinner, the essence of which is to be without dinner and how ;
olten in this land of liberty I have thought myself a slave.

Such is now the mania for large parties, or so absorbing the
vanity of caste, that, during the flush of the London season, there
is no longer a semblance oi sociability —
nor can even pleasure, in
anil by be deemed the main object of pursuit for, we verily
itself, :
believe that if all the pleasantest people in town were collected in

a room, the men and women of “society” would bo restless in it,
unless they could say they were going to the ball or wncert of
the night :
“ Which opens to the happy few

An earthly paradise of or-molu.”
Quarterly Review.
It is a foolish plan to profess to give dinners better than other
people. “ Unless you are a very rich, or a very great man, no folly
is equal to that of thinking that you soften the hearts of your
friends, by soups a la bisque and Vermuth wine, at a guinea a
bottle They all go away, saying, What right has that d
!
‘
—
fellow to give a better dinner than we do ? What horrid taste
— what ridiculous presumption ”
JBulwer. !
’
When will mankind cease to be hoaxed with the idea that the
pleasures of society are in proportion to the grandeur of the scale
on which they are enjoyed. One of the greatest sources of com-
plaint in society is the want of propriety in the conducting of
entertainments in all their varieties, from the simple family din-
ner to the splendid banquet for instance, a family dinner ; a
:
family dinner to which guests are admitted a common dinner ;
party ; an entertainment ; a bachelor’s dinner ; a ministerial

dinner; and a dress dinner. Though these and similar enter-
tainments are distinct, yet the distinctions are not so strictly
observed as those in other usages of societ}'. At the plainest as
well as of the most splendid of these entertainments, everything
ought to be as good and as well cooked, and nice as possible but ;
the style of service ought to be varied, rising from the simple, in

elegant succession, to the sumptuous.
Splendid banquets are often failures. Foote thus describes one
“ As to splendour, as far as it went, I admit it, there was a very-
fine sideboard of plate ; and if a man could have swallowed a
silversmith’s shop, there was enough to satisfy him ; but as to
all the rest, the mutton was white, the veal was red, the fish was
kept too long, the venison not kept long enough to sum up all, :
every thing was cold except the ice, and every thing sour except
the vinegar.”
A shabby, scheming system of giving dinners is thus satirized
by Bulwer “The cook puts plenty of ilour into the oyster sauce;
:
cods’ head and shoulders make the invariable fish; and flour
entries, without flavour or pretence, are duly supplied by the
pastry-cook, and carefully eschewed by the host.”
Bulwer makes one of his novel-heroes let his villa to his wine-
merchant; the rent just pays his bill. “You will taste some of
the sofas and tables in his champagne I don’t know how it is,
!
but I always fancy my sherry smells like my poor uncle’s old

leather chair very odd smell it had
; —
a kind of respectable smell.”
The Table.
Circular Dining and Supper Tables are gradually coming into
fashion, so as, in imagination, to revive the chivalric glory of the
“ Round Table.” An expanding table of this form has recently
been invented, the sections of which may be caused to diverge
from a common centre, so that the table may be enlarged or ex-
panded by inserting leaves, or pieces, in the openings, or spaces,
caused by such divergence. An immense table has been con-
structed upon this principle for Devonshire House; it consists of
some dozen pieces. This novelty in the table has given rise to a
new form of table-cloth manufacture, of great costliness and
beautiful design. The setting of the loom for a cloth for a large
circular table is stated to have cost £70.
Tables Volantes (flying tables), are understood to have been
“ At the petits-soupers of
invented under the eye of Louis XV.
Choisy were first introduced those admirable pieces of mechanism,
which descended and rose again, covered with viands and wines.”
—
•
( Notes to Rogers's Poems.) This singular contrivance was,
wc believe, introduced by Mr. Beckford, at Fonthill, the prandial
appointments of which were in luxurious style. Though Mr.
Beckford rarely entertained any society, yet he had his table
sumptuously covered daily. He has been known to give orders
for a dinner for twelve persons, and to sit down alone to it,
—
attended by twelve servants in full dress eat of one dish, and
send all the rest away. There was no bell in the mansion the ;
servants waiting by turns in the ante-rooms.

The management of an epergne, plateau or centre-piece, pre-
,
sents an opportunity for the display of taste ;

as these superb
ornaments are usually of beautiful 1'orms, richly chased the :
glass-pieces and the plate should be alike in brilliant order.

If dinner-rolls be not used, bread should not be cut less than
one inch and a half thick.
A judicious arrangement of dishes gives additional merit to a
dinner, and the entrees of any appearance should be always
parallel it adds wonderfully to the effect.
:
Lighting Rooms.
Asboiling water will often break cold glasses, so cold liquid

will break hot glasses : thus, wine, if poured into decanters that
have been placed before the lire, will frequently break them.
In purchasing wax, spermaceti, or composition candles, there
will be a savingby proportioning the length or size of the lights to
the probable duration of the party. Mixed wax and spermaceti
candles, four to the pound, will last ten hours a short six will ;
burn six hours and a three, twelve hours. There should be as

;
many lights at the dinner table as there are guests.

Candle-making has become a scientific manufacture, especially
in the hands of Price’s Company at Vauxhall, whose elegant
modifications of the more costly wax-light give improved light
for less money.
Gas-lighting has been introduced into private houses, but with

equivocal success. Mr. Lockhart well observes that “ the blaze
and glow, and occasional odour of gas, when spread over every
part of a private house, will ever constitute a serious annoyance
for the majority of men —
still more so of women.” Sir Walter
Scott, in 1823, introduced gas-lighting into the dining-room at
Abbotsford. “ In sitting down to table in autumn, no one
observed that in each of three chandeliers there lurked a little
tiny bead of red light. Dinner passed off, and the sun went down,
and suddenly, at the turning of a screw, the room was filled with
a gush of splendour, worthy of the palace of Aladdin ; but, as in
the case of Aladdin, the old lamp would have been better in the
upshot. Jewellery sparkled, but cheeks and lips looked cold and
wan in this fierce illumination ; and the eye was wearied, and the
brow ached, if the sitting was at all protracted .” Life of Scott, —
vol. v.
American waiters are not fond of being called bjr the sound of
a and unless in large towns you scarcely see them in the
bell,
United States. Bells, however, are not in universal use in Europe
they are more frequent in England than in any other country
even in France they ai e far from general. In Turkey there are
-
none, as Lord Byron tells us :
Turkey contains no bells, and yet men dine.
In some large establishments in Britain, the in-door signal for

dinner is the loud sounding of a gong instead of the bell.
Flowers have, of late years, been introduced at table with
delightful effect. The Itomans, it is certain, considered flowers
essential to their festal preparations ; and, at their desserts, the
number of flowers fur exceeded that of fruits.
“ Thirteen to Dinner ." —
There is a prejudice, generally, on
the pretended danger of being the thirteenth at table. If the
probability be required, that out of thirteen persona, of different

ages, one of them, at least, shall die within a year, it will be found
that the chances are about one to one that one death, at least, will
occur. 1 his calculation, by means of a false interpretation, has
given rise to the prejudice, no less ridiculous, that the danger

will be avoided by inviting a greater number of guests, which
can only have the effect of augmenting the probability of the
event so much apprehended.— Quetelet, on the Calculation of
Probabilities.
This superstition obtains in Italy and Russia, as well as in
England. Moore, in his Diary, vol. ii. p. 206, mentions there
being thirteen at dinner one day at Madame Catalani’s, when a
French countess, who lived with her upstairs, was sent for to
remedy the grievance. Again, Lord L. said he had dined once
abroad at Count OrlofF s, who did not sit down to dinner, but
kept walking from chair to chair, because “ the Naristiken were
at table, who, he knew, would rise instantly if they perceived the
number thirteen, which Orloff’ would have made by sitting down
himself.” Things not generally Known.
Walpole gives an odd account of a Mrs. Holman, whose pas-
sion was, keeping an assembly and inviting literally everybody
to it. “ She goes to the drawing-room to watch for sneezers,
whips out a curtsey, and then sends next morning to know how
3 our cold does, and desire your company on Thursday.”
r
Carving.
To be able to carve well is an useful and elegant accomplish-
ment. It is an artless recommendation to a man who is looking
out for a wife.
Bad carving is alike inconsistent with good manners and
economy, and evinces in those who neglect it, not only a culpable
disrespect to the opinion of the world, but carelessness, inaptitude,
and indifference to any object of utility.
The Honours of the Table were until within a few years per-
formed by the mistress of the house. In the last century, this
task must have required no small share of bodily strength, “ for
—
the lady was not only to invite that is, urge and tease
her company to eat more than human throats could conveniently
swallow, but to carve every dish, when chosen, with her own
hands. The greater the lady, the more indispensable the duty,
each joint was carried up in its turn, to be operated upon by
her, and her alone ; since the peers and knights on either hand
were so far from being bound to offer their assistance, that the
The Art of Carving. 27
very master of the house, posted opposite to her, might not act
as her croupier; his department was to push the bottle after
dinner. As for the crowd of guests, the most inconsiderable
among them —
the curate, or subaltern, or squire’s younger bro-
ther— ifsuffered through her neglect to help himself to a slice of
the mutton placed before him, would have chewed it in bitterness,
and gone home an affronted man, half inclined to give a wrong
vote at the next election. There were then professed carving-
masters, who taught young ladies the art scientifically ; from oue
of whom Lady Mary Wortley Montague said she took lessons
three times a week, that she might be perfect on her father’s
days ; when in order to perform her functions without interrup-
tion, she was forced to eat her own dinner alone an hour or two
beforehand. Lord Whamcliffe's edition of the Correspond-
ence of Lady W. Montague.
You should praise, not ridicule your friend, who carves with
as much earnestness of purpose as though he were legislating.
Dr. Johnson.
When those persons who carve badly come to keep house
themselves, they will soon find to their cost, the extravagance
and waste of bad carving and bad management.
In a club, nothing is so prejudicial as bad carving. A
joint ill
carved at first by one, is always disregarded by the other mem-
bers ; and, frequently, from this circumstance, a joint of great
weight and price is no longer presentable, and is left to the loss
of the establishment.— Tide.
In serving soup, one ladleful to each plate is sufficient. A

knife applied to fish is likely to spoil the delicacy of its flavour
so that it should be helped with a silver slice or trowel, and be
eaten with a silver fork and bread. Do not pour sauce over meat
or vegetables, but a little on one side. In helping at table, never
employ a knife where you can use a spoon.
The fairest mode of cutting a ham, so as to eat fat and lean
evenly, is to begin at a hole in the centre of the thickest part,
and cut from it thin circular slices: by this means also the
moisture and flavour of the ham are best preserved.
The upper pai-t of a roast sirloin of beef should be carved at
the end, and never cut in the middle, unless you wish to destroy
the joint in revenge.
Be careful always to cut down straight to the bone, by which
method you never spoil the joint, and help many persons with
little meat;
what remains looks well, and is good to eat.
In carving a leg of mutton, slice it lightly, else, if you press
too heavily, the knife will not cut, you will squeeze out all the
gravy, and serve your guests with dry meat.
XJde considers a saddle of mutton is usuallv carved contrary
to taste and judgment. “ To have the meat in the grain, pass
your knife straight to one side of the chine, as close as possible
to the bone: then turn the knife straight from you, and cut the
first slice out, and cue slices lean and fat. J
!y disengaging the
slices from the bone in this manner, it will have a better appear-
ance, and you will be able to assist more guests.”
If you begin to carve a joint in the middle, the gravy will run
out on both sides, and the meat shrink and become dry, and no
more presentable.
Never pour gravy over white meat, as the latter should retain
its colour.
Of roasted fowl, the breast is the best part ; in boiled fowl, the
leg is preferable.
The shoulder of a rabbit is very delicate ; and the brain is a
tit-bit for a lady.
In helping roast pheasant or fowl, add some of the cresses with
which it is garnished.
The most elegant mode of helping hare is in fillets, so as not
to give a bone, which would be a breach of good manners.
There are certain choice cuts or delicacies with which a good
carver is acquainted among them are the sounds of cod-fish, the
:
thin or fat of salmon, the thick and fins of turbot ; a portion of

the liver and roe to each person ; the fat of venison, lamb, and
“
veal kidney the long cuts, and gravy from
: the alderman’s
walk” of a haunch of venison or mutton ; the pope’s eye in a leg
of mutton ; the oyster cut of a shoulder of mutton ; the ribs and
neck of a pig the breast and wings of a fowl ; back pieces, ears,
;
and brains of a hare ; the breast and thighs, (without the drum-
sticks,) of turkey and goose ; the legs and breast of a duck ; the
wings, breast, and back of game.
Before cutting up a wild duck, slice the breast, and pour over
the gashes a few spoonsful of sauce, composed of port wine or
claret (warmed), lemon juice, salt, and cayenne pepper; dexterity
in preparing which is a test of gentlemanly practice.
The most delicate parts of a calf’s head are the bit under the
ears, next the eyes, and the side next the cheek.
If craw-fish be added to a fricasseed chicken, (as in France), one
of the fish should be placed on the top, in dishing, and served to
the first guest.
If you should happen to meet with an accident at table, en-
tleavour to preserve your composure, and do not add to the dis-
comfort you have created by making an unnecessary fuss about
it. An accomplished gentleman, when carving a tough goose,
had the misfortune to send it entirely out of the dish, and into
the lap of the lady next to him ; on which he very coolly looked
her full in the face, and with admirable gravity and calmness,
—
said, “ Madam, I will thank you for that goose.” In a case
like this, a person must necessarily suffer so much, and be suet
an object of compassion to the company, that the kindest
thing he could do was to appear as unmoved as possible. The
manner of bearing such a mortifying accident gained him more
credit than he lost by his awkward carving . —
The Young Lady's
Friend.
Soups,
Broths and soups are difficult of digestion, if made a meal of;
but have not this effect if eaten in a small quantity. They may
be rendered more easily digestible if thickened with any fari-
naceous substance; bread eaten with every mouthful of soup
answers as well. Mayo.
On a good first broth, and good sauce, you must depend for
good cookery. The smallest drop of fat or grease is insufferable,
and characterizes bad cookery, and a cook without method.
The French chemists have ascertained that soup may be made
more delicate by soaking the meat first at a low temperature, and
setting aside the weak stock, to which should subsequently be
added the strong broth obtained by adding fresh water to the
meat, and continuing the boiling.
The great fault of English soups most in favour, is their
strength or weight, from the quantity of meat in their composi-
tion. Soup, it should be recollected, is not especially intended
as a point in a repast ; wherefore, it has been shrewdly observed,
that to begin dinner by stuffing one’s self with ox tail or mock
turtle when two or three dishes are to follow, argues a thorough
coarseness of conception, and implies, moreover, the digestive
powers of an ostrich. The general fault of English tavern
soups is an excess of spices, ketchup, and salt, to mask their
poorness.
Liebig tells how the best beef tea or brown gravy should be
made. “ When one pound of lean beef, free from fat, and sepa-
rated from the bones, in the finely-chopped state in which it is
used for beef sausages, or mincemeat, is uniformly mixed with
its own weight of cold water, then slowly heated to boiling, and
the liquid after boiling briskly for a minute or two is strained
so Hints for the Table.
through a cloth or sieve from the coagulated albumen and the

fibrin, which are then become hard and horny, we obtain an equal
weight of the most aromatic soup, of such strength as can be had
even by boiling lor hours from a piece of llesh "also when mixed
;
with salt, and the other additions by which soup is usually

seasoned, and tinged somewhat darker by means of roasted
onions or burnt sugar, it forms the very best soup that can be
prepared from a pound of flesh.” And Liebig calls the “ essence
of meat,” that which is simply the very strongest soup, subse-
quently concentrated by evaporation, till on cooling it acquires
a consistence nearly like that of treacle. It does not form a jelly,
because pure soup contains no gelatine, and the gelatine is not
wanted. If, however, the boiling with the meat be continued
longer gelatine is dissolved, and a jelly formed on cooling in the
soup, which, in spite of the jelly, is no better than that which
does not gelatinize. The essence of meat is now made and pre-
served in tins. It is, in fact, beef tea of astounding strength.
Liebig observes, it might be made at a very small cost in Brazil
and in Australia, where whole herds are slaughtered for the
hides and tallow alone. It is only necessary to add the due pro-
portion of hot water, with salt and any other seasoning that may
he desired, and an admirable nutritious soup is made at a
minute’s notice.
Spring soup, or Julienne, is the proper thing in the ordinary
run of houses in this country, where varieties of the simple
potage are unknown. Spring soup, from Birch’s, in Cornhill, is
particularly recommended in the season, as being quite delicious.
Dr. Hunter observes of a rich vegetable soup with meat, that

only proper for those who do not stand in fear of gouty shoes
it is
and a pair of crutches.
CaiTot soup (or the French Soup a VAurore), can only be made
in perfection when the carrots are new; old carrots will not answer.
It is very wholesome and medicinally antiscorbutic.
The elegant mode
of cutting vegetables and herbs to be eaten
thus : Vermicelli should be broken, and
in soups, is in fillets :
then blanched in boiling water to take off the taste of dust, before
it is put into soups. If it be not broken it will be in long pieces,
and unpleasant to serve. It should not be allowed to remain too
long in soup, else it will become a paste; the time should not
exceed fifteen minutes.
The pet potage of George III., was a rich vermicelli soup, with
a few very green chervil leaves in it ; and, with his more epicurean
successor, it was equally a favourite. It was first served from
the kitchen at Windsor.
Soups: Turtle. 31
The French have a soup which they call “ Potage a la

Camerain," of which it is said, “ a single spoonful will lap the
patient in Elysium, and while one drop remains on the tongue,
each other sense is eclipsed by the voluptuous thrilling of the
lingual nerves.”
Giblet soup, according to Dr. Hunter, is as full of gout as the

richest turtle. As turtle is the regina voluplatis, this dish may
he said to be one of her maids of honour.
Marigold-flowers, dried and rubbed to powder, improve broths
and soups, however much this addition has fallen into disuse.
Asparagus tops should be put into soup at the moment of

sending it up.
Carrageen or Irish Moss is an excellent thickener of soups and

broths ; and it is a very economical substitute for isinglass in
orange, lemon, or savory jellies, and blane-mange.
Grouse soup is made at Hamilton on the principle of a young
grouse to each of the party, in addition to six or seven brace
stewed down beforehand for stock.
TURTLE.
Ude asserts, that the receipt for turtle-soup, in his French Coclc,
is the best, not the only practical one in print, upon which he
if
has bestowed his utmost care and attention. When in manu-
script, he obtained a very high price for it.
In dressing a turtle, be cautious not to study a very brown
colour ; the natural green being preferred by every epicure and
true connoisseur.
To keep turtle-soup three weeks or a month, cover it about an
inch thick with lard with which a little oil has been mixed; it
being poured on when it will only just flow.
If you warm turtle-soup in a bain-marie, it will retain its
flavour; but, if you warm it often, it will become strong, and
lose its delicacy of flavour.
The usual allowanceat what is called a Turtle-Dinner, is 61b.
live weight per head. At the Spanish-Dinner, at the City of
London Tavern, in 1808, four hundred guests attended, and
2500 lb. of turtle were consumed.
For the Banquet at Guildhall, on Lord Mayor’s Day, Novem-
ber 9th, 250 tureens of turtle are provided.
Dr. Kitchiner observes, that turtles often become emaciated
and sickly before they reach this country, in which case the soup
would be incomparably improved by leaving out the turtle, and
substituting a good calf’s head.
In turtlea’ eggs, the yolk soon becomes hard on boiling, whilst
the white remains liquid; a result in direct opposition to the

changes in boiling the eggs of birds.
The fins of the turtle make a luxurious side dish. The fins of
the turbot are likewise much esteemed.
Turtle may be enjoyed in steaks, cutlets, or fins ; and as soup, —
clear and purSe — at
the Albion, London, and Freemasons’, and
other large taverns. “ The Ship and Turtle Tavern,” Nos. 129 and
130, Leadenhall-street, is especially famous for its turtle; and
from this establishment several of the West-end club-houses are
supplied.
Of course, Turtle, like everything else in this lower world, has
its degrees of excellence; but the amphibious delicacy is rarely
to be obtained in puris naturalibus, in this country : that is,
the soup is excellent, but it is not turtle, per se.
I admit it (says a writer iu the New Monthly Magazine), to be a rich

and savoury compound, in which some savoury morceaux of its godfather
may occasionally be found floating but the suscitating juices with which
;
the accidental luxury is presented to us, are extracted from the hinder-
legs of a calf and an ox the foundation, in fact, is composed of veal and
;
beef, and a masterly introduction of appetizing condiments, which are

both palatable and pleasing but, believe me, it is no more like the turtle
;
soup of the Western hemisphere, than pea-soup, made from that delicate
vegetable in the spring, is to a nankeen-coloured mess concocted in the
winter, bearing the same name. The truth is, the turtle is too expensive
a delicacy to warrant such a lavish expenditure of its succulent nourish-
ment, and the luscious treasure is husbanded accordingly.
In the West Indies, e’estune autre affaire: the turtle are too plentiful
to require the meretricious aid of stock and gravy. There, the whole is
consumed for soup, excepting the calhpeo ; and I need scarcely add, it is
exquisitely delicious. A turtle of eighty to one hundred pounds, is con-
sidered, by all right-judging epicures, to be the proper size and growth for
perfect eating and will furnish a satisfactory repast for some ten or a
;
dozen lovers of this delicacy although I have known three turtles to be

;
slain for a regular turtle-feast in one of the Caribbean Islands viz., a

;
chicken turtle for steaks, than which a juvenile fowl is not more delicate;
one of a hundred for soup and stewed fins ; and a large hen turtle for
eggs, and callipash, or stew, and from which also the never-to-be-suffi-
ciently-lauded green fat is pilfered, to fill up any deficiency in the supply
for the tureen. Gentle reader, if you have any accidental acquaintances,
cultivate them, by all means, to the utmost extent in your power they ;
are kind, open-hearted, and liberal to a fault; and if, perchance, they
send you a turtle of the true breed, take my advice, do not think of dress-
ing it at your own house (for which you will insure the gratitude of your
cook), but send it to the Albion, the London Tavern, or Birch and in ;
return, they will, any one of them, send you sufficient soup for three or
four parties. Give them the turtle, and whenever you wish to entertain
a select few of the lovers of good eating, you can command a liberal
supply of matchless soup, without tho trouble or expense that would
have attended the abortive attempts of your own servant for one
entertainment.
Frogs and Snails. 33
EDIBLE FEOGS.
The hind legs of frogs are fricasseed, and their lore legs and
livers are put into soups on the Continent. The edible frog is
considerably larger than the common frog, and though rare in
England, is common in Italy, France, and Germany. Frogs are
brought from the country to Vienna, 3000 or 4000 at a time, and
sold to the great dealers, who have conservatories for them.
Frogs fried, with crisped parsley, such as is given with fried
eels, are a dish for the gods. There is a notion prevalent that
they are very dear; but, in the carte of the Rocker de Cancale,
f
at Paris, grenouilles rites are marked at the moderate price of a
franc and a half per •plat.
SNAILS. —A SNAIL DINNEE.

Snails abound in Italy and Spain more than in the other
parts of Europe. In Italy, snails anciently were, and still are,
much used for the table. They are regularly sold in the markets,
as well as in those of Switzerland, Spain, and France, and are
exported in barrels to the Antilles. In the vineyards of France,
the peasants collect them, and feed them till winter, when the
snails seal themselves up ; and in this state they are purchased
by the confectioners, who prepare them in the shell with butter
and herbs, and forward them to Paris.
In Transylvania, the large wood snail is a favourite dish. It
is drawn out of the shell, cut small, mixed with a kind of savoury
stuffing, and served up and replaced in the shell. In some parts
ot the country, instead of eggs and fowls, the peasants pay their
and game. Mr. Paget states one lady’s ordinary
tribute in snails
winter supply to be upwards of 5000 snails.
Here is an amusing anecdote of an experimental snail dinner.
The chemical philosophers, Dr. Black and Dr. Hutton, were particular
friends, though there was something extremely opposite in their external
appearance and manner. Dr. Black spoke with the English pronuncia-
tion, and with punctilious accuracy of expression, both in point of
matter
and manner. The geologist, Dr. Hutton, was the very reverse of this:
his conversation was conducted in broad phrases, expressed with a broad
Scotch accent, which often heightened the humour of what he said.
It chanced that the two doctors had held some discourse together
upon
the folly of abstaining from feeding on the testaceous creatures
of the
land, while those of the sea were considered as delicacies.
Wherefore not
eat snails ? they are known to bo nutritious and wholesome,
and even
sanative in some cases. The epicures of old praised them
among the
richest delicacies, and the Italians still esteem them. In short, it was
determined that a gastronomic experiment should be made at
the expense
of the snails The snails were procured, dieted for a time,
and then stewed
ior the benefit of the two philosophers, who had
cither invited no quests
to their banquet, or found none who relished in
prospect the piice de
D
resistance. A huge dish oi' snailswas placed before them still, pliiloso-
:
phers are but men after all ;

and the stomachs of both doctors began to
revolt against the experiment. Nevertheless, if they looked with disgust
on the snails, they retained their awe for each other, so that each, conceiv-
ing the symptoms of internal revolt peculiar to himself, began, with infi-
nite exertion, to swallow, in very small quantities, the mess which he
internally loathed.
Dr. Black at length showed the white feather, but in a very delicate
manner, as if to sound the opinion of his messmate. “ Doctor,” he said,
—
in his precise and quiet manner “Doctor, do you think that they taste a
little— a very little, green P” “ D
d green d d green, indeed
!
—
Tak’ them awa’ tak’ them awa’ !” vociferated Dr. Hutton, starting up
from table, and giving full vent to his feelings of abhorrence. So
ended all hopes of introducing snails into the modern cuisine; and thus
philosophy can no more cure a nausea, than honour can set a broken
Fish.
Fish of different kinds varies in digestibility. The most digestible
is whiting, boiled; haddock next; cod, soles, and turbot are
richer and heavier; eels, when stewed, notwithstanding their
richness, are digestible. Perch is, perhaps, the most digestible
river-fish ; salmon is not very digestible, unless in a fresher state
than that in which much of it reaches the London market.
Mayo.
That we are large consumers of fish may be inferred from the
fact that the annual supply of this article to the London market
alone exceeds 402,964,000 lbs. of fish proper, i. e., in its raw
state. To this we may add some 47,816,000 lbs. of dried and
smoked fish; making a grand total of 450,780,000 lbs. and
upwards, and this, be it remembered, exclusive of shell fish.
The consumption of fish in the metropolis has been considerably

increased by the vigilance of the inspectors at Billingsgate: it
formerly happened that a family who had once or twice purchased
bad fish, gave up the use of an article which there was some un-
certainty of procuring in a proper state. The high price of fish
is not, as generally supposed, from any monopoly in the sale of
it ; but is, in a great measure, owing to the system of credit
which the retail dealer is compelled to give ; the frequent losses
he sustains, and to the practice of the patronage of noblemen and
gentlemen being disposed of by their servants in consideration of
a heavy per-centage.
A full season and scarce supply occasionally raise the price
enormously; as in the case of four guineas being paid for a
lobster for sauce, which, being the only one in the market, wa3
divided for two London epicures ! During very rough weather,
Freshness of Fish. 35
scarcely an oyster cau be procured in the metropolis. In the

height of the season, a line cod-fish has been sold for a guinea
ancf a half. And some moyen-age readers may recollect a piquant
story of Lady Eldon (the Chancellor’s parsimonious wife), con-
senting to sell half a turbot which she had ordered, when told of
its extravagantly high price.
Salmon at Billingsgate is now often sold at the rate of butcher’s

meat; and, owing to the rapidity of its conveyance by steam, is
in much better condition than when higher prices were demanded
for it.
No general rule of certainty can be laid down for determining

the freshness of Fish, and its fitness for food, as has been com-
monly supposed, unless we are acquainted with the habits of the
several species. Mr. Yarrell, the distinguished naturalist, ob-
serves “ It may be considered as a law that those fish that swim
:
near the surface of the water, have a high standard of respira-

tion, a low degree of muscular irritability, and great necessity
for oxygen, die soon —
almost immediately when taken out of the
water, and have flesh prone to rapid decomposition. On the con-
trary, those fish that live near the bottom of the water have a
low standard of respiration, a high degree of muscular irrita-
bility, and less necessity for oxygen they sustain life long after
;
they are taken out of the water, and their flesh remains good
several days. The carp, the tench, the various flat fish, and the
eel, are seen gaping and writhing on the stalls of the fishmongers
for hours in succession ; but no one sees any symptoms of motion
in the mackerel, the salmon, the trout, or the herring, unless
present at the capture. These four last-named, and many others
of the same habits, to be eaten in the greatest perfection, should
be prepared for the table the same day they are caught ;* but the
turbot, delicate as it is, may be kept till the second day with
advantage, and even longer without injury ; and fishmongers,
generally, are well aware of the circumstance, that fish from deep
—
water have the muscle more dense in structure in their language,
—
more firm to the touch that they are of finer flavour, and will
keep longer than fish drawn from shallow water. Yarrell’—
History of British Fishes.
* The chub swims near the top of the water, and is caught with a fly,
a moth, or a grasshopper, upon the surfaco; and Isaac Walton says,
—
“ But take this rule with you that a chub newly taken and newly
dressed
is so much better than a chub of a day’s keeping after he is dead, that
I can compare him to nothing so fitly as to cherries newly gathered
from a tree, and others that have been bruised and lain a day or two in
water.”
D 2
Soyer, in his excellent Gastronomic Regenerator , says :
For the last few years there has been quite an alteration in the descrip-
tion of the seasons for fish.
Except the cod-fish, which come in September, and by strictness of
rule must disappear in March, the season for all ocher sea-fish becomes a
puzzle; but the method I follow during the season is as follows:
Crimped Gloucester salmon is plentiful in June and part of July, but it
may be procured almost all the year round.
Common salmon from March to July.
Salmon pcale from June to July.
Spey trout from May to J uly.
Sturgeon, though not thought much of, is very good in June.
Turbot, soles, and brill are in season all the year round.
John Dories depend entirely upon chance, but may be procured all the
year round for the epicure, May excepted.
The original season of Yarmouth mackerel is from the 12th of May
t ill the end of July; now we have Christmas mackerel; then the west of
England mackerel, which are good at the beginnin g of April.
Haddock and whiting all the year round.
Skate all the winter.
Smelts from the Medway are the best, and are winter fish; the Yar-
mouth and Carlisle are good, but rather large ; the Dutch are also very
large,and lose proportionally in the estimation of the epicure.
Gurnards are spring fish.
Fresh herrings, from November to January.
Kiver eels all the year round.
Lobsters and prawns, spring and part of summer.
Crabs are best in May.
Barrelled oysters, from the middle of September till the end of
February.
Sprats were formerly said to come in on Lord Mayor’s Day (Nov. 9),
but they are only good in frosty weather.
River-fish out of season and unwholesome, are constantly sold

and eaten at London during March, April, and May, from the
purchasers being ignorant that the above are the fencing or
spawning months for all kinds of river-fish, except trout and
eels.
Fish appear to be strangely underrated in England out of ;
upwards of 170 distinct species of good and wholesome fish in

our markets, scarcely one-fourth are even named in cookery books.
Much of this dislike of fish has arisen from its being eaten when
out of season, or from being too long or carelessly kept.
In Austria, the art of carrying and keeping fish is better un-
derstood than in England. Every inn has a box, containing
grayling, trout, carp, or char, into which water from a spring
runs ; and no one thinks of carrying or sending dead fish for a
dinner. The fish are fed, so that they are often in better season
in the tank, or stew, than when they were taken. At Admont,
in Styria, attached to the monastery of that name, are ponds and
Salmon. 37
reservoirs for every sort of fresh-water fish : and the char, gray-
ling, and trout are preserved in different waters covered, and—
under lock and key,
Sir Humphry Davy describes a fish-dinner at Lintz, on the
Danube, of a kind from any in England. “ There were
different
the four kinds of perch, the spiegel carpfen and the silvois
glacis, all good fish, which we have not in England, where they
might be easily naturalized, and would form an admirable addi-
tion to the table in inland counties. Since England has become
Protestant, the cultivation of fresh-water fish has been much
neglected.
Fish is of little account in an East Indian dinner, and can
only maintain its post as a side dish ; for in the hot season,
fish caught early in the morning would be much deteriorated
before dinner.
In Norway fish are prepared for distant markets by putting
them into an oven of a moderate heat, and gradually but
thoroughly drying them.
Fried fish is best drained by wrapping it in soft whited-brown
paper, after which it will not soil the napkin upon which it is
served.
Fish is often spoiled by the mode in which it is served. It is
mostty covered up, when it is made sodden by the fall of the
condensed steam from the cover. The practice of putting boiled
and fried fish on the same dish is bad, as it is deprived of its
crispness from contact with the boiled ; and garnishing hot fish
with cold parsley is abominable.
Dried salt-fish should be soaked in water, then taken out for a
time, and soaked again before it is dressed. This plan is much
better than constant soaking ; the fibres of the fish being loosened
by alternate expansion and contraction, which occasions the fish
to come off in flakes.
Fish sauce should always be thick enough to adhere to the fish.
It had better be too thick than too thin, for it can be thinned at
table by adding some of the cruet sauces.
Dutch sauce is excellent for all kinds of fish ; as it does not,
like most other sauces, destroy the flavour of the fish.
SALMON.
Thecupidity of fishermen, the rivalry of epicures, and the
fastidiousness of the palate of salmon eaters, have fancifully
multiplied the species of the salmon. One of the most cele-
brated varietes in the annals of epicurism is Vombre chevalier,
of the Lake of Geneva, identical with the char of England, the*
38 Units for the Table.
Alpine trout, the rotheli of Swiss Germany, and the sckwarz

renta of Saltzburg.
The Christchurch salmon is decidedly the best in England
lor the Thames salmon may now be considered extinct, not more
than four having been caught in as many years, though a good
many have been sold as such.
Split salmon is fashionable ; and it is the best mode in which
the fish can be dressed to ensure its being boiled throughout.
On the Tweed, and in other salmon districts, a salmon is never
boiled whole.
Culvered or crimped salmon is the only kind introduced at the
table of the true gourmet. If it be left too long in the water, it
loses all its taste and colour.
Sir Humphry Davy has described mode of crimping salmon
the
in its native district. The stunned by a blow on the
fish is first
head, then cut crosswise just below the gills, and crimped by
cutting to the bone on each side, so as almost to divide him into
slices he is next put into a cold spring for ten minutes, and then
:
put slice by slice into a pot of salt and water boiling furiously;
time being allowed for the water to recover its heat after the
throwing in of each slice the head is left out, and the thickest
:
pieces arethrown in first. Sir Humphry explains the effect of

crimping and cold in preserving the curd of the fish, by con-
cluding that the fat of the salmon between the flakes of the
muscles being mixed with much albumen and gelatine, is ex-
tremely liable to decompose, but is kept cool by the spring and,
;
by the boiling salt and water (which is of a higher temperature

than that of common boiling water) the albumen is coagulated,
and the curdiness is preserved. And the crimping, by prevent-
ing the irritability of the fibre from being gradually exhausted,
seems to preserve it so hard, that it breaks under the teeth, while
a fresh fish, not crimped, is generally tough. This may improve
small fish, hut will cause a large, fine fed fish to eat too dry
and brittle. To choose crimped salmon, see that it rises at the
edges of the cuts, and that the muscle is well contracted between
them, which should develope the flakes, and appear firm and
elastic.
At Killarney, on the lake bank, the freshly-caught salmon is cut
into slices, and broiled over a fire of arbutus-wood, in the ashes
of which are placed potatoes, not only for roasting, but that they
may receive the fat and juices of the broiling fish.
It is said that one of the wonders which the Frazers of
Lovat, who were lords of the manor, used to show their guests,
was a voluntarily cooked salmon, at the Falls of Ivilmorac. For
this purpose a kettle was placed upon the flat rock on the south
side of the fall, close by the edge of the water, and kept full and
Salmon. — Turbot. 39
boiling. There is a considerable extent of the rock where tents

were erected,and the whole was under a canopy of overhanging
trees. There the company are said to have waited till a salmon
“ a mode
fell into the kettle and, was boiled in their presence ;
of entertainment, I confess,” says Mr. Hofland, “ myself inca-
pable of coveting, being too much of a sportsman, and too little
of an epicure, to desire conquest so unworthy, and cooking so
unnatural.”
“ a Eoyal Salmon
There is given at Aberdeen,
annually
Dinner,” at which sometimes as man}'- as two hundred guests
enjoy “ the fine fish.”
Probably the largest salmon ever heard of, in the London
market, wa3 in the possession of Mr. Grove, of New Bond-street
it weighed eighty -three pounds.
So successful has the artificial breeding of salmon become in
France, that whereas, a few years ago, it was di fficult to procure
this fish in Paris for less than three or four shillings per pound,
it can now be sold as low as sixpence per pound.
Salmon Cutlets are fried as follows Dip slices of salmon into
:
Florence oil, strew over them Cayenne pepper and salt, and
wrap them in oiled paper; fry them ten minutes in boiling lard,
and then lay the papered cutlets on a gridiron, over a clear fire,
for three minutes longer.
In broiling salmon, set the gridiron on a slope, with a vessel
to receive the oil that drains off, which, if it fell into the fire,
would spoil the fish.*
Dried salmon should be very red when cut ; otherwise it is a
bad fish.
The Parr, very like a small trout, is a most delicious little fish
when fried and when potted, equal
; to the Charr.
TUEBOT.
The best proof of condition in the Turbot is the thickness of
the body, and an opaque light cream -colour on the pale side; if
thin, with a bluish cast, like water tinged with butter-milk, the
fish is out of season. In 1832, a turbot weighing 192 pounds was
caught off Whitby. From fifteen to twenty pounds is the usual
weight, but a turbot of a single pound weight has a very fine
flavour.
* In 1842, a poor fellow was taken before the authorities of Paris, for
begging in the streets. He had studied the science of Cookery under the
celebrated Careme, and was the inventor of the delicious Saumons trvffes
a la troche he attributed his poverty to the decline of Cookery from a
science to a low art !Wo remember to have rend that cooks, in nine cases
out of ten, after ministering to the luxury of the opulent, creep into holes
and comers, and pass neglected out of the world,
A turbot, if kept two or three days, will eat much finer than
a very fresh one; it being only necessary to sprinkle the fish with
salt, and hang it by the tail in a cool place. Before putting it
into the kettle, make an incision in the hack, rub it well with
salt, and then with a cut lemon. If a turbot be boiled too fast, it
will be woolly.
Careme directs a boiled turbot to be garnished with a large
boiled lobster, and this lobster to be garnished with smelts,
fastened with silver skewers.
A small turbot broiled is excellent. A roasted turbot was
the boast of a party of connoisseurs, who dined at Friceur’s, in
1836; but a gentleman had the curiosity to ask M. Friceur in
what manner lie set about dressing the fish :
—
“ Why, Sure, you
no tell Monsieur le Docteur Somerville (one of the epicurean
guests) ; we no roast him at all, we put him in oven and bake
him.” This anecdote is related in a recent number of the
Quarterly Review.
Nasturtium flowers make a brilliant garnish for a turbot ; as
do also lobster-spawn and cut lemon. By the way, Quin, unlike
the herd of epicures, preferred the flesh of the dark side of the
turbot.
Cold turbot, or soles, may be dressed as salad or the fillets
:
may be warmed in white sauce for a side dish. Or, the fish may
be made into a delicious omelet.
COD.
The larger Cod are generally the firmest and best flavoured fish,
—
the smaller ones being soft and watery though they may be
improved by sprinkling them with salt a few days before they
are cooked. Cod is a winter fish, coming in at October, and
going out in February ; its highest season is about Christmas.
Still, as some cod cast their spawn months earlier than others,
a few may be met with in tolerable order throughout the year.
A fine fish, in the London season, has been sold for 30s.
The Cod on the south-east side of the Bank of Newfoundland
are as fine again in flavour as that on the north-west side. Cod
is obtained, perhaps, finer in London than in any other city in
the world ; it is caught on the Dogger Bank, and brought alive
in wells, by boats to Gravesend, and forwarded to London still
alive, where it is immediately crimped, the best fish being with a
small head and thick at the neck but what will the “ humanity”
:
folks say to the crimping, which M. Soyer considers greatly to

improve cod as well as salmon.
In choosing a Cod, see that it rises high, and is round and
thick about the poll, with a deep pit just behind the head;
the body full towards the tail ; the sides as if ribbed ; the fisli
Soles. — Haddock — Whiting. . 41
stiff,red in the gills, and bright in the eyes, else it will not eat
firm. Again, press your finger on the body of the fish, when, if
it be stale, the impression will remain ; if fresh, it will rise again
on removal of the pressure.
If a cod-fish be hung up for a day, the eyes being taken out,
and their place filled with salt, the fish will eat much firmer,
and its flavour will be improved.
Cod-fish should be crimped in thin slices, when they will be
boiled equally ; but if crimped in thick slices, the thin or belly
part will be overdone before the thick part is half boiled. Again,
thin slices need not be put into the kettle, until the guests are
arrived.
Enclose a silver spoon in the belly of a cod-fish during the
boiling: if it be in good condition, the silver will remain un-
coloured, when taken from the fish at table.
The Dutch eat stewed and baked cod-fish with oiled butter and
lemon-juice.
The Norwegian Cod-fishery is stated to employ 5000 boats,
with 25,000 men; the season commencing with February, and
lasting seven or eight weeks.
SOLES. —HADDOCK.—WHITING. — LING.—BEEAM.

The Sole is principally from the North Sea, but the small-sized
caught in shallow water, on our coast, are the best sometimes :
1000 pairs are taken at one haul some are seven pounds each
;
the older they are, the larger they become. In a haul, perhaps
the first ever taken there, in Ballinskillig’s Bay, close in-shore,
and not far from Derrynane, there were taken, in October, 1848,
60 soles, weighing 2 cwt.
Soles, when in good season, are of creamy-white on the lower
sides, and thick about the shoulder the slime on the dark side
;
should be transparent, and that on the lower side frothy. Above

all things, avoid soles with a sky-blue tinge.
The Haddock is a fine fish, and a

with firm snow-white flesh,
creamy curd between the flakes ;
the larger the
the firmer fish,
it eats ; the finest are taken in Dublin Bay, and on the Devon
and Cornwall coasts. The large haddocks are in season from
June till February; the smaller ones at all times. They should
be chosen as cod.
In France, whitings are not skinned, but only slit, dipped
in flour, fried in very hot dripping, and served without any sauce.
The Ling, taken on the Cornish coast, is the best of the whole
cod tribe, though we seldom hear of it, except salted. Like the
cod, it has a remarkably fine sound ; its flesh separates in curdy
flakes,and its rich glutinous skin is delicious ; it is in greatest

perfection about Christmas, and the larger the ling the better.
The sea bream is rather a despised fish, and has been sold as
low as half-a-crown per cwt. Its more ordinary flavour may,
however, be materially improved by the following mode of
dressing it. When thoroughly clean, wipe the fish dry, but do
not take ofF any of the scales. Then broil it, turning it often,
and if the skin cracks, flour it a little to keep the outer case
entire. When on table, the whole skin and scales turn ofl' with-
out difficulty; and the muscle beneath, saturated with its own
natural juices, which the outside covering has retained, will be
found of good flavour. —
Yarrell's British Fishes.
MULLET.
lied Mullet .
—
Great surprise has often been expressed upon the
number and cheapness of red mullets in the London market in
certain seasons it arises from a circumstance thus explained, a
:
gentleman in the west of England, noticing that the mackerel

and red mullet arrived on the coast together, and that there was
a large fishery of the former and none of the latter, endeavoured
to find out the reason he ascertained that the red mullet, ob-
:
tained its food from the mackerel, and, consequently, they swam
lower ; he therefore directed the fishermen to have a deeper seine
net, by which means they will be enabled to take both kinds at
the same time.
Red mullet are most plentiful in May and June, at which
time their colours are most vivid, and the the
fish, as food, in
best condition.
The red mullet (soldiers as they have been called), are some-
times bought on our western coast for sixpence each ; and the
large ones (called sergeants), for eighteen-pence. Indeed, so
cheap have they been, that it was no uncommon thing to see an
epicure taking the liver out of his mullet to apply it as sauce to
his John Dory, leaving the flesh to more vulgar palates. What
would the Romans have said to this ? Pliny records that one
gentleman, Asinius Celer, gave eight thousand nummi (between
64£. and 65 1. sterling) for one mullet. The Romans had mullet
cooked in crystal vases, that they might watch the beautiful
colours of the fish, varying under the hand of death, and shooting
transiently along to please the eye of epicures.
The flesh of mullet is white, firm, and of good flavour; and
being free from fat, is easy of digestion.
A large mullet may be cut into fillets, and fried, and served
with sliced cucumber.
The livers are the only sauce to be eaten with mullet; and
Mullet. —Dory. — Lampreys. 43
Apicius had a method of suffocating the fish in the garum

sociorum, and afterwards making a rich sauce of their livers.
The cookery books make no distinction in dressing the red and
grey mullet; though the former is cooked woodcock fashion,
without drawing, so delicate is the fish.
The Grey Mullet is, by no means, a fashionable fish ; yet we
remember to have been asked Is. 6cl. for a couple of small ones
by a Brighton fishmonger. The river Arun has, from time im-
memorial, been famed for its grey mullet.
Sussex is celebrated for six good things —
a Chichester lobster,
:
a Selsey cockle, an Arundel (grey) mullet, a Pulborough eel, an

Amberley trout, and a Rye herring.
V
THE DORY.
The Dory is found in greatest abundance on the southern coasts
of Devon and Cornwall it is in best season from Michaelmas to
;
Christmas, but is good all the year round. J ust about the collar-
bones is the prettiest picking, and there are delicious morsels
about the head. Large dories are best boiled ; the smaller ones
fried.
The Dories of Plymouth and Brighton are very fine.
The Dory, and, indeed, all sea fish, to be eaten in perfection,
should be boiled in sea-water. On one occasion, on Quin’s return
from Plymouth to Bath, he sent directions to the landlord of the
principal inn at Ivybridge to procure one of the finest dories on
the day he expected to arrive there and that it might be dressed
;
in perfection, he had a cask of sea water strapped behind his

carriage but it unfortunately happened that no dory could be
;
procured ; when so annoyed was Quin, that notwithstanding an

excellent dinner had been provided for him, he refused to partake
of it, or even to enter the inn, and casting his water-cask adrift,
proceeded on his journey dinnerless
Quin went so far as to eat the livers of mullet (rejecting the
body) as sauce for his Dory. He thought the inhabitants of Ply-
mouth ought to be the happiest of mankind, from their abundant
supply of dories and mullet but when he visited Plymouth, he
;
found, to his disgust, that although the people had some notion
of cooking fish, they were ignorant of the art of melting butter.
LAMPREYS.
The Lamprey was a pet fish with the ancients Antonia, the:
wife of Drusus, hung the gills of a lamprey with jewels and ear-
rings Licinius Croesus fed his lampreys in a vivarium
; and ;
Quintius Hortensius is said to have wept at the death of one of

his dear fish. One of our kings, Henry I., died from eating too
largely ol lampreys ; by ancient custom, the city of Gloucester,
44 Hints for the Tulle.
as a token of their loyalty, present a lamprey pie annually at

Christmas to the Sovereign this is sometimes a costly gift, as
;
lampreys at that season can scarcely be procured at a guinea

a-piece.*
The Lamprey has been historically scandalized as the murcena
of the Romans, for it lives entirely by suction, and swims close to
the surface of the water, and could not, by the nature of its con-
struction, feed near the bottom consequently, it could not be
;
fed on the bodies of slaves, as is recorded of those with which

the Emperor Augustus was treated ; its food (so far as M. Soyer
was able to learn from examination of some thousands) consists
of small water-insects and aniinalculae.
M. Soyer enters into the question of the celebrated Roman
Sauce with great zest ; hear the culinary antiquary :
The garum was the suucc the most esteemed and the most expensive
itscomposition is unknown. This is a subject well v orth the attention of
the epicures of the present day; they should subscribe and offer a pre-
mium for that which, in their opinion, may resemble it it is a subject
:
well worthy the attention of the professors of our universities. Perhaps

some leaf yet undiscovered, that may have escaped the conflagration of
Alexandria, might throw some light upon so interesting a subject. It
appears that mushrooms entered greatly into its composition; and that
parts of mackerel, or of that species, formed another. The question is, at
what time of the year were mushrooms in season there and if at that
;
period mackerel, or what species of mackerel have soft roes, as I think it

probable that they entered into its composition, as an island near
Cnrthagena, where they were caught, was called Scombraria, and that
which was prepared by a company in that town, and which was considered
the best, was called Garum Sociorum.
The
great lamprey is comparatively neglected in London,
although it may be taken from the Thames. He who has tasted
a well-stewed Gloucester lamprey —
our Worcester friends must
—
pardon us a Gloucester lamprey, will almost excuse the royal
excess. — Quarterly Review.
Lampreys are thus dressed at the Hop-pole, Worcester. Cleanse
the fish, remove the tough membrane from the back, put the
lampreys into a stewpan, and cover them with strong beef gravy
add a dessert-spoonful of mixed allspice, mace, and cloves, in
powder, a spoonful of salt, a few grains of Cayenne pepper, a gill
of port wine, the same of sherry, and a table-spoonful of horse-
radish vinegar. Cover the pan, and stew gently till the fish are
tender ; then take them out, and add to the same two anchovies
beaten to a paste, and the juice of a lemon boil it up and strain
;
it ; and, if requisite, thicken it with butter and flour. Warm the
* From a very useful and interesting work entitled Fish, Hotc to

Choose, How to Dress. By Piscator. Printed at Launceston.
Whitebait. 45
lampreys in this sauce before serving. Garnish with slices of

lemon and sippets of toasted bread.
WHITEBAIT. — SHAD.
We quote the following particulars of this delicacy from the
Curiosities of London
To the large taverns at Blackwall and Greenwich gourmets flock
to eat Whitebait, a delicious little fish caught in the Reach of the
Thames, and directly netted out of the river into the frying-pan.
They appear about the end of March or early in April, and are
taken every flood-tide until September.
Pennant describes Whitebait as esteemed by the lower order of epicures.
If this account be correct, there must have been a strange change in the
grade of epicures frequenting Greenwich and Blackwall since Pennant’s
days ; for at present the fashion of eating Whitebait is sanctioned by the
highest authorities, from the court of St. James’s in the West to the Lord
Mayor and his court in the East ; besides the philosophers of the Koyal
Society; and her Majesty’s Cabinet Ministers, who wind up the Parlia-
mentary session with their “ annual fish dinner,” whither they go in an
Ordnance barge, or a Government steamer.
Wliitebait are taken by a net in a wooden frame, the hose having a very
small mesh. The boat is moored in the tideway, and the net fixed to its
side, when the tail of the hose, swimming loose, is from time to time handed
into the boat, the end untied, and its contents shaken out. Whitebait
were thought to be the young of the shad, and were named from then’
being used as bait in fishing for whitings. By aid of comparative
anatomy, Mr. Yarrell, however, proved Whitebait to be a distinct species,
Clupea alba.
Perhaps the famed delicacy of Wliitebait rests as much upon its skilful
cookery as upon the freshness of the fish. Dr. Pereira has published the
mode of cooking in one of Lovegrove’s “ bait-kitcliens” at Blackwall. The
fish should be dressed within an hour after being caught, or they are apt
to cling together. They are kept in water, from which they are taken by
a skimmer as required they arc then thrown upon a layer of flour, con-
;
tained in a large napkin, in which they are shaken until completely en-
veloped in flour they are then put into a colander, and all the superfluous
;
flour is removed by sifting the fish are next thrown into hot lard con-
;
tained in a copper cauldron or stew-pan placed over a charcoal fire in ;
about two minutes they are removed by a tin skimmer, thrown into a
colander to drain, and served up instantly, by placing them on a fish-
drainer in a dish. The rapidity of the cooking process is of the utmost
importance and if it be not attended to, the fish mil lose their crispness,
;
and be worthless. At table, lemon juice is squeezed over them, and they
are seasoned with Cayenne pepper; brown bread and butter is sub-
stituted for plain bread; and they arc eaten with iced champagne, or
punch.
The Thames and the Hamble, (which runs into the South-
ampton Water,) are the only rivers in England in which white-
bait has been taken.
Scottish epicures may now enjoy whitebait, in common with
those of Blackwall and Greenwich ; for it is obtained in abundance
from the Firth of Forth, the stake-nets at South Queensferry, and

Kincardine and hereafter it will be sent to the Edinburgh mar-
;
ket in such quantities as to render it as profitable as the sperling

or smelt fishery.
Whitebait is caught in profusion in the Bosphorus ; but the
sword-fish ranks first with the epicures of Constantinople.
The shad of the Thames, the twaite, is little worth ; hut ho of
the Severn, the allice, affords a very superior morsel. And should
any friend residing on the Severn send you a basket of Allice,
have them broiled, and eat them with caper sauce, a la Franqaise.
Shad is much esteemed in Paris, where it is eaten dressed in this
fashion.
EELS AND TENCH.

