To compose menus, or bills of fare, is not an easy task. Indeed, to
be able to write out a well-balanced and reasonable menu is considered
evidence that the writer has reached the highest stage of the culinary
art. It is much easier to cook a dinner than to plan it. A menu is
in effect the architect’s plan, and the cook is the builder ; but a cook,
to be a perfect master of his art, must act both as architect and
builder.
There are numerous fashionable lady housekeepers and hosts who
prefer to select the dishes which are to form the menu for their
dinner parties, and in so doing they seem to study their own tastes
rather than those of their guests. Nothing could be more unsatis-
factory ; and, as a matter of fact, such plans often result in a more or
less decided fiasco. Whether it be the cook, the housekeeper, or the
hostess who composes the menu of a dinner &c., it must be borne in
mind that the meal should be so arranged as to please the tastes of
the guests. A wise host or hostess should first consider the characters
of the diners and their tastes, if the latter are known to him or her.
Bacon, dealing with this subject, says : ‘ The dinner is for eating, and
my wish is that the guests, not the cook, should like the dishes.’
Unless a cook be a thorough master or mistress of the art in all
its details, the arranging of the menus should not be entrusted to his
or her care.
This, of course, refers to first-class menus. A little dinner,
consisting merely of soup,, fish, and joints, presents little or no
difficulty to the cook or housekeeper. It is, however, quite a different
matter when hors d’oeuvre, entrees, releves, rotis, and entremets
are required for a big dinner.
The art of gastronomy has certain rules and regulations which,
though, they may be unwritten laws, are strictly observed by the
sensible — and justly so. Beyond the hard and fast rules laid down
for the proper serving of a dinner or other set meal, dictating, as it
were, the manner in which the greater number of courses should
follow, other things have to be considered by the chef or hostess, who
must show some discernment in choosing the different dishes.
Menu is a French word which means ‘ tiny or minute details.’
As a culinary term it means a list of dishes intended for a meal, which
THE CONSTRUCTION OF MENUS
is written or printed on cards, to be placed before the guests : these
cards are commonly called £ bills of fare.’ Every repast, however
simple, has its bill of fare, plain or complicated, written or unwritten ;
that is to say, a plan must be made, deciding what food is to be pre-
pared and cooked for each meal ; and this plan is the guide for the
cook, orders being given in accordance with the directions and decisions
arrived at.
Page 540
Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
To compose menus, or bills of fare, is not an easy task. Indeed, to be able to write out a well-balanced and reasonable menu is considered evidence that the writer has reached the highest stage of the culinary art. It is much easier to cook a dinner than to plan it. A menu is in effect the architect’s plan, and the cook is the builder ; but a cook, to be a perfect master of his art, must act both as architect and builder.
There are numerous fashionable lady housekeepers and hosts who prefer to select the dishes which are to form the menu for their dinner parties, and in so doing they seem to study their own tastes rather than those of their guests. Nothing could be more unsatisfactory ; and, as a matter of fact, such plans often result in a more or less decided fiasco. Whether it be the cook, the housekeeper, or the hostess who composes the menu of a dinner &c., it must be borne in mind that the meal should be so arranged as to please the tastes of the guests. A wise host or hostess should first consider the characters of the diners and their tastes, if the latter are known to him or her. Bacon, dealing with this subject, says : ‘ The dinner is for eating, and my wish is that the guests, not the cook, should like the dishes.’
Unless a cook be a thorough master or mistress of the art in all its details, the arranging of the menus should not be entrusted to his or her care.
This, of course, refers to first-class menus. A little dinner, consisting merely of soup,, fish, and joints, presents little or no difficulty to the cook or housekeeper. It is, however, quite a different matter when hors d’oeuvre, entrees, releves, rotis, and entremets are required for a big dinner.
The art of gastronomy has certain rules and regulations which, though, they may be unwritten laws, are strictly observed by the sensible — and justly so. Beyond the hard and fast rules laid down for the proper serving of a dinner or other set meal, dictating, as it were, the manner in which the greater number of courses should follow, other things have to be considered by the chef or hostess, who must show some discernment in choosing the different dishes.
Menu is a French word which means ‘ tiny or minute details.’ As a culinary term it means a list of dishes intended for a meal, which
is written or printed on cards, to be placed before the guests : these cards are commonly called £ bills of fare.’ Every repast, however simple, has its bill of fare, plain or complicated, written or unwritten ; that is to say, a plan must be made, deciding what food is to be prepared and cooked for each meal ; and this plan is the guide for the cook, orders being given in accordance with the directions and decisions arrived at.