The Eel according to the river from whence it is
differs in taste,
taken. Although we have some very fine eels in the river Thames,
yet our principal supply is received from Holland, and the fish
which comes from thence are much improved in flavour by the
voyage, and even increase in size. They arrive in the river
Thames in vessels called eel scootes {schuyls), of which four have
been allowed, for centuries, to moor opposite the Custom House,
and the others are obliged to remain in Erith Hole until there is
room for them, which greatly improves the fish. The value of
those imported into Loudon, in 1848, amounted to 132,6002.
Whole cargoes are daily sent up the river to be eaten as Thames
or Kennett eels at Richmond, Eel-pie Island, &c.
“ The Kennett swift for silver eels renowned.”
Pope's Windsor Forest.
Eels are, however, to be had in the highest perfection, at
Godstow, Salisbury, Anderton, or Overton.
A matelotte, in general, must have eels mixed with it carp :
alone are not so good as the eels ; which require longer cooking
than any other fish.
The muddy taste of eels, lampreys, and tench, may be dis-
charged by par-boiling them in salt and water.
Izaak Walton gives an excellent receipt for roasting eels.
The Conger Eel, stewed in brown gravy, with a pudding in its
belly, or dressed in steaks or cutlets, is excellent it is also good
;
roasted or baked, or made into soup, or curried.

Eelpies, when baked, should have the lid removed, and be
up with cream, which will mix with the gravy, and make
filled
a most delicious sauce.
Tench is delicious when in prime order; it may be either plain
boiled or fried ;
or made into water souchy ;
or stewed with eels.
Tench was formerly recommended as a sovereign remedy for
Trout. 47
jaundice ;
and it is probable that the golden colour of the fish,
when in high season, induced the ignorant to suppose that it was

given by Providence, as a signature to point out its medicinal
quality.*
TEOXJT.
Trout come into season but they can scarcely be said
in April ;
to be in perfection until May

and June; from which time they
continue in season till September. They vary much in flavour :
the silvery fish, with yellowish pink flesh, is delicious the dusky
;
trout, with white flesh, is almost tasteless ; and the black trout
is a worthless, insipid fish. The trout, when in good condition,
is short and thick, with a small head, and a broad tail ; the sides
and head marked with red and purple spots, with the belly of a
silvery whiteness. The Driffield river (the Hull), in the East
Hiding of Yorkshire, produces the largest trout in England;
although the Thames occasionally yields very fine ones.
The Fordwich trout, of Izaak Walton, is the salmon trout and ;
its character for affording “ rare good meat,” besides the circum-
stance of its being really' an excellent fish, second only to the
salmon, is greatly enhanced, nc doubt, by the opportunity of
eating it very fresh. Fordwich is two miles north-east of Can-
terbury ; and specimens of the salmon-trout may be seen exposed
for sale in the fishmongers’ shops at Eamsgate during the season.
The salmon-trout is also occasionally taken in the Medway, by
fishermen who work long nets for smelts, during the autumn and
winter. Vast quantities of this fish are brought to the London
market, chiefly from Scotland, and when in high season, are but
little inferior in flavour to the true salmon.
Thames trout are occasionally taken weighing 161b., and from
8 to 121b. is a common weight. There is no fish in Britain which
can equal them in flavour and in goodness.
The Hampshire trout are very celebrated ; but those from the
Colne and the Carshalton river are preferred by many persons.
Small trout in Scotland and Cumberland are made very palatable
by dredging oatmeal over them, and frying them in fresh butter.
The red trout from the lake near Andermath, on the St.
Gothard road, are the very finest in Europe. The trout from the
lake of Como are also much recommended. The hamlet of
Simplon is also celebrated for its delicious trout ; and at the post-
house there, the pates de chamois are excellent.
* Tliis doctrine of signatures subsisted for a considerable time among

medical practitioners, and gave rise to the names of many plants, from
the resemblance of their loaves and roots to the form of many parts of the
human body; such as lung-wort, liver-wort, spleen- wort, &c.—Hunter.
48 Hintsfor the Table.
It would be worth the trouble of a journey to Austria to a

gourmet, to eat the delicious trout there. They are the fish bred
in the snow-fed rivulets of the Alps, brought from thence, and
prepared for the table in stews, perforated with holes, sunk in
some running stream. They are carefully fed; and when re-
quired for the table, make but one leap from the cold water into
the saucepan. They are served either fried, or simply boiled, in
their own dark blue coats, beautifully spotted with red; and
when in good condition, have all the firmness of the white of
an egg.
Trout, from half a pound to a pound weight, if split open, and
sprinkled with cayenne pepper and salt, and broiled, are excel-
lent for breakfast.
The following are two choice old receipts for dressing trout :
“ Broi/lecl Trouts’’ (1 657.) Take out the entrails, cut the fish across the
side,and wash them: fill the cuts with thyme, marjoram, and parsley,
chopped fine set the gridiron on a charcoal fire, rub the bars with suet,
;
and lay the trouts on, basting them with fresh butter, until they are well
“ broyled.” Serve with a sauce of butter and vinegar, and the yolk of an
egg, beaten well together.
To Stew Trout.— Clean and cut them, and broil them on a charcoal
fire then melt in a stewpan, half a pound of fresh butter, a lit tle beaten
;
cinnamon, and some vinegar put in the fish, cover it up, and stew it
;
over a chafing-dish for half an hour then squeeze a lemon on the fish,
;
beat up the sauce, and dish for service. This is the old English fashion.
The Italian stews his fish with white wine, cloves, and mace, nutmegs
sliced, and a little ginger. The French add a slice or two of bacon.
SMELTS. GUDGEONS. FLOUNDERS. BARBEL.

Smelts are caught in vast quantities on the shores of the
Scheldt. The name smelt is Hutch, from the fish seeming to
melt away and disappear, when disturbed by the fisherman.
Smelts are served upon a silver skewer run through the gills.
Smelts are now supplied in Loudon in much greater abuudance
than formerly, as large numbers are brought from Holland, but
they are not considered so fine as those of our own coast. London
formerly used to be supplied from the Medway at Rochester,
where smelts were considered the best ; a custom existed for the
Corporation of Rochester to present the Lord Mayor of London,
on his visit to that town, on occasion of the triennial visitation
to Yantlet Creek, with a dish of smelts. Smelts were never
known in the Dublin market till 1848, when they were received
from an enterprising Englishman on the west coast of Ireland.
Gudgeons, if fried of a nice pale brown, almost come up to the
smelt in flavour. At Bath they are little, if at all, inferior to
the most delicate smelts. They occur in the Parisian cartes a
diner.
Herrings. —Pike. 49
Thames Flounders are by some thought to be insipid and

flavourless; to prevent which, put a haudtul of salt in the water
wherein they are boiled.
Although barbel are rejected as a fish not fit to be eaten, they
are by no means to be despised, if dressed as follows the fish :
should be well cleaned, and the back-bone taken out, and the sides
cut into slices, thrown iuto salt and water for an hour or two, and
then spitchcocked as eels .
—
Jesse s Angler's Rambles.
HERRINGS.
The flesh of herrings is so delicate, that no cook should attempt
to dress them otherwise than by broiling or flying. Let the
herring be placed upon the gridiron, over the clearest of fires,
and when sufficiently embrowned, let him instantly be transferred
to the hottest of plates; eat him with mustard-sauce, in the
kitchen if you can. The male, or soft-roed herrings, are always
the best, when in proper season.
Our herring-fisheries are now a valuable property, in which
altogether from two to three millions of money are sunk, about
half a million being sunk in boats, nets, and lines alone. In
many parts of Scotland a hundred herrings can be purchased for
sixpence. The Scotch-cured herrings have a large sale on the
Continent, and in some places are even superseding the Dutch.
Red herrings should be very bright and shining, like bur-
nished metal, and stiff ; if limp and dull in colour, and soft about
the belly, they are ill-cured, and will never eat well. Mustard
much improves red herrings.
So great a rarity within the present century was an English-
cured herring, that a story is told of Admiral Rodney, when dining
at Carlton House, congratulating the Prince of Wales upon seeing
what he thought to be a dish of Yarmouth bloaters upon the
table ; adding, that if the Prince’s example was followed by the
upper ranks only, it would be the means of adding twenty
thousand hardy seamen to the navy. The Prince observed that
he did not deserve the compliment, as the herrings had not been
cured by British hands “ but,” he continued, “ henceforward I
;
shall order a dish of English-cured herrings to be purchased at

any expense, to appear as a standing dish at this table. shall We
call it a Rodney ; and, under that designation, what true patriot
will not follow my example ?”
PIKE, CAKP, PEECH, AND GURNARD.

Pike are capital if bled in the tail and gills as soon as caught
they die much whiter, which is a comfort to themselves, and look
better at tabic.— Quarterly Review.
E
A Medway pike, after feeding on smelts, is a first-rate delicacy

and a well-fed river pike is capital.
Pike were formerly very rare, as may be inferred from the fact,
that in the latter part of the thirteenth century, Edward I. fixed
the value of pike higher than that of fresh salmon, and more
than ten times greater than that of the best turbot or cod. They
were so rare in the reign of Henry VIII. that a large one was
sold for double the price of a house-lamb in February, and a
pickerel, or small pike, for more than a fat capon. Yarrell’s
British Fishes.) This rarity has been attributed to these fish
—
having then been recently introduced into England ; but pike were
in our markets as early as the reign of Edward I.
Almost every angler lias his pike story. We remember Alderman

Ansley used to relate that during his Mayoralty, a gigantic pike was
taken upon his estate in Huntingdonshire, and straightway forwarded to
the Mansion House a party was invited to eat the fish but his Lord-
: :
ship’s kitchen could not furnish a dish long enough to contain it however,
;
after much search, there was found among the plate of one of the
City companies’ halls a silver dish to hold the pike, the bringing in of which
by two footmen, and setting the same upon the table, before the Lord
Mayor and his guests, was attended with much pomp and circumstance.
In how much depends upon the dressing of

illustration of
fishj it may
be observed, that a stewed carp is really a splendid
dish, a boiled carp one of the worst brought to table.
Some of the finest and oldest carp are found in the windings
of the Spree, in the tavern gardens of Charlottenburg, the great
resort of the Sunday strollers from Berlin. Visitors are in the
habit of feeding them with bread-crumbs, and collect them
together by ringing a bell, at the sound of which shoals of the
fish may be seen popping their noses upwards from the water.
Perch should be taken from a bright river, or transparent

lake if from a pond, they should be kept in some rapidly run-
;
ning river, till the clear stream has washed away all weedy
flavour. When this precaution has not been taken, the fish and
its soup are redolent of mud.
Perch is so delicate and easy of digestion, that it is particu-
larly recommended to those invalids who have weak debilitated
stomachs. It is eaten in high perfection in South Holland, in
water-souchies, or plain boiled, served with white piquante
sauce, and white and brown bread and butter, flanked by a
rich and sweetish red wine. Perch are also excellent fried in
batter.
The French make the head of the carp the morceau d’honneur,
to be given to the highest guest, and the back the next best part.
The head and belly of the fresh-water Bream are most esteemed.
Sturgeon — Caviare. 51
The Bream, by the way, is ranch less prized than of old. Accord-
ing to Chaucer
“ Full many a patricli had he in mewe,
And many a brerne and many a luce* in stew.”
An French proverb runs “ He who hath breams in his
old :
ponds may bid his friends welcome.”

The piper-gurnard, of a brilliant red colour, is most delicious.
Even Quin has borne testimony to the merits of a west-country
piper.
MACKEEEL.
When Mackerel arc out of condition, a black horizontal band
runs along a little above the lateral line, and joins the black
bands together from the tail to just below the termination of the
second back fin this is termed by the fishermen “ the rogue’s
;
mark.” and it disappears as the fish improves in health a long, :
thin-made mackerel is ever an ill-tasted fish.

Mackerel which are taken in May and June are superior in
flavour to those taken either earlier in the spring, or in autumn.
They are best a, la maitre d’hotel.
To enjoy the flavour of mackerel, they should not be washed,
but wiped clean and dry with a cloth.
The price of mackerel in May, 1807, in the Billingsgate mar-
ket, was as follows: — Forty guineas for every 100 of the first
cargo, which made the fish come to 7s. a-piece! The next sup-
plies were also exorbitant, though much less so than the
first,
fetching 1 SI. per 100, or 2s. a-piece. The very next year the
former deficiencies were more than made up, for it appears that
during the season 1808, mackerel were hawked about the streets
ol Dover at 60 for a shilling, or five for a penny
; while they
so blockaded the Brighton coast, that on one night it
became
impossible to land the multitudes taken, and at last both fish
and
nets went to the bottom. It is a singular instance of
fluctuation
m price, that in the year 1807 such an article should
thus com-
mand just four hundred and twenty times the price which it
fetched in the following year.
THE STUBGEON. CAVIABE. —

Sturgeon is an excellent fish, if firm; but, when it is
soft and
flabby, do not attempt to make anything
good of it; or it will
become red, and have a bad flavour.
The sturgeon is of very great importance in an
economical
point of view, to the various nations under the
Russian swav.
Caviare is made from the roe; isinglass
from the bladder; the
* Pike or jack.
E 2
ilesh is eaten fresh, suited, or preserved with aromatics and even

;
the cord which pervades the spine, constitutes a Russian delicacy
named veirga.
Caviare is consumed in vast quantities all over the Russian
empire it is also sent to Italy ; Germany and France take con-
;
siderable quantities, and England a little. Caviare is a shining

brown substance, in small grains, exactly like brambleberries
nearly ripe. It is obtained from sturgeon, which are taken in
March, in millions, on their spawning beds in the mouth of the
Danube, the Dnieper, the Don, or the Volga, where both nets and
hooks are employed against the fish. The membrane of the roe
being removed, the grains are washed with vinegar, or the cheap
white wines of the country next dried in the air, salted, put
;
into a bag and pressed, and then packed in casks. After all, says
a tourist, Caviare is not worth the money it is a bitter, cucumber-
:
tasted stuff; is eaten raw with oil and lemon-juice, and tastes
worse than Hamburgh herrings or Swedish salmon. It is, how-
ever, one of the most valuable articles of Russian trade, the sales
reaching annually two millions sterling. An inferior caviare is
made from the roes of other large fish.
Caviare is increasing in estimation in this country, if we may
judge by the increased importation of it.
Caviare was an old English luxury lor Charles II., when he
;
laid the foundation-stone of the Royal Exchange, was regaled

“
with a chine of beef, fowls, hams, dried tongues, anchovies,
caviare, and wines.”
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Plaice, when good order, is a most delicious fish,
in
though of no great reputation. To get rid of its watery softness,
it should be well beaten with a rolling-pin, before it is dressed.
Slcateshould be soaked in salt and water, to extract the

rankness which it has when dressed too fresh, but which vanishes
if the fish be kept a day or two. Skate is absurdly rejected by
some persons. If this fish be hung up for a day or two, then
cut into slices, broiled, and eaten with butter, it will be delicious.
The female skate is more delicate than the male.
The Basse is highly extolled by Pliny and Ovid, but rarely
appears at the table of wealthy moderns. Yet, a Cornishman
will eat a basse boiled, baked, fried, stewed, or made into a pie.
The wholesomest sea-fish are the common, speckled, and green

cod; haddock, pout, whiting, pollack, whiting pollack, hake,
forked hake, and ling the flesh of all these is white and divides
:
into flakes, and is excellent for invalids.

The Hake, though rarely admitted to the table of the wealthy,
Oyster -eating. 53
is excellent when cut into cutlets, covered with egg and bread-
crumbs, and fried : its best season is from Michaelmas to Christ-
mas.
The Ruffe makes a dainty dish, when nicely fried : it is in
season from Midsummer to March.

The flesh of the sea-cow, found in the vast rivers of Brazils,
resembles fresh pork, and is excellent. Sausages are made ot it,
and sent to Portugal as a great delicacy.
OYSTEES.
Oysters are recommended by the doctors where great nourish-
ment and easy digestion are required; their valuable quality
being the quantity of gluten they contain.
There is an old prejudice that oysters are only good in those
months which include the letter r ; an error which was refuted so
long ago as the year 1804, when M. Balaine contrived the means ot
sending to Paris oysters fresh, and in the best possible order, at
all Balaine’s predecessor in this art was Apicius,
seasons alike.
who said to have supplied Trajan with fresh oysters at all
is
seasons of the year. The Romans, according to Pliny, made
Ostrearii, or loaves of bread baked with oysters.
Oysters were eaten by the Greeks ; and fattened in pits and
ponds by the Romans. The latter obtained the finest from Ru-
tupice, now Sandwich, in Kent. The Roman epicures iced their
oysters before eating them and the ladies used the calcined shell
;
as a cosmetic and depillatory.

In Paris is published a brochure entitled Le Manuel de
l' Amateur des Huitres, in which the British oysters are acknow-
ledged to be the finest.

The London market is principally supplied with Oysters from
the beds of Whitstable, Rochester, Milton, Colchester, Burnham,
and Queenborough, all artificial beds, furnishing natives. Since
the introduction of steamboats and railways, considerable quan-
tities of sea-oysters are brought from Falmouth and Helford, in
Cornwall; from the coast of Wales, the Isle of Wight, and
neighbourhood of Sussex, and even from Ireland and Scotland,
after the winter sets in, as before they would not keep fresh when
brought from long distances. The sea-oyster is often, before
being brought to market, kept for a time in artificial beds, in
order to improve its flavour. The most esteemed oysters are
those of the small, ovate, but deep-shelled variety, called Natives,
among those of the river Crouch, or Burnham oysters, are pre-
eminent for their marine flavour, probably, on account of the
facilities for importing them in fine condition. In London, the
chief consumption of common Oysters is from the 4th of August
toJanuary and of natives, from October to March. The con-

;
sumption is said to be greatest during the hottest months,

after the commencement of the oyster season the warmer the :
weather, the more oysters are consumed. Oysters of good repute

are fished in the neighbourhood of the Channel Islands, those on
the Jersey bank being of large size. The best Scottish Oysters
are procured near Burntisland, opposite Portobello, and at Pres-
tonpans. The Oysters of Laxcy, off the Isle of Man, are fine and
well -flavoured. The Irish coasts produce Oysters in abundance,
and of good quality. In the west, the most famous are Burton
Bindon’s oysters, which are highly estimated in Dublin. The
most renowned of the Irish Oyster fisheries is, however, that of
Carlingford.
To them on their flat sides in a pan or
fatten Oysters, place
tub, which fill brim with water if fresh, add a handful of
to the ;
salt. The water should be changed once a dajr and the oysters ,
should be fed by a handful of flour, barley-meal, or oatmeal being

thrown into the water; to which may be added the same quantity
of wheaten-brau in five or six days they will be perfectly
:
fattened, and fit to eat.

In one of Swift’s Letters, we find the following recipe for boil-
ing oysters :
—
Take four oysters, wash them clean, that is, wash
their shells clean then put your oysters into an earthen pot with
;
their hollow sides down, then put this pot covered into a great
kettle with water, and so let them boil. Your oysters are thus
boiled in their own liquor, and not mixed with water.
There is no place in the world (says Charles Mackay, in his
very interesting Letters from the United States,) where there
are such fine Oysters as in New York :
—they are
Pine in flavour, and of a size unparalleled in the oyster-beds of Whit-
stable, Ostend, or the lloehcr de Cancale. Nor has the gift of oysters
been bestowed upon an ungrateful people. If one may judge from appear-
ances, the delicacy is highly relished and esteemed by all classes, from the
millionaire in the Fifth Avenue to the boy in the Bowery and the German
and Irish emigrants in their own peculiar quarters of the city, which ( soit
(lit en passant) seem to monopolize all the filth to be found in Manhattan.
—
In walking up Broadway by day or by night but more especially by
—
night the stranger cannot but be struck by the great number of “ Oyster
Saloons,” “Oyster and Coffee Saloons,” and “Oyster and Lager Beer
Saloons” that solicit him at every turn to stop and taste. These saloons
—
many of them very handsomely fit ted up are, like the drinking saloons in
Germany, situated in vaults or cellars, with steps from the street ; but,
unlike their German models, they often form them in underground stories
of stately commercial palaces of granite, brown stone, iron, and white
marble. In these palaces, as in the hotels, oysters are to be had at all
hours, either from the shell, as they are commonly eaten in England, or
—
cooked in twenty or, for all I know to the contrary, in forty or a
—
hundred different ways. Oysters pickled, stewed, baked, roasted, fried,
and scolloped; oysters made into soups, patties, and puddings; oysters
Lobsters. —Prawns. 55
with condiments and without condiments ; oysters for breakfast, dinner,

—
and supper; oysters without stint or limit fresh as the fresh air, and
—
almost as abundant are daily offered to the pnlntes of the Manhattanese,
and appreciated with all the gratitude which such a bounty of nature
ought to inspire.
The epicures of Cape Town journey 300 miles, to Mossel Bay,

to enjoy a feast of the delicious oysters found there.
A humorous writer in the North British Review remarks :
It has been often said that he must hare been a bold man who first
ate
an oyster. This is said in ignoranco of the legend which assigns the first
act of oyster-eating to a very natural cause. It is related that a man
walking one day picked up one of theso savoury bivalves, just as it was
in the act of gaping. Observing the extreme smoothness ot tho interior
of the shell, he insinuated his linger bet ween them that he might feel their
shining surface, when suddenly they closed upon the exploring digit, with
a sensation loss pleasurable than he anticipated. The prompt withdrawal
of his finger was scarcely a more natural movement than its transfer to
his mouth. It is not very clear why people when they hurt their fingers
put them into then mouth ; but it is very certain that they do and in
-
;
this case the result was most fortunate. The owner of the finger tasted
oyster juice for the first time, as tho Chinaman in Elia’s essay having burnt
his finger first tasted crackling. The savour was delicious ho had made
;
a great discovery so lie picked up the oysters, forced open the shells, ban-
;
queted upon their contents, and soon brought oyster-eating into fashion.
And unlike most fashions, it has never gone and is never likely to go out.
LOBSTEES AND CEABS. — PEAWNS AND SHBIMPS.

Lobsters and Crabs should not be chosen by their size for a :
thin crab will appear as large as a fat one, from the stomach
being formed on a kind of skeleton, and, therefore, not falling in
when empty. The heaviest are the best, and those of middling
size are sweetest.
The speculation in Lobsters Thus, suppose 2000
is very great.
lobsters to be received in London on a Monday
in May, and they
would probably sell for 80£. whereas, if 10,000 should be brought
;
into the market on the following day, they would sell for only
160Z. In 1816, one fish-salesman in London is known to have
!
lost 1200Z. per week, for six weeks, by lobsters

To stew a Lobster in the Irish way, cut, break, and pick a
boiled lobster, and put it into a stewpan with a mixture of mus-
tard, vinegar, and cayenne pepper, and a good-sized piece of
floured butter cover it, and simmer five minutes, when throw
;
in a glass of sherry or Madeira boil up, and serve garnished

;
with sliced lemon. In Ireland a lobster is thus cooked in a dis-

patcher, over a spirit lamp, before the company. Mr. Michael
Angelo Titmarsh, in his Irish Sketch-book, greatly extols this
dish “ porter is commonly drunk with it, and whisky punch
:
afterwards.”
5G Hints for the Table.
Choose a crab, dead oralive, by the redness of the shell, and

by weight.
its The shell of a lobster should be hard and firm
when boiled, the spring of the tail should be strong and elastic.
—
Hot Crab Pick the Crab, cut the solid part into small pieces,
.
and mix the inside with a little rich gravy or cream, and season-
ing ; then add some curry paste, and fine bread-crumbs put all
;
into the shell of the crab, and finish in a Dutch oven, or with a
salamander.
The land-crabs of the West Indies far excel those of our coasts
in delicious flavour.
Prawns and Shrimps should be elastic, the flesh moist, and the
skin well filled out.
The
ancients esteemed the fish of the razor-shell, when cooked,
as delicious food; and Dr. Lister thought them nearly as rich
and palatable as the lobster. In England and Scotland they are
now rarely used for the table ; but in Ireland they are much
eaten during Lent.
Mussels, in England, are chiefly eaten by the humbler classes ;
in Lancashire they have been planted in the river Wyre like
oysters, where they grow fat and delicious ; as likewise in Shrop-
shire and Wales. In the neighbourhood of Rochelle, too, they
are fattened in salt and fresh- water ponds. In “ the Forme of
Cury,” (1390,) is a receipt for dressing “ Muskels in brewet,”
and also one for making “ Cawdel of Muskels.”
Scallops abound on the coasts of Portland and Purbeck, in
Dorsetshire, and near Yarmouth, in Norfolk. They were exten-
sively used in the reigns of Henry Till, and Elizabeth, and are
still considered a luxury ; in some parts, tliej' are pickled and
barrelled.
Most shell-fish are very indigestible, and from the indisposition

caused occasionally by eating them, the idea of their being poi-
sonous has arisen. Oysters, when eaten in large quantities, often
cause great disturbance shrimps and mussels have produced
:
death; but whether from their indigestibility, or poisonous quality,

is more doubtful than is commonly supposed. There can be
little doubt that the mussel, like the oj'ster, and, indeed, like most
other edible animals, is comparatively unfit for the food of man,
at certain periods. Pennant, however, remarks, that for one who
is affected by eating mussels, a hundred remain uninjured.
It is stated, that lobsters or other shell-fish will be improved

in flavour, and will lose much of their hardness and indiges-
tibility, if killed before they are boiled.
In Barbadoes the fish of the beef-shell are cooked for the table
they are very firm eating, short and well tasted.
Water-souchy — Sardines. —Anchovies. 57
WATER-SOUCHY.*
There are two methods of making Water-souchy. It may not
only be made clear, but, by sacrificing a good many fish, stewing
them well with parsley, roots, &c., as usual, and then pulping
them through a sieve, an excellent purie is produced, which
makes a delicious accompaniment to the large and entire fish
served therein.
SARDINES. —ANCHOVIES. —PILCHARDS.

The Sardine, the delicious little fish which the gourmets of
Paris so much delight in, when preserved in oil, and sent to their
capital in tin boxes, is still more exquisite when eaten fresh on
the shores which it frequents. The Sardine is caught in immense
quantities along the southern coast of Brittany, and on the western
shore of Finisterre, as far northward as Brest. It comes into
season about the middle of June. The preserving and boxing for
Paris is almost all done at Nantz, whither the fish are carried for
the purpose. A large quantity are also salted. They are caught
with nets from 12 to 15 feet wide, and 400 or 500 feet long.
The genuine Gorgona Anchovy is of small size, silvery, and
rather flat, the line of the back slightly curved ; the flesh
varies with age: if three months old, it will be pale; if six
months old, rather pink ; and if twelve months old, a beautiful
deep pink colour. The scales separate from the surface with
so much ease,that it is a common notion that the anchovy
is not possessed of this integument. In eating the fish, the head
must be taken off, on account of its bitterness, a quality which
has obtained for this species the name of enchrasicolus, from a
strange idea that the gall-bladder is in the head.
Anchovies are closely imitated by the French merchants, by
curing Sardines in red brine, and packing them in wine casks.
Sardines are, however, flatter and larger than anchovies. When
perfectly fresh, the former are accounted excellent fish ; but, if
kept for any time, they entirely lose their flavour and become
quite insipid.
Pilchards should be eaten as fresh as possible they have a fine

;
curdy flavour if dressed when just taken from the nets, but they
acquire an oily taste in a few hours after death.
* Water-souchy was formerly as fashionable a tavern dish

ns white-bait
is at present. We remember a vast inn at Dorking, once celebrated
for its water-souchy it originally bore the sign of the Chequers,
:
but was
changed at the Kcstoration to the Old King’s Head.
Meats.
It has been computed that 1071b. of butchers’ meat only, that is,
beef, mutton, veal, and lamb, are consumed by each individual, of
every age, in London annually. In Paris, only 851b. or 861b. are
consumed by each person.
Joints ol meat should be hung knuckle downwards, to keep
the gravy in the driest part.
The surest mode of rendering meat or poultry tender is to
wrap it in a cloth, and expose it the evening before cooking to a
gentle and constant heat, such as the hearth of a fire-place.
Meat sprinkled with, or immersed in, liquid chloride of lime
for an instant, and then hung up in the air, will keep for some
time, without the slightest taint, and no flies will attack it.
Tainted meat, fish, game, &c., may be rendered sweet by sprink-
ling them with the mixture.
The only effectual method of removing the taint of meat by
charcoal, is first to wash the joint several times in cold water ; it
should then be covered with cold water in large quantity, and
several pieces of charcoal, red hot, should be thrown into the water,
when somewhat hot and the boiling of the meat proceeded with.
;
A common test of the quantity of salt necessary to add to

water, in making brine for pickling meat, is to continue to add
salt until an egg will swim in it. This, however, is an imperfect
test of the strength of the brine, since an egg will float in a
saturated solution of salt and water, and will also float, if, to the
same saturated solution, a bulk of pure water equal to twice the
bulk of the latter be added. According to Guy Lussac, 7^ oz.
of salt are necessary to saturate an imperial pint of water. This
is important, since the efficacy of brine in preserving meat de-
pends very much upon getting a solution of salt at the exact point
of saturation.
It may be as well to add, that pork salted in brine kept in
a leaden tank absorbs the poisonous metal. The death of Oapt.
Ennis, of the Tigress, in 1848, is attributed to such an acci-
dental cause.
VENISON.
Venison often spoiled by want of precaution in killing it.
is
It is impossible for meat to keep, that is hunted three, four, or

even five hours, which is too often the case with venison.
The red deer of Dartmoor were destroyed in the time of the
grandfather of the present Duke of Bedford, upon a petition of the
farmers, on account of the injury done to their crops. Staghounds
were sent from Woburn, and the race was extirpated. So great
Sirloin of Beef. 59
was the slaughter, that only the haunches were saved, and the
rest given to the dogs.*
Mutton gravy is preferable to that made with beef, for venison
it should be seasoned only with salt.
A lamp-dish and water-plates are almost indispensable for the
full enjoyment of venison.
In Ceylon, the natives cover down newly-killed venison with
honey, in large earthen pots; these are not opened for three years,
and the meat so preserved is said to be of exquisite flavour.
BEEF.
The Sirloin of Beef is said to have been named
commonly
from a loin of beef knighted by Charles II. and at Friday Hill,
;
in Essex, they show a table upon which the ceremony was per-
formed but the story is much older for Fuller, in his Eccle-
;
:
siastical History, relates of King Henry VIII. at the Abbey of

Reading, “ A sirloin of beef was set before him, so knighted,
saith tradition, by this King Henry.”
A sirloin of beef should not weigh more than 201b. or 241b.
a larger piece cannot be well roasted ; the time it requires causing
the outside to be too much done, while the middle remains raw.
That part of a rump of beef which eats best boiled, is also best
when roasted. When the fat slice is taken off, remember that the
narrow side is infinitely the best meat.
Salt Round of Beef is a magnificent specimen of this class
yet how often do we see it standing in a dish to get cold, the dish
filled with the gravy that runs from it. To prevent this loss,
M. Soyer hit upon the following expedient —
Fill two large tubs
:
with cold water, into which throw a few pounds of rough ice,
and when the round is done, throw it, cloth and all, into one of
the tubs of ice-water ; let remain one minute, when take out and
put it into the other tub ; fill the first tub again with water, and
continue the above process for about twenty minutes ; then set it
upon a dish, leaving the cloth on until the next day, or until quite
cold ; when opened, the fat will be as white as possible, besides
having saved the whole of the gravy. If no ice, spring water
will answer the same purpose, but will require to be more fre-
quently changed: the same mode would be equally successful
with the aitch-bone.
When a warm round of beef is sent to the larder, do not forget
to turn the cut side downwards, so as to let all the gravy run to
that part which you intend to eat cold.
* In 1837, Earl Spencer presented, for the use of tho Royal Parks, 783
head of deer, comprising selections from tho most approved breeds which ;
have been distributed at Windsor, Hampton Court, Bushy, Richmond, and
Greenwich.
Welsh beef (observes Dr. Hunter,) is ready at a moment’s

warning, to go upon actual service. It is a little army of itself,
when flanked by mustard and vinegar.
STEAKS AND CHOPS.

How many considerations are requisite to produce a good
Rump-steak as the age, the country, and the pasture of the
!
beef; the peculiar cut of the rump, at least, the fifth from the
commencement; the nature of the fire; the construction and
elevation of the gridiron ; the choice of shalot, perchance the
;
masterly precision of the oyster-sauce, in which the liquid is duly

flavoured with the fish. It were better if pepper and salt were
interdicted from your broiling steak ; and tongs only should be
used in turning it. If left too long on the fire, the error of all
bad cooks, the meat will be hard and juiceless. If sauce be used,
itshould be made hot before it is added to the gravy of the steak.
People who want to enjoy a steak should eat it with shalots
and tarragon. So says Mr. Cobbett; adding, that an orthodox
clergyman told him that he and six others once ate some beef-
steaks with shalots and tarragon, and that they voted unani-
mously that beef-steaks were never so eaten before. But this is
not orthodox cookery.
What strange fancies have some epicures. Asafcetida will be
remembered by its garlic-like smell and Dr. Reece was accus-
;
tomed to enjoy a steak with tincture of asafcetida poured over it

for sauce
A
mutton chop with shalot, is a nice tavern relish but its :
perfection has disappeared with the famous Offley, of Henrietta-

street, Covent Garden, who lived before the days of gas-cookery.
To enjoy this relish at home, mince the shalot, and warm it in
a little good gravy, which pour over the chop when broiled.
Soyer’s New Mutton Chop —
Trim a middling-sized saddle of mutton,
.
which cut into chops half an inch in thickness with a saw, without at all
making use of a knife (the sawing them off jagging the meat and causing
them to cat more tender), then trim them, season well with salt and pepper,
place them upon a gridiron over a sharp fire, turning them three or four
times they would require ten minutes’ cooking when done, dress them
; ;
upon a hot dish, spread a small piece of butter over each (if approved of),
and serve by adding half a tablespoonful of Soyer’s Gentlemen’s or Ladies’
:
Sauce to each chop when serving, and tinning it over two or three times,
produces an excellent entrSe; the bone keeping the gravy in whilst cook-
ing, it is a very great advantage to have chops cut after the above method.
At home, when I have a saddle of mutton, I usually cut t wo or three such
chops, which I broil, rub maitre d'liotel, butter over, and serve with fried
potatoes roimd, using the remainder of the saddle the next day for a joint.
The above are also very excellent, well-seasoned and dipped into egg and
bread-crumbs previous to broiling. Lamb chops may be cut precisely the
same, but require a few minutes’ less broiling. You must remark that by
1'lus plan the fat and lean are better divided, and you can enjoy both;
Veal. —Mutton. 61
whilst the other is a lump of meat near the bone and fat at the other end,
which partly melts in cooking, and is often burnt by the flame it makes
the new ono not being divided at the bone, keeps the gravy in admirably.
If well sawed, it should not weigh more than the ordinary one, being about
half the thickness . —
The Modern Housewife.
VEAL.
Yeal perhaps more used in the French Kitchen than any

is
other meat. In England, there is no better show of veal than at

Cambridge, on market-day.
tide considers a sirloin of veal far preferable to a fillet, than
which nothing is drier.
That part of veal is always best for fricandeaux, which is inter-
mixed with fat.
MUTTON.
Prime mutton is at least five years old, has a very brown
outer skin, very small nerves, and small grain, and yields brown
gravy.
In Earl Cowper’s establishment, mutton is never killed till it
is six years old ; and this meat is very superior both in quality
and flavour.
Mutton killed in Leadenhall market, and preserved in a cask
of sugar, has been eaten in India, after a six months’ voyage, as
fresh as the day it was placed on the shambles.
The Dartmoor sheep, which produces the esteemed Oakhamp-
ton mutton, is a small breed, weighing about 141b. per quarter.
Mutton to imitate venison should be five or six years old, else
the light colour will discover the deception.
The saddle of mutton is the most uneconomical joint from the
butcher’s shop ;
considering the little meat to be cut from it, and
the great waste in skin, fat, and bone. The amateur of tender
meat will find the under fillets most excellent.
A leg of mutton should never be spitted, as the spit will let
out the gravy, and leave un unsightly perforation just as you are
cutting into the pope’s eye.
A fillet of mutton, salted for three days, boned, and then
stuffed, half roasted, and stewed in gravy, is an economical

luxury. A
stewed shoulder of mutton is excellent. And a roast
neck of mutton is a fit dinner for a prince so thought George 1Y.
:
A boiled shoulder of mutton and a boiled duck are excellent

dishes for a bachelor’s dinner.
A broiled blade-bone of mutton is a relishing supper dish.
The father of the late Duke of Devonshire had one got ready
for him every night at Brookes’s Club-house.
Lamb is more exquisitely dressed in the Turkish Kitchen than
in that of any other country.
poke. —HAMS.
The Berkshire breed of pigs is one of the best in England.
Even the cottagers’ pigs in the Windsor Forest district are of a
superior description bacon is the principal food of the labourers,
:
and they are good judges of its qualities.

Pork, however dressed, is always unwholesome yet, if cooked
;
in the French fashion, the stimulant of a sauce makes it aperient,

and, of course, less indigestible than when dressed plainly. Pork,
goose, duck, and such oily meats, are more digestible when eaten
cold than hot.
The delicacy of a roasting-pig can only be ensured by his
being nurtured on mother’s milk, exclusively, from his birth to
his dying day. The most delicate rabbits are fattened in the
same manner.
The head of a sucking-pig, split, well seasoned with pepper and
salt, and deviled, is most relishing.
Apples boiled, and mixed with beans and meai, are said to
cause a pig to increase ten pounds a week in weight, and render
the flesh of the most delicious flavour.
The old method of brawning a young boar was by shutting
him up in a small room, in harvest-time, feeding him with
nothing but sweet whey, and giving him every morning clean
straw to lie upon ; and before Christmas he was sufficiently
Irawned, and proved fat, wholesome, and sweet.
Much of the superiority of York hams is attributed to the
finenessand cleanness of the Yorkshire salt.
The hams of Bayonne (as they are improperly called,) are
cured at Pau, in the Lower Pyrenees where also is carried on
;
an extensive trade in the smoked legs of geese.

Spanish hog-meat and Westphalia hams are said to owe much
of their peculiar excellence to the swine being led on beech-mast,
which our limited forests cannot to any extent allow. It is said
that a peck of acorns a day, with a little bran, will make a hog
increase one pound in weight daily, for two months together.
Westphalia hams are prepared in November and March. The
Germans place them in deep tubs, which they cover with layers
of salt and saltpetre, and with a few laurel-leaves. They are left
four or five days in this state, and are then covered with strong
brine. In three weeks they are taken out, and soaked twelve
hours in well water lastly, are then exposed for three weeks to
;
the smoke produced by burning the juniper-bush.

Not only are the smoked hams of the bear much prized, but
the paws are great delicacies. The other flesh sometimes re-
sembles beef, and is excellent.
If a ham be boiled with veal and savoury herbs, their juices
will insinuate themselves between the fibres of the ham, after
To Dress a Ham. G3
having dislodged the salt, hy which means the meat is enriched

and made tender. At first sight, this will appear an extravagant
mode of boiling a ham bnt it should he recollected, that the
;
broth will serve the charitable purposes of the family, and cannot
be considered as lost. In Germany, a pint of oak sawdust is put
into the boiler with each ham.
To preserve the rich flavour of a ham, it should be braized
the braize will afterwards serve as a rich brown sauce, or flavouring.
York House, Bath, has long been noted for the fine flavour
of the hams dressed there, as follows. After being cleaned,
the ham is soaked in warm water long enough to remove the
outside skin ; it is then trimmed, and placed in a stewpan of
sweet-wort, and slowly cooked, when the ham will he of superior
flavour to that given in France by dressing it in champagne.
About fifty years ago, some American exquisites boiled bam in Madeira
wine. This was an expensive luxury which met with little encourage-
ment. It took its rise from an incident which occurred hi Prussia. Frede-
rick the Great once condescended to partake of a festival prepared for him
by one of his courtiers, and among many dishes of exquisite flavour, he
was particularly struck by that of a ham. He partook of it copiously,
accompanying each mouthful with great praise, not only of the meat, but
of the cook who had prepared it. A short time afterwards, his majesty
directed a ham to be cooked that should have the same flavour as the one
he had so much enjoyed. On being told how it had been boiled, he ex-
pressed astonishment at the novel method ; yet, not to lose himself the
pleasure he had promised himself, ordered the cook to apply to the courtier
for the requisite quantity of nine. The king being an absolute monarch,
the liquor and lives of his subjects were at his disposal ; said being of a
despotic temper, no one thought of disobedience ; the wine was furnished,
but to cheek future like requisitions, the practice of boiling ham in wine
was discontinued, and it is believed lias not been renewed.
A fresh ox tongue, stuck with cloves, roasted, and sent to table
with port-wine sauce, and currant jelly, is a pleasant variety to
the routine of ordinary dishes.
Bacon should be a mass of fat, with the least possible quantity
oflean; the lean, when salted, being hard, indigestible, and un-
nutritious ; while the pure fat, when of a pink, pearly hue, is as
any food.
delicate as
Bacon may be kept for many months hy the following means :
when the flitches have hung to dry, not later than the last week
in April, separate the hams and gammons from the middles, put
each into a strong brown paper bag, and tie or sew up the mouth
do not uncover them till they are wanted for use, and then only
the particular one that is wanted. Eubbing bacon or hams with
fresh elder-leaves will keep off the hoppers.
In larding veal, poultry, or game, for savoury pies, the bacon

should be put in symmetrically, so as to appear, when cut, like a
draft-board.
SAUSAGE-MEATS.
Of English sausages, the finest are made at Epping, Norwich,
Oxford, and Cambridge. Bologna and Gottingen sausages are
fine ;
indeed, most university towns are celebrated for “ savoury
meats.”
Oxford sausage-meat is made as follows Take one pound and
:
a half of pig-meat, cut from the griskins, without any skin;

half a pound of veal and one pound and a half of beef-suet. Mince
;
these meats separately, very finely then mix them with a dessert
;
spoonful of dried, powdered, and sifted sage ; pepper and salt

to taste ; and the well-beaten yolks and whites of five eggs. The
whole should be well beaten together, as much depends upon the
mixing. Theodore Hook gives this receipt iu his Adventures
of Peter Priggins, the College Scout.
Soyer tells us that the best Sausages he ever tasted were a pre-
sent to him by Sir George Chetwynd, and were made by a country
pork-butcher at Atherstone, a small town near Greendon Hall
they are more plainly made, and also better seasoned than, and
not subject to burst, as the Cambridge ones, or at all events
those made in London under that name. Oxford produces good
sausages, not so choice in appearance, but to some tastes better in
flavour the plainer they are, the better they dress for breakfast.
:
The skin must be transparent, that the meat should be seen

through ; they keep good two or three days in a cold place in sum-
mer, nearly a week in winter, with care.
Dr. Kerner of Wurtemburg states that the smoked sausages,
which constitute so favourite a repast in his country, often cause
fatal poisonings. In one instance thirty-seven persons died out
of seventy-six who had eaten them ; and though the most able
chemists analysed the meat, no trace of any known poison could
be discovered.
Professor Graham, in his work on Chemistry, states that in
Wurtemburg the sausages are prepared from very various mate-
rials. Blood, liver, bacon, brains, milk, bread, and meal are mixed
together with salt and spices the mixture is then put into blad-
;
ders or intestines, and after being boiled is smoked. When these

sausages are well prepared, they may be preserved for months,
and furnish a nourishing savoury food ; but when the spices and
salt are deficient, and particularly when they are smoked too late
or not sufficiently, they undergo a peculiar kind of putrefaction,
which begins at the centre of the sausage, and causes death.
Savoury Pies.
In large dinners, two cold pies of game or poultry are often sent
Pates de Foie Gras. 65
to table with the first course, and let remain there between the
two courses. By this means, the epicure and dainty eater always
has something before him the pies are not at all in tho way, but
:
improve the appearance of the table. Tide. —

— —
Raised pie of vegetables an exquisite dish may be enjoyed
in perfection from May to August.
Patties, vols-au-vent, and savoury pies, should be dished upon
a napkin.
In making a partridge or pigeon pie, put a beefsteak over as
well as under the birds, and place them with their breasts down-
wards in the dish.
Strasbourg pates cannot be prepared without the livers of geese
and there is a strange admixture of cruelty and humour in the
following defence of what was stated to be the mode of obtaining
the livers of the requisite size “ It is necessary,” says a writer
:
in the Almanack des Gourmands, “ to sacrifice the person of the

animal. Crammed with food, deprived of drink, and fixed near
a great fire, before which he is nailed by his feet upon a plank,
this goose passes, it must be owned, an uncomfortable life. The
torment would be altogether intolerable, if the idea of the lot that
awaits him did not serve as consolation. But this prospect
makes him endure his sufferings with courage ; and when he re-
flects that his liver, bigger than himself, larded with truffles, and
clothed in a scientific pate, will diffuse all over Europe the glory
of his name, he resigns himself to his destiny, and suffers not a
tear to flow.”
Hence epicures began to feel some qualms of conscience for
indulging in these luxuries, obtained by such cruel means; when
Alexis Soyer, the famed cuisinier, visited Strasbourg, and in a
letter to the Courrier du Pas Rhin set the whole matter right.
.
He says “ After having carefully examined the subject, I can declare

:
that there is not a word of truth in the general belief. Up to the age
of eight months, the geese are allowed to feed at full liberty in the
open ah they are then brought to market, and purchased by the persons
-
;
whose occupation it is to fatten them for killing they are placed in coops,
:
and fed for about a month or five weeks three times a-day w ith wheat, and
allowed as much water as they please. Each bird eats about a bushel of
com diu-ing the process of fattening and the water of Strasbourg, it is
;
said, contributes to increase tho volume of the liver. When sufficiently fat,
they are killed, having been treated with the greatest attention and
humanity during the whole period of their incarceration, and entirely
removed from any unusual heat.”*
Meat puddings and pies may be much improved by a whole
onion, or a flap-mushroom, or a few oysters. The old practice of
boiling a fowl in a bladder with oysters is discontinued.
* See Popular Errors Explained and Illustrated. New Edition, p. 80.

1’
Bubble-and-squeak is a favourite dish in Shropshire. George

IV., when Prince of Wales, happened to partake of it at a
bachelor’s table in that county, and the homely dish was after-
wards frequently seen at Carlton House.
In the Salters’ Company’s books is the following receipt to
make a Game Pie for Christmas, in the reign of Bichard II.
Take a pheasant, a hare, a capon, two partridges, two pigeons,
and two rabbits; bone them, and put them into paste the shape
of a bird, with the livers and hearts, two mutton kidneys, force-
meats, and egg-balls, seasoning, spice, ketchup, and pickled mush-
rooms, tilled up with gravy made from the various bones. pie A
was so made by the Company’s cook in 1836, and was found to
be excellent; which proves that our ancestors excelled in cookery
more than four centuries and a half ago.
Poultry and Game.

THE TUEKEy.
The turkey ranks as one of the most useful benefits conferred
by America on the rest of the world.* Though surpassed in ex-
ternal beauty by the peacock, its flesh is greatly superior in
excellence, standing almost unrivalled for delicacy of texture and
agreeable sapidity. Ou this account, it has been naturalized with
astonishing rapidity throughout the world, and almost universally
constitutes a favourite banquet dish. The Indians value it so
highly, when roasted, that they call it “the white man’s dish,”
and present it to strangers as the best they can offer. In Eng-
land, the rapid increase of turkeys had rendered them attainable
at country feasts as early as the year 1585. Our name for them
is very absurd; as it conveys the false idea that the turkey
originated in Asia ; owing to the ridiculous habit, formerly pre-
valent, of calling every foreign object by the name of Turk,
Indian, &c. Wild turkeys have been shot, in their native woods,
weighing thirty and even forty pounds, and standing three feet
higb.f
* When M. Brillat-Savarin, judge of the Court of Cassation, and an

amateur gastronomer, was in America, once, on his return from a shooting
excursion, in which he shot a wild turkey, he-fell into conversation with
Jefferson, who began relating some interesting anecdotes about Wash-
ington and the war; when, observing the air distrait of M. Brillat-
“ My dear sir,” said the
Savarin, he stopped, and was about to go away :
gastronomer, “ I beg a thousand pardons, but I was thinking how I should

dress my wild turkey.”
f The Culloden l)uke of Cumberland introduced into Windsor Forest
great herds of red and fallow deer, and encouraged a breed of wild turkeys
Turkey. —Bustard. 67
The brown Norfolk turkey may be fattened to resemble the

American, by cramming it with walnuts soaked in water, four
days before killing. This is for roasting only; it makes the
flesh darker, and gives it the flavour of game. Turkeys are
kept wild at Holkham Hall, Norfolk, by the Earl of Leicester,
to whom they afford the same sport as any other bird in cover.
—H. W. Brand.
Some poultry, like game, is much improved by keeping. A
Christmas turkey, if hung from a fortnight to three weeks, will
acquire much of the flavour of game and fowls may be similarly
;
improved.
A boiled turkey, capon, leg of lamb, or knuckle of veal, will be
much enriched by putting into the saucepan with either a little
chopped suet, two or three slices of peeled lemon, and a piece of
bread.
A turkey will be much improved by roasting it covered with
bacon and paper.
Chesnuts roasted and grated, or sliced, and green truffles
stewed and sliced, are excellent addenda to forcemeat for turkeys,
or some game. Chesnuts stewed in gravy are likewise served
under turkey.
Turkeys and pheasants, ready stuffed with truffles, are regu-
larly imported from Paris by Morel, of Piccadilly.
Two Italian cardinals laid a bet of a dinde aux truffes (a
turkey with truffles), the payment of which the loser postponed
till the very eve of the Carnival, when the winner reminded him
of the debt. He excused himself by saying that truffles were
nothing that year. “ Bah, bah !” said the other, “ that is a false
report originating with the turkeys.”
THE BTTSTABD.
Bustards, some twenty years since, were bred in the open parts
of Suffolk and Norfolk, and were domesticated at Norwich.
Their flesh was delicious, and it was thought that good feeding
and domestication might stimulate them to lay more eggs ; but
this was not the case. There were formerly great flocks of bus-
tards in England, upon the wastes and in woods, where they
were hunted with greyhounds, and were easily taken. The bus-
tard is, however, now extremely rare in this country. Three
female birds were shot in Cornwall, in 1843 on Romney Marsh,
;
in 1850 ; and in Devonshire, in 1851. In January, 1856, a very
which latter, it is to be regretted, are extinct. In the reigns of George I.

and II., Kiehmond Park could boast of a flock of two thousand wild
turkeys; but being situated near London, there were constant fights
between the keepers and poachers, which occasioned the destruction of the
birds. Jesse's Country Life.
fine male bustard was taken near Hungerford, in Berkshire, on

the borders of Wiltshire, this being the only male taken for
many years in England it weighed 13§ lbs., and its wings
:
measured from tip to tip 6 feet 3 inches ; it is preserved in the

museum of the Zoological Society. A
writer in the Penny
Cyclopaedia ( voce Bustard) says: “We
are old enough to re-
member one and sometimes two bustards as the crowning orna-
ments of the magnificent Christmas larder at the Bush inn,
Bristol, in the reign of John Weeks, of hospitable memory ; and
we have heard, too, a romantic story of the last of the Salisbury
Plain bustards, (a female,) coming into a farmer’s barton, as if
giving herself up. In 1819, a large male bird, taken on New-
market Heath, was sold in Leadenhall market for five guineas.”
We remember to have seen the bustard in the Guildhall dinner
bill of fare on Lord Mayor’s Day, but do not recollect the year
of its disappearance. Mr. Gould considers that from the progress
made in the science of agriculture and various other causes, the
bustard may be regarded as extinct in this island.*
In the Art of Dining (1852), Fisher, of Duke-street, is stated
to have sent a fine bustard to Windsor, price 7\ guineas.
There are some fine bustards in India, where they are pursued
on horseback, and shot by pistols. A
young hen makes a very
fine dish at table the flesh of the breast is full of triangular
:
cavities.
THE BITTERN. — HERON.— GULL.

The was formerly in high esteem, nor is it
flesh of the bittern
despised in the present day when well fed, its flavour somewhat
:
resembles that of the hare, nor is it rank and fishy like some of
its congeners. The long claw of the hind-toe is much prized as a
toothpick, and formerly, it was thought to have the property of
preserving the teeth .f
The young of the black-headed gull proves to be excellent
eating. Its eggs resemble crows’ more than plovers’ eggs : but
vast quantities of them are sold for plovers’ eggs. This hint may
help to prevent the amateurs of plovers’ eggs from being gulled .
Quarterly Review.
* A
bustard was shot in the Bustard- country (Norfolk), in 1831. Mr.
Jesse knew a Norfolk gentleman, a great sportsman, who assured him
that he once had a pack of bustards rise before his gun ; he suddenly
came upon them in a gravel-pit. Mr. Southey and Sir ltichard Colt Hoare
both mention the curious fact, that the bustard has been known to attack
men on horseback at night.
+ Southey relates, “A bittern was shot and eaten at Keswick byayoring
Cantab a few years ago ; for which shooting I vituperate him in spirit
whenever I think of it.”
Foivls. — Geese. 69
FOWLS.
Choose fowls with pale flesh-coloured or white legs for delicacy:
of flesh, the game breed, the Spanish, and the Dorking are most
esteemed. White chickens are the best to fatten for the table.
The Dorking fowls have not, however, uniformly five claws, as is
supposed, that number being accidental they are large, and ;
have rather yellow than white flesh.

For a large dinner, when fowls are very dear, use the fillets for
the first-course dishes ; and make the soup with the legs only,
when it will be as good but not quite so white as if made with
the fillets.
A good hen, well tended, will lay upwards of 140 eggs per
annum, and also rear one or two broods of chickens.
Fricassee of chicken may be given as one of the dishes for a
trial dinner ; as very few cooks are able to make a good fricassee.
Ude considers this dish the most wholesome and the least expen-
sive of any, as it requires only water to make it well.
Sir Humphry Davy gives us two culinary hints from a Nor-
wegian dinner —roast
your fowls with plenty of parsley in their
bellies ;
you wish them to be whole-
place sliced cucumbers, if
some, in salt, which makes them tender, and abstracts their un-
wholesome juice, which separates in large quantities.
goose. — SWAN.
Goose ranks much higher in England than elsewhere it is :
held in little honour, except for its liver, by the French.

The flesh of the New Holland cereopsis is much more delicate
than that of our goose; and it promises to become a valuable
acquisition to our poultry-yard.
The fattening of geese is a good speculation at Strasbourg.
The livers sometimes weigh from 10 to 12 ounces, and sell at from
3 to 5 francs each, for the celebrated pates the fat is a sub-
stitute for butter, and the flesh is served at table, and, although
somewhat tough, it is nutritious ; and the feathers and quills are
much sought after.
The young of the Solan goose was formerly a favourite dish with
the North Britons. Pennant observes “ During the season, they
:
are constantly brought from the Bass Isle to Edinburgh, where

they are sold roasted, and served up as a whet.”
A Canadian goose, when fat, weighs about nine pounds, and is
the daily ration for one of the Hudson Bay Company’s servants
throughout the season it is reckoned equivalent to two snow
:
geese, or three ducks, or 81b. buffalo and morse meat, or two

pounds of pemmican, or a pint of maize and 4 oz. suet.
The flesh of the wild swan is considered by the Indians and
70 Hints jor the Talle.
settlers at Hudson’s Bay, excellent eating, and, when roasted,

equal in flavour to j oung beef; and the cygnets are considered a
r
great delicacy. The eggs are so large, that one of them is enough
for a moderate man, without bread, or any other addition.
The flesh of cygnets was once highly esteemed ; and is still, or
was lately, served at the dinners of the corporation of Norwich,
who are bound by some tenure annually to present the Duke of
Norfolk with a large cygnet pie.
We find several entries of swans among the delicacies of the
City Companies’ feasts. In a dinner of the Brewers’ Company,
as early as the reign of Henry V., 1419, six swans are charged at
2s. 6d. each ; and a swan appears to have been a customary fine in
the Company.
THE CANY ASS-BACK DUCK.

The canvass-back duck, in the rich, juicy tenderness -of its flesh,
and its delicacy of flavour, stands unrivalled by the whole of its tribe
in America, or any other quarter of the world. At American public
dinners, hotels, and private entertainments, the canvass-backs are
universal favourites. They not only grace, but dignify the table,
and their very name conveys to the imagination of the eager
epicure the most comfortable and exhilarating ideas. Hence, on
such occasions, it has not been uncommon to pay from one to
three dollars a pair for these ducks indeed, at such times, if
;
they can they must be had, whatever be the price .

—
( Wilson and
—
Bonaparte’ s American Ornithology .) Swainson refers to the
canvass-back duck as the ortolan of the duck family, and the turtle
of the swimming birds.
Charles Mackay, in his Transatlantic Sketches, in the Illus-
trated London Hews, says “ Baltimore is celebrated for the can-
:
vass-back duck, one of the greatest delicacies of the table in the

New World. The canvass-back feeds and breeds in countless
myriads on the waters of Chesapeake Bajr Among the wild
.
celery which grows on the shores of the shallow waters the can-
vass-back finds the peculiar food which gives its flesh the flavour
so highly esteemed. Baltimore being the nearest large city to the
Chesapeake, the traveller may be always certain, during the
season, of finding abundant and cheap supplies. Norfolk in Vir-
ginia, at the entrance of Chesapeake Bay, is, however, the chief
emporium of the trade, which is carried on largely with all the
cities of the Union, and even to Europe, whither the birds are
sent packed in ice, but where they do not usually arrive in such
condition as to give the epicure a true idea of their excellence and
delicacy. If steam shall ever shorten the passage across the
Atlantic to one week, Europe will, doubtless, be as good a cus-
tomer for the canvass-back duck as America itself.”
Game. 71
The larger clucks are the commonest variety, which has been
introduced from France, and is thence called the Rhone duck.
When ducks are old, keeping them a few days will make them
tender.
The influence of food on the flavour of the flesh of many
animals is notorious. At certain seasons, the wild-ducks of this
country are scarcely eatable from their rank, fishy taste the :
same may be said of the heath-cock of Germany, where the

juniper berries are abundant; and the American pheasants, when
they feed on the kalmia, have proved to be poisonous to man.
Burnett.
GAME, ETC.
Black game have increased greatly in the southern counties of
Scotland and north of England, within the last few years. It is
a pretty general opinion, though an erroneous one, that they drive
away the red grouse ; the two species require a very different kind
of cover, and will never interfere .
—
Sir W. JarcLine.
Black-cock should be dressed before a bright fire, be well basted,
and not overdone. Ten minutes before serving, make a round of
toast, squeeze over it a lemon, and then lay it in the dripping-pan
place the birds upon this toast for table, and serve with melted
butter only, as highly-seasoned gravy destroys the true flavour of
black-cock.
The flesh of the black grouse is much esteemed. The different
colour of the flesh of the pectoral muscles must have struck every
one. The internal layer, which is remarkably white, is esteemed
the most delicate portion. Belon goes so far as to say, that the
three pectoral muscles have three different flavours.: the first that
of beef, the second that of partridge, and the third that of
pheasant.
Pheasants are only fit to be eaten when the blood begins to run
from the bill, which is commonly in six days or a week after they
have been killed.
Broiled partridges may be served with poor man’s sauce and
Indian pickle. Old partridges are only fit for stewing with cab-
bage, for stock broth, and glaze of game ; but are too tough for
anything fine.
The pochard or dun bird is a novelty among game. It is a
species of wild fowl supposed to come from the Caspian Sea, and
is caught only in a single decoy in Essex, in the month
of
January, in the coldest years. The flesh of the pochard is ex-
quisitely tender and delicate, but has little of the common wild-
duck flavour; it is best eaten in its own gravy, which is plen-
tiful, without either cayenne or lemon-juice. Wilson considers
the American pochard to rank next to the canvass-back duck.
The peacock was formerly much more valued for the table
than it is now yet, at the present day, it is esteemed, when
young, as a great delicacy.
The guinea fowl, in flavour, unites the merits of the turkey
and pheasant but it is not often served even at good tables.
;
Slices of ham should bo skewered over a guinea fowl while

roasting, and it should be well basted, as the meat is very dry.
A guinea fowl and pheasant are advantageously dressed together.
Quails have no flavour, and from confinement and bad feeding
are never very fat ; it is only the rarity that makes them fashion-
able. — Tide.
Redbreasts are eaten asfirst-rate delicacies in France, and are
described as “ un roti tres succulent.” They are likewise served
en salmi, or hashed, like woodcocks.
Wehave heard much of Dunstable larks; but the enthusiasm
with which c/ourmets speak of these tit-bits of luxury is far ex-
ceeded by the Germans, who travel many hundred miles to
Leipsic, merely to eat a dinner of larks, and then return home
contented. Such is the slaughter of larks at the Leipsic fair,
that half a million are annually devoured, principally by the
booksellers frequenting that city.
Ruffs and reeves are less known than they deserve to be they
:
are worth nothing in their wild state, but being taken alive, they
are fattened on boiled wheat, or bread and milk mixed with
hempseed, for about a fortnight. The season for them is August
and September; and the finest are taken on Whittlesea Mere, in
Lincolnshire.
ORTOLANS.
“
Of these pet birds, lumps of
celestial fatness,” as they are
fondly termed by epicures, a pair is engraved in the frontispiece
to the present volume, by permission, from Mr. Gould’s valuable
work on the Birds of Europe. The name is from the Ortolano
of the Italians generally ; but the bird is also found in Germany
and the Netherlands, and other parts of Europe. It is not
famed for its song, which is, however, soft and sweet ; and, like
the nightingale, it sings after as well as before sunset. It was
this bird that Varro called his companion by night and day.
Ortolans are solitary birds ; they fly in pairs, rarely three
together, and never in flocks. They are taken in traps, from
March or April to September, when they are often poor and thin
but if fed with plenty of millet-seed and other grain, they be-
come sheer lumps of fat, and delicious morsels. They are fat-
tened thus in large establishments in the south of Europe ; and
Mr. Gould states, in Italy and the south of France, in a dark room.
The ortolan is considered sufficiently fat when it is a handful,
The Ortolan. 73
and is judged by feeling it, and not by appearance. It should

not be killed with violence, like other birds, as this might crush
—
and bruise the delicate flesh to avoid which the usual mode is to
plunge the head of the ortolan into a glass of brandy. Having
picked the bird of its feathers, singe it, cut off the beak and
ends of the feet, but do not draw it ; put it into a paper case
—
soaked in olive oil, and broil it over a slow fire charcoal or slack
cinders — andin a few minutes the ortolan will swim in its own
fat, and be cooked. Some epicures wrap each bird in a vine-leaf.
Ortolans are packed in tin boxes for exportation. They may be
bought at Morel’s, in Piccadilly. Mr. Fisher, of Duke-street,
St. James’s, and other West-end poulterers, import ortolans in
considerable numbers; and Mr. Fisher has acquired the art of
fattening these birds.
A gourmet will take an ortolan by the legs, and crunch it in
delicious mouthfuls, so as absolutely to lose none of it. More
delicate feeders cut the bird in quarters, and lay aside the
gizzard, which is somewhat hard ; the rest may be eaten, even to
the bones, which are sufficiently tender for the most delicate
mouth to masticate without inconvenience.
The ortolan is an autumnal visitor to the British isles, and may
occur more frequently than is generally supposed ; since it may
be mistaken for the yellow-hammer, and, in some states of plu-
mage, for other buntings. It has been caught in the neighbour-
hood of London there are live specimens in large aviaries,
:
and occasionally the birds are sent from the Continent alive to
the London markets. Specimens have also been hatched by arti-
ficial heat in the aviary of the Ornithological Society. According
to Button, the ortolan was known in Greek and Homan epicurism ;
but a lively French commentator doubts this, and maintains that
had the ancients known the ortolan, they would have deified it,
and built altars to it on Mount Hymettus and the Janiculum;
adding, did they not deify the horse of Caligula, which was cer-
tainly not worth an ortolan P and Caligula himself, who was not
worth so much as his horse ?
The ortolan figures in a curious anecdote of individual epicurism in the

last century. Agentleman of Gloucestershire had one son, whom he sent
abroad, to make the grand torn of the Continent, where ho paid more at-
-
tention to the cookery of nations and luxurious living, than anything else.
Before his return, Ids' father died, and left him a large fortune. He now-
looked over his note-hook to discover where the most exquisite dishes were
to be had, and the best cooks obtained. Every servant in his house was a
—
cook ; his butler, footman, housekeeper, coachman, and grooms all were
cooks.
—
He had also three Italian cooks one from Florence, another from
Sienna, and a third from Viterbo— for dressing one Florentine dish ! Ho
had a messenger constantly on the road betw een Brittany and London, to
bring the eggs of a certain sort ol plover found in the former country. He
was known to cat a single dinner at the expense of 50b, though there were
but two dishes. In nine years, he found himself getting poor, and this
made him melancholy. When totally ruined, having spent 150,000b, a
friend one day gave him a guinea to keep him from starving; and he was
found in a garret next day broiling an ortolan, for which he had paid a
portion of the alms
THE WHEATEAE.
There is some consolation for the rarity of the ortolan in
England. It is approached in delicacy by our wheatear, which
“ the English Ortolan.”
is also called Hence it has been pursued as
a delicate morsel throughout all its island haunts. Bewick cap-
tured it at sea off the coast of Yorkshire. Every spring and
autumn it may be observed at Gibraltar, on its migration. Mr.
Strickland, the ornithologist, saw it at Smyrna in April. North
Africa is its winter habitat. Colonel Sykes notes it among the
birds of the Deccan.
THE PIGEON, ETC.

Mr. Waterton, whose knowledge of natural history renders
bis opinion worthy of quotation, remarks “ We labour under a
:
mistake in supposing that the flesh of the young carrion crow is

rank and unpalatable. It is fully as good as that of the rook ;
and I believe that nobody who is accustomed to eat rook pie, will
deny that rook pie is nearly, if not quite, as good as pigeon pie.
Having fully satisfied myself of the delicacy of the flesh of
young carrion crows, I once caused a pie of these birds to be
served up to two convalescent friends, whose stomachs would
have yearned spasmodically had they known the nature of the
dish. I had the satisfaction of seeing them make a hearty meal
upon what they considered pigeon pie.”
Pigeons are scarcely fit for a delicate stomach when full fledged,
as they are difficult of digestion.
A heron is now but little valued, and but rarely brought to
market ; though formerly a heron was estimated at thrice the
value of a goose, and six times the price of a partridge.
The common godwit is often taken in Lincolnshire, and fat-
tened for the London market.
HAKE AND EABBIT.

No gravy can be extracted from the flesh of any animal equal
in richness to that which the hare affords. Among the Romans,
the hare was held in great estimation. Alexander Severus had a
hare daily served at his table. C;esar says, that in his time the
Britons did not eat the flesh of hare.
Keeping Poultry and Game. 75
- To tell an old rabbit from a young one, and vice versd, press
the knee-joint of the fore-leg with the thumb ; when the heads
of the two bones which form the joints are so close together that
little or no space can be perceived between them, the rabbit is an
old one. If, on the contrary, there is a perceptible separation
between the two bones, the rabbit is young and more or less so,
;
as the two bones are more or less separated. Nimrod.

Warren rabbits only ought to be sent to a good table, tame
rabbits, in general, having no flavour but that of cabbage. In
the country, where rabbits are abundant, use the fillets for the
dining-room, and make a kitchen pie or pudding with the legs
and shoulders.
TIME FOE KEEPING POULTEY AND GAME.

In Summer. In Winter.
Hare 3 days. ... 6 days.
Rabbit 2 ... 4
Pheasant 4 ... 10
Young fat Pullet 4 ... 10
Partridge 2 ... 6 to 8
Turkey, Duck, Goose 2 ... 6
Capon 3 ... 6
Chickens 2 ... 4
Young Pigeons 2 ... 4
When the weather is moist or rainy, the articles must be kept
somewhat less time.
If at any time feathered game has become tainted, pick aud
draw the birds as soon as possible, and immerse them in new
milk. Let them remain in this until next day, when they will
be quite sweet and fit for cooking. The milk must be thrown
away.
Game(birds) should be hung by the neck and not by the feet,
as commonly done. Hares should be dressed when blood dr-ops
is
from the nose. The fishy flavour of wild fowl may be prevented
by first boiling them in water in which are salt and onions.
Game or wild fowl for two or three are, however, never better
than when broiled.
The effect of keeping game is not only to make it tenderer,
but likewise to bring out its flavour, which tends in another way
to promote digestion. Nothing is more tasteless than a pheasant
cooked too soon, or has a finer flavour after hanging a proper-
length of time. No doubt, this flavour, while it gratifies the
palate, assists digestion, by sympathetically exciting the sto-
mach. Mayo.
If game be wrapped
in a cloth, moistened with pure pyro-
ligneous acid and water in equal proportions, it will keep good
for many days during the hottest weather.
Game in the third course is seldom half enjoyed as it has, ;
probably, been preceded by some substantial dish, thereby taking

away the relish, and overloading the appetite.
The far-famed eatable birds’ nests abound in the Philippine

Islands, and are nothing more than a kind of seaweed ( Sphere -
coccus cartilaginous), which the swallow eats, and having
softened it in its stomach, throws up as a jelly, and forms into a
nest, which is subsequently smeared over with dirt and feathers.
In this state the nests are sent to China, cleaned, and sold at
very high prices they are then fine jelly, and being dressed with
:
stimulants, form a first-rate relish at the tables of the Chinese.

Some of our own epicures may be glad to hear that the Sphero-
coccus crispus, which might serve for the composition of this
luxury, is to be found in abundance on the western and northern
coasts of Great Britain.
The south of France is the great larder of Paris. Thence we
have, from Provence, the exquisite pale truffle, and oil pure and
colourless as water pdtes led on by the sublime pule de foix
;
gras; th e poulard truffe ofPerigord the unbrand ied claret of

;
Bordeaux ; the liqueurs of Marseilles ; the nougat* of the same

emporium ; the oranges of Hyeres ; the muscat of Lunel ; the
ortolans, quails, verdiers, bec-figues, the olives, figs, anchovies,
almonds, fruits dried and pi’eserved in jelly, en compote, in
brandy and out of it, and other countless delicacies.
EGGS.
The finest-llavoured hens’ eggs are those with bright orange
yolks, such as are laid by the game-breed and by speckled
varieties. The large eggs of the Polish and Spanish breed have
often pale yolks, and little flavour.
Inmaking Christmas plum-puddings, duck eggs are more
serviceable, and more economical in their application, than are
those of fowls, and being larger in size, heavier, and far richer,
they may be regarded as worthy the attention of the housewife.
Seagulls’ eggs, when boiled hard, and eaten with pepper,
salt, vinegar, and mustard, make a delicious breakfast dish.
Many persons have an antipathy to these eggs ; but it must
have arisen from eating them in a soft state, when they have
always a fishy taste.
Avast number of the egg s of rooks are commonly sub-
stituted for those of the plover, to which they bear a very close
—
and apt resemblance insomuch, that the difference between
them is scarcely capable of being detected by accurate observers.
* Tlio nougat is a sort of cake, composed of filberts, pistachio nuts, the

kernels of the pine cone, and Narbonnc honey.
The Hundred Guinea Dish. 77
The formation of the egg of the former bird is, however,

more rotund at either extremity than is that of the latter, and
the dark opaque blotches observable on the egg of the plover are
larger and more boldly defined than are those noticeable in that
of the rook.
Dr. Hunter, in his Gulina, gives the recipe for an omelette,
the invention of a lady, who had it regularly served at her table
three days in the week, and who died at the age of ninety-seven,
with a piece of it in her mouth. The doctor adds, that, in con-
sequence of this accidental longevity, eggs rose ninety per cent,
in the small town of Wells, in North America, where the old
lady was born and died.
“ The Hundred Guinea Dish,” a feat a la Lucullus, devised

by Soyer,* for the royal table, at the banquet given by the Lord
* Few persons were bettor known “ about town ” than Alexis Soyer
few were more generally liked and the good service he did society, not
;
only in Ireland in the famine year, in the Crimea during the war, and
later by his endeavours to improve barrack cookery, but also by teaching
—
the people how to utilize much good food commonly wasted entitles him
to more than ordinary notice.
Severe illness, consequent partly upon Crimean campaigning, and his
exertions in the hospitals of Scutari, told upon his originally vigorous consti-
tution, and sowed the seeds of a fatal malady. For some months before
his death, his health was bad, and the labours of remodelling the kitchens
of the army, and the study of the various contrivances to increase the
comfort of our soldiery in the barrack and in the field, were too much for
his enfeebled energies. He lapsed into a state of coma, and so continued
up to the time of his death.
Alexis Soyer was born at Mau-en-Brie, in France, in October, 1809.
He was designed for the church, and he was sent for his education to
—
the Cathedral School of Meaux instituted by the celebrated Bossuet
where he remained for some years, and officiated as a chorister. He was
next sent to Paris, and was apprenticed to a celebrated restaurateur in the
Palais Royal (D’Ouix). There he remained five years; by which time his
elder brother, who had also been educated to the profession of cook, had
obtained the position of chef to the Duke of Cambridge. Alexis, anxious
to see the world, came over to England, on a visit to his brother, and at
Cambridge House he cooked his first dinner in England, for the then
Prince George and it was only by accident that the last dinner he cooked
;
(at the 'Wellington Barracks) was not partaken of by the same personage.
Soyer afterwards entered the service of various noblemen, amongst others
of Lord Ailsa, Lord Panmure, &c., and became rather celebrated for his
little dinners at Melton. He then entered into the service of the Reform
Club, and the breakfast given by that club, on the occasion of the Queen’s
coronation, stamped him as the first man in his profession.
Since then his career has been continually before the public. His
O’Connell dinner, with SoufHes a la Clontarf, is thought by gastronomes
to be one of the richest bits of satire that ever was invented but that
;
which brought his name to be known and respected publicly, was his offer
to the Government to go to Ireland, in the year of the famine. There ho
went, and superintended the arrangements for cooking for 26,000 persons
7S Hints for the Table.
Mayor of York, in 1850, to Prince Albert, to propitiate the Great

Exhibition of 1851, may be described here. This Apiciau dish
contained a small portion of the iollowing
Articles. Cost.
£ s. d.
5 Turtle-Leads, part of fins, and green fat 34? 0 0
24 Capons (the two small noix from each side of the
middle of the back only used) 8 8 0
18 Turkeys, the same 8 12 0
18 Poulardes, the same 5 17 0
16 Fowls, the same 280
10 Grouse
20 Pheasants, noix only
260
300
45 Partridges, the same 376
6 Plovers, whole 090
40 Woodcocks, the same 800
3 Dozen Quails, whole 300
100 Snipes, noix only
3 Dozen Pigeons, noix only
500
0 14 0
6 Dozen Larks, stuffed 0 15 0
Ortolans, from Belgium
The garnish, consisting of cocks’-eombs, truffles, mush-
500
rooms, crawfish, .olives, American asparagus, crous-
tades, sweetbreads, quenelles de volatile, green
mangoes, and a new sauce 14 10 0
£105 5 0
The expensiveness of the above is explained by the fact, that if
an epicure were to order this dish only, he would be charged for
the whole of the above-mentioned articles.
daily. In J une, 1847, he was entertained at a public dinner at the London

Tavern, given by his friends and admirers, for liis philanthropic and dis-
interested exertions for the relief of the poor. He left the Reform Club
in 1850, and his first public undertaking was the agricultural dinner at
Exeter. In 1851 he took Gore House, which he converted into a vast
restaurant, under the designation of the Symposium ; but by this specula-
tion he lost 4000Z. After that he employed himself on his cookery-books,
and in the Crimean war, where he only arrived a little too late. He came
home full of schemes to introduce a new system of cooking into the army,
and it was while working out these that he died, aged 50.
M. Soyer was interred in Kensal Green Cemetery, in the vault erected
for liis wife. She was a Miss Jones, the adopted daughter of M. Simoneau,
a Belgian artist of some reputation. Madame Soyer herself was a painter,
and produced some admirable works. Abridged from the Illustrated
Times, August 28, 1858.
Soyer’s principal works on Cookery arc his Gastronomic Regenerator,
—
and his Fantropheon these are two guinea volumes the former hisSystem
of Cookery, and the latter illustrating the Cookery of the Ancients, and
the Classics of the Table. His Modern Housewife is an excellent book
for middle-class families ; and his Shilling Cookery Book is adapted for
all classes. Of these works more than 300,000 copies have been sold.
Sauce Pi quant e. — Truffles. 79
Sauces and Gravies.

A good sauce, in the phrase of the kitchen, “ tastes of everything',
and tastes of nothing that is, all the articles in it are well
proportioned, and neither predominates.
A sauce made according to the principles of the art, excites
and restores the appetite, flatters the palate, is pleasing to the
smell, and inebriates all the senses with delight. A noble
gourmet once asserted that sauces are to food what action is to
oratory and the Almanack des Gourmands says
;
—
A delicious
sauce will cause you to eat an elephant.”
Dutch sauce is best made with elder or taragon vinegar. When
coloured green with parsley extract, a little lemon-juice should
he added, else it will turn yellow.
Sauce Piquante was made by Michael Kelly, the epicure, as
follows :
—
Put a table-spoonful of parsley-leaves, and the same of
capers, into a mortar, and beat them together ; add a tahle-
spoonlul of fresh mustard, and three hard yolks of eggs, and
properly mix the whole. Then add six anchovies, boned and
forced through a sieve ; a table-spoonful of vinegar, two of oil,
and a finely-chopped shalot, and mix the whole. When to he
used, stir the sauce into half a pint of melted butter, or strong
beef gravy.
Ham extract, made by stewing the bone of a ham with carrots,
onions, and herbs, and then stewing the lean meat in the liquor,
and straining it, is an expensive affair ; but a table-spoonful of
the extract will flavour a tureen full of winter pea or carrot-soup,
and a teaspooonful in melted butter makes an excellent sauce for
roast fowl.
Olives, in France, are introduced into sauces for calf’s head
and fowls ; and a duckserved with olive-sauce. For these
is
purposes the olives are turned with a knife, so as to take out the
stone, and leave the fruit whole.
In choosing truffles, he careful to reject those which have a
musky smell.*
Garlic or shalot vinegar, a few drops to a pint of gravy, will
give one of the finest flavours in cookery.
Poor man’s sauce is made by chopping a few shalots very
* The art of producing truffles, which has been, long sought for, but
without success, has, it is said, been discovered at Carpentras, in the
department of Vaucluse. An interesting paper on Truffles and Truffle-
hunting will be found in Pickens’s Household Words.
fine,and warming them with a little pepper and salt, in vinegar

and water. It is excellent with young roast turkey.
Russian sauce (horse-radish, mustard, vinegar, &c.) was named
from Dr. Hunter having seen it prepared by a Russian princess.
Ham may he made by seasoning highly with cayenne
relish
pepper, a slice of dressed ham, then broiling it, and adding
butter, mustard, and a little lemon-juice.
Our bread sauce is capable of much improvement, of which the
French cooks have taken advantage in their britsau.ee, “which,
though, no doubt, imitated from the English composition, bears
no greater resemblance than one of Sir Thomas Lawrence’s por-
traits of an old woman to the original all the harsher points
;
being mellowed down, and an indescribable shading of seductive

softness infused .” —
Quarterly Review.
Notwithstanding the taunt of the French, on melted butter
—
being our national sauce, it is rarely well made a fact which may
have occasioued the late Earl of Dudley to observe, on a deceased
Baron of the Exchequer “ He was a good man, sir, an excellent
:
man he had the best melted butter I ever tasted in my life.”

;
Although there is little mystery in the composition of oyster-

sauce, like melted butter, it is rarely well made ; it commonly
resembles thick butter, with lukewarm oysters in it.
The making of lobster sauce is not generally understood. It
can only be made in perfection with three parts cream to one of
butter, with cayenne, salt, and cavice or coratch but the common
;
error is not chopping the lobster small enough. When cut into
large dice (as directed in most cookery-books), it is scarcely
a sauce, for the result is too much like eating fish with fish.
Essences of anchovies, lobsters, and shrimps are commonly
adulterated with bole Armenian, which contains much red oxide
of iron flour is also used for thickening, and in some cases
;
copper is found in these sauces. Messrs. Crosse and Blackwell

prepare an anchovy-sauce without any colouring, which is of
greatly improved quality and flavour. To ensure this, the refuse
and dirt are removed from the fish, to do which is troublesome
and expensive; but, by using bole Armenian or Venetian red,
the dirt and refuse are concealed.
Nine-tenths of the ketchup sold by grocer-oilmen is a vile
compound of liver and the roe of fish, seasoned with pepper and
other condiments. If you wish the article genuine, procure the
mushrooms, and make it yourself.
India Soy is difficult to purchase genuine it should be made
:
from an Indian plant called Dolichos soja, or soya ; but treacle

and salt are the basis of the soy ordinarily sold.
Gliatna, Currie, etc. 81
“ observes Mr. Dobell, in his Travels in China,

Many persons,”
“
have thought that gravy was used in preparing soy ; but this
appears not to be the case, the composition being entirely a vege-
table one, and made from beans. Japanese soy is much esteemed
in China ; probably it is made with a particular bean.* In China
the consumption of soy is enormous neither rich nor poor can
:
dine, breakfast, or sup without soy ; it is the sauce for all sorts ol
food, and may be described as indispensable at a Chinese repast.”
Cavice is the composition which best agrees with all fish-
sauces, especially when it has been kept two or three years.
One of the most elegant preparations of culinary chemistry is
soluble Cayenne pepper, when genuine.
Capers are the buds of the caper-bush, the flowers of which
are white and purple. The flower-buds of the marsh-marygold,
preserved in vinegar, are a good substitute for capers.
CHATNA, CTTEBIE, AND PEPPEE.

In Bengal, chatna is usually made from a vegetable called
cotemear, to the eye very much resembling parsley, but to those
unused to it, of a very disagreeable taste and smell ; which is
strongly heated with chilies. The chatna is also sometimes made
with cocoa-nut, lime-juice, garlic and chilies. Both kinds are
much eaten by the Hindoos as a stimulant to their rice.
In England, currie-powder brought from India is highly prized
but this is a mere delusion. In India, the cooks have no currie-
—
powder they pound and mix the various seeds and spices as they
require them. For use on ship-board, bottles of currie-powder
are made up in India, because, to take the unprepared seeds would
be inconvenient; but very frequently, this powder is detestable,
though made abroad. Indeed, currie-powder can be made just as
good here as in India. Another mistake respecting currie-powder
is, that we make it too hot with Cayenne-pepper. In India, there
are mild curries, and hot curries the former contain no Cayenne-
:
pepper or chili the latter are warmed, not with Cayenne-pepper,

;
but with the green chili, which is always preferable.

Currie-powder consists of turmeric, black pepper, coriander seeds,
Cayenne, fenugreek, cardamoms, cumin, ginger, allspice, and
cloves but the three latter are often omitted. The ingredients
:
may be bought of most seedsmen, and then, with a common

pestle and mortar, may be prepared genuine currie-powder at a
cost of about 2d. per oz. —
retailed in shops at Gd., 8 A., and
even Is.
* Now that Japan is open to our trade, we hope to receive Japanese

soy, with greater certainty.
Q
In this country, only a few dishes are curried ; whereas all

meats and most kinds of fish make good curries. In preparing
rice for currie, be careful not to touch it with the fingers, or a
spoon. A spoonful of the cocoa-nut kernel, pounded, gives a very
delicate flavour to a currie of chicken.
In the East Indies, the Burdwan is frequently introduced when
the appetite begins to flag, after eating heartily of two courses
and, being often dressed by the master or mistress in the presence
of the company, it is generally much esteemed. When this stew
is dressed on a small chafing-dish in the room where the company
dine, it sends forth such a savoury smell, that it reminds us of
what Eve felt when the apple was presented to her, during her
disturbed dream :
The pleasant savoury smell

So quickened appetite, that I, methouglit,
X’ould not but taste it. Milton.
Of Cayenne pepper there are several sorts, made from the cap-
sicum, an annual plant, and a native of both the Indies. Some
persons prepare their own pepper, with a view to obtain it
genuine, from the capsicums grown in this country; but the
capsicum frulescens affords, when dried and powdered, the
finest Cayenne-pepper. The difficulty of obtaining it genuine in
England will not be matter of surprise, when the reader learns
that even the Cayenne sold in Jamaica is prepared from several
sorts of red capsicums, mixed with capsicum frutescens ; but they
are all much inferior in pungency and aromatic flavour ; and per-
sons who would have it genuine, are obliged to prepare it in their
own families. It is called Cayenne-pepper, from its being the
most noted production of the island of that name, in French
Guiana ; though it is also produced elsewhere.
The relative value of black and white pepper is but imperfectly
understood. The former is decidedly the best white pepper is
:
of two sorts, common and genuine the former is made by

:
blanching the grains of the common black pepper, by steeping

them for a while in water, and then gently rubbing them, so as to
remove the dark outer coat. It is milder than the other, and
much prized by the Chinese; but very little is imported into
England. “ Genuine ” white pepper is merely the blighted or
imperfect grains picked from among the heaps of black pepper.
:
It is, of course, very inferior.

Pepper is eaten throughout the civilized world ; but more in
hot than in cold countries. In Asia, where the stomach is weak-
ened by excessive perspiration, produced by the heat of the climate,
by a humid atmosphere, and by a too much vegetable diet, pepper
is employed as a powerful stimulant. Thus, in a medical point of
Fielding. — Mustard. 83
view, pepper proves an excellent tonic, and is calculated to create

appetite, and to promote digestion.
PICKLES.
A great deal of attention has been paid to the examination of
pickles sold hy oilmen ; and in all the sixteen specimens examined
by Dr. Hassall, he found copper in various amounts ; wherefore,
the only safety for the public is that all housekeepers should take
the matter into their own hands, and become themselves the
makers of their pickles. Of the poisonous pickles the green, as
gherkins and beans, contain the largest amount of copper, which
is thought to be necessary to insure the fine green colour; hut
this may he as well obtained by the use of pure vinegar and a
proper quantity of salt ; and every oilman who understands his
business can produce green pickles without the aid of copper.
We cannot be surprised at the frequency of poisoning by eating
pickles, when we find the writers of cookery-books ordering the
vinegar for gherkins to be boiled in a hell-metal or copper pot,
and poured hot on the cucumbers. Again, greening is recom-
mended it is made of verdigris, distilled vinegar, alum powder,
:
and bay-salt ; and Haffald, in her cookery-book, directs “ to:
render pickles green, boil them with halfpence, or allow them to

stand twenty-four hours in copper or brass pans.” To detect
suspected vinegar, put three or four drops on the blade of a knife
add one drop of sulphuric acid, and heat the under surface of the
knife over a candle-flame, when the vinegar will evaporate, and
deposit the copper on the knife-blade, if any he present.
Mangoes are pickled when unripe, and brought from the East
Indies. They are imitated by pickling small unripe melons,
which are then called melon-mangoes.
Old pickles are rarely crisp, hut they are of much finer flavour
than new ones though not so esteemed.
;
In cheap pickles, the vegetables are scarcely half saturated

with the vinegar, which is of the worst kind, being adulterated
with sulphuric acid, as may he detected by the sulphurous odour
of such pickles.
Epicures sometimes mix mustard with sherry or raisin wine.
The French mix it with tarragon, shalot, and other flavoured
vinegars, and pepper. It may amuse the reader to relate a spe-
cimen of the pompous and even Royal style assumed hy the Duke
of Northumberland in his well-known household book for 1512.
He does not give an order for the making of mustard, of which
it is stated that the annual allowance was 160 gallons, hut it is
introduced with the following formal preamble : “ It seemeth
good to us and our Council,” &c.
84- Hints for the Table.
V egetables.
All vegetables do not contain equal proportions of nourishment.
Thus, French beans (the seeds, the white harico of the Continent)
contain 921b. of nutritious matter in 1001b. broad beans, 891b.
;
peas, 931b. Greens and turnips yield only 81b. solid nutriment
in 1001b. ;
carrots, 14; and, in opposition to the common opinion,
1001b. of potatoes yield only 251b. of nutrition.
Certain vegetables assist the stomach with some indigestible
food. Such are rich and oily substances, as pork, goose, wild
fowl, and salmon. The malic acid in apple-sauce eaten with roast
pork, the lemon juice with wild fowl, and vinegar with salmon,
have thus come into common use. To assist the digestion of fried
white bait, and turtle too, lemon-juice is usually added, and punch
drank with them “ the palate,” says Dr. Mayo, “ having sug-
:
gested, and philosophy approving, the association.”

The only secret of dressing vegetables green, is an open sauce-
pan, plenty of water (with salt), and fast boiling.
Plenty of good vegetables, well served, is a luxury vainly
hoped for at set-parties they are made to figure in a very
:
secondary way, except when they are considered as delicacies,

which is generally before they are at the best. Excellent potatoes,
smoking hot, with melted butter of the best quality, are as rare
on state occasions, so served, as if they were of the cost of pearls.
When peas, French beans, and similar productions, do not boil
easily, it has usually been imputed to the coolness of the season,
or to the rains. This popular notion is erroneous. The difficulty
of boiling them soft arises from a superabundant quantity of
gypsum imbibed during their growth. To correct this, throw a
small quantity of sub-carbonate of soda into the pot along with
the vegetables, the carbonic acid of which will seize upon the
lime in the gypsum, and free the vegetables from its influence.
Cauliflowers, kidney-beans, and other delicate vegetables, may
he kept many months, by drying them, and packing them in a
jar, with common salt between and over them. Vegetables may
also be long kept in an ice-house.
POTATOES.
Mealy potatoes are more nutritious than those which are waxy
as the former contain the greatest quantity of starch, in which
consists the nutriment of the potato.
To ensure mealy potatoes, peel them, and put them on the fire
in boiling water ;
when nearly done, drain them, put on them a
dry cloth, cover them closely, and set them near the fire for five
minutes.
Potatoes in Ireland. 85
A
well dressed potato has been fixed upon as a test of the merits
of a cook. At the meeting of a club committee, specially
called for the selection of a cook, the first question put to the
candidates was, “ Can you boil a potato ?”
In Prussia, potatoes are frequently served in six different
forms the bread is made from them ; the soup is thickened with
:
them ; there are fried potatoes, potato salad, and potato dump-
lings to which may be added potato cheese, which, by the by,
;
is one of the best preparations it will keep many years. Potatoes

;
are now mostly served at good tables in British India.

In Ireland this root is cooked so that it may have, as they call it, a bone
in it that is, that the middle of it should not be quite cooked. They are
;
dressed thus :
—
Put a gallon of water with two ounces of salt in a large iron
pot, boil for about ten minutes, or until the skin is loose, pour the water
out of the pot, put a dry cloth on the top of the potatoes, and place it on
the side of the fire without water for about twenty minutes, and serve.
In Ireland turf is the principal article of fuel, which is burnt on the flat
hearth ; a little of it is generally scraped up round the pot so as to keep a
gradual heat ; by this plan the potato is both boiled and baked. Even in
those families where such a common art of civilized life as cooking ought
to have made some progress, the only improvement they have upon this
plan is, that they leave the potatoes in the dry pot longer, by which they
lose the bone. They are also served up with the skins (jackets) on, and a
small plate is placed by the side of each guest. Soyer.
Professor Mulder, who thoroughly investigated the potato,

solemnly denounces it as an article of food, and says it is the
“ cause of the moral and physical degeneration of the nations that
use it.”
CABBAGE, KALE, &C.

By
boiling the cabbage we can extract the greater part of that
which is disagreeable to the taste, and thus convert it into a
palatable food, without sensibly diminishing its nutritious quality,
which is 33 per cent, of gluten. When eaten frequent^, and in
large quantities, like nearly all food rich in gluten, cabbage has
a binding tendency upon the system: hence the propriety of
eating cabbage with fat and oily food. Bacon and greens, like
pork and pease-pudding, is a conjunction of viands which does
not owe its popularity either to old habit or to the mere taste of
the epicure. It is in reality an admixture which constitutional
experience has prescribed as better fitted to the after comfort of
the alimentary canal of every healthy individual than either kind
of food eaten alone. Johnston.
Vegetable marrow is good in every stage of its growth: when
young, fried in butter; when half-grown, plainly boiled, or
stewed, with sauce and when full-grown, in pies.
; When boiled
and cut into dice, it makes an elegant garnish, alternately with
dice of young carrots, for boiled fowls.
.Real Brussels sprouts are rarely seen in England, and are

nearly as scarce in France ; no proper care being taken in their
culture, apparently, blit in the neighbourhood of Brussels. Here
they are served boiled, with a sauce of vinegar, butter, and nut-
meg, poured over them. Brussels tops are much more delicate
than sprouts ; in Belgium, the small cabbages are not esteemed
if more than half an inch in diameter.
A piece of fresh charcoal boiled with vegetables, will often

counteract their bitterness.
Sea-kale, unlike most other vegetables, is improved by forcing :

the forced shoots produced at mid-winter being more crisp and
delicate than those of natural growth in April and May. VVhen
dressed, it is commonly served upon toasted bread, to soak up
the water ; but, when the kale is drained dry on a clean cloth,
the toast is not requisite. In tide’s time, sea-kale was not known
in France. It was first brought into fashion in this country,
by Dr. Lettsom, in the year 1767. Kale is in perfection in
January.
Cardoons or thistle-heads, with Spanish sauce, though not
much relished in England, are highly esteemed in France. They
make a capital entremet, and may be selected as one of the
finest efforts of cookery.
Chou-croule is easy of digestion, and well adapted for flatulent

stomachs. Captain Cook was so well aware of its anti-scorbutic
qualities, that he kept his men three years in health at sea by
the use of it two or three times a week. Chou-croute, in this
country, is mostly stewed in gravy ; but in Bavaria, it is boiled
and mixed with butter and red wine, or juniper berries, aniseed,
and caraways.
Many persons are prejudiced against certain vegetables for no
other reason than because they are not used to them, Ac. For
instance, we seldom hear of French Beans being cooked when in
a di y state ; yet, on the Continent, they are highly esteemed ; and
-
if given a fair trial here, we see no reason why they should not
become as much used for soup making as peas. The Haricot
Beans should be prepared as follows Put the Haricots into cold
:
water, boil them gently till the skins begin to crack, then pour away
the water, which is always nauseous ; have ready boiling water
to supply its place
;
simmer the Haricots till tender. They must
not be allowed to get cold whilst cooking, or they can never be
boiled tender.
TURNIPS.
Though yellow turnips are not much admired at table, they are
Early Green Eeas. 87
equally palatable as, and much more nutritious than, the white.
Sorrel gives flavour to turnip-tops, but is dangerous.
The long French spindle-shaped turnip is of great excellence,
and is much used in Germany, generally stewed.*
In dressing turnips, never omit to mix with them a small lump
of sugar, to overcome their bitter taste.
Parsneps, from Teltow, a village in the neighbourhood of Berlin,
are a peculiar delicacy of the Prussian cuisine.
PEAS.
The French have a proverb “Eat green peas with the rich,
:
and cherries with the poor meaning, we suppose, that peas re-
quire to be nicely stewed with butter, flour, herbs, <fcc.
Mr. Cobbett notes “ The late King George III. reigned so
:
long, that his birthday formed a sort of season with gardeners ;

and ever since I became a man, I can recollect that it was always
deemed a sign of bad gardening if there were not green peas in
the garden fit to gather on the 4th of June.”
A note in the fifth edition of Pennant’s London, states that
when the editor (in 1812) visited Goldsmiths’ Hall, the more
opulent members of the Company had experienced a severe dis-
appointment in not being able to procure (on account of the back-
wardness of the season) the customary supply of 52 quarts of
green peas at their annual feast on the 29th of May. Five
guineas per quart were offered ; but, unable to obtain the full
supply, they, either to prevent competition, or the disputes which
might arise, wisely abstained from producing any of this enviable
luxury. We suspect there is some error in this story.
David Hume shrewdly observes : “ The same care and toil that
raise a dish of green peas at Christmas, would give bread to a
whole family during six months.” This is a calculation somewhat
in the manner of J oseph Hume.
SPINACH, ETC.
Spinach one of the wholesomest vegetables served at table,
is
especially when simply dressed. It should be very carefully
* Until the beginning of tbe eighteenth century, the turnip was only
cultivated in England in gardens, or other small spots, for culinary pur-
poses but Lore! Townshend, attending King George I., as Secretary of
;
State, to Germany, observed the turnips cultivated in fields, as fodder for

cattle,and spreading fertility over lands naturally barren; on his return
to England, he brought over with him some of the seed, and gave it to
a few of his own tenants, who occupied soil similar to that at Hanover.
It was sown, and the experiment succeeded the cultivation of field turnips
:
soon spread over the whole county of Norfolk and gradually it has made
;
its way into every other district of England.

picked, so that no weeds or stalks are left amongst it. The least
oversight may spoil the spinach in spite of the best cookery.
New Zealand spinach supplies fresh leaves for use, when the crops
of summer spinach are useless.
Boiled beet-root, white haricot beans, and fried parsneps, are
excellent accompaniments to roast mutton.
Celeriac, or celerie rave, may be used in the kitchen for seven
or eight months in succession. In Germany, it is eaten as salad.
Hop-tops are eaten instead of asparagus, dressed in the same
manner, and served with white sauce, melted butter, or oil.
The
nettle is truly a table plant the young and tender nettle
:
is an excellent pot-herb, and the stalks of the old nettle are as

good as flax for making a tablecloth. Campbell.
The tomata is much less used in England than on the Conti-
nent. Near Home and Naples whole fields are covered with it
and scarcely a dinner is served in which it does not form a dish.
In Spain, tomatas are dried, powdered, and bottled, and thus kept
for an indefinite time ; an excellent store gravy sauce may like-
wise be made of them.
The egg-plant in England is a mere green-house plant ;
but, in
France the eggs are eaten in soups and stews.
LAVEE.
It has been well observed, there is not, upon earth, in air, or sea,
a single flavour (cost what it may to procure it), that mercantile
opulence will not procure. Increase the difficulty, and you enlist
vanity on the side of luxury ; and make that be sought for, as a
display of wealth, which was before valued only for the display of
appetite. The doctrine is exemplified in laver, which is the sea
liver-wort, a reddish sea-weed, forming a jelly when boiled, and
eaten by some of the poor people in the Highlands with bread,
instead of butter it is there called slolce, and is also used to
:
make a broth. The rich of this country have elevated laver into
one of the dainties of their table ; it is generally served hot in a
silver saucepan, or in a silver lamp -dish, and is excellent with
roast mutton. It is curious to reflect that what is eaten at a
duke’s table in St. James’s, as a first-rate luxury, is used by the
poorest people of Scotland twice or thrice a day. Laver is also
obtained in abundance upon the pebble beech, three miles long,
near Bideford.
To a pound of laver add a bit of fresh butter the size of a
walnut, the juice of half a lemon, a salt-spoonful of cayenne pepper,
and a dessert-spoonful of glaze j stew for half an hour, and serve
over a spirit lamp. In Ireland dilosk, or laver, is constantly
served during the season with roast beef or roast mutton.
Onion . Horse- radish 89
THE ONION.
The British onion*one of the worst description, in compa-
is
rison with the onions of Egypt and India, which are great deli-
cacies.
Spanish and Portuguese onions are mild, but do not keep well
they are only in perfection from August to December, when great
quantities are sent by the wine-growers in Spain and Portugal as
presents to their customers in this country. A dish of Spanish
onions stewed in browii gravy is a worthy accompaniment to a
roast capon.
Prom 700 to 800 tons of onions are imported every year from
Spain and Portugal, and in these countries it forms one of the
most common and universal supports of life it is remarkably;
nutritious,and contains from 25 to 30 per cent, of gluten.

The Spanish or Reading onion is large, flat, white, and mild,
and resembles the Portugal onion, but is better adapted for cul-
tivation in this climate.
HOBSE-EADISH.
Several fatal cases of poisoning have occurred of late years by
the accidental substitution of Monkshood, or Aconite, for Horse-
radish. On January 22, 1856, three persons died at Dingwall,
by this mistake at dinner. Hence it is important to note the
distinctive characters between the two roots.
Thus, Monkshood is conical in form, and tapers perceptibly to a point.

Horse-radish is slightly conical, then cylindrical, and nearly of the same
thickness throughout.
Monkshood is coffee-coloured, or brownish, outside ; while Horse-radish
is white or yellowish-white.
Monkshood tastes at first bitter, and then produces tingling; while
Horse-radish tastes bitter or sweet, and very pungent. ,
The two roots, when scraped, are very different Monkshood is succu-
:
lent, and when scraped, soon turns pinkish ;

while Horse-radish scrapes
firm and dry, and does not alter in colour.
The odour of Monkshood is earthy that of Horse-radish, in scraping, is
;
very pungent and irritating.

The only actual resemblance between the two roots is in then- crowns,
and that is very slight. It seems, therefore, most extraordinary that a
cook should, by any possibility, confound the two roots ; since, in prepar-
ing them for the table, one could not but observe the difference in colour,
form, and odour.
* Sir Thomas Browne, in a letter to his son, Edward, dated 1676, says
“ I have heard that St. Omar was a place famous for good onyons, and
furnished many parts therewith; some were usually brought into England,
and some transplanted, winch were cryed about London, and by a mistake
called St. Thomas onyons.”
MUSHROOMS. TRUFFLES. —
The value Mushrooms as food has been underrated.* “ They
ol
are second only,” says Cuthill, “ to beef and mutton. The price
of mushrooms during winter is very high, and until people grow
them more plentifully, they will be high priced. So, also, are sea-
kale and asparagus. Yet these three vegetables are all natives of
Britain. The great mistake in cooking mushrooms has been,
want of attention to their condition ; they should be perfectly
fresh, and every hour they are kept tends to make them unwhole-
some. The only simple test where doubts exist about the true
edible mushrooms, is putting salt over the gills, which, if the
mushrooms be genuine, will turn black in a short time, being
exactly the colour of an old overgrown one. On poisonous fungi salt
has no effect. No person need have the least doubt about mush-
rooms grown by themselves, and from pure horse manure, and
pure spawn ; of course no one would think of mixing horse-
chestnut leaves, or old decayed wood, with their bed. Poisonous
mushrooms are only picked up by the town hawkers, who hunt
the fields, in which, from ignorance or carelessness, he is as likely
to gather toad-stools a mushrooms. J. Cuthill, Gardener,
Cambenvell. Still, the large horse-mushroom, except for
ketchup, should be very cautiously eaten. In wet seasons, or if
produced on wet ground, it is very deleterious, if used in any
great quantity.
“There is no reason,” says a writer in the Athenceum, “for our eating
—
one or two of the numberless edible funguses mushrooms, truffles, &c.
which our island produces, and condemning all the rest as worse than use-
less, under the name of toad-stools.’
‘
It is not so on the continent of
Europe, where very generally the various species of fungi are esteemed
agreeable and important articles of diet. The great drawback on the use
of these esculents in this country is, that some are poisonous, and few
—
persons possess the skill to distinguish them with the exception of one
—
or two species from those which arc edible. In the markets at Home
there is an ‘ inspector of funguses’ versed in botany, and whose duty it is
to examine and report on all such plants exposed for sale. The safety with
winch these vegetables may be eaten has led to a very large consumption
in that city, where not less than 140,000 lbs., worth 4000?. sterling, are
annually made use of. This in a population of 156,000! We cannot
estimate the value of funguses in our own country for an article of diet
as less than in Italy, nor believe that the supply would be in a less ratio.
If this be correct, the value of the funguses which are allowed to spring
up and die, wasted in Great Britain, would be about half a million
sterling in each year.
Truffles were known as a delicacy by the ancients, and were
* Nevertheless, the subject has received considerable attention in this

country, as may be seen in Dr. Badham’s learned work On the Edible
Funguses of England.
Covent Garden Market. 91
specially esteemed among the Romans and favourite

as a dainty
dish. They are very nourishing, and are said to be strong sti-
mulants. They are used as an addition to meat pies, sauces, and
ragouts, and a particular dish is made of them nearly alone.
They are also used for stuffing turkeys, game, &c. Truffles are
marinaded (salted, and afterwards preserved in oil and vinegar),
and sent principallyfrom Aix, Avignon, Bordeaux, Perigord, Cette,
and Nice, to all the principal towns of Europe, where. they are
served up at table, even in winter. Truffles are likewise found
in England, at Goodwood, in Sussex Northwood, near Slindon
;
and Irtham ;
at Broome, in Kent, and Castle-Edendean, in
Durham.
Herbs, when dried and pressed into calces, and wrapped in

paper, may be kept three years ; but, by the common mode of
hanging them up in loose bundles, herbs soon lose their odour.
Herb mixture of equal proportions of knotted marjoram and
winter savoury, with half the quantity of basil, thyme, and
tarragon, dried, rubbed to powder, and kept in a closely-corked
bottle, will be found useful for forcemeats and flavouring.
Whole peas are preferable to split the external coat preserves

:
the flour of the pea, which soon flies off when the surface is exposed.
The leaf of the bay is much narrower and more pointed than
that of the cherry-laurel, and has a very fragrant smell it is :
mostly sold by Italian warehousemen.

The supplies of fruit and vegetables sent to Covent Garden
market, in variety, excellence, and quantity, surpass those of all
other countries. There is more certainty of being able to pur-
chase a pine-apple here every day in the year, than in Jamaica
and Calcutta, where pines are indigenous. Forced asparagus,
potatoes, sea-kale, rhubarb-stalks, mushrooms, French beans, and
early cucumbers, are to be had in January and February; in
March, forced cherries, strawberries, and spring spinach ; in April,
grapes, peaches, and melons, with early peas ; in May, all forced
articles in abundance. The supply of forced flowers, of green-
house plants, and in summer of hardy flowers and shrubs, is
equally varied and abundant and of curious herbs for domestic
;
medicines, distilleries, &c., upwards of 500 species may be pro-

cured at the shop of one herbalist.
Beneath the arcade, at the early market hour, are stationed hawkers of
account-books, dog-collars, whips, chains, curry-combs, pastry, money-
bags, tissue-paper for the tops of strawberry -pottles, and horse-chestnut
leaves for garnishing fruit-stalls coffee-stalls, and stalls of pea-soup and
;
pickled cels;
basket-makers ;women making up nosegays and girls ;
splitting huge bundles of water-cresses into little bunches. Here are fruits
92 Hints for the Tabic.
and vegetables from all parts of the world peas, and asparagus, and new
:
potatoes, from the south of Franco, Belgium, Holland, Portugal, and the
Bermudas, are brought in steam-vessels. Besides Deptford onions, Bat-
tersea cabbages, Mortlake asparagus, Chelsea celery, and Charlton peas,
immense quantities are brought by railway from Cornwall and Devon-
shire, the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey, the Kentish and Essex banks
of the Thames, the banks of the Humber, the Mersey, the Orwell, the
Trent, and the Ouse. The Scilly Isles send early articles by steamer to
Southampton, and thence to Covcnt Garden by railway. Strawberries are
sent from gardens about Bath. The money paid annuallv for fruits and
vegetables sold in this market is estimated at three millions sterling for :
6 or 700,000 pottles of strawberries ; 40,000,000 cabbages; 2, 000, 000 "cauli-

flowers 300,000 bushels of peas
; 750,000 lettuces ; and 500,000 bushels
;
of onions. In Centre-row, hothouse grapes are sold at 25s. per pound,

British Queen and Black Prince strawberries at Is. per ounce, slender
French beans at 3s. per hundred, peas at a guinea a quart, and new
potatoes at 4s. (id. per lb. a moss-rose for half-a-crown, and bouquets of
;
flowers from one shilling to two guineas each. ( Household Words, No.
175.) Green peas have been sold here at Christmas at 21. the quart, and
asparagus and rhubarb at 15s. the bundle.
This relates to the supply of vegetables grown in England.
Those of forced growth, from the Continent, are very early ; but
their flavour is inferior to those grown at home.
The foreign green-fruit trade of Covent Garden is very exten-
sive in pine-apples, melons, cherries, apples, and pears. The cheap
West India pine-apple trade dates from 1844, when pines were
first cried in the streets “ a penny a slice.” Of the 250,000,000
oranges imported annually into England, comparatively few are
sold in Covent Garden.
Mr. Cuthill, the gardener, of Camberwell, states the ground under cul-
tivation for the supply of the London markets to be about 12,000 acres
occupied by vegetables, and about 5000 by fruit-trees. These he chiefly
in Middlesex, Essex, Hertford, and Bedford, north of the Thames, and
Kent and Surrey south ; some 35,000 persons are employed on them. From
distant counties are sent up the produce of acres of turnip-tops, cabbages,
and peas; while hundreds of acres in Cornwall and Devon grow early
potatoes, brocoli, peas, &e., which reach London by railway.
The quantity of water-cresses annually sold in the principal whole-
sale markets of London (above one-third of which are retailed in the
streets) is as follows: —
Covent Garden, 1,578,000 bunches; Farringdon,
12,960,000 Borough, 180,000 ;
Spitalfields, 180,000 Portman, 60,000
;
The amount
total, 14,958,000. realized by the
;
sale is 13,919/. —Henry

Mayliew’s London Labour.
Salads.
Pebsons iii health, who a craving for salad, may indulge in
feel
the enjoyment of it to a great extent with perfect impunity, if
not with positive benefit. Oil, when mixed in salad, appears to
render the raw vegetables and herbs more digestible. Vinegar
likewise promotes the digestion of lettuce, celery, and beet-root.
Salads. 93
Endive is very wholesome, strengthening, and easy of digestion

but when strong seasoning is added to it, it becomes an epicurean
sauce. Mayo.
Recipe for a Winter Salad, by the late Rev. Sydney Smith.

Two large potatoes, passed through kitchen sieve,
Unwonted softness to the salad give,
Of mordent mustard add a single spoon
Distrust the condiment which 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 of 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,
—
Eate cannot harm me I have dined to-day
The Spanish proverb says four persons are wanted to make a
good salad a spendthrift for oil, a miser for vinegar, a counsellor
:
for salt, and a madman to stir all up.

The early long and short prickly cucumbers are much esteemed -
Flanagan’s cucumber, nearly two feet long, is of superior crispness
and flavour ; the white and long green Turkey are later flue varie-
ties. The pride of first-rate horticultural establishments is to
place a cucumber upon the table every day throughout the year.
Cucumber dressed with oil and vinegar is a delicious accompani-
ment to boiled salmon or turbot, and assists their digestion; though
it cools the fish and sauce if it be eaten from the same plate.
Salad should be “ morning gathered and being washed, it
should be covered up in a table-cloth, to exclude the air, and keep
it fresh, until dried. To ensure ridding salad of insects, wash it
in sea or salt water. The following are excellent salad ingre-
dients :
—
essence of anchovies, soy, sugar, truffles, flavoured
vinegars ;
black pepper is much used by the French.
In the Netherlands, white chicory (endive) is sold at a very
cheap rate early in the spring, and supplies a grateful salad long
before lettuces are to be had so that a two-penny bundle will fill
;
a salad-bowl. The roots are taken up, dried, and ground, as a

substitute for coffee.
Walnut-oil may be used in salads. Sunflower-seed oil is as

sweet as butter, and is much used in Russian cookery.
In preparing a salad, it is a common mistake to wash lettuces
they ought never to he wetted they thus lose their crispness,
;
and are pro tanto destroyed. If you can get nothing but wet
lettuces, you had certainly better dry them ; but, if you wish
for a good salad, cut the lettuce fresh from the garden, take
off the outside leaves, cut or rather break it into a salad bowl,
and mix it with the sauce the minute before it is eaten.
It is surprising that we do not hear more of the effects of
swallowing the eggs or larva of insects, with raw salads. Fami-
lies who can afford it should keep a small cistern of salt water,
or lime and water (to be frequently renewed), into which all
vegetables to be used raw should be lirst plunged for a minute,
and then washed in pure fresh water.
Parmentier’s salad vinegar is made as follows —
Shalots, sweet
:
savoury, chives, and tarragon, of each three ounces ; two table-

spoonfuls of dried mint-leaves, and the same of balm; beat these
together in a mortar, and put them into a stone gallon bottle
fill up with strong white-wine vinegar, cork it securely, and let
it stand a fortnight exposed to the sun, when filter it through a

flannel bag.
Sweet Dishes.
Pastry is digested with difficulty, in consequence of the oil
which contains ; puddings, from their heaviness, that is, close-
it
ness of texture; in proportion as they are light, they become
digestible. {Mayo.) Pastry is so abundant at Damascus as to
cost scarcely anything Lamartine says he never saw so many
:
varieties elsewhere. The Italians often put sugar into their paste.
A
green apricot tart is commonly considered the best tart that
is made;
but a green apricot pudding is better. The difference
between a tart and a tourte is, that the first is always covered
with paste, whilst the latter is sent to table open, or with a
trellis-work of paste over the fruit.
A plum-pudding is hardly ever boiled enough a fault which ;
reminds one of a predicament in which Lord Byron once found

himself in Italy. He had made up his mind to have a plum-
pudding on his birthday, and busied himself a whole morning in
giving minute directions to prevent the chance of a mishap yet, ;
after all the pains he had taken, and the anxiety he must have
undergone, the pudding appeared in a tureen, and of about the
consistency of soup.
Preserves. 95
Plum-broth or porridge was eaten as soup at Christmas, at St.

James’s, dming the reign of George III. ; and a portion of it was
sent to the different officers of his Majesty’s household. The
following is a list of the ingredients :
Leg of veal, 401b. 401b. raisins.

6 shins of beef. 401b. currants.
50 fourpenny loaves. 301b. prunes.
Double refined sugar, COlb. Cochineal.
150 lemons and oranges. 1 ounce nutmeg.
6 dozen sack. ounce cinnamon.
6 dozen old bock. ^ ounce cloves.
6 dozen sherry.
If souffles are sent up in proper time, they are very good eating ;
if not,they are no better than other puddings.

The French make a delicate jelly from the juice of very ripe
grapes, with a much lessproportion of sugar than we employ in
our fruit jellies. Calf’s foot jelly is a monotone ; but the sagacity
of the cook will, in some respect, alter this character, by occa-
sionally giving it plain, at other times with grapes, &c., in it.
Jelly and jam have been prepared from the tender leaf-stalks
of the red rhubarb ; their flavour being equal, if not superior, to
that of currant jelly.
Many years ago Prince Metternich first tasted rhubarb tart
in England, and was so pleased with it that he took care to
send some plants to his Austrian garden. On the occasion of a
large party, in the following year, the Prince ordered rhubarb to
be served up, dressed as it was in England. His cook knew
nothing of English usage, and, selecting the large leaves, served
them up as spinach. The guests made wry faces at this English
dish, and well they might and rhubarb was discarded from that
;
time from the Prince’s table.

Blackberry jelly, made as currant jelly, is commonly used in
the north of England in tarts. A
large spoonful in an apple-tart
not only colours it, but gives it a sort of plum flavour.
Baked pears, of fine crimson colour, and served in cut o-lass
i make an elegant and economical supper dish.
Barberries, without stones, make an elegant preserve;
and the
I other kind, with stones, is pretty garnish.
The white bullace mostly abounds in Norfolk it is excellent:
in tarts, and when preserved by boiling in sugar, it may

be kept
a year. Magnum-bonum plums are only fit lor tarts and
sweet-
meats. Magnum is right enough ; but as to bonum, the word
has seldom been so completely misapplied.— Cobbett.
A plum ol lecent introduction is likely to supersede
some of the
old sorts. It is called the Victoria plum ; it thrives everywhere,

handsome, and good in flavour. It will, there is no
is prolific,
doubt, for centuries to come, maintain its form, and remind
people of the reign of good Queen Victoria. The winesour is
the most valuable of all our plums for preserving, and great
quantities preserved are sent annually from Wakefield and Leeds
to distant parts of England. They will keep one or two years,
and are preferable to those imported from abroad.
Preserves and jellies made in copper vessels are always con-
taminated more or less with copper; and in green preserves,
copper is used intentionally for increasing the colour. The jellies
in bottles, and those sold by confectioners as isinglass and calf’s-
foot jelly, consist principally of gelatine, variously coloured.
Bottled fruits and preserved vegetables are subject to the same

poisonous processes as in pickling. Thus, gooseberries and gages
are greened by copper. Red fruits have their colour heightened
by beet-root, especially if they are damaged, or of inferior quality.
Orange marmalade, when genuine, consists wholly of the
Seville or bitter orange
;
but, for cheapness’ sake, is frequently
adulterated with sweet oranges, apples, and turnips. yellow A
kind of Swede turnip is much used for this purpose ; and partly
decayed and even sucked oranges are used in the spurious mar-
malade.
Richmond “Maids of Honour” are delicious cheese-cakes,
peculiar to Richmond in Surrey, and doubtless named from its
regal days, when Richmond had its royal palace and court. It
is stated that one thousand pounds was once paid to the fortunate
possessor of the receipt for making this cheese-cake, with the
good-will of the business, said to have been originally established
in Hill Street, Richmond. George III. had his tables at Windsor
Castle and Kew regularly supplied with these cheese-cakes.
Things not Generally Known.
Macaroons are many hundred years old ; for we find them men-
tioned as a kind of delicate sweetmeat placed before hermits by
hospitable persons.
The poisonous essential oil of bitter almonds, or “ flavouring,”
as it is called, is now prepared by chemists for the use of dealers
in cordials, to make the genuine “ noyeau and for confectioners
and cooks, to give a fine bitter flavour to custards, cakes, &c.
Many of the baneful effects which have been so frequently attri-
buted to confectionary and the use of copper vessels, have pro-
bably been produced by this poison. Although the poisonous
nature of black-cherry water has long been known, it is still em-
ployed in cookery and confectionary to a dangerous extent.
The lee-well. 97
Ices were introduced into France so early as the middle of the

seventeenth century.
Coffee ice is made by placing a bowl of strong coffee with sugar-
candy and cream in an ice-pail till quite frozen.
Some personsare of opinion that when any article is iced it
and that it ought, therefore, to have an addi-
loses its sweetness,
tional quantity of sugar, which opinion is not correct; for the
diminution of the sweetness arises from the materials not being
properly mixed, when in the freezing-pot. In ices that are badly
mixed, the sugar sinks to the bottom, and they have, necessarily,
a sharp unpleasant taste. Jarrin.
An ice-well should be larger round than it is deep, for it is a
common error to imagine that the deeper the well is the better
on the contrary, we know that the water naturally runs towards
the depth, and drawing towards the walls, penetrates through the
brickwork, and produces a humidity that melts the ice. To
avoid this, a good well should be built with double walls, at the
distance of eighteen inches or two feet apart, and the interval
filled up with ashes, or any other matter of absorbent quality.
Jarrin .*
Bread.
The nourishment in bread has, probably, been much overrated.
Bread is known to constitute the chief food of the French pea-
santry. They are a very temperate race of men, and they live in
a fine dry climate. Yet, the duration of life amongst them is
very short, scarcely exceeding two-thirds of the average duration
of life in England.
New bread is an article of food most difficult of digestion.
^
Everything which by mastication forms a tenacious paste, is in-
digestible, being slowly pervaded by the gastric juice. Even
bread sufficiently old, which it never is till it is quite dry, is fre-
quently oppressive if taken alone and in considerable quantity.
The sailor’s biscuit, or bread toasted very hard, often agrees
better with a weak stomach than bread in other states. Dr.
Philip.
Brown bread is recommended to invalids, for its containing
* Ice is nearly as expensive in England as in much warmer

climates; in
mild seasons, it lias even been imported into this country by shiploads.
In
New York, carts of ice are driven for sale, in small quantities, all over the
city. Iced soda-water, from the fountain, is in almost universal use
and
is sold in almost every street it is deliciously prepared, and frequently
;
flavoured with lemon syrup the price is three-pence for

; a tumbler.
H
98 Hints fur the Table.
bran, which is known to possess a resinous purgative substance •
hut the efficacy of its aperient quality is generally counteracted

by the bread being made too fine.
In Savoy, bread is baked in thin stick -like pieces, about four
feet in length, so as to be literally the staff of life. In France,
bread is often baked in large rings, for the convenience of carry-
ing on the arm.
Salt in bread is very important. Lord Somerville relates that
the ancient laws of Holland sentenced men to be kept on bread
alone, unmixed with salt, as the severest punishment in a moist
climate ; and the effect was horrible.
The French bakers do not put so much salt into their bread as
the English bakers do in fact, French bread is insipid to an
:
English palate, whilst the Frenchman shrinks from the quantity

of salt commonly used by our bakers.
The beau-ideal of Anglo-Indian bread is, that it should be
excessively white, utterly tasteless, and as light as a powder-puff
when toasted, and eaten dry with tea, it is tolerably good ; but
Bishop Heber says, he would as soon bestow butter on an empty
honey-comb, which it marvellously resembles in dryness, brittle-
ness, and apparent absence of all nourishing qualities. It is
lamentable to see fine wheat so perversely turned into mere hair-
powder.
Soda-bread, or bread made with soda instead of yeast, is much
eaten in the United States of America.
Apple-bread, that is, bread made with the addition of the pulp
of apples, is much eaten in France.
Biscuit is digestible from its crispness and shortness, being
readily separable and broken into minute fragments. Abiscuit
eaten about the middle of the day will preserve the tone of the
stomach, which is debilitated by long fasting : it is, therefore, a
good luncheon. The public are greatly in error in supposing
the Abernethy biscuit, sold by most bakers, to have been the fa-
vourite breakfast of the celebrated surgeon of that name ; for this
biscuit was named after Abernethy, the Scotch baker who first
made it.
Macaronimay be termed the Italian’s staff of life : in Italy, it

is the principal food of the lower orders ; but in England it is
only found upon the tables of the rich, owing to the enormous
price at which it is sold ; and which price is justified on the plea
that it cannot be so well manufactured here. The Italian pro-
cess is, however, so simple, that with the finest wheat, which, if
not grown in England, may always be obtained here, as good
macaroni might be made here as in Italy : at least, such is the
opinion of those who have witnessed the manufacture of macaroni
in Italy.
Varieties of Cheese. 99
Cheese and Butter.

The practice of mixing herbs (as sage) in cheese, is as old as
the time of Charlemagne. The mosaic arms upon such cheese
are essentially feudal.
Old cheese, taken in small quantities, after dinner, is an excel-
lent digester, by causing chemical changes among the particles
of food previously eaten, and thus facilitating the dissolution
which necessarily precedes digestion. The fine powder which we
perceive upon a decaying cheese, and which is so highly prized
by the gourmand, proceeds from the grubs of the cheese-mite.
The finest cream cheese is that of Cottenham and Southam, in
Cambridgeshire ;
Banbury, Bath, and York.
To improve a new Stilton cheese, scoop out a few samples of
it, and fill the spaces with samples taken from an old cheese, con-
taming blue mould cover up the cheese for a few weeks, and it
:
will become impregnated with the mould, and have the flavour
of a ripe old one. The new samples, if put into the old cheese,,
will be changed vice-versd.
The cheese of this country, known by the name of “ Trent
Bank,” is a good substitute for Parmesan.
Parmesan cheese is made in the country between Cremona and
Lodi, the richest part of the Milanese. The milk of at least 50
cows is required for one cheese and, as one far
;
-
m
rarely affords
pasture for such a number, it is usual for the farmers to club
together the best kind of cheese is kept for three or four years
:
before it is taken to market.

Schabziger cheese is principally made at Linthal, in the canton
of Glarus. The herb (Kle) gives the flavour and green colour,
and having been dried and powdered, is ground in a mill with
the curd, and then made into shapes, and dried,
Cheese, when stewed with ale, is much easier of digestion than
when toasted. The only post-prandial item at the Beef-Steak
Society is a stew of cheese in a silver dish.
There a popular notion that “butter is bilious;” which
is
means that it increases the secretion of bile to an inconvenient
degree. This may probably be the case with some dyspeptics;
but when used in moderation, butter has certainly not this effect
with the majority of persons. The substitution of orange mar-
malade for butter at breakfast, though strongly recommended by
certain manufacturers, is by no means desirable as so powerful
;
a bitter cannot be taken frequently with advantage.
Butter may be kept cool in hot weather by placing the dish or
pot in cold spring water, in which a little saltpetre is dissolved.
H 2
The butter of Epping and Cambridge is thought to be only

conceitedly in the highest repute; though its superiority is thus
explained. The cows which produce the former
feed during the
summer shrubby pastures and the leaves of the trees and
in ;
numerous wild plants which there abound are supposed to im-

prove the butter. The Cambridgeshire butter is produced from
cows that feed one part of the year on chalky uplands, and the
other on rich meadows or fens ; which alternation is thought
to explain its excellence. The London dealers having washed
and repacked Irish butter, often sell it as Devon and Cambridge
butter.
Dutch butter and cheese have associations of extreme cleanli-
ness ; scrupulous are the makers, that bare hands are
for, so
never allowed to come in contact with the materials.
Malt Liquors.
Theee is a general prejudice against beer in the case of the
bilious and the sedentary; but it appears without foundation.
Bilious people are such as have weak stomachs and impaired di-
gestion, and those who are sedentary are nearly in these respects
always in a similar state. Now, beer does not tend to weaken
sucb stomachs, to become acescent (sour), or otherwise to dis-
agree with them on the contrary, it will be found, in tbe majority
:
of cases, that beer agrees with them much better than wine, since
it is far less disposed to acescence, better fitted to act as a sto-
machic, and, therefore, to invigorate both the digestive organs
and the constitution at large. Of course, sound home-brewed
beer of a moderate strength is here referred to no man can
:
answer for the effects of the stuff usuall}’ sold as beer, and strong
ale is always difficult of digestion.
Lord Bacon attributes anti-consumptive virtues to ale ; with-
out crediting them, Dr. Hodgkin asserts, from well proved expe-
rience, that the invalid who has been reduced almost to extremity
by severe or lingering illness, finds in well-apportioned draughts
of sound beer one of the most important helps to his recovery of
health, strength, and spirits.
In beer, the nutritive matters derived from the grain vary
from four to eight per cent., so that beer is food as well as drink.
A little beef eaten with it makes up the deficiency in gluten as
compared with milk, so that beef, beer, and bread, our character-
istic English diet, are most philosophically put together to sus-
tain and to stimulate the bodily powers.
Strong ales have about the same strength and influence as hock,
and the light French wines but they contain, in addition, and
;
as distinguishing them from the wines, the nutritive matters of

Malt Tiquors. 101
the extract derived from the grain (from four to eight per cent.),
and the bitter of the hop.
Hops possess a strong narcotic principle, so that the purest
beer produces an effect upon the brain, if taken in considerable
quantity. The sleepiness which follows its use shows this, as well
as the fate of those who are addicted to it. In seven cases out
of ten, malt-liquor drunkards die of apoplexy or palsy.
A very moderate use, during dinner, of a beer not containing
much nutritious matter, or too much hop, is allowable to most
persons ; but it should be thoroughly fermented or purified, and
not be hard or stale.
In one of Lord Normanby’s novels, a gallant attempt is made
“ Is not that a fashionable
to disabuse the public as to beer :
novelist opposite p” says an exquisite ; “ Well, I’ll astonish the
fellow.; —here, bring me a glass of table-beer.”
Belgium has, for ages, been celebrated for its beer the finest
;
is brewed at Louvain, where 200,000 casks are made annually,

and a great deal exported.
Beer is probably more drunk in Bavaria than in any other
country. The late king was so fond of this drink, as to be per-
sonally acquainted with the interior of every beer-shop in his
capital ; and when you see a Bavarian peasant not working, you
are sure to find him with a beer-can in his hand. Yet, there is
no sign of poverty throughout the country.
Nothing can be more generally wholesome than good table-
beer ; and it is to be lamented that table-beer is so rarely met
with in the perfection of which it is capable. Sydenham, in his
last treatise, writes, “ a draught of small beer is to me instead of
a supper, and I take another draught when I am in bed, and
about to compose myself to sleep.”
Porter is nominally cheaper when bought by the pint from the
publican, than when obtained by the eighteen-gallon cask from
the brewer ; a fact which proves the adulteration of the retailer.
A familiar instance of the good effect of “ the voyage ” on fer-
mented liquors, is observable in the London porter drank in
the Isle of Wight, which is materially benefited by the short
sea-carriage.
The excellence of the Burton ale proves to be the result of the
water of which it is manufactured flowing over a limestone rock.
In the last century, this fact was ingeniously explained by Dr.
Darwin, upon the supposition that some of the saccharine matter
in the malt combined with the calcareous earth in the water, and
formed a sort of mineral sugar, which, like true sugar, is con-
vertible into spirit.
Although cwrr-dda, or Welsh ale, is very mild, it is very
strong, and a Welshman is generally as proud as he is fond of it.
In the neighbouring county of Gloucester, however, a glass of

good mild ale is sought for in vain. Nimrod.
BITTER BEER.
None of the substances which have been employed or recom-
mended to replace or supplant the use of the hop approach it in
imparting those peculiar properties which have given the English
bitter beer of the present day its high reputation. The love of
beer and hops has been planted by Englishmen in America. It
has accompanied them to their new empires in Australia, New
Zealand, and the Cape. In the East, their home-taste remains
unquenched, and the pale ale of England follows them to re-
motest India. F. W. Johnston.
In the year 1850, it was asserted by M. Payen, that strychnine
was commonly employed by brewers in the manufacture of
“ bitter beer,” or “ pale ale when the chief brewing firm of
England, Messrs. Allsopp and Sons publicly denied, in the most
unequivocal terms, that strychnine, or any other deleterious sub-
stance, was ever employed by them in the manufacture of their
beer.* And, on forty samples of their ales being examined by the
“ Analytical Sanitary Commission,” they were all found to consist
of the products of malt and hops, and the constituents of pure
spring-water, no other ingredient of any kind being discovered,
either organic or inorganic. Subsequently, M. Payen explained,
acknowledging that his statement was “ far from being based upon
ascertained facts.” “These bitter beers,” says the Lancet, “differ
from all other preparations of malt, in containing a smaller
amount of extractive matter, thus being less viscid and saccharine,
and consequently more easy of digestion ; they resemble, indeed,
from their lightness, a wine of malt rather than an ordinary fer-
mented infusion, and it is very satisfactory to find that a beverage
of such general consumption is entirely free from every kind of
impurity.”
CIDER AND PERRY.
Ciders contain little extractive, or solid nutritious matter. No
bitter or narcotic ingredient has been added to them. They
contain, on an average, about nine per cent, of alcohol — thus,
resembling in strength the common hock, the weaker cham-
pagnes, and our stronger English ales.
In Normandy not less than 5000 differently-named varieties
of the acid or bitter apple are known, and grown for the manu-
facture of cider. Some of these varieties are distinguished by
as many as eighteen different names.
* Messrs Allsopp commenced building, in 1858, the largest brewery in

the world, for brewing Pale Ale only.
The Dessert. 103
To render cider line and mellow, suspend two or three pairs of

calves’ feet, either raw or boiled, in each hogshead, through the
bunghole. This mellowness is at present badly imitated by the
use of brimstone, which gives an unpleasant smatch to the cider.
Or, a pint of mustard-seed put into each hogshead will prevent
the cider becoming hard, and render one racking sufficient.
Great quantities of perry are made in Herefordshire, for
mixing with new port wine. The Teinton squash pear produces
perry of the very highest quality, something approaching in
colour and briskness to champagne, for which samples of it have
been sold.
The Dessert.
Who, enjoying the rich productions of our present state of horti-
culture, can recur without wonder to the tables of our ancestors ?
They knew absolutely nothing of vegetables in a culinary sense.
’Tis curious to reflect, that at the vast baronial feasts, in the days
of the Plantagenets and Tudors, where we read of such onslaught
of beeves, muttons, hogs, fowls, and fish, the courtly knights and
—
beauteous dames had no other vegetable save bread not even a
potato ?
They carved at the meal with their gloves of steel,
Ana drank the red wine through the helmet barr’d.
And, when the was drawn, they had scarce an apple to give
cloth
zest to their wine. We
read of roasted crabs and, mayhap, they
;
—
had baked acorns and pignuts Caliban’s dainties. Now, we have
wholesome vegetables almost for nothing, and, thanks to Mr.
Knight, pine-apples for a trifle. Dovaston.
Forced fruits, which are obtained at a period when there is
little light, cannot be compared with those which are matured in
the full blaze of a summer’s sun hence, melons grown in frames
;
covered with mats, and carefully excluded from the influence of

that solar light which is indispensable to them, have, whatever
may be their external beauty, none of that luscious flavour
which the melon, when well cultivated, possesses in so eminent a
degree. Lindley.
The advantage of allowing ripe fruit to remain on the trees is
not merely production late in the season ; for, if ripe goose-
its
berries or currants be permitted to hang on the bush, additional
saccharine matter seems to be elaborated, watery particles
evaporate, and the fruit becomes much sweeter. In the south of
Italy, bunches of grapes are hung from the ceiling of rooms, and
in out-sheds ; when the taste acquired is sweeter than before, and
the flavour of the raisin predominates.
Fruits of all kinds may be dried and kept a year or two, with-
104 Hints for the Talle.
out losing their flavour, by wiping them and putting them into
a cool brick oven occasionally while drying, grate a little sugar
:
over them.
THE PINE-APPLE. —MELON. — GEAPES.

Since “ Pine-apples a penny a slice ” was added to the cries of
London, in 1844, great improvement has been made in the culture
of the Pines in Eleuthera, one of the Bahamas, and Nassau in
New Providence, whence this now economical luxury was first
shipped. A —
new mode of packing each pine being carefully
inclosed within its own leaves —causes the fruit to arrive iu much
liner condition than heretofore. The pine-plants in the West
Indies bear for only three years ; the last year’s growth are sent
on the trees to England. Eleuthera and Governor Island are
equally celebrated for their pines and their turtles. At the
beginning of the last century, pine-apples were very rare even at
the tables of our nobility ; but in no country of the world has
their culture been brought to such high perfection as in England.
At the coronation banquet of George IV. was a pine weighing 10
pounds ; and nine-and-twenty years later, there were at a banquet
at York, two “ Royal Providence” pines, each weighing nearly
15 lbs.
Of pine-apples, the new and curious sorts are generally inferior
in flavour to the old kinds ; as the queen, oval-shaped, and of gold
colour, and the black Antigua, with pale yellow flesh.
In preparing to serve a pine-apple, first remove the crown, by
placing round it a napkin, and twisting it out, and then cut the
fruit with the pine-knife into horizontal slices ; these being served,
the scales and rind are pared off by the guest.
Pine-apples may be kept a considerable time by twisting off
their crowns, which are generally suffered to remain and live
upon the fruit, till they have sucked out nearly all the goodness.
Pine-apples at Singapore (says Lord Jocelyn), although not
equal to those of English hot-house growth, bear no comparison,
from their superior flavour, with the same fruit of either East or
West Indian growth. Here they are in such abundance that
captains of ships frequently purchase them by cartloads to scour
their decks ; which, from the acidity they possess, they have the
property of whitening. We may add that the acridity of some
of the early imported economical pines had a similar effect upon
the mouths of the eaters.
Of melons, the darkest outside, deepest tint in the flesh, and
moderate have the highest flavour ; the netted and knobbed
size,
kinds are rich, sweet, and juicy. The winter melons should be
hung up in nets in a dry room.
Melons, according to Lieutenant Bumes, are finer in Bokhara
Pines. —Melons. — Grapes. 105
than in any other part of the world. They are very large, and
no fruit can be more luscious. The melons of India, Cabool, and
Persia, bear no comparison with them and even the celebrated
;
fruit from Ispahan itself. The water-melons of Bokhara are

good, and attain an enormous bulk ; twenty persons may partake
of one ; and two of them, it is said, sometimes form a load for a
donkey.
A West Indian water-melon, according to Monk Lewis, has
“
been much overrated he says, I never met with a worse article
:
in my life ; the pulp is of a faint greenish yellow, stained here

and there with spots of moist red, so that it looks exactly as if
the servant in slicing it, had cut his finger, and suffered it to
bleed over it. Then the seeds being of a dark purple, present the
happiest imitation of clotted gore; and, altogether, (prejudiced
as I was by its appearance,) when I had put a single bit into my
mouth, it had such a kind of Shylocky taste of raw flesh about it
(not that I recollect ever having eaten a bit of raw flesh itself),
that I sent away my plate, and was perfectly satisfied as to the
merit of the fruit.”
Grapes should bear a blooming freshness when the stalks are
:
dry, the fruit is mostly stale. The following are choice varieties
black Damascus, Lisbon, and Frontignac, with round berries;
black Muscadine and Hamburgh, with long berries ; Frontignac
and sweet-water, with round white berries Muscats, with long
;
white berries ; red Hamburgh and Muscat.

Grapes may be freshened by cutting the stalk of each bunch,
and placing it in wine, as flowers are placed in water. The bloom
of plums, grapes, cucumbers, or other fruit, may be restored by
lightly dusting over them calcined magnesia.
THE STEAWBEEEY. — —
EASPBEEEY. CHEEEIES, ETC.
The Bohemian strawberry, the hautbois, was long a
old
favourite, and men still keep up the cry in London of “ Fine
hautbois,” though very few go into the market. The arrival of
the old scarlet strawberry from America was an era in strawberry
culture. This was succeeded by the Carolina. Our experimen-
talists began the task of improvement, and with very great suc-
cess. Strawberries are now triple the size they were, are more
prolific, better in flavour, and the period of production is prolonged
by the observing of early and late sorts.
To improve the flavour of strawberries, squeeze each gently
with a spoon, and the advantage will be similar to that of boiling
the potato. Strawberries can be had in perfection only in dry
weather, for a very slight shower will render this fruit compara-
tively flavourless.
Raspberries should be eaten as soon after they are gathered as
possible; since they losemuch of their flavour in a few hours.

Mulberries should also be eaten only when fresh gathered.
The finest dessert cherries are the Mayduke, Bigarreau, white-
heart Waterloo, and black-heart. Dried cherries are a very
useful article for the dessert in winter and spring. They are
gathered when ripe, kept free from bruises, and dried upon
earthenware dishes in a very cool oven.
Large gooseberries have mostly less flavour than the smaller
kinds. The yellow gooseberries have generally a much richer and
more vinous flavour than the white. The Warrington red is
perhaps the best dessert fruit.
The white Dutch currants, with yellow fruit, are by far the
sweetest and are preferable for dessert.
PLUMS.
Plumsripen nearly throughout six months in the year among :
the fine dessert varieties are the green-gage, violette, early

Orleans, and Morocco; Cox’s plum, the Imperatrice, oblong,
with thick bloom ; the nectarine, purple gage, and violet diaper.
A green-gage has a yellowish-green skin with a purplish
fine
tint,marbled with russety, muddy red the flesh is very melting,
;
and the juice abundant, sugary, and of delicious flavour. The

cherry plum, like the Bigarreau cherry, is very handsome in the
dessert.
Cox’s plum has been kept twelve months, by wrapping it in
soft paper, and storing it in a dry room.
Green-gages, when grown upon a healthy standard, though not
so large, are much richer than when they are produced against a
wall.
The Brignole plum is Brignole, a town of France,
named from
famous for its prunes, of which among the best sorts.
this ranks
Prunes, on the Continent, are stewed, and served as a winter
dessert-dish ; but in this country they are mostly used in medi-
cine. They are prepared in France chiefly from the St. Catharine
plum ; and in Portugal, from a plum which is named from the
village of Guimarens, where they are principally dried. They
contain so large a quantity of sugar, that brandy is distilled from
them when fermented and it has even been proposed to manu-
;
facture sugar from them.
PEACH, ETC.
Peaches of the best kind have the flesh firm, the skin thin, of
a deep or bright red colour next the sun, and of a yellowish-green
next the wall the pulp should be yellowish, highly flavoured,
;
and juicy, and the stone small. Nectarines should be chosen by

the same rule as peaches. The peach-apricot is finest and largest
but the old Moor Park apricot is much prized.
The Dessert. 107
The leaves of peach, nectarine, and apricot trees, as well as the

kernels of the fruit, give a noyeau flavour by infusion in water,
or in spirits ; but their use is dangerous.
APPLES. — PEAKS, ETC.
Apples for the table should have afine juicy pulp, high flavour,
regular form, and beautiful colouring ;
as, the golden reinette,
with a fine aromatic, sub-acid flavour; the old nonpareil, of
agreeable briskness ; and the foreman’s-crew, combining the
excellence of the old golden pippin and nonpareil.
The Golden Pippin has been considered by some of our modern
writers on pomology to be in a state of decay, its fruit of inferior
quality in comparison with that of former times, and its exis-
tence near its termination. Dr. Lindley, in his G-uide to the
Orchard and Kitchen Garden , says :
“ I cannot for a moment agree with such an opinion, because wo have

facts annually before our eyes completely at variance with such an asser-
tion. Any person visiting Covent Garden or the Borough markets during
the fruit season, and indeed any other large market in the southern or
midland counties of England, will find specimens of fruit as perfect and
as fine as any which have been either figured or described. In favourable
situations, in many parts of the country, instead of the trees being in a
state of rapid decay, they may be found of unusually large size, perfectly
healthy, and their crops abundant the fruit perfect in form, beautiful in
;
colour, and excellent in quality.
Medlars are not good till they are rotten-ripe the Dutch:
apple-shape is the largest and handsomest ; but the Nottingham

is of superior quality.
Biffins are the Norfolk beauffin apples. Many thousands are
dried by the bakers in Norwich annually, and sent in boxes to
all parts of the country.
Pears for dessert should have a sugary, aromatic juice, and

soft melting pulp ; as in the beurree, or butter pears. Among
the summer-kinds are the Jargonelle and Williams’s Bonclii'6-
tienne autumn, bergamot, Angouleme, Gansel bergamot, Marie
;
Louise, and Napoleon; winter, Chaumontelle, Colmar, Crasanne,

and swan’s egg.
Chaumontelle pears are so fine in Jersey as to sell there for
five guineas the hundred, each pear weighing about one pound.
Two, which were exhibited at the Jersey Horticultural Society,
in 1835, and sent as a present to William IV., weighed 96 oz.,
or 6 lb. each. Some of the baking pears attain a vast size.
Pears may be kept by tipping their stalks with sealing-wax.
FILBEKTS, WALNUTS, CHESTNUTS.

Filberts with red skins have a finer flavour than those with
white. The “ Spanish” nuts of the shops are fresh from Spain
the “ Barcelona” being another kind, kiln-dried. Old nuts of all
kinds are mostly fumigated with sulphur, and thus made to

resemble externally those of the current season.
Filberts are thus preserved in Turkey :
—
When quite ripe,
remove the husks, and rub the nuts dry with a coarse cloth
sprinkle a little salt in a stone jar, then place a layer of filberts,
adding a small quantity of salt between each layer tie the jar;
over, keep it in a dry place, and in six months the filberts may
be easily peeled.
If walnuts be shrivelled, soak them in milk and water for
about eight hours before serving them, and they will become
plump, and peel easily.
Chestnuts are heavy, and difficult of digestion. But their
digestibility is much
increased by the perfectness with which they
are roasted and masticated. Roasted chestnuts should be served
very hot, in a folded napkin. Chestnuts are sold at the corners
of every street in Florence, in seven different forms raw, cooked,
:
and hot, both roasted and boiled ; dried by heat (the skins being
taken off), in which state they have a much sweeter and superior
flavour ; made into bread, a stiff sort of pudding, and into thin
cakes, like pancakes. By the confectioners of Paris they are
sold peeled, baked, and iced with sugar, as “ Marrons glacis."
PIGS AND DATES.

The even in a perfectly dry state, is about as nutritious as
fig,
rice. In the moist state, as imported, the fig will go considerably
further in feeding and fattening than an equal weight ofwheaten
bread. J. F. W. Jolmston.
Dates were formerly little esteemed in England, as they were

dry and old when imported, in which condition they would scarcely
be used in the countries where they grow. The best dates are,
however, firm, soft and fleshy, and when fresh, possess a delicious
fragrance and perfume ; they are also sugary, and very nourish-
ing. The Arabs sajr that a good housewife will daily furnish
her lord, for a month, a dish of dates differently dressed. This
test of domestic economy reminds one of a clever man, who chose
his wife by her making an apple-pudding.
Brazil nuts are very delicious when fresh ; but, unfortunately,

they are apt to become rancid, on account of the great quantity
of oil which they contain, which is well suited for lamps.
THE ORANGE.
The orange is a magnificent fruit. In the Azores (as in St.
Michael), it requires but seven years to bring an orange planta-
tion to good bearing and each tree, a few years after arriving
;
Oranges. — Olives. 109
at full growth, will annually, upon an average, produce from

12,000 to 16,000 oranges ; indeed, 26,000 have been gathered.
In its native country, a single orange, when cut, will fill a deep
dessert plate with its juice.
There is a species of epicurism peculiar to the Azores, with
respect to oranges, particularly observed by the higher classes,
who only eat that side which has been exposed to the sun, and
is, of course, in its fresh state, easily distinguishable by the tint
—a refinement we are unable to imitate, the colour being rendered
uniform by age.
The clove, or mandarin, with a loose skin, is the most delicate
orange.
Oranges in Jamaica, for richness of flavour and for sweetness,
eannot be surpassed. Indeed, a bitter or sour orange is rarely
to be met with there.
Oranges grown in England should be gathered just as the
fruit begins to colour; they should then be kept in a warm room
for about a fortnight before they are sent to table, by which
means the peel will be very soft, and the juice more delicious.
The shaddock is a handsome, though not a delicious, addition
to our dessert the flavour of its juice being a sweetish acid, in-
;
termediate between that of the orange and the lemon, with

rather a bitter taste.
From Italy is brought a sweet lemon, with the colour and
shape of an orange, except that at the stalk end is a depression,
and on this a prominence, as in the lemon ; but within it has
the pale pulp of the lemon, and sweet juice.
At Naples, in the month of March, may be bought several
varieties of grapes, keptthrough the winter, not much shrivelled,
and free from mouldiness. Oranges are so cheap, as to allow the
poorest of the poor to enjoy (what Dr. Johnson complained he
never had of peaches but once) their fill of them, and that daily
the best being sold at the rate of ten for an English penny.
OLIVES.
Olives are a green, unripe kind of plum, deprived of part of
their bitterness by soaking them in water, and then preserving
them in an aromatised solution of salt. The most common
varieties are the small French and the large Spanish Olive.
Olives a, la picholine (i.c. of the smallest kind,) have been soaked
in a solution of lime or alkali.
There is etiquette in eating olives. Cardinal Eichelieu is
said to have detected an adventurer, who was passing himself off
as a nobleman, by his helping himself to olives with a fork;
it being comme ilfaut to use the fingers for that purpose.
Wines.
Bukke’s reasons why the great and rich should have their
share of wine, are amusing. He says “ They are among the
:
unhappy ; they feel personal pain and domestic sorrow ; they

pay their full contingent to the contributions levied on mortality
in these matters ; therefore, they require this sovereign balm.”
“ Some charitable dole,” adds he, “ is wanting to these, our
often very unhappy brethren to fill the gloomy void that
,
reigns in minds which have nothing on earth to hope or fear;

something to relieve the killing languor and over-laboured lassi-
tude of those who have nothing to do.”
Dr. Bence Jones has determined, by means of the alcoholometer
of M. Geisler of Bonn, the strength of different wines thus :
Port varied from 20 7 per cent, to 23'2 per cent, b} measure.

Sherry 16-4 99
24-7 99
39
Madeira 99
19-0 99
19-7 99
Marsala 99
190 99 211 99
Claret jf
91 99
11-1 99
Burgundy 39
101 99
13-2 99
Ithiric wine 99
9-5 99
13-0 39
Moselle 99
8-7 99
94 99
Champagne 14-1 99
14-8 99
93
Brandy 99
50-4 99
53'8 99
Bum 99
72-0 99
77-1 99
Geneva 39
49-4 99
Whisky 99
69-3 99
Cider 54 -
99
7-5 99
99
Bitter Ale 99
66 99
123 99
Porter 39
65 99 70 39
Stout 6-5 99
7-9 99
99
The Burgundy and Claret have less alcohol than was found by
Mr. Brande forty years ago, in the wines he examined. The
sherry is now stronger the port is not so strong the Marsala is
; ;
weaker the Rhine wine is the same strength ; the brandy is as

;
strong as formerly ; the rum is nearly half as strong again ; the

porter is stronger, and the stout rather stronger than formerly.
Young wine is red and bright at first, owing to the presence
of phosphoric and other acids. As these acids become subdued,
the colour is subdued as well, until all that raw brightness, in-
dicative of immaturity, is mellowed and ripened into the rich,
tawny hue— that mixture of glowing red and mellow brown,
with the golden light striking through, which every one takes
as his surest guide in his choice of port and red wines. Alas for
his innocence Even !this may be counterfeited, and the tell-
tale colour of immature wines be artificially concealed and meta-

Bouquet and Crust of Wine. Ill
morphosed into the tawniest hue that ever graced the table of
an epicure.
The error of preferring wines of great age has at length been
discovered, and the excellence of the vintage has proved to be of
more consequence than the number of years. Provided the
vintage has been a good one, no port-wine drinker wishes his
to have exceeded its eighth year ;
so that the lately esteemed
“
epithet old ” has lost its charm here. Old hock has also given
way to young hock, that is of a fine season. The same may be
said of claret and well, indeed, for unless clarets be the growth
;
of some peculiarly good season, they will not keep till old.
Nimrod.
The bouquet of wine depends upon the proportion which they
contain of cenantldc ether, which has a sharp disagreeable taste,
and has so powerful an odour of wine as to be almost intoxicating.
It does not exist in the juice of the grape, but is produced during
the fermentation, and increases in quantity by keeping, as the
odour of old wines is stronger than that of new wines. So
powerful is the odour of this substance, however, that few wines
contain more than one forty-thousandth part of their bulk of it.
Yet it is always present, can always be recognised by its smell,
and is one of the general characteristics of all grape wines.
The crust of -wine is thus explained Tartaric acid exists in
:
the juice of the grape in combination with potents, forming bi-

tartrate of potash, or cream of tartar. When the fermented
juice is left at rest, this bi-tartrate gradually separates from the
liquor, and deposits itself as a crust, or tartar, on the sides of
the casks and bottles. Hence, by long keeping, good wines be-
come less acid, and every year added to their age increases
in proportion their marketable value. In regard to acidity,
our common wines arrange themselves in the following order.
Sherry is the least acid-, port comes next; then champagne,
claret, Madeira, Burgundy, and Rhine wines Moselle is most
;
acid.
A damp cellar aids the maturation of wine. Mrs. Bray relates,
that in a wet on the banks of the Cowsick, in Devonshire,
cellar,
was wine “which all who tasted declared to be the finest-
flavoured they had ever drunk in England, and this flavour (what-
ever wine-merchants may think of the fact), was considered to be
the effect of the atmosphere, the bottles being always covered with
moisture, which those who partook of the contents called Dart-
moor dew.” A factitious mode of bringing forward bottled
port wine, is to throw over it occasionally cold water but, after
;
the wine has become ripe, it must be drunk speedily, else it will
soon become unfit for the table.
If newly-bottled wine be exposed to the sun, it will begin shortly

to deposit, and improve in flavour ; and even the rawest wine of
this kind, by placing the bottle in water, and boiling it, may be
made, in the course of a day, to assume the quality which it
would have had after many years keeping. In the United States,
Madeira is commonly boiled, and the same treatment is applied
to port. In Spain, brown sherry undergoes the same process.
Bitter almonds, was thought by the Romans, checked intoxi-
it
cation ; and there somewhere an anecdote about the physician
is
of the Emperor Tiberius, who, if he had eaten his usual quantity

of this fruit, would drink three bottles of strong wine, but
otherwise easily succumbed.
The practice of eating cheese to bring out the flavour of wine
was a Roman custom ;
and there
evidence of plates of cheese
is
being provided for the tasters at sales of wine in old Rome, just
as is done in England at the present day.
The pipe of wine measure varies according to the description
of wine. The pipe of port contains 130 gallons, of sherry 130,
of Lisbon and Bucellas 140, of Madeira 110, and of Yidonia 120.
The pipe of port, it should be observed, is seldom accurately 130
gallons, and it is not unusual to charge what the vessel actually
contains.
As the first-rate growths of wines are confined to a small num-
ber of vineyards, and these often of very limited extent, the
supply of such wines can never equal the demand. Every one
who can afford the luxury, is naturally desirous to stock his
cellar with those of the choicest quality ; he orders no others
and the manufacturer and wine-dealer are thus induced to send
into the market a quantity of second-rate and ordinary kinds,
under the names of the fine wines, which they are unable to
furnish. In this way, great confusion and misunderstanding
have arisen in those countries where they are but little known,
with respect to the true characters of many wines of the greatest
name. Dr. Henderson's History of Wines.
Wines should vary with the seasons light wines: are best in
summer ;
generous wines are preferred. White wine
in winter,
is drunk with white meats, and red with brown meats. Light
wines are suitable to light dishes, and stronger wines to more
substantial dishes. In summer, wine and water, cooled by a
piece of ice being put into it, is a luxury.
Light dry wines, such as hock, claret, Burgundy, Rhenish, and

Hermitage, are, generally speaking, more salubrious than the
stronger varieties, as port, sherry, or Madeira. Claret, in par-
ticular, is the most wholesome wine known : champagne, except
Champagnes. 113
in cases of weak digestion, is one of the safest wines that can he

drunk. Its intoxicating effects are rapid, but exceedingly tran-
sient, and depend partly upon the carbonic acid, which is evolved
from it, and partly upon the alcohol, which is suspended in this
gas, being applied rapidly and extensively to a large surface of
the stomach. Macnish.
CHAMPAGNES.
Champagne was pronounced by a verdict of the faculty of Paris,
in 1778, to be the finest of all wines. The first quality may be
kept from ten to twenty years in a temperature of 54 degrees
Fahrenheit, which is uniformly that maintained in the vaults of
M. Moet, at Epernay.
In travelling through the great plain of Champagne, the tra-
veller sees nothing that serves to connect that province with the-
wines of which he has heard so much. Plains, unless in hot
countries, produce only indifferent wine.
Coloured champagne, which is commonly thought superior, is
made after the white, which is, therefore, the most pure. The-
former kinds are manufactured chiefly for the British market.
The idea that Champagne is apt to occasion gout, seems to be
contradicted by the infrequency of that disorder in the province
where it is made: but, it is generally admitted to be prejudicial
to those habits in which that disorder is already formed, espe-
cially if it has originated from addiction to strong liquors.
Henderson.
The prevalent notion that a glass of champagne cannot be too
quickly swallowed, is erroneous ; and it is no bad test of the
quality of champagne to have it exposed, for some hours, in a
wine-glass, when, if originally of the highest order, it will be
found to have lost its carbonic acid, but entirely to retain its body
and flavour, which had before been concealed by its effervescence.
Champagne should, therefore, not be drunk till this active effer-
vescence is over, by those who would relish the above character-
istic quality. JBrande.
Still champagne is often mistaken by its qualities it is a
:
strong cheating wine, though commonly thought to be weak and

cooling, and it is very deceitful in these respects to the palate.
When of superior quality, it has the singular aromatic flavour of
champagne in an eminent degree ; a flavour which also exists, but
is concealed by carbonic acid, in the sparkling wine.
Champagne, said Curran, makes a runaway rap at a man’s
head. It should never be stinted, for nothing contributes more
to the success of a dinner. One great advantage is, that the
ladies are commonly tempted to take an extra glass or two.
Champagne is seldom drunk pure in England ; the Russians
i
prefer it in its native state ; but for the British market, to every
forty gallons of wine from five to ten gallons of brandy is added.
—
The sweetening is artificial white sugar from the Isle of Bourbon,
costing, in casks, ninepence per pound. Mr. Musgrave describes
unsweetened champagne as “ like Sauterne mixed with worm-
wood.” The finest quality on the spot is sold at four shillings a
bottle, the commonest, or pink champagne, at two shillings and
ninepence. It is calculated that a dozen of the finest Rheims
growth could not be delivered in London at a price less than sixty-
eight shillings the dozen.
Champagne is not fit to be thus delivered up before the May
of the second year ; so that a bottle of frothy wine cannot be
drunk till from eighteen to twenty months. Better the thirtieth
month after it has quitted the parent vine. This, with the trouble,
the loss, and the cellar-rent, make it impossible that genuine,
properly-prepared champagne should be otherwise than costly.
Champagne, therefore, is the wine of the wealthy. Wine-mer-
chants on the spot cannot let you have passable Sillery for less
than two francs and a-half per bottle.
At Epernay dwelt M. Moet and Madame Clicquot, sovereigns of
Champagne. M. Moet* had two palaces, on opposite sides of the
same street, and in one of these he lodged Napoleon on the eve
of the battle of Montmirail. In the other he dwelt himself. Not
far off stands the rival castle of Madame Clicquot, f She possessed,
it is said, fourfold the wealth of M. Moet, and her four daughters
are all married to opulent men. M. Moet employed two hundred
workpeople, kept a stock of three million bottles of wine, besides
seven vast tuns, and stored with his champagne a labyrinth of
well-ventilated vaults, some of winch are fifty feet below the
surface of the ground. Every pint and a half of Champagne wine
undergoes, before it finds its way to the table, not less than a
hundred and fifty several processes of manipulation.
St. Peray is a pleasant wholesome effervescing wine ; and is
remarkable for its natural unbrandied strength.
CLAEETS.
St. Estiphe, St. Julien, Bouillac, and La Rose, are light,
agreeable, aromatic wines, gently exhilarating. Chateau-Margaux
has the perfume of the violet, and a rich ruby colour. Haut
Brion has a powerful bouquet resembling a mixture of violets
* M. Moet, whose name is so well-known to all drinkers of champagne,

more or less genuine, died a few days since, aged 80. Times, Sept. 0, 1841.
f From the fondness of the King of Prussia for this lady’s Champagne,
his majesty received the sobriquet of King Clicquot.
Claret. — Burgundy. 115
and raspberries. Latour and Lafitte, the former the stronger

wine, are of dark violet colour, and possess a fine violet perfume
and taste.
Claret is chiefly shipped at Bordeaux, and is the produce of
the neighbouring country. The first growths, those ot Chateau-
Margaux, Lafitte, Latour, and Haut Brion, are from the dis-
trict of Medoc, on the left bank of the river Garonne, below the
city.
None of the very best quality of the red wines the Borde-
'
lais (country round Bordeaux), known in England as claret, is

exported pure a bottle of the best Chateau-Margaux, or Haut
:
Brion, being a rarity hardly to be procured in Bordeaux itself, at

the rate of six or seven francs. For export, the secondary growths
at Medoc are mingled with the rough Palus.
The Bordelais are the safest wines for daily use, as they are
among the most perfect of the light wines, and do not easily
excite intoxication. They have been accused of producing the
gout, but without reason. Persons who drench themselves with
madeira, port, &c., and indulge in occasional debauches of claret,
may, indeed, be visited in that way ; because a transition from
the strong, brandied wines to the lighter is always followed by
a derangement of the digestive organs.
Claret was formerly drunk in great quantities in Edinburgh ;
and was cheap, from its being admitted into the port of Leith on
Spanish instead of French duties, as at present.
The unraixed, unadulterated Bordeaux wines, not many re-
moves from that known throughout France as vin ordinaire,
vin du pays, or the common wine of the country, are gradually
becoming favourites in England. The palate of an Englishman,
however, is not immediately reconciled to this simple beverage
but, if a man wishes to get up in the morning with a clean
tongue and a clear head, to avoid disease, and yet to enjoy his
glass, let him drink the pure Bordeaux wine of la belle France.
If brought to table cool, in the summer, it is a most refreshing
beverage, and strong enough for any one who wishes to retain
his reason. The price in France does not exceed two francs the
bottle. Nimrod, in Fraser’s Magazine.
BURGUNDY
Is stronger than the ordinary clarets, possesses a powerful aroma,
and a delicious and lasting flavour ; but, as it arrives in England, it
is usually brandied, which is most injurious to its flavour and
smell. So delicate is Burgundy, that it is said that if two wines
of superior qualities are mixed together, the bouquet and taste
are entirely changed.
The year 1858 proved for Burgundy one of the finest of the
i 2
present century. It was as abundant as 1831 superior to that

:
year in fulness and flavour, and can only find its equal in 1811,
known by the name of the “ Comet-year.” We
had thus a
second comet-year, quite as abundant. Observations made with
the greatest care proved that the grape arrived at complete ma-
turity, and exempt from any kind of malady, fermented with the
most satisfactory rapidity ; that the gleuconometer (the instru-
ment which gives the strength of the juice when first pressed)
marked 13^, while in ordinary years it does not exceed 11 or 12;
that the colour was beautiful, and the bouquet already deve-
loped. The first growths have a rare degree of delicacy and
homogeneity, and the good ordinary wines, and even the most
common, deserve to be classified this year in a higher rank than
is ordinarily assigned to them. The Cote-d’Or will again
acquire all the prestige attached to its name, and, with the wines
of 1858, must satisfy the most difficult tastes, and defy all com-
petition.
Mr. Musgrave, in his observations made in Burgundy, or the
“ When a regiment on march gains
Cote-d’Or, says : first sight of
the Clos Yougeot, the officer in command gives orders to present

arms,” to acknowledge the supremacy of the grape. “ The
Chambertin estate comprises less than twenty acres —
Golden
Fields or Golden Slopes, as the people style them. Near it lies
the Clos Napoleon. The pressoir, the crushing machinery
three hundred years old, is a ponderous structure that exhibits
no indications of decay; its component parts have been but
slightly altered since the main post —
the entire stem of a fine
—
oak supporting the screw apparatus, was sunk twenty feet deep
into the ground, before Louis XIV. was born But the richest
!
wine does not flow from this machine ; it is the fruit of the first
crush, the bursting of the grapes under their own pressure when
heaped in a vat, and left for hours to distil into the trough be-
neath. Little of this splendid wine reaches England ; it is fre-
quently stolen on the way, almost always adulterated.
The Roussillon wines require age : and, if originally of fine
qualitv, they are not in perfection unless they have been ten or
twelve years in bottle.
Sauterne has not quite so much strength as Barsac ; but it is
very fine and mellow. Barsac is distinguished by its strength
and flavour in good years, and is generally lively and sparkling,
and very mellow. Barsac and oysters are a first-rate luncheon.
Both these wines keep well some Sauterne that dates from the
:
middle of the last century, is said to be in existence.
Vin-de-Bar, which grows at Bar-le-Duc, is a wine not much

known in England, but is in considerable estimation in France.
German Wines. 117
It is rose-coloured, pleasant in flavour, and sells in its native

country at about 8 sous per bottle.
The favourite white wine called Chablis is grown at the small
village of Chablis, about 100 miles to the south-east of Paris.
Chablis and oysters are a delicious and fashionable luncheon in
the French metropolis.
GERMAN WINES.
The lightRhenish and French dinner wines now in fashion
are, according to Dr. Mayo, greatly inferior to good table-beer,
and are much less wholesome they are commonly drunk because
;
they are wine, by those with whom strong wines disagree. Dr.
Henderson, however, recommends Rhenish wines for their diuretic
effect, and for diminishing obesity.
Among the Rhine wiues (improperly called hock in England),

the Johannisberg and Steinberg rank first, and are on an equal
footing for their exquisite flavour and evanescent bouquet. Next
follow Rudeskeim (Berg), Markobrunner, and Rothenberg, which
possess much body and aroma. Hockheim (which grows on the
banks of the Maine, not in the Rheingau,) ranks with the best
of these second-class wines. Of the inferior wines, those of
Erbach and Hallenheim are the best. The lighter wines are,
however, apt to be hard and rather acid, as table wines. The
N
Laubenheim and ierstein, from the Palatinate above Mayence,
and the delicately-flavoured Moselles, are much preferred to them
as table wines in Germany. The best red wine in Germany is
the Asmanshausen. The vine chiefly cultivated on the Rhine is
called Riesling it yields a wine of fine flavour
; the Orleans
:
grape produces a strong-bodied wine.

The finest wine, theJohannisberg, grows close under the
castle of that name, and partly over the cellars, the property of
Prince Metternich. The grapes are allowed to remain on the
vines as long as they will hold together, by which the wine gains
strength in body. So precious are they, that those which fall are
picked off the ground with a kind of fork made for the purpose.
The wine is made in such small quantity, that it is for the most
part disposed of privately, and can rarely be obtained for either
love or money. Steinberger is made from a vineyard of only
108 acres, so that the supply is extremely limited. Hoekheimer,
or Hock, is made from a few vines which grow round the town
of Hockheim, on the Mayne. Rudesheimer is also made in very
small quantity, and soon all bought up on the spot. Sckarr-
berger and Grunhauser are called the “Nectar of the Moselle.”
The Steinberg wine, the property of the Duke of Nassau, is
managed even with greater care and cost than the Johannisberg.
In 1836, half of the finest wines in the duke’s cellars were sold
hy public auction. The finest cask, the flower, or, as the Germans
call it, the Braut (Bride) of the cellar, was purchased for the
enormous sum of 6100 florins (about 500Z.), by Prince Emile of
Hesse. It contained 31- ohms, about 600 bottles of cabinet
Steinberg, at about 24s. a bottle this being, probably, the highest
;
price ever paid forany wine of the district.

One of the finest German wines is one called straw wine, which
is the produce of grapes so ripe as to require no pressure; but the
juice distils itself through clean wheaten straw, from which it
—
imbibes its colour. It is a very expensive wine sixteen shillings
per bottle.
The famous Heidelberg Tun stands in a cellar under the castle
of that name it is the largest wine cask in the world, being
:
capable of holding 800 hogsheads (283,000 bottles), which are

less, after all, than the dimensions of the porter vats of a London
brewer. In former days, when the tun was filled, it was usual
to dance on the platform on the top it has, however, remained
:
empty since 1769, nearly 90 years. The Konigstein Tun was

broken up some time since, having fallen to decay.
VEEMUTH. TOKAY, ETC. —

Vermuth, the wermuth must, or wormwood, is a wine of con-
siderable antiquity. Wallensteinrecorded to have ordered
is
provision to be made of vermuth from his estates, of the
vintage of 1630, being one of great promise. This luxurious
appendage to the table is still usual in Austrian Germany, and
-
rare elsewhex e.
“ Imperial Tokay” appears to be nothing more than a costly
and sweet luscious wine, which has been extravagantly overrated.
Dr. Townson, in his Travels in Hungary, says, “ Tokay is, no
doubt, a fine wine, but I think no ways adequate to its price
there are few of my countrymen, except on account of its scarce-
ness, who would not prefer to it good claret or Burgundy, which
does not cost one-foui-th of the price. Some of the sweetish
Spanish wines are, in my opinion, equally good ; and, unless it
he very old, it is too sweet for an Englishman’s palate.” When
the Emperor of Austria wished to make a present of some Tokay
wine in return for a breed of horses which had been sent to him
hy the ex-king of Holland, the stock in the imperial royal cellars
was not deemed sufficiently old for the purpose, and 2000 bottles
of old Tokay were, therefore, procured from Cracau, at the ex-
travagant price of 7 ducats, or 3Z. 5s. 4eZ. the bottle ; or, for the
whole present, 6533Z. 6s. 8d .
Vvn de Chypre is a costly item in the cartes of some of the

Port Wines. 119
leading restaurants at Paris, where it is sold at the rate of 2 or

3 francs a glass. This, however, is only an imitation of Cyprus,
wine, and the mode of preparing it is thus given in the JBiblio-
theque Physico-Economique. To 10 quarts of syrup of elder-
berries, add 80 pints of water, 2 oz. ginger, 2 oz. cloves, and boil
together ; add a few bruised grapes, and strain.
Constantia is universally esteemed for its high flavour and
luscious quality. The only vineyard at the Cape which yields it
is of small dimensions, and the produce, both white and red, does
not exceed from 8000 to 12,000 gallons annually.
PORT.
Good port wine, duly kept, is, when taken in moderation,
one of the most wholesome of vinous liquors it strengthens the
:
muscular system, assists the digestive powers, accelerates the

circulation, exhilarates the spirits, and sharpens the mental
energies: in excess, it is, perhaps, the most mischievous of
wines, and most likely to produce those permanent derangements
of the digestive organs which follow the habitual use of distilled
spirits. Brande.
There is one criterion of fine and old port, which the writer
never knew fail, although it may by an accident. The cork,
when it has dried, that is to say, an hour after it has been drawn,
should be covered on its under surface, and part of its cylindrical
surface with crystals of tartar. Mayo’s Philosophy of Living.
A vast quantity of spurious port wine is imported into this
country from the Channel Islands. Thus, during eight years,
there were but 210 pipes of wine exported from Oporto to
the Channel Islands, whilst the wines imported into London
from the Channel Islands were 2072 pipes. It, therefore, ap-
pears clear that cheap French wines are greatly substituted for
port wine.
So late as Queen Anne’s reign, our importation of port wine
was very small: it was then customary in London, upon the
meeting of two friends, for the one to invite the other to a tavern
to drink or, in a vulgar phrase, “ to crack a bottle of claret
;
dashed with port thus intimating the comparative rarity of

the latter wine.
Sir John Sinclair relates, in his Code of Health, that a Mr.
Vanhorn, in the space of twenty-three years, drank 36,688 bottles,
or 59 pipes of port wine. His usual daily quota was four
bottles In the course of his life he resembled more a cellar
!
than a man although there are many cellars that never con-
:
tained what this man’s stomach, first and last, must have done
namely, 59 pipes of port wine.
Port wine, when tawny, loses its astringency, acquires a
slightly acid taste, and is unwholesome, having an increased

tendency to produce gout.
Lord Palmerston, (who, when in office, has been accustomed to
employ his pleasantries as paratonnerres for troublesome visitors,)
one day related the following anecdote to a deputation of gentle-
men who waited upon him to urge the reduction of the wine duties.
Referring to the question of adulterations, “ I remember,” said
his lordship, “ my grandfather, Lord Pembroke, when he placed
wine before his guests, said ‘ There, gentlemen, is my cham-
:
pagne, my claret, &c. I am no great judge, and I give you this

on the authority of my wine-merchant ; but I can answer for my
port, for I made it myself.’ I still have his receipt, which I look
on as a curiosity hut I confess I have never ventured to try it.”
;
In 1858, there was an interesting sale of port wine at Prospect

Hill, near Reading.
The chief attraction was the old vintage port of all the most celebrated
years up to 1820, and including that year, of such wondrous renown among
connoisseurs. A
bin of the vintage of 1815, bottled in 1818, in ad-
mirable preservation, although a little past its best, sold at eight and nine
guineas per dozen. The next bin, of the vintage of 1812, bottled in
1815, full of colour, in perfect preservation, fairly without a fault, showing
both firmness, delicacy, and high bouquet, was sold at 11 guineas and 12?.
per dozen. A
small bin of the vintage of 1804, which fully supported its
long-established renown, still possessing fine colour and high bouquet
delicate, dry, but full of flavour, without symptom of decay, put beyond all
doubt or difference of opinion whether choice Portugal red wine will endure
a very long keeping better than any other red wine, and was sold at 11 to
12 guineas the dozen. Following this came three bins of the vintage of
—
1820; each was a rare example different in style, but all of unexception-
able quality; it is indeed remarkable that among port wines of these
ancient dates so few decayed or even impaired wines are found, and this
seems to attest their general purity. Of these three Kopke’s Boriz took
the lead, containing all the vigour of youth, showing substance, fruit, the
highest quality, and remarkable character. For many tastes, however,
—
the other two are equally fine one for its deep colour and dryness, with
great character ; the other for its firmness and concentration of flavour,
without hardness or heat. The prices of these ranged from 11 guineas to
14?. 10s. per dozen, and became in most instances the property of the
wine trade.
It a fallacy to suppose that such a thing exists as what is

is
termed “pure port wine,” —
that is, without an admixture of
brandy. On the first arrival of each pipe of wine at Villa Nova,
a certain quantity of this spirit is immediately added ; for with-
out it the wine would not keep. Mr. Puget, in the Times,
Nov. 24, 1858.
The failure in the crop of Portuguese wines in 1857 was very
calamitous, and, of course, prices rose accordingly, The produce
in the Alto Douro district, ordinarily 100,000 pipes a-year, fell
off to 15,000. The price of a pipe of port wine from the farmer
Sherries. 121
in 1858, was about 30/. ; before the failure it was less than one
moiety of that sum. The same occurred with all the wines of the
country. The common wines were formerly drunk by the peasant
at about one halfpenny the pint; the same quantity now averages
about twopence. The failure in the crop of oranges and lemons
was likewise most disastrous in its consequences.
Competent judges are agreed that about the finest port wine
ever known was found at Wotton, in 1824, in some cellars that
had been bricked up not later, and perhaps much earlier, than the
time of George Grenville, the minister, who died in 1770. The
Compte de Cosse, maitre-d’hotel to Louis XVIII., possessed
some port which was more than a hundred years old; but it had
lost its colour, and its flavour was by no means fine. —The Art
of Dining.
The White Wines of Portugal have lost the only chance they
ever had of a start in the race of competition with sherry. The
excellence of the wines of Lisbon, Bucellas, and Carcavellos is
not to be disputed, when due justice is done them, and they are
obtained from first-rate houses. In the 15th and 16th centuries,
when port was unknown in the rest of Europe, and very little
known in Portugal, her white wines were prized to the extent of
an exportation which, for that period, was enormous. Many of
the most distinguished gourmets in England far prefer dry
Lisbon to all other wines, and will drink nothing else; and ac-
complished judges prefer it to Madeira, which it resembles in
quality with less luscious richness, according it a vast superiority
over the ordinary class of sherries.
SHEBBIES.
Sherry of a due age, and in good condition, is a fine, perfect,
and wholesome wine; free from excess of acid, and possessing a
dry aromatic flavour and fragrancy; but, as procured in the
ordinary market, it is of fluctuating and anomalous quality, often
destitute of all aroma, and tasting of little else than alcohol and
water. Brande.
It has often been said, that sherry is a compound wine ; but
this is a mistake. The best pale and light golden sherries are
made from the pure Xeres grape, with only the addition of two
bottles of brandy to a butt, which is no more than l-215th part.
Neither are the deep golden and brown sherries, of the best
quality, compound wines, though they may be called mixed
wines ; for they are coloured by boiling the wine of Xeres. Pale
sherries are, however, the purest; though, all the gradations of
colour upon which so much stress is laid, have nothing to do
with the quality of the wine, but depend entirely upon the greater
or smaller quantity of boiled wine used for colouring it.
( IngUs’s Spain.) In short, it is entirely by the aroma and by

the taste, not at all by the colour, that sherries are to be judged.
The wide differences in colour depend entirely upon the pro-
portion of boiled wine ; while those slighter shades, perceptible
among the pale and light golden wines, are owing to some small
difference in the ripeness of the fruit ; or, to factitious decolor-
ization by our wine-merchants.
The finest and driest sherry is called Amontillado. It is very
rare out of forty butts collected from the same vineyard, not
:
above two or three having this quality.

Sherry is only taken as a win de liqueur in France, and not
with dinner as in England.
MADEIRA.
Madeira, as a stimulant, equals port, and, when in fine con-
dition, may truly be called a generous wine unfortunately, it is
:
rarely to be procured; and as it is generally more acid, than

either port or sherry, it is, consequently, not so well adapted to
stomachs inclined to dyspeptic acidity.
Wine-drinkers in England are very commonly deceived into
the idea that a voyage to the East or West Indies is sufficient to
ensure the excellence of Madeira wine : but this is an obvious
fallacy, for if the wine were not of a good quality when shipped
from the island, a thousand voyages could not make it what it
never had been. It is well known to every merchant in Madeira,
that a great proportion of the wines so shipped are of an inferior
quality, and are purchased in barter by persons who are com-
monly known by the name of truckers. Holman's Voyage.
So destructive has been the vine disease in Madeira, of late
years, that the production of its beautiful wine can no further be
hoped for.
The bidding for the famous pipe of Madeira, at the sale of the effects of
the late Duchess de Rag-use, in 1858, caused a great commotion in Paris.
This famous wine, known to all as the “ 1814 pipe,” was fished up near
Antwerp in 1814, where it had lain in the carcass of a ship wrecked at the
mouth of the Scheld in 1778, and which had lain there ever since. As
soon as the valuable discovery was made known, Louis XVIII. despatched
an agent to secure the precious relic. A share of the glorious beverage
was presented to the French Consul, who had assisted at its discover}', and
thus it came iuto the cellars of the Duke de Ragusc. Only four and forty
bottles were remaining, and these wore literally sold for their weight in
gold to Rothschild, who was opposed by Voron and Milland. Veron was
angry, because he declared that he had made the reputation of the wine,
by mentioning it in his Memoirs, on the occasion of the dinner given to
Taglioni by the Duchess de Raguse, whereat the famous “1814 was
—
produced as the greatest honour to bo paid to the great artist . Court
Journal.
When the celebrated Malmsey, made in Crete, is stored in the
Wines : Catawba and Isabella. 123
cellars,the following benediction is pronounced over the precious

tipple: “Lord God, thou who lovest mankind, direct thine eyes
to this wine, and those who shall drink it bless our vessels,
:
thrice blessed, as the wells of Jacob, and the pool of Siloam,

and as thou hast blessed this drink of the Apostles. 0 Lord,
thou who wast present at the wedding at Cana, and by changing
the water into wine, revealed thy glory to thy disciples, send thy
Holy Spirit on this wine, and bless it in thy name.”
Great mistakes are made in judging of wine merely by its age.
It is the year or vintage —
not the mere lapse of time which
stamps the value. Thus, hock of 1811, (the comet year,) is
more valuable than hock of 1801, and claret of 1834, than claret
of 1824.
AMEKICAN WINES.
Catawba is a delicious American white wine, grown in Ohio
and Virginia, and Missouri it is both still and sparkling, and
:
was one of the native wines which obtained a prize at the Crystal
Palace Exhibition in New York. In the latter State is grown
the Isabella, another favourite wine. Catawba is, however, the
principal wine, and is a great favourite in Kentucky and Ten-
nessee. In comparing these wines with those of Europe, we
must bear in mind that they are distinct in flavour from any or
all of them. It is their peculiarity that no spurious compound
can be made to imitate them, and in purity and delicacy there is
no known wine to equal them.
The most expensive wine in Europe, Tokay, is also the lowest
in alcoholic per centage, 9'85. Now, still Catawba shows a
-
per centage of 9 50 only, being, in fact, the lowest per centage
of spirit to be found in any wine in the world. In the United
States, the native wines are fast supplanting the foreign, espe-
cially the sparkling kinds; and at the hotels the majority of the
wines are home.
Catawba and Isabella are also largely grown in California
there,and in Texas, grapes of superior colour and flavour are
grown “ as large as plums.” In Texas, the El Paso and Mus-
tang are very fine wines the latter has been pronounced the
;
port wine grape, of superior quality and yield.
BBITISH WINES.
Of the juice of the giant rhubarb leaf-stalks may be made a
delicious wine, equal to green gooseberry, and very closely re-
sembling champagne.
The manufacturers of British wine for sale employ the firs!
wort from malt, to supply the deficiency of sugar in our native
fruits; they find this substitute economical, especially when beer
ismade from the good remaining in the malt, after enough wort
has been extracted for making the wine.
British wines are not so weak as they are commonly thought
to be. Raisin and other wines made in this country are often
much stronger than the highest average of port, in consequence
of the saccharine matter, or of added sugar, which is suffered to
ferment into alcohol. Besides, British wines commonly contain a
large quantity of unfermented sugar, or they have become pricked
in consequence of the production of a little vinegar, and hence
are extremely apt to disorder the stomach.
A
very superior raisin wine, with the Frontignac flavour, was
made by Mr. A. Aikin ;
the recipe for which will be found in
the Transactions of the Society of Arts for 1829 or, in The;
Family Manual.
Champagne made from gooseberries has often been mistaken
by reputed good judges for champagne from grapes. Exempli
yratid: Lord Haddington, a first-rate judge of wines, had a
bottle of mock and a bottle of real champagne set before him,
and being requested to distinguish them, he mistook the product
of the gooseberry for the genuine article.
Superior wine is made from the pure juice of grapes, with
from lib. to 21b. of sugar, and loz. of crude tartar to each
gallon.
A
superior elder wine may be made, by using, instead of raw
sugar, 41b. of loaf-sugar to each gallon of mixed juice and water.
Parsnep wine has been made to approach nearer to the Malm-
sey of the Madeira and the Canaries than any other wine.
WINE, AND DECANTING.

Ona question of “ good living,” Wine may, perhaps, be ex-
pected to hold the place of honour. But, whilst conceding this,
we are minded to note a distinction. It has, we think, been too
much the custom to treat of Wine specially, if not exclusively, as
to “ conviviality” —
the word being generally used in a sophisti-
cated and somewhat uncandid sense. We wish to be more philo-
sophical and indeed more just; to view Wine as a delightful
social friend; as also a very interesting natural product. Its
beneficent influences in daily life (not overlooking considerations

medical) claim our gratitude. It is beautiful to tbe eye, agree-
able to the palate, of exquisite fragrance, cheering to the spirits,
invigorating to the mental and physical powers. But when
further we consider it in reference to its capability of preserva-
tion —
say, the expressed juice of the grape without any factitious
addition, brought by a process of fermentation skilfully adminis-
The Mutriator. 125
tered —as for example in the wine of Bordeaux —

to be preservable
in its purity for half a century, we must aver that
own simple
Wine is also a very wonderful result of art.
Guidance in choice of wine by means of written instruction,
would, we fear, be tedious and unprofitable. Experience teaches
in this, as in all matters mundane. Nor is it given to every man
to be a “ good judge ” of wine. Therefore, as the stomach de-
serves to be considered equally with the palate, and as in choos-
ing wine there is great liability to error, it is often advisable to
defer to the judgment of those who are qualified to select. Yet
we may perhaps, with advantage, make one or two general obser-
vations on this point. It is not matter of course that all wine
of high price is good, nor the contrary. Inexpensive wine may
be good ; costly wine may be bad. Again, wine that is agree-
able to the palate may be noxious to the stomach, though it
rarely happens that wine unpleasant to taste is salutary. The
art of choosing wine is, then, to distinguish that which,
though uncostly, is good ; which whilst palatable is wholesome
which, though high-priced, is also good, and worth the money.
The word “ good,” as applied to wine, has meanings multiform,
and somewhat involved. For, though when we say impressively
that wine is “ good,” we mean good to drink, including whole-
—
someness with other desirable qualities yet we may say, in some
instances with perfect correctness, that wine is “ good, but not fit
to drink.” The latter phrase describes much wine that is met
—
with a state attributable to want of skill in the making and
management of the wine. Thus, neither high price, nor low
price, nor pleasantness to the taste, can unerringly direct us in
the choice of good wine. Frequently (especially two or three
years after a favourable vintage) wine of small price is “good
but this requires the practised palate to determine. The deside-
ratum then in the choice of wine is, at whatever price, to have it
good.
Moreover, in discoursing of wine, we have to speak of “con-
dition.” It is not always easy (as we have shown) to get good wine,
hut the difficulty increases when likewise we require good wine in
perfect condition. And yet how should we be satisfied with less ?
The better the wine, the greater the loss if it be spoiled or deterio-
rated ; but whatever the degree in quality, there is a state of it
(we mean after it has been sold for consumption) in which it will
not be fit for drinking. “ Condition,” then, has to be referred to
under two heads 1st, Chemical, that of health as to fermenta-
:
tion 2nd, Mechanical, that of brightness, by the absence of any

;
feculent matter in suspension. The first is very much the affair

of the Wine-merchant, since it should be his study to correct
such disorder in wine, whether accidental or constitutional. This'
126 J UnU fur the Table.
will, also, often occur temporarily from change of season or

temperature, and be self-curative. Indeed, all but very old wine
will be liable to occasional derangement of “ condition” from
natural causes, and it is after these perturbations that the
“
deposit” occurs which we have to speak of under our second
—
heading on “ condition,” namely that Mechanical. Having
reference then to wine in bottle, the state of turbidness referable
to the re-admixture of a “ deposit” by agitation of the liquid,
though consistent with perfect healthiness in the wine, is not
“ condition.” Displeasing to sight, wine in this state is impaired
in flavour and bouquet, also less salutary. For, albeit there are
degrees of this ill “ condition,” some “ deposit” being more per-
nicious than other, it is always bad. What in fact is this
“ deposit” but something eliminated from the wine during the
process of its maturation P As might be supposed, the results
of that process — —
“ deposit” are, when tasted separately, found
to be most unpalatable. Yet, unnatural as is the reunion of
the “ deposit” with the wine, this disadvantage is often, we may
almost say generally, incurred (more or less) by reason of the
difficulty of avoiding it. At rest in its Bin, the wine ‘will be
bright but who shall remove it, extract the cork, and separate
perfectly the bright and pure portion from the foul and bitter
“ deposit P ” No sooner is the bottle transferred from the posi-
tion in which it has lain than disturbance of the
“ deposit” is
apt
to begin ; if placed upright for drawing the cork, there is pre-
sently a partial subsidence of the rejected impurities ; then fol-
lows the jolt attendant on extraction of the cork ; then the agita-
tion inseparable from pouring off, — aud so is lost the “ condition”
perchance attained to by many years’ keeping ! Some attempts
have from time to time been made to palliate, by mechanical aid,
this inconvenience ; but these contrivances have been so imper-
fect as only to increase trouble without effecting their object.
We have, however, lately met with an Instrument which effectu-
ally meets the difficulties of the case, and deserves thereby to be
esteemed an especial boon to that large section of mankind the —
admirers of wine. Henceforward it is our own fault if we do not
drink our wine (such as we can get) in “ condition.” We refer
to a little machine, entitled “ Ellis’s Patent Elutriator,”* — to be
used for the elutriation or decanting of wine. (See Frontispiece.)
This is, in one, a basket wherein the bottle of wine is steadily
deported from its bin ; a fixing whereby, still without change of
position, the bottle is held firm whilst the cork is removed ; and
a tilterfor pouring oft' the wine. In aid of the latter part of the
operation of decanting, the Elutriator is furnished with an inge-
* Made at Farrow’s, Great Tower-street, London.

Icing Wines. 127
nious though simple mechanism, in a cam or eccentric acting on

a sextant. By this means the bottle is sustained as it is raised,
—
the action of the cam following the motion of the hand and thus
the person decanting is enabled to rest at will during the opera-
tion. Not only is this Machine sufficient at all points, but it has
the great merit of demanding no more time or skill than the
primitive, clumsy, and destructive method ordinarily practised.
Not a movement is exacted in the use of the Elutriator which
would not be required without it. We think this Machine will
be valuable also where wine (as prevalent in France) is taken at
once from the original bottle to the drinking glass.
By slightly releasing the cam, to stop the flow when the glass
is filled, the last drop of bright wine may be taken
from the
lightest or muddiest “ deposit.” Bachelors who have no decanter
at. hand will appreciate this. Henceforth, therefore, we may
drink wine in “ condition.”
ICING WINES, ETC.

The choicest wines are ordinarily iced
; whereas (with the ex-
ception of wine which gains strength by cold), common wines
only
should be iced;, and even they would be better if merely cooled
with water, which always gives sufficient coolness to wine, even
at the hottest temperature of the dog-days. But, it is not only
that we should avoid icing wines that are choice each
; different
kind requires a different degree of cold and warmth.
Thus,
claret, when just brought out of the cellar, has not
that soft and
delicious flavour which gives this wine its peculiar value. Before
drinking it, the bottle should be placed where it may
imbibe a
degree of warmth. In winter, wine-drinkers always
place it
before the fire ; but Burgundy should be drunk
fresh from the
cellar.
Sprinklings of salt are sometimes added to ice when
it is put
into the house, with the view of preserving it
; hut this is an
erroneous notion, unless it be supposed that', by the
abstraction
of the latent heat from some of the ice
dissolved by the salt a
greater degree of cold is produced to solidify
the remainder
Salt is altogether unnecessary; if ice do
not keep without it
cannot be preserved with such an application.
Confectioners use
salt to dissolve not preserve the ice, because
a much more in-
tense degree of cold is generated during the
solution than if the
pieces of ice remained undissolved. Main.
When ice cannot be obtained, either of the two
following
powders may be substituted for it, viz., equal parts
of muriate of
ammonia and nitre, powdered and mixed or, nitrate
of ammonia
m ;
powder. In employing them to cool a bottle
of ehampao-ne
place it to the neck in a vessel of the coldest
pump-water that
128 1Tints for the Table.
can be procured ; sprinkle about four ounces of either of the

above powders upon the shoulder of the bottle, so as, gradually
dissolving, to fall or run down its sides ;
as the salt dissolves,
the bottle should be gently turned in the mixture, and kept in it
about twenty minutes, or half-an-hour.
A decanter of wine or water may be readily cooled by folding
round it a wet cloth, and placing it in a current of air.
Artificial ice, made by the aid of an air-pump and other appa-
ratus, has been found too expensive, and is rarely resorted to in
India. Upon its first introduction into Bengal, the novelty
proved very attractive ; and a rich and luxurious native, it is said,
expended 70(U. in the single article of ice, at an entertainment
given to a European party. Sometimes wine is kept cool at
table by fancifully arranging wet cloths round the necks of the
bottles, over which is a kind of petticoat. Port, claret, and
Burgundy are characteristically attired in crimson, with white
flounces ; while sherry and Madeira appear in bridal costume.
It is calculated that, in one day, 800 tons of ice have been
collected from the various sources afforded by the basin of the
canal near King’s Cross.
The Rev. Mr. Musgrave, in his Pilgrimage into Dauphiny,

observes that, when you have the best wine, you should have
the best glasses to drink it from. In the broad, tazza-shaped
glass the effervescence is speedily dead, as also in the old-
fashioned long glass in the form of an inverted funnel. The stem
should be hollow, and as it approaches the circular flat upon
which it stands should be perfectly globular. As long as this
contains any wine, a column of fixed air is seen ascending, and
keeping up the sparkling action, not pleasant to the eye alone,
but conducive to the flavour’ and cordial to the taste.
To Mull Wine. (An excellent French receipt).—Boil in a wine-
glassful and a half of water a quarter of an ounce of spice (cin-
namon, ginger, slightly bruised, and cloves), with three ounces
of fine sugar, until they form a thick syrup, which must not on
any account be allowed to burn. Pour in a pint of port wine,
and stir it gently until it is on the point of boiling only it :
should then be served immediately. The addition ol a strip or

two of orange-rind cut extremely thin, gives to this beverage the
flavour of bishop. In France, light claret takes the place of port
wine in making it, and the better kinds of vim du pays are very
palatable thus prepared: Water, 1J wineglassful; spice, quarter
of an ounce, of which fine cloves twenty-four, and of remainder
rather more ginger than cinnamon ; sugar, three ounces : warm
fifteen to twenty minutes. Port wine or claret, one pint ; orange-
rind, if used, to be boiled with the spice. Sherry, or very fine
The Loving Cup. 129
raisin or ginger wine, prepared as above, and stirred hot to the

yolks of four fresh eggs, will be found excellent.
In the Curiosities of London, we find this illustration of a
civic custom, which is honoured to this day :
The Loving Cup is a splendid feature of the Hall-feasts of the City and
Inns of Court. The cup is of silver or silver-gilt, and is filled with spiced
“
wine, immemorially termed sack.” Immediately after the dinner and
grace, the Master and Wardens drink to their visitors a hearty welcome
the cup is then passed round the table, and each guest, after he has drunk,
applies his napkin to the mouth of the cup before he passes it to his
neighbour. The more formal practice is for the person who pledges with
the loving cup to stand up and bow to his neighbour, who, also standing,
removes the cover with his right hand, and holds it while the other drinks
a custom said to have originated in the precaution to keep the right, or
dagger-hand, employed, that the person who drinks may be assured of no
treachery, like that practised by Elfrida on the unsuspecting King Edward
the Martyr at Corfe Castle, who was slain while drinking. This was why
the loving cup possessed a cover. F. W- Fairholt, F.S.A.
The Art of Drinking Wine.

Eating has its rationale, and in well-conditioned society its
rules of propriety are as closely observed as any other part of
the system by which we live and have our being ; and but little
pains is requisite to prove that drinking should be reduced to the
same order. To commence refection with drinking Tokay or
Lachryma Christi, would be as great a breach of propriety as to
eat game before soup.
A French epicurean wine-drinker decrees, that the red wines
should always precede the white, except in a French dinner,
usually preceded by oysters. In this case, the ostreal delicacies
should be saluted with a treble volley of Chablis or, for greater
;
solemnity, with libations of Pouilly, or Mont-Rfiehet ; or even

with Sauteme, Barsac, or White Hermitage. But, for this im-
portant reason, red wine should open the repast.
Our French exemplars assert the most proper wine during the
first course to be, without any contradiction, Burgundy of the
least celebrated growth, and which, for this reason, is known as
Low Burgundy. Such are Avallon, Coulange, Tonnere, and
generally all those known under the designation of Macon and
Auxerre. You then ascend to Baume and Pomard ; and if you
choose to confine yourself to the Burgundian topography, you
have the generous Richebourg, the high-flavoured St- George,
the purple Chambertin, and the exquisite Romande. But, if you
can ill bear the trammels of classification, and wish to give a
fillip to your taste by change of flavour and soil, Champagne
K
offers its sparkling Ai, perfumed Cuinieres, and limpid Sillery.

After these, you may enjoy the stronger wines of Dauphiny,
which whet the appetite, and heighten the savour of the roasts.
Among these we recommend Chateau-Grille, Cote-Rotie, and
Hermitage. ’Tis then that mirth lights up the faces of the con-
vivial circle, and the gibes and gambols of wit are wont to set
the table in a roar ’tis then that we acknowledge the claim of
only one other wine to produce on the quantity already imbibed,
an effect similar to that of a drop of water in boiling milk, or a
spoonful of oil on the angry waves of the ocean. This is the
wine of Bordeaux, or claret. See how wisdom’s art gradually
appeases the mounting spirits, in the effect of Medoc poured by
a steady hand into bright crystal, which reflects scores of wax-
liglits. An armistice ensues, and the “ intellectual gladiators ”
lay down their wordy weapons. Amphitryons clear the table
wafers and sweet cakes, and perfumed creams, usurp the place of
legumes, which boasted all the skill of scientific cookery. Lan-
guedoc, Roussillon, and Provence, what brilliant associations do ye
create !Spain, too, participates in this gale of glory ! But,
what is that ruby tint which glows amid sparkling crystal ?
what is that liquid topaz, which strikes the eye with wonder, and
inspires a new gusto ? Rivesaltes, Grenaclie, Lunel, Malmsey,
—
Frontignan, Malaga, and Xeres what a galaxy of glories rises
with your delicious aroma to perplex wine-drinkers. Your half-
consumed corks give evidence of your age, like a wreck of hoar
antiquity ; the perfumed gale ascends, and your richness mantles
and sparkles high ; whilst your glowing spirit tempers the effect
of ice, which is sometimes injudiciously served immediately after
dinner ; although health and good taste concur in delaying its
appearance.
The aromatic gale of the Mocha berry next salutes our delighted
senses. Folly produces another bottle ; the silver froth rushes
like a boiling spring, and carries the cork to the ceiling, or the
Arbois is produced, and unites the sweetness of Condrieux with
the sparkling of the impetuous Ai ’Tis then only that the
!
wine-drinker can enjoy in diamond glasses the exquisiteness of

veritable Tokay.
Such, observes our French authority, is an outline of the

didactic order in which the tributes to Bacchus must be greeted.
He concludes, by rejoicing that notwithstanding all their luxury
and knowledge of the arts, the ancients did not at any period
excel us in wine-making. Aristotle tells us, that in Arcadia the
wines evaporated in leather vessels, till they were cut in pieces
and dissolved in water for drinking certes, these could not equal
:
our M6doe, Yolnay, or Ai, without a drop of water. According

Art of Drinking Wine. 131
to Galienus, in Asia wines were hung about the chimneys till

they had the hardness of salt, and were then dissolved in water
to be drunk. Pliny, when he celebrates the wines of Italy, and
the praises of Falernian, does not even tempt us ; for it seems
that the best wines in his time were but syrups, which were
diluted with water for drinking.
To conciliate a few of the varied opinions on the prece-
dence of French wines, the same writer observes Some persons
:
prefer Burgundy; others contend for Bordeaux; a few pre-

tend that Champagne, still, and of the first quality, unites the
Burgundian flavour with the Bordeaux warmth ; while the
native of the borders of the Rhone assert that the finest of
all wines is Hermitage! All are right, and each in its turn
is best, especially if the maturation of the fruit has been
successful: this is rare, for there is a greater difference be-
tween the wine of one year and that of another, grown in the
same vineyard, than between the wine of a celebrated district and
that procured from an obscure spot. Therefore, we should take
the advice of Sterne, and, like the man at the fair, every one
speak as he has found his market in it. According as we have
drunk Sillery, La Romanee, or Medoc, of memorable years, we
ought to prefer the districts which produced them respectively
—
always with this prudent restriction not to be so exclusive in
our taste, as not to welcome others in the absence of better. We
may admire Corneille, adore Voltaire and Racine; but still read
with pleasure Parny, Bouffiers, and Bertin ; and even the sublime
vis comica of Voltaire does not produce a distaste for the pret-
tiness and pleasantry of Picard.
Spirits, etc.
Although the hydrometer is seldom applied to domestic uses, yet
itmight be employed for many ordinary purposes. The slightest
adulteration of spirits, or any toher liquid of known quality, may
be instantly detected by it.
The liquor which contains most pure spirit, or alcohol, is Scotch
whisky, being upwards of 54 per cent. Contrary to what is gene-
rally supposed, the proportion of alcohol in rum is greater than
that contained in brandy, the former being 53-68, and the latter
53-39. The next liquor in order of strength is gin, which con-
tains about 51^ per cent, of alcohol. Port and Madeira contain
nearly the same quantity each, 22 per cent. cyder contains about
;
twice as much as London porter, being as 7-54 to 4-20; brown

stout and Scotch ale contain each about 6b; while Burton ale
has
nearly 9 per cent.
So much is the specific gravity of alcohol liquors affected by

change of temperature, that thirty-two gallons of spirits in winter
will measure thirty-three gallons in summer. Of this fact, spirit
merchants take advantage, by making tlieir large purchases in
winter, and effecting their sales in summer.
French Brand}' being hut slightly rectified, is not strong, but

contains usually nearly half its weight of water. The reason of
this is that the re-distillation of the spirit injures the volatile oil
obtained from the grape or wine. Yet, much of the French
brandy imported into this country consists either in part or
wholly of corn spirit, and more frequently of beet-root spirit.
“British Brandy ” consists mostly of corn-spirit, flavoured. To
improve it, put about eight French plums into every pint of spirit
steep for ten days, when strain the spirit, and it will have much
of the flavour of French brandy.
Put five or six drops of the water of ammonia
into a bottle of
brandy, cork it, and shake it well ;
and
the brandy be new, it
if
will acquire nearly all the qualities of that of the oldest date.
The mode of reducing brandy, as given in evidence on a
trade
trial, is toadd three pints of water to ten gallons of spirits, by
which it will be reduced from seven under proof, to ten and one-
eighth under proof.
In America, a liquor named cider-brandy is obtained by distil-
lation from cider. A very strong liquid is got by allowing
cider to be frozen, and then drawing off the fluid portion. But,
a far more wholesome liquor than either is the pomoua wine,
which is prepared by adding one gallon of brandy to six of cider,
after it is racked off.
Eum generally valued from its great age, but long keeping
is
is not so requisite to the goodness of all kinds as may be ima-
gined. Bum of a brownish transparent colour, smooth oily taste,
strong body and consistence, good age, and well kept, is the best.
That of a clear limpid colour, and hot pungent taste, is either too
new, or mixed with other spirits. Sliced pine-apple put into
rum gives it the flavour of the fruit, and hence the designation,
pine-apple rum but chemists imitate this flavour so closely
as to convert not only ordinary rum but even ordinary spirit into
“Pine-apple Rum.”
Good shrub is delicious : were it fashionable, it would be
ranked as a liqueur.
Until the distillation of whisky was prohibited in the High-
“ Mountain
lands, it was never drunk at gentlemen’s tables.
Dew,” and such poetic names, are of modern origin, since this
liquor became fashionable.
Whisky Drinking. 133
The whisky is supposed to he caused

peculiar flavour of potteen
by the practice of drying the malt from which it is made by turf.
But this is disputed by Mr. Donovan, who inspected a potteen
distillery in the north of Ireland. The distiller stated that his
spirit had the same smell, whether his malt were dried with turf
or coal. Mr. Donovan thinks it probable that the flavour depends
on the nature of the fermentation, and the greater quantity of
essential oil produced by low distillation. It is possible, however,
that the turf smoke with which the mountain distilleries abound,
may be absorbed by the spirit while running, but more especially
by the worts, while under fermentation. The steeping of the
malt in bog water before it is dried on the kiln, may also give
origin to the smell of turf in the spirit.
“ smuggled whisky ” is not, however, ima-
The superiority of
ginary “ It is a remarkable fact,” says Major-General Stewart,
:
“ that a spirit of the best quality and flavour has been distilled
by men with their appai atus at the side of a burn, and, perhaps,,
-
changing weekly for fear of discovery ; malting on the open heath,,

and hurrying on the process to avoid detection ; yet, with all
these disadvantages, the spirit thus manufactured was of superior
flavour, and brought the highest price in the market. The same
men, with the advantage of the best utensils, the purest water,
and the best fuel, then made an experiment in a licensed distillery,
yet failed to produce a spirit equal in quality and flavour to the
”
‘
smuggled whisky.’
The Quarterly Review, in au article on the Caldwell Papers,
published by Colonel Mure, says —
“ No mention whatever occurs
of whisky in the household or cellar books of Caldwell ; the Mures
were ripened by good ail and wyne until 1745, when the pre-
1
’
sent vin du pays of Scotland, usquebaugh, that water of life, as

this phlegethontic fluid of death is miscalled, crept down to the
Lowlands after the battle of Culloden. This short concentrated
dram, which, suiting a damp dreary climate, had cheered the
chilled breekless Highlander, now bids fair to convert modern
Athens into a gin palace and pandemonium, in spite of Forbes
Mackenzie’s Act and temperance societies.” About the same
time whisky began to be common in Inverness, the usual drink
being claret for the gentlemen and ale for the common people.
A duty on ale was an important source of revenue in the town.
Carruthers.
Gin is described as a spirit distilled from malt or rye, which
afterwards undergoes the same process a second time with juniper
berries. This is the original and most wholesome state of the
spirit ; but it is now prepared without juniper berries, or is dis-
tilled from turpentine aud cardamoms, and a very few, if any,
—
juniper berries which spurious ingredients give it something of
a similar flavour.*
Bitters should be cautiously employed, since their continued
use seems to impair the power of the stomach, and leave it in a
state of greater weakness than at first. Hence their employment
should be only temporary, to raise the powers of digestion when
they have been enfeebled by previous disease, or excessive fatigue.
They likewise increase the quantity of blood, by augmenting the
appetite; owing to which more food is taken, and more stimu-
lant nutrition is extracted, a plethoric state of the blood vessels
is induced, and all the attendant evils brought about. These
remarks apply also to the bitter in malt liquors. Hence, the
full and often bloated habit of body of those who daily consume
a large portion of strong ale or porter, sufficiently demonstrates
the consequences of such indulgence.
There has been in all governments a great deal of absurd
canting about the consumption of spirits. We believe the best
plan is to let people drink what they like, and wear what they
like ; to make no sumptuary laws either for the belly or the
back. In the first place, laws against rum and rum-and-water
are made by men who can change a wet coat for a dry one when-
ever they choose, and who do not often work up to their knees in
mud and water ; and, in the next place, if this stimulus did all
the mischief it is thought to do by the wise men of claret, its
cheapness and plenty would rather lessen than increase the avidity
with which it is at present sought for —
Sydney Smith.
.
* Odd things have been said of gin. Burke, in one of his spirituel flights,
exclaimed “Let the thunders of the pulpit descend upon drunkenness, I
:
for one stand up for gin.” This is a sort of paraphrase on Pope’s couplet:
“ This calls the church to deprecate our sin,
And hurls the thunder of our laws on gin.”
It has been oddly said that the word gin is associated with a name
—
famous in poetry and romance Ginera, or Ginuera, the favourite lady of
Ariosto; which caused him to immortalize the juniper-tree, as Retrarch
did the laurel.
A learned wag has defined oxygen to be pure gin, and hydrogen gin-
and-water.
The definition of gin, quoted from Sir John Hill, in Johnson’s Dic-
tionary, is as follows “ A sort of spirit distilled from the juniper-berry
:
what is commonly sold is no bettor an ingredient than oil of turpentine

put into the still, with a little common salt, and the coarsest spirit.” This
shows the adulteration to have been as unmasked in the last century as in
our time by Dr. Hassall, and others.
In Douglas Jerrold’s play of The Bill-sticker, the principal character
(the Bill-sticker) falls drunk, at full length, upon the lloor.
“ What do
you call that?” says a byestander. “A tremendous fall in gin!” is the
confident reply.
Whisky and Gin Punch. 135
Making Punch.
For making punch, the water should not boil, nor should it
have been boiled before, else the punch will not have the creamy
head so much relished the sugar powdered will aid this effect.
:
It should be well mixed, by stirring in each ingredient as it is

added. Arrack will much improve punch its flavour may be
:
imitated by dissolving a scruple of the flower of benjamin (to be

obtained of any druggist) in each pint of rum. The juice and
thin peel of a Seville orange add variety of flavour, especially to
whisky punch lime-juice is also excellent. The aroma of the
;
lemon is best obtained by rubbing a few lumps of sugar upon

the surface of the peel. Several additions maybe made to soften
the flavour of punch; as a wine-glass of porter, or of sherry ; a
tablespoonful of red-currant jelly a piece of fresh butter ; the
:
substitution of capillaire for sugar ; or half rum and half shrub.

The reason for cutting lemon-peel thin is commonly thought
to be to avoid the bitter white of the lemon ; but it should be
known that the scent and flavour which constitute the use and
value of the fruit, reside in minute cells close to the surface of
the lemon ; and by paring it exceedingly thin you cut through
these cells, and thus let out the flavour ; whereas, if you pave it
thickly into the white, the cells are left entire, and the essential
oil remains in the peel. When, however, the peel is cut thinly,
much of the oil remains on the white ; but this may be abstracted
by nibbing a lump of sugar over it.
Tamarinds will give punch a flavour closely resembling arrack.
A tablespoonful Guava jelly much improves punch.
of
Good whisky-punch, when well made, is, certainly, of all the
tipples ever invented by man, the most insinuating and the most
loving because, more than any other, it disposes the tippler to
;
be pleased with himself. It brightens his hopes, assuages his

sorrows, crumbles down his difficulties, softens the hostility of
his enemies, and, in fact, induces him for the time being to think
generously of all mankind, at the tip-top of which, it naturally
and good-naturedly places his own dear self, with a glass in one
hand and a mug in the other, without a wish ungratified, and as
unsuspicious of evil as if not a single drop of gall, or a sprig of
wormwood, existed on the face of the earth —
Basil Hall.
.
Summer gin punch is thus made at the Garrick Club. Pour

half a pint of gin on the outer peel of a lemon, then a little lemon-
juice, a glass of maraschino, about a pint and a quarter of water,
and two bottles of iced soda-water ; and the result will be three
pints of the punch in question.
Regent’s punch is made as follows three bottles of Cham-

:
pagne, one bottle of hock, one bottle of Curaijoa, a quart of brandy,

a pint of rum, two bottles of Madeira, two bottles of Seltzer-
water, four pounds of bloom raisins, Seville oranges, lemons,
white sugar-candy, and, instead of water, green tea; the whole
to be highly iced.
Benson Hill, however, gives the following method: put three
citrons and three Seville oranges, cut the rind into slices, and
strain the juice into a stewpan ; add two sticks of cinnamon,
broken, six cloves, and a dessert-spoonful of Vanilla powder, to be
simmered in clarified sugar for four hours. Then add thejuice
of 18 fresh lemons, and, instead of with water, complete the
sherbet by a strong infusion of the finest green tea; add equal
portions of old Jamaica rum and Cognac brandy, according to
the strength required, and all being well mixed, should be passed
through a sieve.
Oxford Punch, by a Christchurch man: Rub the rinds of three-
fresh lemons with loaf-sugar, so as to extract the oil ; peel finely
two lemons more, and two Seville oranges. Use the juice of ten
lemons, and four Seville oranges. Add six glasses of ealfsfoot
jelly;
put it in a large jug, and stir the whole. Pour in two quarts
of boiling water, and set the jug upon the hob for twenty
minutes. Strain the liquor into a large bowl ; pour in a bottle
of capillaire, half a pint of sherry, a pint of Cognac brand} a -
,
pint of old Jamaica rum, and a quart of orange shrub; stir it

well as you pour in the spirit. If not sweet enough, add sugar
to your taste.
Cold punch, when well made, is always weaker than grog or
toddy ; and the acid with which it is impregnated, has not only
a bracing effect upon the stomach, but operates as a diuretic
thereby counteracting considerably the activity of the spirit.
The ill effects of drinking punch may be prevented by adding
to it a piece or two of preserved ginger, and a little of the
syrup.
Toddy, the term for a mixture of spirits and water, appears to
be taken from the Indian word tari or tadi, pronounced toddy
—
by Europeans, the sap or wine of a palm. Craufurd. —
Wine and water was named Negus, from one Francis Negus,
Esq., in the days of George I. ; when a toping party of Whigs
and Tories falling into a high dispute, and Mr. Negus being
present, he recommended them in future to dilute their wine, as
he did this suggestion changed the argument to one on wine
and water, which concluded with the drink being nicknamed
Negus.
Liqueurs of the Chartreuse. 137
Liqueurs.
Liqueuks were invented for the use of Louis XIY. in his old
age, when he couldscarcely endure existence without a succession
of artificial stimulants : his appetite, in the prime of life, was
prodigious. George IV. had a like partiality lor liqueurs. In
sickness, when the least exertion was attended with faintness, his
Majesty’s usual remedy was a glass of some liqueur he had a :
particular kind of cherry-brandy, which he thought to be. of

medical use, and to which he resorted at a late period of his life.
The most famous liqueurs are made at the Grand Chartreuse.
There are four varieties. The principal is the Elixir; it is sold
in bottles, put up in wooden cases, turned in bottle shape, and
sold at a high price. The Green Liqueur is as strong as Scotch
whisky, or curacoa, but with no flavour of orange its aroma is ;
apparently derived from angelica plant, thyme, and sweet balm-

mint, compounded with various others. The Yellow Liqueur is
neither so potent nor so sweet. The White is called also the balm of
the Chartreuse. Upwards of fifty plants, seeds, and flowers are
used in the fabrication of these liqueurs ; the chief basis being
the first shoots of the pine-tree, wormwood (or absinthe), moun-
tain pinks, mint, and balm, the essentials of which are distilled
and mingled with great art in the secret laboratory of the Chartreuse.
The liqueur parf'ait-amour, notwithstanding the attraction of
its name, is no longer in repute with the ladies: they have
adopted maraschino in its place. Once upon a time, when a cer-
tain eminent diplomatist was asked by his voisine at a petit-
souper, for a female toast, to parallel with the masculine one of
Women and Wine, his Excellency ventured to suggest Men and
Maraschino, and the suggestion received the compliment of very
general applause. —
Quarterly Review.
The Russians put black currants into brandy, and the Irish
steep them in whisky, as the English do cherries.
The finest anisette liqueur is prepared at Bordeaux.
Excellent curacoa is made at Amsterdam, at two-thirds of
the English price. Anisette, another good liqueur, is also manu-
factured there.
To make curacoa, put six ounces of thin-cut Seville orange-
peel into a quart bottle with a pint of genuine whisky. Cork it
tightly, and let the rind infuse ten or twelve days, when take out
the peel, and fill up the bottle with clarified syrup, shake it well,
and let it remain Then pour a teaspoonful of the
for three days.
liqueur into a mortar, and mix with it a drachm of powdered alum,
and the same of carbonate of potash pour this into the bottle,
;
shake it well, and in a week the curaôa will be bright, and

equal in flavour to that imported from Malines.
Ratafia may fie made by infusing in brandy the fresh blossom
of the whitethorn, peach or apricot kernels, or very ripe grapes,
and sweetening tfie same.
Thefour-fruit liqueur consists of equal proportions of the
.juices —
of strawberries, raspberries, currants, and cherries sweet-
ened. A
wineglass full in a tumbler of spring-water makes a
delicious summer beverage.
Walnut liqueur is made in Prance, by adding a pint of brandy
to a dozen of unripe walnuts, with sugar or syrup to the palate.
The French likewise preserve the walnuts.
Ratafia, and similar
liqueurs, are frequently extremely dele-
terious. A
melancholy instance of this occurred at Pisa, and is
thus related by Mrs. Starke. Two ladies were living together,
when one of them complaining of cramp in her stomach, the
other gave her a wineglass of ratafia, which happened to be in the
house. Shortly after having swallowed it, she died, so evidently
in consequence of poison, that strong suspicions fell upon her
friend ; who, to prove her innocence, took the same quantity of
ratafia herself which she had administered to the deceased, and ex-
pired within a few hours. Prompted by this circumstance, Pro-
fessor Santi, of Pisa, wrote a beautiful little work, to show that
x atafia has, of late years, been made with Italian laurel leaves
-
the extract from which is a deadly poison.

Kirsch, or asit is called in Germany, Kirschenwasser (cherry-
water), manufactured in large quantities in the Black Forest
is
and iu Switzerland but the best quality is made in the Forest.
;
In France it is made exclusively in Franche Comte, the centre

of the trade being at Fougerolles (Haute Saone), where several
important houses are established. As soon as the cherries are
ripe the trees are beaten by the peasants with large poles, and
the fruit as it falls is picked up by children and thrown into tubs.
The juice is then pressed out by the hands, or with pieces of
wood, after which the stones are taken out from the mass, broken,
and the kernels are put into the cherry -juice. After the whole
has undergone fermentation for a fortnight, or a month, it is
distilled. The bouquet of the Kirsch is owing to the prussic
acid in the cherry-kernels. The clearest and most colourless
Kirsch is considered the best; like all other spirits, it much
improves by age.
According to Le Normand, Kirschenwasser is “downright
poison.” In Paris, a spurious kirschenwasser is distilled from
the kernels of prunes.
Iiock and Soda Water. 139
The cabbage is stated in a French journal to be a sovereign

remedy for intoxication from wine, and even ô have the power
of preventing it; for we are assured that by eating a certain
quantity of cabbage before dinner, we may drink wine ad libitum,
without experiencing inconvenience.
Brandy has been found a perfect antidote to drunkenness from
beer. A man upon whom the experiment was inadvertently
made in the south of France, described himself after the intoxica-
tion had left him, as “ awakened from a long and painful dream.”
This curious remedy has since been tried, and always with suc-
cess and a French physician has verified it.
:
Onion soupis thought highly restorative by the French. It

isconsidered peculiarly grateful, and gently stimulating to the
stomach after hard-drinking or night-watching, and holds among
soups the place that soda-water, Champagne, or ginger-beer does
among liquors.
Who does not recollect a first bottle of wine, unequalled by its
successors ! We remember ordering a bottle of Grave at the

Tete-de-Bceuf, at Abbeville, which was marked in the carte at
three francs. It came —
people may talk of Rudesheim, Bur-
gundy, and Hermitage, and all the wines that ever the Rhone or
the Rhine produced, but never was their wine like that bottle of
Grave. We
drank it slowly, and lingered over the last glass, as
if we had a presentiment that we should never meet with its like
again. When it was gone, quite gone, we ordered another bottle.
—
But no it was not the same wine. We
sent it away, and in
— —
vain ; and another there was no more of it to be had.
Soda Water and Summer Drinks.

Hock and soda-water make one of the most delicious suc-
cedanea to an excess of wine :
Get very drunk and when

;
You wake with head-ache, you shall see what then, —

Ring for your valet, hid him quickly bring
Some hock and soda-water, then you’ll know
A pleasure worthy Xerxes the great king
For not the best sherbet sublimed with snow,
Nor the first sparkle of the desert spring,
Nor Burgundy in all its sunset glow,
After long travel; ennui, love, or slaughter,
Vie with that draught of hock and soda-water. Byron.
Soda-water the simplest stimulating liquid. To permanently
is
weak stomachs it is generally unwholesome. It is always un-

wholesome during a meal, but is an excellent beverage at some
interval afterwards.
Soda-water rarely contains any soda; it being merely common

water charged wi^h fixed air : it is often drunk to neutralize acid
in the stomach, in which case fifteen or twenty grains of carbonate
of soda, finely powdered, should be put into a large glass, and a
bottle of soda-water poured on it. Dr. Graham, however, ob-
serves, that the practice of taking carbonate of soda and soda-
water freely, is a very injurious one. In full habits, where there
is much strength, they may be occasionally taken with advan-
tage, but scarcely in other less vigorous states of the constitution.
Carbonate of soda, adds the Doctor, should never be used in
the tea-pot, and very seldom in beer.
Seltzer- water, when fresh, has a brisk, slightly acid taste, and
makes a refreshing drink with Rhenish wine and powdered loaf
sugar in this state it is, probably, the most wholesome beverage
;
in warm weather. But the best recommendation of Seltzer-

water, the plain fact that the inhabitants of Neider-Selters,
is
(where obtained), who have drunk it all their lives, are by
it is
many degrees the healthiest and ruddiest-looking peasants in the
Duchy of Nassau. For acidity in the stomach, and heartburn,
Seidlitz-water is much recommended.
Ginger-beer is the most refreshing of all summer drinks, from
its high, close, and creamy head.
A
piece of anchovy will almost immediately restore the just tone
of voice to any one who has become hoarse by public speaking.
Coffee and green tea will be found the most efficacious anti-
dotes to intoxication, when no sickness prevails. dose of A
camphor julep is excellent. Nausea is counteracted by effer-
vescent and aromatic draughts ; of the former, soda-water is the
best. The Greeks used a solution of salt to counteract the
effects of wine and this is a common remedy among seafaring
;
men day and the Romans surrounded their heads

to the present ;
with wreaths of refreshing plants, for which we have the unclas-

sical substitute of wet cloths. When Aristotle tells us that
Dionysius of Syracuse remained in a state of intoxication for
eighty days, we must suppose that he got drunk every morning.
To prevent thirst in hot weather, eat plenty of fresh butter at
breakfast avoid drinking water as you would poison in short,
:
:
drink as little as possible of anything and do not give way to

;
the first sensation of thirst .

—
Colonel Shaio s Memoirs.
A very agreeable beverage is made by mixing Seltzer-water
with Bordeaux wine, a little lemon-juice, and sugar.
The wholesomeness of toast and water is thus explained.
When bread istoasted, its surface becomes converted into gum
and toast and water, as it is called, is a solution of the gummy
American Summer Drinks. 141
matter so produced ; and gum is a nutritious article of vege-

table diet.
The following receipts for these American Summer Drinlcs
have been contributed by Major Unett, 18th regiment, to the
Illustrated London News :
Mint Julep is brandy-and-water, sweetened with pounded white sugar,
in which are stuck leaves of fresh-gathered mint. Pounded or planed
Wenham Lake Ice is put into the tumbler, and the drink is imbibed
through a straw or glass tube. At the American bars, the brandy-and-
water is first put into a large silver or glass goblet, then the ice, planed or
broken very small pounded white sugar is then dashed over them with
;
a tablespoon; the whole is then violently shaken, or tossed from one

goblet to another, and served up in a clean goblet fresh mint is stuck in
;
the ice, a piece of lemon peel hangs over the brim, and a straw is put into
the glass.
Sherry Cobbler is made as Mint Julep, sans lemon-peel or mint,
sherry being substituted for brandy ; and when served, nutmeg is grated
over the top.
Stone Wall, or Fence, is an English Cider Cup, i.e., cider, -wine, brandy,
&c., served with ice and a straw.
Grin Sling is the same as the above, but with gin as the spirit.
Mississippi Punch. One glass of Outard brandy, half ditto of Jamaica
nun, a tablespoonful of arrack, a quarter of a lemon, and a tablespoonful
of pounded white sugar ; fill the tumbler with water and ice, let it be
thoroughly mixed, and serve with a straw. The mixture is made “ right
away,” in half the time it takes to relate the process.
Sherry Cobbler ( Canadian receipt). Take a lump of ice; fix it at the
edge of a board ; rasp it with a tool made like a drawing-knife or car-
penter’s plane, set face upwards. Collect the fine raspings —
the fine rasp-
ings, mind — in a capacious tumbler pour thereon two glasses of good
;
sherry, and a good spoonful of powdered white sugar, with a few small
bits, not shoes, of lemon, about as big as a gooseberry. Stir with a wooden
macerator. Drink through a tube of macaroni or vermicelli.
To a tumbler two-thuds filled with lemonade, add a wine-glass of
brandy, and fill to the brim with green lime-shrub. This is very pretty
tipple.— Benson Sill.
The Wenham Lake Ice is now extensively used in England,
and many cargoes of it are annually exported from Boston to
India. This ice has one recommendation, which cannot be too
strongly urged, —
its extreme purity. On this account, it may
be mixed with water or milk for drinking; wines or spirits may
he diluted with it; and butter or jelly placed in direct contact
with it. Its crystalline brilliancy is likewise very inviting,
especially in contrast with the dull, not to say dirty, ice of our
country. In the deliciously refreshing American drinks, “ Sherry
Cobbler ” and “ Mint Julep,” the ice itself is employed. A small
piece of ice let fall into a glass of porter is a luxurious addition,
which has only to be more extensively known to be generally
adopted. Another advantage of this purity is, that the ice will
last considerably longer for, in a “ Refrigerator,” or ice-chest, a
:
14a Hints for the Table.
block of Wenham Lake ice, weighing a few pounds, will last

several days, unless it be broken off for table use, or mixing
with drinks.
The artificial production of Ice has, of late, been brought to
great perfection. AFreezing Powder is made, by which a
bottle of wine may be iced at the cost of little more than a penny!
By aid of machinery and this freezing preparation, a large castle
has been frozen, in metal moulds, from the purest spring water;
it was five feet in length, the same in height, and weighed nearly
7 cwt. The Patent Ice Safe is a successful invention. This

is a large chest, opening in front, as well as at the top:
the outer sides are thick, and filled with a non-conducting sub-
stance ; the interior is fitted with zinced shelves, the ice being
placed in a central upright chamber. The advantages of this
Safe are not only due to the cold and at the same time perfectly
dry atmosphere existing in its interior, in consequence of the
patented principle of the ice being contained in a separate cham-
ber, but also to its great economy in the consumption of ice.
Fruit and vegetables, including strawberries, asparagus, cucum-
bers, &c., may be preserved in this Safe upwards of a fortnight,
in a state quite fit for the table ; and butter may be almost
frozen in it in two hours.
Smoking.
Of smoking, has been well observed, that all imaginative
it
persons when the world goes wrong with them, console them-
selves for the absence of realities by the creations of smoke.
Smokers formerly considered the well-known white earthen
pipe of Old England to be a more delicate mode of smoking
than any other as, by its being constantly changed, the smoker
;
was not annoyed by the bitter taste which other pipes, by

frequent use, are apt to contract. It is, however, now considered
that when a clay pipe has, from long use, become blackened or
—
embrowned, by the oil of the tobacco, or culottS as the French
call it—it is frequently improved.
Dr. Lyon Playfair, in his Report on the Tobacco in the Great

Exhibition of 1851, states that “ the finest tobacco in the world
comes from Havannah. But there is only a limited area
in Cuba in which that tobacco is produced; so that whilst
the Havannah tobacco may be of excellent quality in general,
the best is the produce of a very small area, and is chiefly used
in the island or as presents, a very limited amount going
into general consumption. Tobacco, scarcely inferior to that
from Havannah, has, however been brought from Trinidad, and
Smoking. 143
the southern Russian provinces. Manufacture, on the other

hand, exercises a great influence over the quality of tobacco. In
Algiers, where the climate is most favourable, the cigars are not
smokable, because they are badly prepared. Again, some En-
glish-made cigars are of much greater excellence than many of
the cigars imported from Havanuah, and paying the highest
duty as manufactured tobacco ; and there is no doubt whatever
that it is quite practicable to make cigars in this country which
shall be undistinguishable in appearance, and not very distin-
guishable in flavour, from any except those first-class Havannah
cigars which scarcely ever come into consumption.”
Dr. Pan-, after dinner, but not often till the ladies were about
to retire, claimed in all companies his privilege of smoking, as a
right not to be disputed ; since, he said, it was a condition, “ no
pipe, no Parr,” previously known, and peremptorily imposed on
all who desired his acquaintance.
The hookah is reckoned an essential part of a gentleman’s

establishment in the East Indies ; and every one who aims at
haut ton must be possessed of a hookah, and hoolcah-burdar, or
servant, whose sole duty is to atteud it. This machine is rather
complicated, and consists of a chauffoir, a tobacco- holder, a
water-vase, and a pipe. The latter varies in length, from three
to twenty feet, and is generally made of fine leather, wrought so
as to be air-tight and flexible. The vase is usually filled with
plain water; but those who wish to smoke luxuriously, put
into it rose-water, which gives the smoke a peculiarly delicate
flavour.
The meerschaum pipe and amber mouthpiece are well known.

Meerschaum is a mineral production, found at no great distance
from the surface, principally near Broussa, and under the shadows
of Olympus. Though yielded by a land of smokers, not a pound
of it is sold in the native market. It is all packed and sent
direct to Trieste, and thence to Vienna, to be fashioned into those
many shapes of elegance and ugliness well known to all classes
of tobacco consumers in Britain. Meerschaum pipes, however,
are often imported into Smyrna from the German factories. The
true material, of course, is imitated by the mechanical forger,
but, by adepts, the fraud is at once detected, as real “ meer-
schaum” absorbs the essential oil, which “composition” does
not. To a perfect meerschaum pipe an amber mouthpiece is
essential —
a mouthpiece of amber from the Baltic Sea. In the
East it is still considered to be a sort of alchymised gum, or
transmuted white of eggs. Of this substance, too, the thievish
—
Greek has many imitations to sell the best being of Bohemian
144 1Tints for the Table.
glass ;
but the glass is hot, brittle, and disagreeable, while the
amber isalways cool, pleasant, and pure.
A snuff-box is a letter oi introduction it has been the foun-
:
tain of many friendships. When you cannot ask a stranger his

opinion of the new opera, or the new ministry, you can offer
him your box with a graceful as well as profitable politeness.
Even when the weather and other popular topics are exhausted,
a pinch is always eloquent, always conversational, always con-
venient.
Louis XIY. was a bitter discourager of snuff-taking. His
valets were obliged to renounce it when they were appointed to
their office; and the Duke of Harcourt is supposed to have died
of apoplexy, in consequence of having, to please Louis, left off at
once a habit which he had carried to excess.
Coleridge remarks “You abuse snuff: perhaps
: it is the final
!”
cause of the human nose
Coffee-Making.
Coffee is in Arabic, Kahwah; Turkish Kalive. The English
word evidently comes direct from the Turkish. The coffee-plant
is a native of Abyssinia, and not of Arabia, for it was not
known at Mecca until 1454, only forty years before the discovery
of America. The true name of the plant is ban and Kalma, —
or coffee, means “ wine,” as a substitute for which the decoction
was used, although the legality of the practice was long a subject
of dispute by the Mahomedan doctors. From Arabia it spread
to Egypt and Turkey, and from the last-named country was
brought to England in 1650. In sixty years it was familiarly
known, at least in fashionable society, as wefiudfrom Pope’s well-
known lines in the “ Rape of the Lock
“ Coffee, which makes the politician wise,
And see through all tlimgs with his half-shut eyes.”
Coffee exhilarates, arouses, and keeps awake it allays hunger
;
to a certain extent, gives to the weary increased strength and

vigour, and imparts a feeling of comfort and repose. It makes
the brain more active, it soothes the body generally, makes the
change and waste of matter slower, and the demand for food in
consequence less. All these effects it owes to the conjoined action
of three ingredients, very similar to those contained in tea.
These arc, a volatile oil produced during the roasting a variety —
of tannic acid, which is also altered during the roasting and the —
substance called theine, or caffeine, which is common to both
tea and coffee. On the different properties of the volatile oil
which coffees contain, depend in great measure the aroma and
consequent value of the several varieties of coffee. higher A
Making Coffee. 145
aroma would make the inferior Ceylon, Jamaica, and East Indian,
coffee nearly equal to the value of the finest Mocha ;
and Payen,
the chemist, says, if the oil could be bought for the purpose of im-
parting this flavour, it would be worth in the market as much as
100/. sterling an ounce !
good custom to send coffee into the dining-room before

It is a
the gentlemen leave the table the hour being previously ap-
;
pointed, so that the bell need not be rung for it. Three hours
are a proper interval between the dinner-hour and coffee. Thus,
eight o’clock is a good hour, if the dinner be served at five.
Walker’s Original.
From the great consumption of coffee in Turkey, it is generally
supposed to be cheaper there than in England; and the name,
Turkey coffee, would lead many persons to conclude this kind to
be grown in Turkey. It is, however, brought from Mocha, on
the Red Sea. A
considerable part of the coffee consumed by the
Turks is obtained from our West India plantations ; and Arabian,
or Mocha coffee is dearer in Turkey than in England.
The finest coffee is grown in Arabia Felix, whence it is con-

veyed upon the backs of camels to Mocha for exportation. There
is not much Mocha itself, where the
of the coffee consumed at
Arabs, from economy or preference, generally use an
either
infusion of the husk, and coffee made from the seeds is rare even
among the higher classes. Every Arab lady when she visits,
carries on her arm a little bag of coffee this is boiled at the
:
house where she passes the evening, and thus she is enabled to
enjoy society without putting her friend to expense.
Agood mode of roasting coffee is in an earthen basin, placed
in an oven with the door open, the coffee to be frequently stirred
with a spoon. This method is said to allow certain coarse par-
ticles to fly off, and to render the flavour more delicate than when
the coffee is roasted in the usual close cylinder.
The great use of coffee in France is supposed to have abated the
prevalence of gravel. In the French colonies, where coffee is more
used than in the English, as well as in Turkey, where it is the prin-
cipal beverage, not only the gravel, but the gout is scarcely
known.
Among others, a case is mentioned in the Pharmaceutical Jour-
nal, of a gentleman who was attacked with gout at twenty-seven
years of age, and had it severely till he was upwards of lifty,
with
chalk stones in the joints of his hands and feet; but the
use of
coffee then recommended to him completely removed the
complaint
The only secret in making “French coffee” is to have it
roasted a very short time before it is used, to make
it verv
strong, and to use with it a large quantity of hot
milk, when it
L
is taken for breakfast. Napoleon the First’s method was to put

the ground coffee into a dry pot, with a little isinglass, and hold
it over the fire, shaking it to prevent burning and when smoke
;
rises from it, take off the pot, and gently pour in boiling water,
which will at once bring out all the fine properties of the coffee
without carrying off the aroma a cup is then poured out, and
;
returned to the pot, and in two or three minutes the coffee will
be clear for use. A French physician recommends coffee made
cold by infusion, to stand a day, and then be filtered ; and two
table-spoonsful of this coflec to be poured into a breakfast cup of
hot milk.
Or, the coffee, Turkey or Bourbon, should be roasted only till
it is of a cinnamon colour it should be coarsely ground soon
:
after it is roasted, but not until quite cool. The propoi-tions for
making coffee are usually one pint of boiling water to two
ounces and a half of coffee. The coffee being put into the water,
the coffee-pot should be covered up, and left for two hours sur-
rounded with hot cinders, so as to keep up the temperature,
without making the liquor boil. Occasionally stir it, and after
two hours’ infusion, remove it from the fire, allow it a quarter of
an hour to settle, and when perfectly clear, decant it. Isinglass,
or hartshorn shavings, are sometimes used to clarify coffee ; but
by this addition you lose a great portion of its delicious aroma.
From, Le Manuel de V Amateur de Cafe.
Soyer gives the two following receipts :
Choose the very nice brown colour, hut not black (which
coffee of a
would denote that was burnt, and impart a bitter flavour) grind it at
it ;
home if possible, as you may then depend upon the quality; if ground in
•any quantity, keep it in a jar hermetically sealed. To make a pint, put
two ounces into a stewpan, or small iron or tin saucepan, which set dry
upon a moderate fire, stirring the coffee round with a wooden spoon con-
tinually until it is quite hot through, but not in the least burnt: should
the be very fierce, warm it by degrees, taking it off every now and then
fire
until hot (which would not be more than two minutes), when pour over a
pint of boiling water, cover close, and let it stand by the side of the fire
(but not to boil) for five minutes, when strain it through a cloth or apiece
of thick gauze, rinse out the stewpan, pom- the coffee (which will be quite
clear) back into it, place it upon the fire, and, when nearly boiling, serve
with hot milk if for breakfast, but with a drop of cold milk or cream if for
dinner.
French Fashion. To a pint of coffee, made as before directed, add a pint
of boiling milk, warm both together until nearly boiling, and serve. The
French never use it any other way for breakfast.
Benson Hill gives the following method beat up an egg—

:
'
—
two for a large pot and mix it well with the coffee till it is
formed into a ball put it into the pot, and fill up with cold
:
water; simmer it for an hour, but do not stir it; and just before
Making Coffee. 147
it is required, set the pot on the fire, and heat the coffee, but do
not let it boil, and then pour it off gently.
Dr. Rafter assures us that the aroma of coffee is better extracted

by cold water than by hot. Dor this purpose, he recommends
that four ounces of good coffee, properly roasted and ground, be
mixed into a pap, or thin paste, with cold water, and left to
steep, covered closely for a night. Next day pour this pap care-
fully on fine linen, placed in a glass funnel, in a bottle. A single
spoonful of this very strong infusion, poured into a cup of boiling
milk, will give the whole a delightful aroma. Or, one part of the
infusion, and two parts of water, put on the fire till it just boils,
will yield delicious coffee. The strong essence should be kept
in a closely-stopped bottle.
Chicory in coffee is used, not for the tonic property in its bitter
ingredient, but because it gives a dark colour to water, and as
bitter a taste, as a great deal of coffee, which is much more
expensive. The public taste gradually accommodated itself to the
fraudulent mixture ; it became by-and-bye even grateful to the
accustomed palate ; and finally a kind of favourite necessity to
the lovers of bitter coffee. {Johnston.) And, by a piece of
bungling legislation, the fraud became legalized, so that millions
of pounds of chicory are annually imported into England.
It is very erroneous and most expensive to sweeten coffee with

moist or raw sugar for, experiment has proved that half the
:
quantity in weight of refined sugar will give more sweetness, and

the flavour of the coffee will be much more pure and delicate. In
Holland, where coffee is generally drank by the humbler classes,
the sugar cannot he too fine for the boatmen on the canals to
sweeten their coffee.
In Portugal, coffee is always made by infusion, and is taken
very strong, an ounce being used for one good-sized cup ; yet, it
is so cheap, that a small cup of coffee, including sugar and milk,
may be had in a first-rate coffee-house for a penny.
Eythe Steam-fountain Coffee-pot, every good quality of the
coffee-seed is extracted, without alloy, from the unwholesome
acid matter, which is, more or less, mixed with all coffee made by
the common methods. At the same time, nothing is wasted in
the process a clear and pure essence is produced, small, indeed,
:
in quantity at first, but of such strength that it may be freely

diluted.
A cup of coffee taken hot on an empty stomach, is a provincial
remedy for indigestion.
If a cup of coffee be stirred a few times, with a pod of vanilla,
it will acquire its delicious perfumed flavour.
The custom of taking coffee after a late dinner, and just before
going to rest, is bad because its stimulant properties upon the
:
nerves of the stomach exert a power destructive to sleep it pro- —

motes an activity of mind, and gives a range to the imagina-
tion which prevents self-forgetfulness, that sure harbinger of
repose.
Yet, Voltaire, Fontenelle, and Fourcroy, who were great coffee-
drinkers, lived to a good old age. Laugh at Madame Sevigne.
who foretold that coffee and Racine would be forgotten together
For breakfast, coffee is considered better than tea. The sto-
mach, needing a nourishing beverage in the morning, finds it in
coffee only needing none after dinner, it obtains a mere stimu-
;
lant in tea.
Tea-Making.
The physiological effects of Tea are well known. It exhilarates
without sensibly intoxicating. It excites the brain to increased
activity, and produces wakefulness. It soothes, on the contrary,
and stills the vascular system, and hence its use in inflammatory
diseases, and as a cure for headache. The exciting effect of green
tea upon the nerves makes it useful in counteracting the effects
of opium and of fermented liquors.
The Chinese themselves, and the Oriental nations generally,
hardly consume anything but black tea. The English consume
in the proportion of one part of green to four of black. The
Americans two parts of green to one of black. The English in
Bengal, and in the Australian settlements, scarcely consume any-
thing but green. The English at Bombay and Madras hardly
use anything but black and the English and other residents
;
settled at Canton, black. In Holland, much more black than

green tea is used; aud in Russia nearly the whole consumption
is green.
Tea, in general, does more harm from the quantity of unne-
cessary liquid which it introduces into the stomach, than by its
specific qualities. Unnecessary liquid weakens the stomach, and
turns to wind. Mayo.
The danger of drinking strong green tea is not so seriously
apprehended as it should be. Prussic acid has been obtained
from the leaves in so concentrated a state, that one drop killed a
dog almost instantaneously. A strong infusion of Souchong lea,
sweetened with sugar, is as effectual in poisoning flies, as the
solution of arsenic generally used for that purpose.
To make tea, the tea-pot should not be scalded, which causes
the escape of some aroma: if you make it for yourself, let the
Making Tea. 149
quantity of a breakfast cup and a half of boiling water flow upon

it, and pour the infusion out in two minutes. By this means,
you have all the flavour, without too much of the bitter principle,
of the tea.
Put a lump of sugar into the tea-pot, and the tea will infuse
in half the usual time.
Half a tea-spoonful of carbonate of soda put into the pot, will
hasten the infusion ; and should the water be hard, it will increase
the strength of the tea by half.
The beneficial results of the introduction of tea and coffee
have been strangely overlooked or underrated. It has been
described as leading “to the most wonderful change that ever
took place in the diet of modern civilized nations a change —
highly important both in a moral and physical point of view.
These beverages have the admirable advantage of affording stimulus
without producing intoxication, or any of its evil consequences.
Lovers of tea and coffee are, in fact, rarely drinkers and hence;
the use of these beverages has benefited both manners and

morals. Raynal observes, that the use of tea has contributed
more to the sobriety of the Chinese than the severest laws, the
most eloquent discourses, or the best treatises on morality.”
Cocoa, as a nutritive, stands very much higher than either
coffee or tea, in consequence of the large quantities of fat, starch,
and gluten contained in it ; but, owing to the quantity of fatty
matter, it is apt to disagree with some delicate stomachs. Choco-
late is a much less reliable article the finest being made up
;
with mutton suet and common sugar, together with ordinary

cocoa. Other adulterations are flour, potato-starch, Venetian
red, and other colouring matter.
Breakfast. — Luncheon. — Supper.

In persons with weak stomachs no meal requires to be more
studied than breakfast. If the stomach is overloaded at the
commencement of the day, or if anything unwholesome is taken,
digestion is deranged, and the stomach will not be right again
for hours. Mayo.
The carte of a well-appointed breakfast is as follows: On a
table, where everything should be neat and simple, there should
be as many different kinds of rolls, as the person who prepares
them is able to make.
These should differ from each other as
much in form as in taste; and on the side table there should be
some cold dishes, such as fowls, pheasants, partridges, tongue,
ham, cold pates, &c. Few persons are displeased at seeing a
slight sprinkling of hot dishes, as mutton kidneys, new laid eggs,

(i
ob s bacon, broiled cutlets, larks a, la minute, deviled fowl,
&c. ; in fact, all that is generally considered as constituting a
dejeune a la fourchette, observing that the hot meats ought not
to be served till the guests are at table. Tea (green and black
separately), coffee, and chocolate, should also be served. Ude. —
Chocolate is not so much consumed in England as it deserves
to be ; it is in greater esteem in Prance ; it forms the ordinary
breakfast in Spain and in Mexico is an article of prime
;
necessity.
A broiled fowl is a capital luncheon-dish if it be half roasted,
:
then split, and finished on the gridiron, it will be less dry than if
wholly broiled.
A sandwich, with or without a glass of sherry, is, however,
a better luncheon. It is best not to make a luncheon a meal of
habit ; but to take it only when the appetite tells you that you
require it. Mayo.
Raw an excellent mid-day luncheon, and serve well
oysters are
to allay the cravings of hunger at that hour.
Chocolate is much taken as luncheon in various parts of
the Continent. At Berlin, the confectioners’ shops become the
general lounge and resort about one or two o’clock, for taking
chocolate.
A luncheon generally composed of cold meats, such as pates,
is
fowls, pheasants, partridges,ham, beef, veal, brawn, and generally
whatever is left, fit to be introduced: part of which is to be
placed on a side-table ; on the table is to be served a little hashed
fowl, some mutton cutlets broiled plainly, with mashed pota-
toes. — Ude.
Kidneys should be eaten directly they are dressed, else they
will lose their goodness. Theyare also uneatable if they are too
much done, and a man that cannot eat meat underdone should
not have them at his table. In Prance, they are saute with
champagne or chablis.
Suppers were the ne plus ultra of human invention: it could
go no further, and was obliged to degenerate; dinner is too
much matter of business, it is a necessity : now, a necessity is
too like a duty ever to be pleasant. Besides, it divides the day,
instead of winding it up. I do not think, moreover, that people
were ever meant to enjoy themselves in the day-time. Miss
Landon. Lord Byron once made an odd experiment ; to dine
at midnight, after the theatre was over ; but the freak failed
the repast was servi as a dinner, but it was more like a supper.
Potted meats make elegant sandwiches; which, if cut into
National Dinners. 151
mouthfuls, may be taken up with a fork, and conveyed to the-

mouth of the fair one, without soiling her fingers or gloves.
“
Theodore Hook describes a stand-up supper, as tables against
the wall, covered with cold negus and warm ice where men,
;
women, and children, take perpendicular refreshment, like so

many horses with their noses in the manger.”
Ball suppers were mostly unsatisfactory affairs, until M. Ude hit
upon a plan of serving a supper, which should at once satisfy the-
guest by the excellence of the repast and the novelty of the ar-
rangement, and the host by the smallness of the expense. This
plan is to ornament the sideboard with a basket of fruit, instead
of insignificant pieces of pastry. Place in their stead things that
—
can he eaten such as jelly, plates of mixed pastry, and sand-
wiches of a superior kind, but not in too great profusion. Affix
a label to each plate, indicating its contents, and you will find
this arrangement will give the guests an opportunity of taking
refreshments without being obliged to seat themselves at a table,
from which the ladies cannot rise without disordering their dresses,
which to them is a matter of far greater moment than the best
supper in the world. This is what is called a stand-up supper,
which Theodore Hook has humorously described above. A
supper of the old school, however, affords the prettiest opportu-
nities for flirtation ; it being always understood that the sexes
are to be intermingled as at a dinner party.
The waste at ball-suppers of old was almost incredible. Ude
states that he has known where, the next day, in spite of
balls,
the pillage of a pack of footmen, he has seen twenty or thirty
hams, 150 or 200 carved fowls, and forty or fifty tongues, given
away ; jellies melted on the tables ; pastry, pates, pies, and lob-
ster salads, all heaped up in the kitchen, and strewed about the
passages, completely disfigured by the manner in which it was
necessary to take them from the dishes in which they had been
served.
Lady Morgan, in contrasting the cookery of past and present
times, observes “ Cruelty, violence, and barbarism were the cha-
:
racteristics of the men who fed upon the tough fibres of half-
dressed oxen ; humanity, knowledge, and refinement belong to
the living generation, whose taste and temperance are regulated
by the science of such philosophers as Careme, and such Amphy-
trions as his employers.”
National Dinners, Etc.

The Romans made little use of cattle as food; and the fatten-
ing of cattle for this specific purpose was unknown to them.
Neither can we find evidence that beef and mutton were eaten
by the Roman people generally. Pliny mentions the use of beef,
roasted, or in the shape of broth, as a medicine, but not as food.
Plautus speaks of beef and mutton as sold in the markets but, :
amidst the immense variety of fish, fiesh, and fowl, we hear little
of the above meats in the Roman larder. Fish and game,
poultry, venison, and pork, are often mentioned as elements of a
luxurious banquet; but undoubtedly the common food of all
classes was vegetable, flavoured with lard or bacon. In this
particular there was a great decline from the heroic ages. The
warriors of Homer waxed strong and mighty on roast beef; but
Regulus and Cincinnatus “ filled themselves,” as Lord Macaulay
would say, with beans and bacon. The cattle slain in sacrifice,
furnished, we must suppose, a special banquet for the epicure.
Such, perhaps, were among the peculiar delicacies of the “ Sup-
pers of the Pontiffs .” —
Saturday Review, No. 98.
The best French cooks are from Picardy; those from Orleans
come next; then Flanders, Burgundy, Courtois, Lorraine; the
Parisian last but one ;
the Norman last of all.
A German dinner is remarkable for the simplicity of its cookery,

in contrast with that in other parts of the Continent. Thus, at
the primitive hour of one, after the soup, the invariably boiled
beef revolves round the table, attended by its two “ satellites,”
a bowl of smoking brown gravy, and a dish of potatoes, or sliced
—
pumpkin. Next comes fish, or fowls then the pudding and —
lastly, some sort of roast meat with its never-failing accompani-
ments of stewed plums or pears, and salad.
The table-d’hdte is probably best enjoyed in Germany, where
it isfrequented by persons of the highest rank, from grand dukes
and princes downwards. The stranger will find much more
urbanity here than in a similarly mixed assemblage in England:
the topics and news of the day are discussed without restraint
and local or general information may frequently be thus obtained.
Added to this, the best dinner is always to be had at the table-
d’hote. It answers the landlord’s purpose to provide sumptu-
ously, en gros, for a large company, and he, therefore, discourages
dining in private.
A table- d' hole dinner at Weimar usually opens with p otage

au viz and grated cheese. To this succeed plain boiled beef and
boiled
sour mustard, with a profusion of fermented red cabbage;
a bowl ol
carp; light and savoury ball puddings swimming in
ChevreuiL
oiled butter, and eaten with compote de pommes.
piqud au lard is, perhaps, next introduced ;
followed by tried
fish. Next, boiled capon, with fried parsley roots, hot and hissing
from the pan. Dutch cheese, pears, sponge biscuits, coffee and
liqueur, follow : and the charge for such a repast is eighteen-
pence !
Sii
Adinner at Langenschwalbach, in Nassau, according to
Francis Head, is an odd affair :
alpha-
“After soup, which all the world over is the alpha of the gourmand’s
extracted, is
bet, the barren meat from which the said soup has been
a
produced of course, it is dry, tasteless, withered-looking stuff, which
:
Grosvenor-square cat would not touch with his whiskers but this dish ;
is —
always attended by a couple of satellites the one a quantity of
cucumbers stew ed in vinegar, the other a black, greasy sauce; and, it you
r
dare to accept a piece of this llaccid beef, and decline the indigestible
cucumber, souse comes into your plate a deluge of the sickening grease.
After the company have eaten heavily of messes which it would be
im-
possible to describe, in comes some nice salmon then fowls — then pud-
— —
dings then meat again— then stewed fruit and, after the English
stranger has fallen back in his chair, quite beaten, a leg of mutton majes-
tically makes its appearance.”
Epicurism the great business of the Viennese, from the
is
noble to the working-man. A

fine fat capon from the fertile
valley of Styria, and a flask of genuine Hungarian wine, are
more acceptable than the most liberal constitution and a, ;
Bohemian pheasant, garnished with saner-kraut and salmi di

Milano, more palatable than the production ot the most able pen.
Hungary, only a few miles distant, furnishes excellent wines
Gratz, in Styria, sends armies of capons ; Wirtemberg and
Bavaria myriads of fat snails ; Trieste transports sea fish in ice
across the Alps; while the Danube supplies plenty of fresh-
water fish.
Captain Basil Hall thus describes the dinner of a Hungarian

magnate :
“ We had first of all coldish, dirty-looking, thin soup

then a plate of ill-
;
cut tongue and after a dreary interval, a dish of slices of

slices of ill-salted ;
boiled beef, very cold, very fat, and very tough. The next dish promised
better it was a salmon, twisted into a circle, with his tail in his mouth, like
:
the allegorical image of eternity. But if I were to live, as the Americans say,
from July to eternity, I should not wisli to look upon the like of such a
fish again. Yet, its bones wore so nicely cleaned, that the skeleton might
have been placed in a museum of natural history. Next arrived a dish of
sausages, which disappeared in the twinkling of an eye. Lastly, came the
roast, but instead of a jolly English sirloin or haunch, the dish consisted
of what they facetiously called venison —
but such venison Yet, had the
!
original stag been alive from which this morsel was hewn, it could not
have moved off faster. To wind up all, instead of a dessert, we were pre-
scnted with a soup-plate holding eleven small, dry sweet cakes, each as
big as a Genevese watch-glass. The wine was scarcely drinkable, except-
ing, I presume, one bott le of Burgundy, which the generous master of the
house kept faithfully to himself, not offering even the ladv by his side, n
stranger, and his own invited guest, a single glass.”
The etiquette of a Russian dinner is very formal. When the

guests are seated, the master and mistress of the feast remain
standing, it being their business to attend upon the company, and
to see that the servants do their duty. Nothing can escape their
observation your plate does not remain a moment empty, nor
:
your glass a moment either empty or full. French wines are

mostly drunk ; Madeira is also a favourite ; and a bottle of port
is set down
expressly for the Englishman. At her own time, the
mistress gives the signal, and all rise from the table.
Turkish cookery is much praised by Soyer. When at Con-
stantinople he described its regime as containing
Many dishes which are indeed worthy of the tabic of the greatest epicure.
He will not consider his Oriental mission terminated to his satisfac-
tion till he secs in the bills of fare of France and England “ their puree
de volaillc au res tomates et coucombres and puree de B ulim ia aromastiee
a la creme by the side of our potages a la Bcinc, Portue, Jullienne, and
mulligatawney near our whitebait, red mullets, turbots, and salmon,
;
their fried sardines, bar fish, gurnards, sturgeon, red mullets aux herbes.
oyster pilafF, mackerel, salad, &c. ; and with our roast beef, saddleback of
mutton, and haunch of venison, their sheep, lamb, or kid, roasted whole,
and the monster and delicious kebab; by our entries of supreme de
volaille, salmis, and vol-aux-vents, their doulmas koifteo, sis kabobs,
haharram boutou, pilaff, aux cailles, &c.; with our vegetables, their
Bahmia fried leeks and celery, Patligau bastici, and sakath kabac bastici
with our macedoines, jellies, charlottes, &c., their lokounda, moukahalibi,
Baclava gynoristi, okmekataive. Their cofTec, iced milk, and sherbet
—
in fact, all their principal dishes might with the best advantage be
adopted and Frenchified and Anglicised; not so their method of serving,
in which they mix sweet and savoury dishes throughout the repast,.”
M. Soyer goes on to say that he had dined with the general-in-chief of
the culinary department of the Sultan, and that for four guests above
seventy small dishes formed the bill of fare. This repast was the fac-
simile of the dinner daily served up to the Sultan, who always takes his
meals alone.
A Persian banquet is a strange repast. The guests are first
served with coffee in very small cups, and without cream or sugar :
then tea, in large cups, and at last dinner. The table-cloth, or

sofra, of flowered cotton, is spread upon the carpet ; and this
cloth is used so long unchanged, that the accumulated fragments
of former meals collect into a musty paste, emitting no very
savouiy smell ; but the Persians are content, for they say that
changing the sofra brings ill luck. A piece of their bread or
cake is then set for each guest, to be used as a plate and napkin.
Then a tray is placed between each two persons, containing two
bowls of sherbet eacli with a wooden spoon two dishes of pillau

;
of rice soaked in oil or butter, boiled fowl, raisins, and a little

saffron ; two plates of sliced melon ; two of kabobs, or morsels of
dry boiled meat and a dish of fowl roasted to a cinder. As forks
;
are not used, the guests dexterously scoop up the contents of the
plates into their mouths, with three fingers and the thumb of
them right hand.
In Persia, it is etiquette to keep the head covered, and never to
enter a room in boots or slippers. Our countrymen speak of being-
obliged to dine in their cocked hats and feathers as a far more
troublesome ext remit)- of politeness than leaving their shoes at
the door.
A grand Chinese dinner is an aldermanic affair. The notes of
invitation are much larger than ours, and are written upon beau-
tiful red paper. The company are received by hosts of attendants
bearing lanterns ; and being welcomed by startling music, they
are first served with tea, without milk or sugar. There is no
table-cloth ; instead of napkins, three-cornered pieces of paper
are used, and for knife and fork are substituted two little round
chop-sticks ; whilst porcelain spoons are used for soup. There
are many hundred dishes served, the roasts being carved by cooks
in uniform and tasteful costume. The whole repast occupies full
six hours.
On October 26th, 1858, Prince Napoleon gave at Paris a grand
dinner, at which several dishes were Chinese some of the wine
:
drank was from Siam (having been sent by one of the Kings of
that country to the Prince), and one of the guests was a Chinese
mandarin. Among the dishes were swallows’-nests, cooked in
the Nankin method fins of a shark fried oluthuries a la man-
; ;
darine ; the interior of a sturgeon a V octoc/enaire, aux rondelles

debamboux; oluthuries in salad, with pheasant jelly rice des :
immortels fowl, with Japanese currie; spinach, with balichao,

such as was much esteemed at Rome under Augustus rice in ;
Chinese fashion, ordinary India currie, &c.

The Chinese are much more skilful in contrivances for supply-
ing the luxuries of the table than is generally imagined. Demp-
ster s scheme for preserving fish in ice (adopted in Scotland in
1800), has been practised in China for centuries. Wheels driven
by crews keep in lile and freshness, by a stream of water, thou-
sands of fish brought by boats into the Canton market daily.
The French have been particularly successful in preserving pro-
visions by exclusion of air; but the Chinese had preceded them
for centuries in their simple and effectual methods of keeping
eggs, fish, and vegetables. Sugar is of early origin, and, perhaps,
more is used in China than all the rest of the world put together
and Chinese sugar-candy does not yield to our highest refined

sugar.
ihe natives of the East Indies are excellent cooks their stews :
and haricots are capital, but a prejudice exists against these pre-
parations amidst the greater number of Anglo-Indians, who
fancy that “ black fellows ” cannot do anything beyond their own
pillaus, and are always in dread of some abomination in the
mixture; a vain and foolish alarm, where the servants are cleanly,
and currie is not objected to.
The natives of Scinde, in India, believe that fish diet pro-
strates the understanding, and, in palliation of ignorance in any
one, they often plead that “ he is but a fish-eater.”
An Indian breakfast is an unrivalled repast: fish of every
kind — fresh, dried, pickled, or preserved; delicate fricassees,
risoles, croquettes, omelettes, and curries, of all descriptions; cold
meats and game of all sorts; p&tes, jellies, and jams, from
London and Lucknow; fruits and sweetmeats; with cakes in
endless variety, splendidly set out in china, cut glass, and silver,
the guests providing their own teacups, plates, Ac.
The King and Queen of the Sandwich Islands, and their suite,
who were wantonly charged
visited this country in the jr ear 1825,
with gluttony and drunkenness by persons who ought to have
known better. “It is true,” observes Lord Byron, in his Voyage
to the Sandwich Islands, “ that, unaccustomed to our habits,
they little regarded regular hours for meals, and that they liked
to eat frequently, though not to excess. Their greatest luxury
was oysters, of which they were particularly iond; and one day,
some of the chiefs having been out to walk, and seeing a grey
mullet, instantly seized it and carried it home, to the great
delight of the whole party who, on recognising the native fish
;
of their own seas, could scarcely believe that it had not swum
hither on purpose for them, or be persuaded to wait fill it was
cooked before they ate it.” The best proof of their moderation
is, however, that the charge at Osborne’s Hotel, in the Adelphi,
during their residence there, amounted to no greater an average

than seventeen shillings a head per day for their table as they :
ate little or no butcher’s meat, but lived chiefly on fish, poultry,

and fruit, by no means the cheapest articles in London, their
gluttony could not have been great. So far from their always
preferring the strongest liquors, their favourite beverage was
some cider, with which they had been presented by Mr. Canning.
The Spanish Olla Podrida consists of carrots, peas, earabansas
{a peculiar kind of bean), onions, garlic, lettuces, celery, and long
pepper, with slices of beef and ham, all boiled together, and
served in one dish. To an uneducated stomach this does not
seem a savoury repast ; but, like virtue, the better you become
acquainted with it the more you are attached to it. It is true
the garlic is apt to impregnate your breath with other than
Sabean odours ; but where all participate, none revolt.
Mr. Beckford, who visited the monastery of Alcobaâ, gives
the following glowing picture of the kitchen of that magnificent
establishment. “ Through the centre of the immense and
groined hall, not less than sixty feet in diameter, ran a brisk
rivulet of the clearest water, flowing through pierced wooden
reservoirs, containing every sort and size of the finest river fish.
On one side, loads of game and venison were heaped up ; on the
other, vegetables and fruit in endless variety. Beyond a long
line of stoves extended a row of ovens, and close to them hillocks
of wheaten flour, whiter than snow, rocks of sugar, jars of the
purest oil, and pastry in vast abundance, which a numerous tribe
of lay-brothers and their attendants were rolling out and puff-
ing up into a lnmdred different shapes, singing all the while as
blithely as larks in a corn-field!” The banquet is described as
including “ exquisite sausages, potted lampreys, strange messes
from the Brazils, and others still more strange from China (viz.,
birds’ nests and sharks’ fins), dressed after the latest mode of
Macao, by a Chinese lay-brother. Confectionery and fruits were
out of the question here ; the}' awaited the party in an adjoining
still more sumptuous and spacious saloon, to which they retired
from the effluvia of viands and sauces. On another occasion, by
aid of Mr. Beckford’s cook, the party sat down to “ one of the
most delicious banquets ever vouchsafed a mortal on this side of
Mahomet’s paradise. The macedoine was perfection, the ortolans
and quails lumps of celestial fatness, the sautes and bechamels
beyond praise and a certain truffle cream was so exquisite, that
;
the Lord Abbot piously gave thanks for it.”

At Sienna is shown “ the House of the Brigata Spendereccia,”
or “ Godereccia,” a club of young men, whose chief object was to
collecta purse of 209,000 ducats, and spend it in twenty months.
Their pheasants were roasted with fires made of cloves, and their
horses were shod with silver. Dante has perpetuated the memory
of these young prodigals in the 29th chapter of the Inferno.
In Lord Clarendon’s essay on the decay of respect paid to old
age, he says, that in his younger days he never kept his hat on
before those older than himself, except at dinner.
A Richmond Dinner Three Hundred Years Ago. —We find,
in the Lansdowne manuscripts, that about Christmas, 1509, certain
officials of the Court of King Henry VIII. dined
together at the
village of Shene, now called Richmond, and that, at the
end of
the entertainment, my host of the Star and Garter, with many
salutations, handed to them the following bill —

For brede, 12d.
:
ale, 3s. 4d. wyne, lOd. two leynes moton, 8d. maribones, Gd.
; ; ;
powdred beef, 5d. ; two capons, 2s. ; two geese, 14d. five conyes, ;
15d. ; one legge moton, five pounds’ weight, 4d. six plovers, 18d.
;
six pegions, 5d. two dozen larkes, 12d. salt and sauce, 6d.
; ;
buter and eggs, lOd. ; wardens and quynces, 12d. herbes, Id. ;
spices, 2s. 4d. floure, 4d.

; white cuppes and cruses, 6d. which
; ;
gives exactly one pound sterling as the total expense.

The Dinner in Gruildliall on Lord Mayor's Day is a mag-
nificent spectacle the Lord Mayor and his distinguished guests
:
advance to the banquet by sound of trumpet and the superb :
dresses and official costumes of many of the company (about

1200), with the display of costly plate, is very striking. The
Hall is divided at the upper, or hustings tables, the courses are
:
served hot; at the lower tables the turtle only is hot. The baron
of beef is brought in procession from the kitchen into the Hall in
the morning, and being placed upon a pedestal, at night is cut
up by “ the City carver.” The Kitchen, wherein the dinner is
dressed, is a vast apartment ; the principal range is 16 feet long,
and 7 feet high, and a barou of beef (3 cwt.) is roasted by gas.
There are 20 cooks, besides helpers; some 40 turtles are
slaughtered for 250 tureens of soup; and the serving of the
dinner requires about 200 persons, and 8000 plate changes.
Next morning the fragments of the Great Feast are doled out at
the kitchen gate to the City poor. Curiosities of London.
Anecdotes of Clubs.
THE EOXBUEGHE CLUB DINNEBS.
The Roxburghe Club claims its foundation from the sale of the
library of the late John Duke of Roxburghe, in 1812, which
extended to forty-one days following, with a supplementary cata-
logue beginning Monday, July 13, with the exception of Sun-
days. Some few days before the sale, the Rev. T. F. Dibdin,
who claimed the title of founder of the club, suggested the hold-
ing of a convivial meeting at the St. Alban’s Tavern after the
sale of June 17th, upon which day was to be sold the rarest lot,
“ II Decamerone di Boccaccio,” which produced 2260Z. The
invitation ran thus :
—
“ The honour of your company is requested,
to dine with the Roxburghe dinner, on Wednesday, the 17th
instant.” At the first dinner the number of members was limited
to twenty-four, which at the second dinner was extended to
thirty-one. The president of this club was Lord Spencer among :
the most celebrated members were the Duke of Devonshire, the

Tho Roxburghe Club Dinners. ]59
Marquess of Blandl'ord, Lord Althorp, Lord Morpeth, Lord

Gower, Sir Mark Sykes, Sir Egerton Brydges, Mr. (afterwards
Baron) Bolland, Mr. Dent, the Lev. T. C. Heber, Rev. Rob.
Holwell Carr, Sir Walter Scott, etc. Ac. Dr. Dibdin, secretary.
;
The avowed object of the club was the roprinting of rare and
neglected pieces of ancient literature ; and, at one of the early
meetings, “ it was proposed and concluded for each member of
the club to reprint a scarce piece of ancient lore, to be given to
the members, one copy being on vellum for the chairman, and
only as many copies as members.”
It may, however, be questioned whether “the dinners” of the
club were not more important than the literature. They were
given at the St. Alban’s, at Grillion’s, at the Clarendon, and the
Albion, taverns ; the Amphylrions evincing as rechercM taste in
the carte, as the club did in their vellum reprints. Of these
entertainments some curious details have been recorded by the
late Mi\ Joseph Haslewood, one of the members, in a MS. en-
titled,
“ Roxburghe Revels or, an Account of the Annual Dis-
;
play, culinary and festivous, interspersed incidentally with Mat-

ters of Moment or Merriment.” This MS. was, in 1833, pur-
chased by the Editor of the Athenccum, and a selection from its
rarities was subsequently printed in that journal. Among the
memoranda, we find it noted that, at the second dinner, a few
tarried, with Mr. Heber in the chair, until, “ on arriving at home,
the click of time bespoke a quarter to four.” Among the early
members was the Rev. Mr. Dodd, one of the masters of West-
minster School, who, until the year 1818 (when he died), en-
livened the club with Robin-Hood ditties and similar productions.
The fourth dinner was given at Grillion’s, when twenty members
assembled, under the chairmanship of Sir Mark Masterman Sykes.
The bill on this occasion amounted to 5 71., or 21. 17s. per man;
and the twenty “ lions” managed to dispose of drinkables to the
extent of about 33Z. The “reckoning,” by Grillion’s French
waiter, is amusing.*
* Dinner du 17 J uin 1815.

20 200 0 (Not legible) 0 14 0
Desser 20 0 Soder 0 2 0
Deu sorte de Glasse
....
..140 Biere e Ail 0 6 0
Glasse pour 6 0 4 0 Por la Lettre .... 2 0 0
5 Bouteile de Champagne
7 Bouteile de harmetage
4
5 5
0 0
0
Pour faire un prune
Pour un fiacre
..060
.... 0 2 0
1 Bouteile de Hok ... 0 15 0
4 Bouteile de Port ..160 55 0
4 Bouteile de Maderre
22 Bouteile de Bordeaux
.200 Waiters . . 1 14
6
0
15 8 0
2 Bouteile de Bourgogne 1 12 0 57 0 0
The anniversary of 1818 was celebrated at the Albion, in

Aldersgate Street: Mr. Ileber was in the chair, and the Rev.
Mr. Carr vice, vice Dr. Dibdin. Although only fifteen sat down,
they seem to have eat and drunk for the whole club it was, as :
Wordsworth says, “ forty feeding like one and the bill, at the
conclusion of the night, amounted to 85 1. 9s. 6rf. “ Your cits,”
says Mr. Haslewood, “ are the only men for a feast ; and, there-
fore, behold us, like locusts, travelling to devour the good things
of the land, eastward, lio! At a little after seven, with our
fancies much delighted, we fifteen sat down.”
In the bill of fare were turtle cutlets, turtle fins, and turtle
removed for dishes of whitebait. In the second course were two
haunches of venison.*
“ Consider, in the bird’s-eye view of the banquet, (says Mr.
Haslewood,) the trencher cuts, foh nankeen displays as iuter-
!
;
sticed with many a brilliant drop to friendly beck and clubbish

hail, to moisten the viands, or cool the incipient cayenne. No
unfamished liveryman would desire better dishes, or high-tasted
courtier better wines. With men that meet to commune, that
can converse, and each willing to give and receive information,
more could not be wanting to promote well-tempered conviviality
a social compound of mirth, wit, and wisdom combining all ;
—
that Anacreon was famed for, tempered with the reason of
Demosthenes, and intersected with the archness of Scaliger. It
is true we had not any Greek verses in praise of the grape, but
* The bill, as a specimen of the advantages of separate charges, as

well as on other accounts, may be worth preserving :
Albion House.
June 17, 1818.
Bread and Beer ... 0 9 0 Waxlights 2 10 0
Dinners 9 9 0 Desert 6 G 0
Cheas and Butter ... 0 9 0 Pine-ice creams ... 1 16 0
Demons 0 3 0. Tea and Coffee ....180
0 0 14
Strong Beer 0 9 0 Liqueures
Madeira 3 3 0 2 Haunches of Venison 10 10 . 0
Champagne 2 11 0 Sweet sauce and dressing 14 0
Satume (sic in MS.) . . 1 4 0 60 lbs. Turtle . . 12 10
. . 0
Old Hock 4 16 0 Dressing do 2 2 0
Burgundy 0 18 0 Ice for Wine ....060
Hermitage 0 18 0 Rose Water 0 6 0
Sherry 0 7 0 Lemons and Sugar for do. 0 3 0

2 11 0 Broken Glass .... 0 6 6
St. Percy
Old Port 2 9 0 Servants’ dinners ...070
...100
Claret 11 4 0 Waiters
Turtle Punch .... 0 16 0
86 9 6
Clubs of London. 161
we had as a tolerable substitute the ballad ol' the Bishop of Here-

ford and Robin llood, sung by Mr. Dodd; and it was of his own
composing. It is true we had not any long oration denouncing the
absentees, the Cabinet council, or any other set of men, but there
was not a man present that at one hour and seventeen minutes
after the cloth was removed but could not have made a Demo-
sthenic speech far superior to any record of antiquity. It is true
no trait of wit is going to be here preserved, for the Hashes were
too general ;
and what is the critical sagacity of Scaliger, com-
pared to our chairman ? Ancients, believe it we were not dead
drunk, and therefore lie quiet under the table for once, and let
a few moderns be uppermost.
“ According to the long-established principles of Maysterre ‘
Coekerre,’ each person had 5 1. 14s. to pay —

a tremendous sum,
and much may be said thereon.”
Earl Spencer presided at the dinner which followed the sale of
the Valdarfer Boccaccio; twenty-one members sat down to table
at Jaquiere’s, (the Clarendon,) and the bill was comparatively
moderate, 55 1. 13s. Mr. Haslewood says, with characteristic
sprightliness, “Twenty-one members met joyfully, dined com-
fortably, challenged eagerly, tippled prettily, divided regretfully,
and paid the bill most cheerfully.”
London clubs, after all, are not bad things for family men.
They act as conductors to the storms usually hovering in the air.
The man forced to remain at home, and vent his crossness on his
wife and children, is a much worse animal to bear with than the
man who grumbles his way to Pall Mall, and not daring to swear
at the club-servants, or knock about the club-furniture, becomes
socialized into decency. Nothing like the subordination exer-
cised in a community of equals for reducing a fiery temper.
Mrs. Gore.
A critic in the National Review, profiting by the Handbook
of London, and the Curiosities of London, as text-books, writes
In the betting-books at White’s and Brookes’s Clubs, which still
exist, may be found bets on all conceivable subjects bets on —
births, deaths, and marriages on the length of a life, or the
:
duration of a ministry on a rascal’s risk of the halter, or a

;
placeman’s prospect of a coronet; on the chances of an election,

or the sanity ot the King; on the shock of an earthquake, or the
last scandal at Ranelagh, or Madame Cornelys’. A man dropped
down at the door of White’s; he was carried into the house.
Was he dead or not The odds were immediately given and
i'
taken for and against. It was proposed to bleed him. Those

who had taken the odds the man was dead protested that the use
of a lancet would affect the fairness of the bet. Walpole has a
good story of a person, who, coming into White’s on the morning

of the earthquake of 1750, and hearing bets laid whether the
shock was caused by an earthquake, or the blowing up of powder-
mills, went away in horror, protesting they were such an impious
set, that he believed, “ if the last trump were to sound, they
would bet puppet-show against judgment.” One Mr. Blake
betted 1500/. that a man could live twelve hours under water
hired a desperate fellow, and sunk him in a ship by way of experi-
ment. Neither ship nor man reappeared. “Another man and
ship are to be tried for their lives,” adds Walpole, who is our
authority for this story, “ instead of Blake, the assassin.”
Clubs are favourable to temperance: it seems that when people
can freely please themselves, and when they have an opportunity
of living simply, excess is seldom committed. Prom an account
of the expenses of the Athenaeum, in the year 1832, it appears
that 17,322 dinners cost, on an average, 2s. 9 \d. each, and that
the average quantity of wine for each person was a small fraction
more than half a pint. Mr. Walker's Original.
The vulgar habit of associating the notion of gentility with
expense, is invariably discountenanced at the clubs. The Duke
of Wellington might often be seen at the Senior United Service,
dining on a joint; and, on one occasion, when he was charged
fifteenpeuce instead of a shilling for it, he bestirred himself till
the odd threepence was struck off. The motive was obvious ; he
took the trouble of objecting, to give his sanction to the prin-
ciple. — Quarterly Review.
The Beef-steak Society, the “Sublime Society of Beef-stealcs,”
(but disdaining to be thought a Club,) consists of twenty-four
members, noblemen and gentlemen, who dine together off beef-
steaks at five o’clock on Saturdays, from November until the end
of June, at their rooms in the Lyceum Theatre. The dining-
room is lined with oak, and decorated with emblematic gridirons,
and in the middle of the ceiling is the gridiron first used by the
cook. The orthodox accompaniment to the steaks is arrack punch.
Each member may invite a friend. The Society originated with
George Lambert, the scene-painter of Covent Garden Theatre,
during Rich’s management, where Lambert often dined from a
steak cooked on the fire in his painting-room, in which he was
often joined by his visitors. This led to the founding of the
Society by Rich and Lambert, in 1735, in a room in the theatre.
After its rebuilding, the place of meeting was changed to the
Shakespeare Tavern, Great Russell-street ; next to the Lyceum
Theatre, and on its destruction by fire in 1830, to the Bedford
Hotel; and thence to the Lyceum, rebuilt in 1834 The number
of members was increased to twenty-five, to .admit the Prince of
Clubs of London. 163
Wales (afterwards George IV.) ;

and Captain Morris was the
laureat, the sun of this jovial system: in 1831 he bade adieu
to the Society, but in 1835 revisited it, and was presented with
an elegant silver bowl ;
at the age of 90, he sang :
“ When my spirits are low for relief and delight,

I place your splendid memorial in sight
still
And call to my muse, when care strives to pursue, ”
‘Bring the steaks to mymem’ry, and the bowl to my view.’
There was also a Beef-steak Club, which is mentioned by Ned

Ward in 1770. Peg Woffington was a member; and the Presi-
dent wore as an emblem a gold gridiron. And at the sale of Mr.
Harley’s curiosities, in November, 1858, a silver gridiron, worn
by a member, was sold for 1Z. 3 s.
Crockford, who established the Club which bore his name, in
the house now the “ Wellington,” in St. James’s-street, was a
remarkable man. According to the Edinburgh Review ,
Crockford started in life as a fishmonger, in the old bulk-shop next

door to Temple Bar Without, which he quitted for “ play” in St. James’s.
He began by taking Watier’s old club-house, where ho set up a hazard-
bank, and won a great deal of money : he then separated from his part-
ner, who had a bad year, and faded. Crockford now removed to St.
James’s-street, had a good year, and built the magnificent club-house
which bore his name; the decorations alone arc said to have cost him
94,0(XB. The election of the club members was vested in a committee
the house appointments were superb, and Ude was engaged as mattre
d? hotel. “ Crockford’s” now became the high fashion. Card-tables were
regularly placed, and whist was played occasionally ; but the aim, end,
and final cause of the whole was the hazard-bank, at which the proprietor
took his nightly stand, prepared for all comers. His speculation was
eminently successful. During several years, everything that anybody had
to lose and cared to risk was swallowed up ; and Crockford became a
millionaire. He
retired in 1840, “much as an Indian chief retires from
a hunting country when there is not game enough left for his tribe;”
and the Club then tottered to its fall. After Crockford’s death the lease
of the club-house (thirty-two years, rent 1400/.) was sold for 2900L
James Smith has left us the following sketch of his every-day

lifeat the Union Club :
At three o’clock I walk to the Union Club, read the journals, hear Lord
John Ilusscll deified or diablcrizcd, do the same with Sir Bobert. Peel or
the Duke of Wellington, and then join a knot of conversationists by the
tiro till six o’clock, consisting of lawyers, merchants, and gentlemen at
large. We then
and there discuss the Three per Cent. Consols (some of
us preferring Dutch Two-and-a-half per
Cents.), and speculate upon the
probable rise, shape, and cost of the New Exchange. If Lady Harrington
happen to drive past our window in her landau, we compare her equipage
to the Algerine Ambassador’s; and when polities happen to be discussed,
rally Whigs, ltadicals, and Conservatives alternately, but never seriously,'
such subjects having a tendency to create acrimony. At six the room
M 2
1G4 Hints for the Table.
begins to bo deserted; wherefore I adjourn to the dining-room, and

gravely looking over the bill of fare, exclaim to the waiter, “Haunch of
mutton and apple-tart !’ These viands despatched, with the accompany-
ing liquids and water, I mount upward to the library, take a book and
my seat in the arm-chair, and read till nine. Then call for a cup of
coffee and a biscuit, resuming my book till eleven; nfterwards return
—
home to bed . Comic Miscellanies.
Table Anecdotes.
Ax amiable enthusiast, a worshipper of nature after the manner
of Rousseau, being melted into feelings of universal philanthropy
by the softness and serenity of a spring morning, resolved, that
for that day at least, no injured animal should pollute his board
and, having recorded his vow, he walked six miles to a hamlet
famous for fish dinners, where, without an idea of breaking his
sentimental engagement, he regaled himself on a small matter of
crimped cod and oyster-sauce. This reminds one of a harmless
piece of quizzing in the Quarterly Review, —
that although the
Pythagorean Sir Richard Phillips would not eat animal food, he
was addicted to gravy over his potatoes.
The late Lord Grenville once remarked, that he was always
glad to meet a lawyer at a dinner party, because he then felt sure
that some good topic or other would be rationally discussed.
What a luxury is a properly warmed room. Francis Emperor
of Austria, one day observed that he believed it required as much
talent to warm a room as to govern a kingdom.
Some one remarked of a fire in the room, that it has one emi-
nent advantage ; it gives you a motive for selecting and remain-
—
ing in one part of it. It is the same with a dinner, it takes
you into society, and keeps you there. Rousseau, who felt the
irksomeness of meeting for conversation in society without an
object, where this resource was wanting, was used to take a
knitting-needle and a ball of cotton, to occupy and amuse himself
with. The dinner-table does this for that cast of temperament
which belongs to the shy and fidgetty. The banquet temporarily
remedies his constitutional defects. — Mayo.
Theodore Hook, in his Gilbert Gurney, describes an odd dinner
of which he partook in the West of England. The soup was a
nice sort of veal broth; at the bottom of the table was a roast
loin of veal; at the top, half a calf's head; there were four
entrees — veal patties, veal collops, calf's brains, and calf's
tongue. One of the guests, who hated veal, apparently waited
for the second course, when the fair hostess apologized: “We
have no second course ; the fact is, we killed a calf the day before
Table Anecdotes. 165
yesterday, and we are such prudent managers, that we make a

point of eating it up while it is good, and nice and fresh, before
we begin upon anything else.”
It was suggested to a distinguished gourmet, what a capital

thing a dish all fins (turbot’s fins) might be made. “ Capital,”
said he, “ dine on it with me to-morrow.” “Accepted.” “ Would
you believe it ? when the cover was removed, the sacrilegious dog
of an amphitryon had put into the dish, Cicero, Do finibus.’
‘
‘
There is a work all fins,’ said he.” Bulwer.
A cunning Welsh
not unfair bait for those
squire, a zealous diner-out,
who swallowed it :
—had
“ I
the following
have a little
book at home,” he would say slyly, in a corner, to such of his

friends as had venison, or game, or any other good things to be
eaten, “ and in that little book is your name.” He died, however,
without making a will, at the age of eighty-six. Nimrod.
The late Duke of Bridgewater, when in London, would not
undertake the trouble of keeping house he therefore made an
:
allowance of 2000Z. a year to a friend, with whom he dined when

not otherwise engaged, and to whose table he had the privilege of
inviting his intimate friends.
One of the best practical jokes in Theodore Hook’s clever Gil-

bert Gurney, is Daly’s hoax upon the lady who had never been
at Richmond before, or, at least, knew none of the peculiarities
of the place. He desired the waiter, after dinner, to bring some
“maids of honour,” those cheesecakes for which the place has,
time out of mind, been celebrated. The lady stared, then laughed,
and asked, “ What do you mean by ‘ maids of honour ?’ ” “ Dear
me !” said Daly, “ don’t you know that this is so courtly a place
and so completely under the influence of state etiquette, that
everything in Richmond is called after the functionaries of the
palace ? What are called cheesecakes elsewhere, are here called
maids of honour ; a capon is called a lord chamberlain ; a goose
is a lord steward ; a roast pig is a master of the horse a pair of
;
ducks, grooms of the bedchamber a gooseberry tart, a gentleman

;
usher ot the black rod and so on.” The unsophisticated lad}'

;
was taken in, and when she actually saw the maids of honour
make their appearance in the shape of cheesecakes, she con-
vulsed the whole party by turning to the waiter, and desiring
him in a sweet but decided tone to bring her a gentleman-usher
o( the black rod, if they bad one in the house quite cold.
One of Lord Byron’s odd fancies was dining at all sorts of

odd out-of-the-way places. Somebody popped upon him in a
coffee-house in the Strand, where the attraction was, that he
paid a shilling to dine with his hat on. This he called his
] 66 Hints for the Table.
“ Affltf-house,” and he used

to boast of the comfort of being
covered at meal-time.
Lord Byron describes “ a largish party” as “ first silent,
then talky, then argumentative, then disputatious, then unintel-
ligible, then altogethery, then drunk he also mentions “ a cork-
screw staircase, which had certainly been constructed before the
discovery ol fermented liquors, and to which no legs, however
crooked, could possibly accommodate themselves.”
Maplett, in his Green Forest (1567), says, it is reported
“ that the ele being killed and addressed in wine, whosoever
chanceth to drinke of that wine so used, shall ever after lothe
wine.”
Awit once said to a water-drinker with a purple face, “ better
things might, primd facie, be expected.”
Dr. Franklin pleasantly observes, that the only animals created
to drink water, are those who from their conformation are able
to lap it on the surface of the earth ; whereas, all those who
can convey their hands to their mouth were destined to enjoy
the juice of the grape.
The occasional worshippers of Bacchus come off cheaply; ’tis
those who imitate the fuddling Silenus that generally drop into
an early grave. As a witty old gentleman once said in the
hearing of some of his hard-going neighbours, “ they never dry
their nets.”
The habitual characteristic sobriety of the Highlander’s de-
portment often belies the copiousness of his potations of whisky,
and he will preserve the most perfect decorum under the influence
of a quantity of spirits which would render an Irishman frantic.
“The Irish,” said Sir Jonah Barrington, “are drunk before
dinner, and mad after it.” “ Always drinking and never drunk,”
is, on the contrary, the maxim of the most intemperate High-
landers.
It has been written of the Irish, that they make you welcome
by making you drunk. But it is to this generous virtue, excess
of hospitality, that excess in wine is greatly to be attributed.
Then, again, Irish gentlemen have long been renowned for one
incentive to drinking, beyond the excellence of their punch and
claret —
namely, the novelty and point of their convivial toasts.
This once called forth the cutting remark, that an Irish squire
spent one-half of his day in inventing toasts, and the other half
in drinking them. Nimrod.
The author of The Parson’s Daughter, when surprised one
evening in his arm-chair, two or three hours after dinner, is
reported to have apologized by saying, “When one is alone the
bottle does come round so often.” On a similar occasion Sir

“
Hercules Langreish, on being asked Have you finished all that
port (three bottles), without assistance p” answered, “No —
not
quite that— I had the assistance of a bottle of Madeira.”
At large dinners in the City Halls, and in the Halls of the

Inns of Court, it is customary to pass huge silver goblets
down the table, filled with a delicious composition immemorially
termed “ sack,” consisting of sweetened and exquisitely-flavoured
white wine the butler attends its progress to replenish it, and
:
each citizen and student is restricted to a sip. Yet, it chanced

once at the Temple, that though the number present fell short
of seventy, thirty-six quarts of the liquid were consumed.
Sir William Aylett, a grumbling member of the Union Club,
and a two-bottle man, one day observing Mr. James Smith fur-
nished with half a pint of sherry, eyed his cruet with contempt,
—
and exclaimed “ So, I see you have got one of those d d life-
:
preservers !”
Some people are very proud of their wine, and court your ap-
probation by incessant questions. One of a party being invited
by Sir Thomas Grouts to a second glass of his “ old East India,”
—
he replied, “ one was a dose had rather not double the Cape
and, at the first glass of champagne, he inquired whether there
had been a plentiful supply of gooseberries last year.
Madden relates, in the Infirmities of Genius, that a baronet
wellknown in the gay world was seized with paralysis, and
found himself on his return from a convivial party, suddenly
deprived of speech, and power of moving one side qf his body.
Either from desperation, or an impulse of mental aberration, the
gentleman had a bottle of port wine brought to his bed-side, and
having finished it, he turned with great composure on his side,
and went to sleep. The baronet lived several years afterwards,
his intellect wholly unimpaired, his speech restored, and his
general health as good as ever and he daily discussed his bottle
;
or two of port with apparent impunity.

Madame Pasta, when in England, was asked by a literary
lady of high distinction whether she drank as much porter as
usual: “ No, mia cara, prendo half-and-half, adesso.” Quar-
terly Review.
Dr. Channing, (of the United States), was one day paying toll,
when he perceived a notice of gin, rum, tobacco, &c., on a hoard
which bore a strong resemblance to a gravestone. “ I am glad
to see,” said the doctor to the girl who received the toll, “ that
you have been burying these things.” “ And if we had,” said
“
the girl, I don’t doubt you would have gone chief mourner.”
I6S Hints for the Table.
Addison used often to walk from Holland House to the White

Horse, Kensington, to enjoy his favourite dish, a fillet of veal,
his bottle, and perhaps a friend. There is a story that the pro-
fligate Duke Wharton plied him one day at table so briskly
ol
with wine, in order to make him talk, that he could not keep it
on his stomach which made his grace observe, that “ he could
;
get wine but not wit out of him.” The White Horse was at
the corner of “ Lord Holland’s Lane,” (no longer a thoroughfare),
on the site of the present Holland-Arms Inn. Nearly opposite
Holland House, in the Kensington-road, is the Adam and Eve
public-house, where Sheridan, on his way to or from Holland
House, regularly stopped for a dram and there he ran up a
;
long bill, which Lord Holland had to pay.

Frederick William I. patronized smoking-clubs, the members
being mostly generals and staff-officers two of them, who did
;
not smoke, to conform to the king’s regulation, held unlighted

pipes to their mouths, and puffed and blew like capital smokers.
The tobacco was not good, and the king was displeased if any
one brought better of his own. At seven o’clock bread, butter,
and cheese were brought in, and sometimes a ham and roast veal
now and then the king treated his guests with a dish of fish and
a salad, which he dressed with his own hands.
Peter the Great was a gourmand of the first magnitude.
While in England, on his return from a visit to Portsmouth, the
Czar and his party, twenty-one in number, stopped at Godai-
ming, where they ate at breakfast, half a sheep, a quarter of
;
lamb, ten pullets, twelve chickens, seven dozen of eggs, and salad
in proportion, and drank three quarts of brandy, and six quarts
of mulled wine at dinner, five ribs of beef, weight three stone
:
one sheep, fifty-six pounds three quarters of lamb a shoulder

:
;
and loin of veal boiled ; eight pullets, eight rabbits two dozen;
and a half of sack, and one dozen of claret. This bill of fare is
preserved in Ballard’s Collection, in the Bodleian Library at
Oxford.
Some of our own countrymen have, however, almost rivalled
the Czar of Russia and his companions. At Godaiming, and pro-
bably at the same inn that Peter patronized, two noble dukes are
related to have stopped, as they intended, for a few minutes,
while sitting in their carriages, to eat a mutton chop, which they
found so good that each of them devoured eighteen chops, and
drank five bottles of claret.
Lord Melcombe was a friend and patron of James Ralph, the
dramatist, but the silly blunder of a servant had nearly caused a
rupture between them. Lord Melcombe, one day, ordered his
servant to go to Ralph, who lived not far from his lordship at
Isleworth, and take with him a card for a dinner invitation to

Mr. Ralph and his wife. The servant mistook the word curd
and set out full
for cart, speed with the latter. The supposed
indignity offended the pride of Ralph, who, with great gravitj
r
sent back the messenger and his carriage with a long expostula-
torv letter.
Foote was ostentatious and vulgarly fine before his guests.

As soon as the cloth was removed from the table, he would ask,
“Does anybody drink port?” If the unanimous answer hap-
pened “
be no,” he always
to called out to the servant in waiting
— “ take away the ink.”
Fontenelle, who within one month of 100, was rarely

lived till
known and even boasted of his insensibility.

to laugh or to cry,
One day, a certain bon vivant Abbe came unexpectedly to dine
with him. The Abbe was fond of asparagus dressed with butter
for which also Fontenelle had a gieatffout, but preferred it dressed
with oil. Fontenelle said, that for such a friend there was no
sacrifice he would not make; and that he should have half the
dish of asparagus which he had ordered for himself, and that
half, moreover, should be dressed with butter. While they were
conversing thus together, the poor Abbe fell down in a fit of
apoplexy upon which his friend Fontenelle instantly scampered
;
down stairs, arid eagerly bawled out to his cook, “ the whole with
oil! the whole with oil, as at first.”
It is related of Mr. Alderman Faulkner, of convivial memory,

that one night, when he expected his guests to sit late and try
the strength of his claret and his head, he took the precaution to
place in his wine-glass a strawberry, which his doctor, he said,
had recommended to him on account of its cooling qualities. On
the faith of this specific, he drank even more deeply, and as might
be expected, was carried away earlier than usual. When some of
his friends condoled with him next day, and attributed his mis-
fortune to six bottles of claret which he had drunk, the alderman
—
was extremely indignant “ the claret,” he said, “ was sound,
and never could do anybody any harm his discomfiture was —
altogether caused by that confounded single strawberry” which he
had kept all night at the bottom of his glass.
The first Lord Lyttleton was very absent in company : one day,
at dinner, his lordship pointed to a particular dish, and asked to
be helped of it, calling it, however, by a name very different from
that which the dish contained. A
gentleman was about to tell
him of his mistake. “ Never mind,” whispered another of the
party “ help him to what he asked for, and he will
; suppose it is
what he wanted.”
170 Hints jor the Table.
Mr. Pitt’s great recreation, after the fatigue of business, was

stealing into the country, entering a clean cottage, where there
was a tidy woman and a nicely scoured table; and there he would
eat bread and cheese like any ploughman. He detested routs,
and always sat down to plain dinners. He never eat before he
went to the House of Commons but when anything important
;
was to be discussed, he was in the habit of taking a glass of port

wine with a teaspoonful of bark in it.
Yet Mr. Pitt was a man of princely hospitality, and amiable
nature, as appears in the following extract from a letter wri tten by
the Marquis Wellesley, who was an early, constant, and intimate
friend of the illustrious statesman :
In all places, and at all times, his constant delight was society. There
he shone with a degree of calm and steady lustre which often astonished
me more than his most splendid efforts in Parliament. His manners
were perfectly plain, without any affectation not only was he without
;
presumption or arrogance, or any air of authority, but he seemed utterly

unconscious of his own superiority, and much more disposed to listen
than to talk. He never betrayed any symptom of anxiety to usurp the
lead or to display his own powers, hut rather inclined to draw forth
othors, and to take merely an equal share in the general conversation
then he plunged heedlessly into the mirth of the hour, with no other care
than to promote the general good humour and happiness of the company.
His wit was quick and ready, but it was rather lively than sharp, and
never envenomed with the least taint of malignity ; so that, instead of
exciting admiration or terror, it was an additional ingredient in the
common enjoyment. He was endowed, beyond any man of his time
whom I knew, with a gay and social heart. With these qualities, ho was
the life and soul of his own society his appearance dispelled all care ;
:
his brow was never clouded, even in the severest public trials and joy,
;
and hope, and confidence, beamed from his countenance in every crisis of
difficulty and danger. Communicated to the Quarterly Hevieio.
Lord Byron notes :
“ What a wreck
is Sheridan and all from
!
bad pilotage ;
had ever better gales, though now and
for no one
then a little squally. Poor dear Sherry I shall never forget
!
the day he, and Rogers, and Moore, and I passed together when ;
he talked, and we listened, without one yawn, from six to one in

the morning.”
One night, Sheridan was found in the street by a watchman,
bereft of that “ divine particle of air,” called reason and fuddled,
;
and bewildered, and almost insensible. He, the watchman, asked,

—
“ Who are you, sir ?” no answer. “ What’s your name ?” —
hiccup.
“ What’s your name P” —
Answer, in a slow, deliberate,
and impassive tone, “ Wilberforce !” Byron notes : “ Is not that
—
Sherry all over P and, to my mind, excellent. Poor fellow
his very dregs are better than the first sprightly runnings of
others.”
Ozias Linley, Sheridan’s brother-in-law, one day received a
card to dine with the Archbishop of Canterbury, at Lambeth.

Careless into what hole or corner he threw his invitations, he
soon lost sight of the card, and i'orgot it altogether. A year
revolved, when, on wiping the dust from some papers he had stuck
in the chimney-glass, the archbishop’s invitation for a certain
day in the month, (he did not think of the year an instant,)
stared him full in the face and taking it for granted that it was
;
a recent one, he dressed himself on the appointed day, and pro-

ceeded to the palace. But his diocesan was not in London, a
circumstance of which, though a matter of some notoriety to the
clergy of the diocese, he was quite unconscious and he returned
;
home dinnerless.
Mr. Canning’s fund of animal spirits, and the extreme excita-
bility of his temperament, were such as invariably to hurry him,
nolentem volentem, into the full rush and flush of conviviality.
At the latter period of his life, when his health began to break,
he would sit down with an evident determination to be abstinent,
eat sparingly of the simplest soup, take no sauce with his fish,
and mix water in his wine but as the repartee began to sparkle,
;
and the anecdote to circulate, his assumed caution was insensibly

relaxed, he gradually gave way to temptation, and commonly
ended by eating of everything, and taking wine with everybody
— the very beau-ideal of an amphitryon. —
Quarterly Review.
(Yet this is disputed by Lord Brougham, in his Sketches of
Statesmen.)
Dr. Parr, of smoking memory, says “ There are certainly one
:
or two luxuries to which I am addicted the first is a shoulder of

:
mutton, not under-roasted, and richly incrusted with flour and

salt; the second is a plain suet-pudding; the third is a plain
family plum-pudding; and the fourth, a kind of high festival
dish, consists of hot boiled lobsters, with a profusion of shrimp
sauce.”
George III. lived like an ascetic, for fear of corpulence and

gout: he ate the most simple food and very sparingly; chou-
eroute was one of his favourite dishes his ordinary beverage at
;
table was a sort of lemonade, which he dignified with the name

of a cup, though a monk of La Trappe might have drunk of it
without any infraction of his vow. The king usually ate so little
and so rapidly, that those persons who dined with him could not
satisfy their appetite, unless
by continuing their meal after their
sovereign had finished, which was contrary to the old etiquette,
lie was so sensible of this fact, and so considerate, that when
dining without the queen, he would say to his attendants, “ Don’t
—
regard me, take your own time.” The king rarely drank a glass
of wine, and was so indifferent to its flavour or quality, that he
seldom had any good wine, though he paid for it the best price.
The royal table was thus ill supplied, till one day, the Prince of
Wales dining with the king at Windsor, tasted the claret, and
pronounced sentence upon it he did more, for he informed his
:
father of the manner in which his wine-merchant had treated

him, and the abuse was forthwith corrected. Queen Charlotte by
no means resembled her consort in the above respect no woman :
in the kingdom enjoyed herself more at table, or manifested a

nicer taste in wine.
The magnificent fete given by the Prince Regent, at Carlton-

house, in the year 1811, was the only experiment ever made at
any court of Europe to give a supper to 2000 of the nobility and
gentry. The largest entertainment at the most brilliant period
of the French monarchy, was that given by the Prince of Condo
to the King of Sweden, at Chantilly, when the covers only
amounted to 400 ;
while, at the fete given by the Prince Regent,
covers were laid for 400 in the palace, and for 1600 more in
pavilions, in the gardens. Some readers may recollect the lavish
expenditure on this occasion and the puerile taste of a stream
;
with gold and silver fish flowing down the centre of the table.
Plainness of taste has distinguished the sovereigns of our times
in their retirement. George IV. generally dined in his private
salle-d-manger, in Windsor-castle,* at nine o’clock, and not un-
frequently alone. The table-service, on such occasions, was mostly
of white and brown china, and not of silver, as has been stated.
A roast fowl was the favourite dish with William IV. ; and a
black bottle of sherry was uniformly placed on the table near his
majesty. At the grand civic banquet to our gracious queen in
the Guildhall, by the City of London, in 1837, her majesty par-
took only of turtle and roast mutton ; wines, sherry and claret.
Napoleon I. was a very fast eater. At a grand convert at the
Tuileries, from the moment he and his guests sat down, till the
* The royal plate nt Windsor is kept in one tolerably sized room and
an adjoining closet, and valued at 1,750,000/. sterling There is one gold
!
service, formed by George IV., to dine 130 guests; some pieces were
taken from the Spanish Armada, some brought from India, Burmah,
China, &e. One vessel belonged to Charles XII. of Sweden, and another
to the King of Ava ;
a peacock of precious stones, valued at 30,000/. and
;
a tiger’s head (Tippoo’s footstool), with a solid ingot of gold tor his
tongue, and crystal teeth numerous and splendidly ornamented gold
;
shields, one made from snuff-boxes, value 8000 guineas; and thirty dozen
of plates, which cost 26 guineas each plate. The magnificent silver wine-
cooler, made by R undell and Bridge for George IV., is enclosed with
plate-glass: its superb chasing and other ornamental work occupied two
years, and two full-grown persons may sit in it without inconvenience.
coffee was served, not more than forty-three or four minutes

elapsed. They were then bowed out. With Napoleon, the
moment appetite was felt, it was necessary that it should be
satisfied; and his establishment was so arranged, that in all
places, and at all hours, chicken, cutlets, and coffee, might be
forthcoming at a word. “ This habit of eating fast and care-
lessly (it is observed in the Quarterly Review), is supposed to
have paralysed Napoleon on two of the most critical occasions of
his life, —
the battles of Borodino and Leipsic, which he might have
converted into decisive and influential victories by pushing his
advantages as he was wont. On each of these occasions, he is
known to have been suffering from indigestion. On the third
day of Dresden, too, the German novelist, Hoffman, who was
present in the town, asserts that the emperor would have done
much more than he did, but for the effects of a shoulder of mutton
stuffed with onions.”
Silence does not alwaysmark wisdom. Coleridge once dined
in company with a person who listened to him and said nothing
for along while; but he nodded his head, and Coleridge thought
him At length, towards the end of the dinner, some
intelligent.
apple dumplings were placed on the table, and the listener had
no sooner seen them, than he burst forth, “ Them’s the jockies
forme!” Coleridge adds “I wish Spurzheim could have ex-
:
amined the fellow’s head.”

Sir Humphry Davy was an epicure of the drollest kind, and
practised the chemistry of the kitchen he was curious in tasting
:
everything that had never been tasted before, and interfered

himself in the composition of dishes intended for his table, thereby
encountering the wrath of strange cooks, and running serious
risks in inn-kitchens.
Poor-man-of-mutton is a term applied to a shoulder of mutton
in Scotland, after it has been served as a roast at dinner, and
appears as a broiled bone at supper, or at the dinner next day. The
Earl of B., popularly known as Old Rag, being indisposed at an
hotel in London, one morning the landlord came to enumerate the
good things in his larder, to prevail on his guest to eat something
when his lordship replied, “ Landlord, I think I could eat a
morsel of a poor man,” which with the extreme ugliness of his
lordship’s countenance, so terrified Boniface, that lie fled from the
room, and tumbled down stairs ; supposing the earl when at home,
was in the habit of eating a joint of a vassal or tenant, when his
appetite was dainty. Jamieson.
“ Right to a crack ” is exemplified in the following anecdote,
pleasantly related one night by the late Lord Holland, in the
—
House of Peers: An English gentleman wanting a dessert
174 Uinta for the Table.
service of porcelain made after a particular pattern, sent to China

a specimen dish, ordering that it should be exactly copied for the
whole service. It unfortunately happened that in the dish so
sent, the Chinese manufacturers discovered a crack consequently,
;
the entire service sent to the party ordering it, had a crack in
each article, carefully copied from the specimen crack ; thus illus-
trating the imitative skill of the Chinese.
“ Allow me, gentlemen,” said Curran, one evening to a large
party, “ to give you a sentiment. When a boy, I was one morning
playing at marbles in the village of Ball-alley, with a light heart,
and lighter pocket. The gibe and the jest went gladly round,
when suddenly, among us appeared a stranger, of a remarkable
and very cheerful aspect; his intrusion was not the least restraint
upon our merry little assemblage. He was a benevolent creature,
and, the days of infancy (after all, the happiest we shall ever see)
perhaps rose upon his memory. Heaven bless him ! I see his
fine form at the distance of half a century, just as he stood before
,
me in the little Ball-alley, in the day of my childhood. His

name was Boyse; he was the rector of Newmarket. To me he
took a particular fancy. I was winning, and full of waggery
thinking everything that was eccentric, and by no means a miser
of my eccentricities ; everyone was welcome to a share of them,
and I had plenty to spare, after having frightened the company.
Some sweetmeats easily bribed me home with him. I learned
from Boyse my alphabet and my grammar, and the rudiments of
the classics. He taught me all he could, and then he sent me to
a school at Middleton. In short, he made me a man. I recollect
it was about thirty-five years afterwards, when I had risen to
some eminence at the bar, and when I had a seat in parliament,
on my return one day from the Court, I found an old gentleman
seated alone in my drawing-room, his feet familiarly placed on
each side of the Italian marble chimney-piece, and his whole
air bespeaking the consciousness of one quite at home. He
—
turned round it was my friend of Ball-alley. I rushed instinc-
tively into his arms, and burst into tears. Words cannot de-
scribe the scene which followed. “ You are right, sir, you
are right. The chimney-piece is yours— the pictures are yours
—the house is yours. —

You gave me all I have my friend— my
benefactor!” He dined with me: and in the evening I caught
the tear glistening in his fine blue eye, when he saw poor little
Jack, the creature of his bounty, rising in the House of Com-
mons to reply to a right honourable. Poor Boyse he is now
!
"one; and no suitor had a longer deposit of practical benevolence

in the Court above. —
This is his wine let us drink to his
memory !” Curran's Life, by his Son.
Sir Walter Scott once happening to hear his daughter Anne say of
something that it was vulgar, gave the young lady the following
temperate rebuke :
—
“ My love, you speak like a very young lady ;
do you know, after all, the meaning of this word vulgar ? ’T is only
common nothing that is common, except wickedness, can deserve
to be spoken of in a tone of contempt; and when you have lived
to my years, you will be disposed to agree with me in thank-
ing God that nothing really worth having or caring about in this
world is uncommon.”
The courtesy and obliging disposition of Julius Caesar (by
whom we are termed barbari) were notorious, and illustrated in
anecdotes which survived for generations in Rome. Dining on
one occasion at a table where the servants had inadvertently, for
salad-oil, furnished coarse lamp-oil, Caesar would not allow the
rest of the company to point out the mistake to their host, for
fear of shocking him too much by exposing the mistake.
The anecdote of Cleopatra dissolving one of her pearls in
vinegar, and drinking it to Antony’s health at supper, is sus-
pected to be an historical fiction.
Foremost among the pleasures of the table are, what an
“ those felicitous moods in which
elegant novelist has termed
our animal spirits search, and carry up, as it were, to the sur-
face, our intellectual gifts and acquisitions.” Of such moods
Sir Thomas Lawrence took peculiar advantage ; for it is related
that he frequently invited his sitters (for their portraits) to
partake of the hospitalities of his table, and took the most favour-
“ good looks,”
able opportunity of “ stealing ” from them their
traits which he felicitously transferred to canvas.
Yon Raumer, in his observations upon London society, re-

marks, that “ eating and drinking seem to produce no effect upon
the English.” “Ido not applaud,” continues he, “ inordinate
and boisterous talking after dinner; but, that people should be
just as cold, quiet, and composed at the end as at the beginning ;
that the wine should produce no apparent effect, is too dry and
formal to my liking. Perhaps the old-fashioned tippling was
so disgusting that people now shun the slightest approach to
joviality ;
or, perhaps, port and sherry oppress rather than ele-
vate, and have little power in transforming gloomy fogs into sky-
blue fantasies. In short, I am for the German plan frank, ;
lively conversation, even though it be a little too long and too

loud ; light wine, and a light heart and, at parting, joyous
;
spirits, and onty just mathematics enough to perceive that live is

an even number.”
Lord Byron knew a dull man who lived on a bon mot of
Moore s lor a week ; and his lordship once offered a wager of a

considerable sum that the reciter was guiltless of understanding
its point; but lie could get no one to accept the bet.
“ Gasconade originated from
the immoderate boasting of wit,
wealth, and valour, by the people of Gascony, in France, liut
the wit and piquancy should be intermixed with self-exaltation,
as in the following: A
Gascon, in proof o his nobility, asserted
1 ’
that in his lather s castle they used no other firewood but. the
batons of the different Marshals of Fi ance in his family.
Nor must we forget the Gascon general, who, by the luck}"
grazing of a bullet on the roll of his stocking, took occasion to
halt all his life after. — (See Taller, No. 77.) The parvenu who
made a sweet fire with his claret corks, was a vulgar gascon.
The voice, if very strong and sharp, will crack a drinking-
glass. One evening, at a party at the London Coffee House,
Ludgate Hill, Mr. Broadhurst, the well-known tenor, by singing
a high note, caused a wine-glass on the table to break, the bowl
being separated from the stem.
The antiquity of' toothpicks is proved by the statement of
Agathocles, the wealthy ruler of Syracuse, in 289 b.c., having
been poisoned by means of a medicated quill, handed to him for
cleaning his teeth after dinner.
The origin of Punch is thus explained in Dr. Doran’s clever
and very amusing History of Court Fools .-
In the days of King Philip the Macedonian, whenever a roan told an

extremely witty story, he was pretty sure to be met with the remark,
“Ah, that comes from the Sixty.” It was as much as doubting the
originality of the wit. “ The Sixty” was, in fact, a club of vats. They
met in Athens, not at a tavern, but in the Temple of Hercules. They
were fellows who had the very highest opinion of then- own abilities, for
they regularly entered in a book all the witticisms of the evening. This
was, probably, the very first jest-book ever put together. To listen to it,
when the secretary took it with him to private parties, must have been
an antepast of Punch. The precious book has perished, but Athenams
has preserved the names of a few of the members, which, however, are
not worth repeating, though it may be stated that the owners had also
nicknames ; and one tall, clever, nimble fellow, Callimcdes, was familiarly
hailed by his fellow-clubbists as “ the Grasshopper.” Philip heard of this
merry, social, witty company, and longing to know more of them, their
sayings and doings, he did not, indeed, invite them to his distant court,
but he sent them a talent (nearly 200?. sterling), and requested the loan
of the last volume of the transactions of the “Sixty Club.” The book
was duly despatched and, perhaps, the loan of a volume was never paid
;
for at so high a rate : the authors thus played the part of court fools by
deputy. Their jokes were stereotyped, and had a long and merry life of
it. It was useless for any man to lire one oif as his own, for the source
was instantly discovered, and the company would derisively call out, “An
old Sixty!” just as dull retailors of faded jests arc suppressed in our own
!”
day, by the cry of “ An old Joe
Here are a few choice specimens of Talleyrand’s table wit

Talleyrand being asked, if a certain authoress, whom be had
long since known, but who belonged rather to the last age, was
not “ a little tiresome ?” “ Not at all,” said he, “ she was per-
fectly tiresome.”
A gentleman in company was one day making a somewhat
zealous eulogy of his mother’s beauty, dwelling upon the topic
at uncalled-for length —
he himself having certainly inherited no
portion of that kind under the marriage of his parents. “ It was
your father, then, apparently, who may not have been very well
favoured,” was Talleyrand’s remark, which at once released the
circle from the subject.
When Madame de Stael published her celebrated novel of
“ Delphine,” she was supposed to have painted herself in the
person of the heroine, and M. Talleyrand in that of an elderly
lady, who is one of the principal characters. “ They tell me,”
said he, the first time he met her, “ that we are both of us in your
novel, in the disguise of women.”
Rulhieres, the celebrated author of the work on the Polish
revolution, having said, “ I never did but one mischievous work
in my life.” “ And when will it be ended p” was Talleyrand’s reply.
“Is not Geneva dull?” asked a friend of Talleyrand. “Espe-
cially when they amuse themselves,” was the reply.
“ She is insupportable,” said Talleyrand, with marked
emphasis, of one well-known ; but, as if he had gone too far, aud
to take something off what he had said, he added, “ It is her
only defect.”
“ Ah I feel the torments of hell,” said a person, whose life
!
had been supposed to be somewhat of the loosest. “Already ?”

was the inquiry suggested to M. Talleyrand. Certainly, it came
naturally to him. It is, however, not original; the Cardinal de
Retz’s physician made a similar exclamation on a like occasion.
Nor ought we to pass over the only mot that will ever be re-
corded of Charles N., uttered on his return to France, in 1814,
on seeing, like our second Charles on a similar reception, that the
adversaries of his family had disappeared —“ There is only one
Frenchman the more.” This was the suggestion of M. Talley-
rand. He afterwards proposed, in like manner, to Charles’s suc-
cessor, that the foolish freaks of the Duchess de Berri should be
visited with this rescript to her and her faction :
“ Madame, no
hope remains for you. You will be tried, condemned and par-
1
doned.”
Ude, when in Paris, had fallen in love, and matters were

nearly brought to matrimony. Previous to this conclusion, Ude,
N
178 Hintsfor the Table.
however, prudently made a calculation (hewas an excellent steward,)

of the expenses of married life, and in the estimate set down
Madame’s expenditure at so many louis. Now, Ude customarily
conveyed his billets in an envelope of pat6s, and he intended to
shroud his offer in a pdte d’Amandc; but, unfortunately, in the
confusion of love and cookery, the estimate of housekeeping was
sent instead of the proposal. The next day, Ude was apprised of
his mistake by a letter from his mistress, stating the high esti-
mation in which she held M. Ude; but that as louis were
too small an allowance for a woman of fashion, she must decline
the honour of becoming Madame Ude. The story got wind, and
by a sort of lucus-a-non-lucendo analogy, the name of Paid
d’Amandc was changed into Pate d' Amour.
Mr. Coleridge’s was the only conversation we ever heard in

—
which the ideas seemed set to music it had the materials of
philosophy and the sound of music ; or if the thoughts were
sometimes poor and worthless, the accompaniment was always
fine. Coleridge sometimes told a story well, though but rarely.
He used to speak with some drollery and unction of his meeting
in his tour in Germany with a Lutheran clergyman, who ex-
pressed a great curiosity about the fate of Dr. Dodd in a Latin
gibberish which he could not at first understand. “ Doctorem
Toit, Doctorem Tott ! Infelix homo, collo suspensus !” he —
called out in an agony of suspense, fitting the action to the word,
and the idea of the reverend divine just then occurring to Mr.
Coleridge’s imagination. The Germans have a strange super-
stition that Dr. Dodd is still wandering in' disguise in the Hartz
forest in Germany ; and his Prison Thoughts are a favourite
book with the initiated.
Sir James Mackintosh had a great deal of humour; and,

among many other examples of it, he kept a dinner party at his
own house for two or three hours in a roar of laughter, playing
upon the simplicity of a Scotch cousin, who had mistaken the
Rev. Sydney Smith for his gallant synonym, the hero of Acre.
Cookery was quite as much the Earl of Peterborough’s hobby

as War. It appears to have been far from unusual for him to
assist at the preparation of a feast over which he was about to
preside; and, when at Bath, he was occasionally seen about the
streets, in his blue ribbon and star, carrying a chicken in his
hand, and a cabbage, perhaps, under eacli arm.
Cambaceres, second consul under the French republic, and
arch-chancellor under the empire, having one day been detained
in consultation with Napoleon beyond the appointed
hour of
suspending the conference, but it was
dinner, begged pardon for
absolutely necessary fox' liinx to despatch a special messeiiger im-

mediately then seizing a pen, he wrote this billet to his cook
:
—
Sauvez les entremets les entrees sont perdues.”
Mr. Wellesley Pole used to say, that it was impossible to
live like agentleman iix England under 40,000/. a year and ;
Mr. Brummell told a lady how much she ought to allow her son
for dress —that it might be done for 800/. a year, with strict
economy. M. Senioi', in an excellent Essay on Political Economy,
in the Encyclopcedia Metropolitana, states, that a carriage for
a woman of fashion must be regarded as one ot the necessaries of
life ; and we presume he would be equally imperative in demand-
ing a cabriolet for a man. — Quarterly Review.
When Dr. Johnson was asked why he was not invited out to
dine as Garrick was, he answered, as if it was a triumph to him,
“ Because great lords and ladies don’t like to have their mouths
stopped !” But who does like to have his mouth stopped ? Did
he, more than others ? People like to be amused in general but ;
they did not give him the less credit for wisdom, and a capacity
to instruct them by his writings. In like manner it has been
said that the king only sought one interview with Dr. Johnson
whereas, if he had been a buffoon or a sycophant, he would have
asked for more. No there was nothing to complain of. It was
;
a compliment paid by rank to letters, and once was enough. The

king was more afi'aid of this interview than Dr. Johnson was,
and went to it as a schoolboy to his task. But he did not want
to have this trial repeated every day nor was it necessary. The
;
vei-y jealousy of his self-love marked his respect; and if he had

thought less of Dr. Johnson, he would have been moi'e willing to
l'isk the encounter. They had each their place to fill, and would
best preserve their self-respect, and perhaps their respect for each
other, by remaining in their proper sphere. So they made an
•outcry about the Prince leaving Sheridan to die in absolute want.
He had left him long before. Was he to send every day to know
if he was dying ? These things cannot be helped, without ex-
acting too much of human nature. Nortlicote's Conversations.
A nicepoint is thus settled in Bosioell's Life of Dr. Johnson.
— Roswell. “ I consider distinction of rank to be of so mixch
importance in civilized society, that if I were asked on the same
day to dine with the first duke in Englaud, and with the first
man in Britain for genius, I should hesitate which to prefer.”
Johnson. “ To be sui-e, sir, if you were to dine only once, and
it were never to be known where you dined, you would choose
rather to dine with the first man for genius ; but, to gaiix respect,
you should dine with the first duke in England. For nine people
in ten that you meet with would have a higher opinion of you for
180 Hints for the Tulle.
having dined with a duke and the great genius himself would
;
receive you you had been with the great duke.”

better because
Lord Chancellor Erskine would sit upon the bench, and having
sketched a turtle upon a card, with a certain day and hour, would
pass it to a friend in court as a dinner invitation. A
city lawyer
is
— related to have carried in his pocket written cards —
as follows
“ Turbot and lobster-sauce, sir, at six ; shall be happy in having
your company which invitation he handed about very liberally
to friends’ friends, &c. He lived like a prince in the country
the usual amount of his maltster’s bill was 700 1 . ; and once he
malted the produce of twenty acres of barley, of his own growing ;
but the bill was not 102. less for that.
Have your name clearly announced on going to a pai’ty, and
it will be prudent to take care that the servants make no mistake
regarding it. The mishap that, as we read, befell a certain Mr.
Delaflete, in London, may serve to illustrate the consequence of
want of caution in this respect. From the indistinct mode of
pronouncing his name, the porter understood it to be Delajlote
and so proclaimed it to the groom of the chambers, who, some-
how or other, mistook the initial letter of the name, and the
luckless visitor, a quiet, shy, reserved young man, was actually
ushered into the midst of a crowded drawing-room by the omi-
nous appellation of Mr. PF.elaflote. On the other hand, do not
be too precise in your instructions, or you may be placed in the
predicament of Lady A. and her daughter, who having been
much annoyed by the gaucheries of a country booby of a servant,
who would persevere in giving in their names as the Eight
Honourable Lady A. and the Honourable Miss A., at length took
him seriously to task, and desired that in future he would men-
tion them as simple Lady A. and plain Miss A. Their astonish-
ment may be conceived when they found themselves obeyed to
the letter— and Devonshire House was electrified by the intelli-
gence that Simple Lady A. and Plain Miss A. were “ coming
it
up.
Ferdinand of Naples prided himself upon the variety and
I.
excellence of the fruit produced in his royal gardens, one of
which was called Paradise. Duke Hercules, of Ferrara, had a
garden, celebrated for its fruits, in one of the islands of the Po.
The Duke of Milan, Ludovico, carried this kind of luxury so
far, that he had a travelling fruit garden, and the trees were
brought to his table, or into his chamber, that he might, with his
own hands, gather the growing fruit,
Charles II. dined with the citizens of London the year that Sir
Kobert Viner was mayor, who getting elated with continually
toasting the royal family, grew a little fond of his majesty.
“ The king understood very well how to extricate himself in all

kinds of difficulties, and, with a hint to the company to avoid
ceremony, stole off, and made towards his coach, which stood
ready for him in Guildhall-yard. But the mayor liked his com-
pany so well, and was grown so intimate, that he pursued him
hastily, and catching him fast by the hand, cried out with a
vehement oath and accent, Sir, you shall stay and take t’other
‘
bottle !’ The airy monarch looked kindly at him over his

shoulder, and with a smile and graceful air (for I saw him at the
time, and do now) repeated this line of the old song :
‘
He that is drunk is as great as a king,’
and immediately returned hack and complied with his landlord.”

— Spectator, No. 462. Altogether, Charles dined nine times
with the citizens.
That hard-drinking was introduced from Flanders and Hol-

land, and other northern countries, seems probable from the
derivation of many of the expressions used in carousing. The
phrase of being “ half-seas-over,” as applied to a state of drunk-
enness, originated from op zee, which, in Dutch, means over sea;
and Gifford informs us that it was a name given to a stupefying
beer introduced into England from the Low Countries, and called
op zee. An inebriating draught was also called an up see freese,
from the strong Friesland beer. The word “ carouse,” according
to Gifford and Blount, is derived from the name of a large glass,
called by the Danes rouse, or from the German words, gar, all,
—
and aus hence drink all out.
“ Hob-nob,” the phrase, now only used convivially, to ask a
person whether he will have a glass of drink or not, is most evi-
dently a corruption of the old hab-nab, from the Saxon habban,
to have, and nabban, not to have in proof of which Shakespeare
:
has used it to mark an alternative of another kind :
“ And his incensement at the moment is

so implacable, that satisfaction
can be none but by pangs of death and sepulchre ; liob-nob is his word ;
give’t or take’t .”— Twelfth Night, act iii. sc. 4.
The peach (we gather from Dr. Daubeny’s Lectures on Roman

Husbandry) was brought from Persia, and Columella alludes
to the fable of its poisonous qualities. “Could this mistake
arise,” asks Dr. Daubeny, “ from a knowledge of the poisonous
properties of the prussic acid existing in the kernels of the
peach P” It may be observed that a notion prevailed in Egypt,
probably referring to the secret of the Psylli, that a citron eaten
early in the morning was an antidote against all kinds of poison.
Its juice, injected into the veins, would have a similar effect.
Blackberries, when perfectly ripe, were eaten by the Bomans,
and by the Greeks were considered a preventive of gout.
It is. related that at a roaring dinner of a

round dozen of
jolly Irishmen,
were extended in due time upon the floor, ex-
all
cept two heroes, who drank seven bottles of claret more between
them, and beginning then to complain of a great “ chill in their
stomachs,’ from that thin cold French stuff, finished a bottle of
brandy between them, and walked home (somehow or other).
Alexander Newell, Dean of St. Paul’s, and Master of West-
minster School, in the reign of Queen Mary, was an excellent
angler. But (says Puller) while Newell was catching of fishes,
Bishop Bonner was catching of Newell, and would certainly have
sent him to the shambles, had not a good London merchant con-
veyed him away upon the seas. Newell was fishing upon the
banks of the Thames when he received the first intimation of his
danger, which was so pressing, that he dare not go back to his own
house to make any preparation for his flight. Like an honest
angler, he had taken with him provision for the day and when,
:
in the first year of England’s deliverance, he returned to his

country and his old haunts, he remembered that, on the day of
his flight, he had left a bottle of beer in a safe place on the bank
—
there he looked for it, and “ found it no bottle, but a gun such
the sound at the opening thereof; and this (says Puller) is be-
lieved (casualty is mother of more invention than industry) the
origin of Bottled Ale in England.”
The pleasures of the table, when used in moderation, admit of

some defence; they promote social intercourse. Man, unlike
animals, is in best humour when he is feeding, and more dis-
posed than at other times to cultivate those amicable relations
by which the bonds of society are strengthened. The influence of
this principle is more acknowledged in England than in any other
country. With us, no public meeting is valid without a dinner
no party leader is chartered in public estimation, till his services
have been anticipated or acknowledged, and his public principles
pledged, amidst circling bumpers and convivial cheers. Even
charity obeys the same law and the beneficent institutions for
;
the sick, and the lame, and the blind, find increase of propriety in
then annual festive celebrations. Mayo.
-
Sir Walter Scott has left these few simple rules of presidency
“ 1st. Always hurry the bottle round for five or six rounds,
without prosing yourself, or permitting others to prose. A
slight
filip of wine inclines people to be pleased., and removes the ner-
—
vousness which prevents men from speaking disposes them, in
short, to be amusing, and to be amused.
“ 2nd. Push on, keep moving ! as young Rapid says. Do not
—
think of saying fine things nobody cares for them any more
Rules for a Chairman . 183
than for which is often too liberally bestowed on such

fine music,
occasions. Speak at all ventures, and attempt the mot povA'
rire. You will find people satisfied with wonderfully indifferent

jokes, if you cau hut hit the taste of the company, which depends
much on its character. Even a very high party, primed with all
the cold irony and non est tanti feelings, or no feelings of fash-
ionable folks, may be stormed by a jovial, rough, round, and
ready preses. Choose your text with discretion the sermon may —
he as you like. Should a drunkard or an ass break in with any-
thing out of joint, if you can parry it with a jest, good and well
— if not, do not exert your serious authority, unless it is some-
thing very had. The authority even of a chairman ought to be
very cautiously exercised. With patience, you will have the
support of every one.
When you have drunk a few glasses to play the good-
“ 3rd.
fellow, — —
and banish modesty (if you are unlucky enough to have
such a troublesome companion) then beware of the cup too
much. Nothing is so ridiculous as a drunken preses.
“ Lastly, always speak short, and Slceoch dock na slciel cut a —
tale with a drink.
‘ This is the purpose and intent
Of gude Schir Walter’s testament.’”
One of the greatest sources of complaint in society, is the want

of. propriety in the conducting of entertainments in all their
varieties,from the simple family dinner to the splendid banquet
for instance, a family dinner ; a family dinner to which guests
are admitted ; a common dinner party ; an entertainment ; a
bachelor’s dinner; a ministerial dinner; and a dress dinner.
Though these and similar other entertainments are distinct, yet
the distinctions are not so strictly observed as those in other
usages of society. At the plainest as well as the most splendid
of these 'entertainments, everything ought to be as good and as
well cooked, and nice as possible ; but the style of service ought
to be varied, rising from the simple, in elegant succession, to the
sumptuous. For real taste does not indiscriminately present
turtle and venison on every occasion something more delicately
:
palatable and less obtrusive is presented with the zest of a fine

mango, high flavoured vinegars, well-made sauces, nice salads,
and appropriate wines ; with the charms of well supported con-
versation, affording an uncloying feast throughout the year.
JBeauvilliers.
A visit should never exceed three days, “ the rest day —the
drest day —and the prest day.”
A true fine gentleman is what one seldom sees in him appear :
allthe great and solid perfections of life, with a beautiful gloss

and varnish : everything that he says or does is accompanied
with a manner, or rather a charm that draws the admiration and
goodwill of every beholder. Steele. —
Good manners the art of making those people easy with
is
whom we converse whoever makes the fewest persons uneasy is
—
:
the best bred man in company. Swift.

The polite of every countiy seem to have but one character.
A gentleman of Sweden differs but little, except in trifles, from
one of any other country. It is among the vulgar that we are
to find those distinctions which characterize a people. Gold- —
smith.
Let a man’s pride be to be a gentleman furnish him with :
elegant and refined pleasures, imbue him with the love of intel-
lectual pursuits, and you have a better security for his turning
out a good citizen, and a good Christian, than if you have con-
fined him by the strictest moral and religious discipline, kept
him in innocent and unsuspecting ignorance of all the vices of
youth, and in the mechanical and orderly routine of the severest
system of education. —
Quarterly Review.
Whoever is whoever is of humane and
open, loyal, and true
;
affable demeanour whoever is honourable in himself, and in his

;
judgment of others, and requires no law but his word to make him
fulfil an engagement —
such a man is a gentleman. T>e Yere. —
Full dress, after all, is the test of the gentlewoman. Common
people are frightened at an unusual toilette; they think that
finer clothes deserve finer manners, forgetting that any manner
to be good, must be that of every day. Miss Landon. —
“ I know,” says Balzac, “ no such sure test of a gentleman as
this, that he never corrects a solecism in conversation, or seems
to know that a solecism has been committed. There is the
Marquis de (we forget his title), confessedly the best bred
man in France, and one of the most learned and eloquent, to whom
a Provencal may talk two hours without losing the impression
that he delights the Marquis by the purity of his diction;
whereas, there is hardly a little abbe, or avocat, or illiterate
parvenu, to whom one can speak without being corrected at
every third sentence.”
THE END.
Savill & Edwards, Printers, 4, Chandos-street, Covent-garden.

THINGS NOT GENERALLY KNOWN.
With Eitgravings of tl*e great liosse Telescope and Dung's own Model of his
Safety-Lamp, price 3f. Od.
CURIOSITIES OF SCIENCE,
ij9aSt ana 13 rf 3 nit.
A BOOK FOR OLD AND YOUNG.
By JOHN TIMBS, F.S.A.
Contents
Introductory. Physical Geography of the Sea.
Physical Phenomena. Phenomena of Heat.
Sound and Light. Magnetism and Electricity.
Astronomy. The Electric Telegraph.
Geology and Paleontology. Miscellanea.
Meteorological Phenomena.
The following are a few of the more characteristic Articles in this Work.
Science of the Ancient World. How Boulders are transported to great
Science at Oxford and Cambridge. Heights.
Relics of Genius. Phenomena of Glaciers illustrated.
Sir Isaac Newton at Cambridge. The Gulf-Stream and ihe Temperature
Newton’s “Apple-tree." of London.
Fall of Bodies and Varieties of Speed. Phenomena of Earthquakes and'Vol-
Calculation of Heights and Distances. canoes.
Sand in the Hour-glass. Discoveries of Smith, Buckland, and
The Earth and Man compared. Agassiz.
Wonders of Crystallisation. Food of the Iguanodon.
The Roar of Niagara. Fossil Human Bones.
Solar and Artificial Light compared. The Pterodactyl — Flying Dragon.
Velocity of Light. Mammoths of the British Isles.
Phenomena of Phosphorescence. Extinct Gigantic Birds of New Zealand.
The Telescope and Microscope. How Pascal weighed the Atmosphere.
Brewster’s Kaleidoscope. Superior Salubrity of the West.
Photography and .the Stereoscope. All the Rain in the World.
Science of the Soap-bubble. Snow Curiosities.
The Great Truths of Astronomy. Storms —Lightning Phenomena.
“ The Crystal Vault of Heaven.” Greatest ascertained Depth of tile Sea.
“More Worlds than One.” The Horse Latitudes.
Worlds to come — Abodes of the Blest. All the Salt in the Sea.
Velocity of the Solar System. Scenery of the Arctic Regions.
Nature of the Sun. Open Sea at the Pole?
Heal of the Sun decreasing. Bate of Travelling Waves.
Spots on the Sun. 'The Bottom of the Sea a Burial-place.
Has the Moon an Atmosphere! Heat by Friction from Ice.
Mountains in the Moon. The Earth a vast Magnet.
The Pleiades.— Jupiter’s Satellites. Weight of the Earth ascertained by the
Is the Planet Mars inhabited! Pendulum.
Discovery of Neptune. Minute and Vast Batteries.
The Comet of Donati. Franklin’s Electrical Kite.
Distances of Nebulre. Faraday’s Electrical Researches.
Meteorites from the Moon. Crosse’s Artificial Crystals and Mine-
The End of our System. rals. —
The Crosse Mite.
Herschel’s Telescopes. Anticipations of the Electric Telegraph.
The Earl of llossc’s great Reflecting The Atlantic Telegraph.
Telescope. How Marine Chronometers are rated at
Gigamic Telescopes proposed. Greenwich Observatory.
Identity of Astronomy and Geology. Musket-balls found in Ivory, &c. &e.
KENT AND CO. (late BOGUE), FLEET STREET.

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—

Presented by Mrs. Thompson of

LEEDS UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

SKETCHES OF THE PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN ENGLAND, FROM TILE

SCHOOL AND COLLEGE LIVES OF THE MOST CELEDUA7 RD BRITISH AUTHORS,

This Book is specialty adapted for a Prize-Book at Schools.

“ Another of the valuable and interesting little compilations whereof

“The contents are exceedingly instructive and entertaining, and the

KENT AND CO. (late BOGUS),’ FLEET STREET.

( From Gould's “ Birds of Europe.")

THE PATENT ELUTRIATOR FOR DECANTING WINK. (See page 124.)

(gconoinij of ©00i> fiDini].

WITH A FEW WORDS ON WINES.

To form a science ami a nomenclature

This little work has originated in the refined character

of what, in the present day, are termed, par excellence ,

“ the Pleasures of the Table.” Its main object is to

show that the perfection of social enjoyment is neither

The means by which the Author has sought to work

The subject is worthy of all the attention it has re-

the error associating habits- of -excess with what may be

called “ the Economy •”

As concentration produces high convenience, the fol-

lowing information is conveyed in the fewest words con-

pages very nearly One Thousand Hints, on

It should be added, that elegance and economy of ex-

penditure have been studiously kept in view : save in a

few instances of epicurean fantasies, which have been

* Sir Humphry Davy.— See page 37 of the present volume.

quoted rather as the curiosities of the subject, than

home-philosophy, to “ aim at perfection in everything,

aim at it, and persevere, willcome much nearer to it

** The Quotations from the Quarterly Review which occur in

Cookery No. 104 Date 1834.

The Patent Elutriator, for Decanting Wine, is described at

for Indigestion, 10; Sportsmen’s Living —

— Preservation of Food, 17; Creosote and Charcoal, 18.

The Aet of Dining : 18 — 24

Management of the Table : 24 — 26

47, 48 Smelts and Gudgeons, 48 Flounders and Barbel, 49 ; Her-

rings, 49 ; Pike, 49 Carp, Perch, and Gurnard, 50 Mackerel

POULTEY AND GAME : .... 66 — 78

Guinea-fowl, Quails, Redbreasts, Larks, Ruffs and Reeves, 72 Orto- ;

Sauces and Geayies 79 — 83

and Melted Butter, Essence of Anchovies, Ketchup and Soy, 80;

and other Peppers, 82 Pickles and Mustard, 83.

Kale, Chou-croute, and Haricot Turnips, 86; Peas and Spinach, 87

Cheese and Buttee: 99 100

_ -p. ... 103 — 109

107; Walnuts and Chestnuts— Figs and Gates,

.... .... 110 — 128

Clarets, 114; ^irngundy,

115 M. Moet and Madame Clicquot, 114?;

—To mull Wine, 128.

Liqueurs 137 — 138

Soda Water and Summer Drinks 139 ;

Smoking 1^2 144

Making Coffee 148 — 149

Tea-making: 148 — 149