Speaking in the broadest sense, to make a menu is nothing more than to select the dishes for a repast. Unfortunately, the selection of food, more especially among the middle and lower classes, does not receive that attention which it should have ; and little is done to help the ordinary housewife to solve this important question. If it were a question of feeding animals, ample information could be gained from innumerable publications ; and yet if one wishes to know how to select the right ingredients and proportions of food for the nutrition of men, the anxious inquirer can only be referred to some scientific treatise. Such works are, as a rule, not very clear to anyone unacquainted with the scientific principles of the chemistry of food. To return to our subject. It should be mentioned that, so far as menu cards are concerned, they are essentially the outcome of modern civilisation. The ancients knew nothing of them ; they contented themselves with judging the nature and character of dishes as they were brought on the table. No mention of bills of fare or menus is to be found in any classic writings. Our forefathers had probably no need for such things, for the dishes in those days were comparatively small in number. But at the present time, when articles of food have become almost innumerable, and the selection is so great, menus are a necessity as well as a convenience. The use of menu was first heard of in 1541, when at a banquet given by the Duke of Brunswick it was observed that he had a long piece of paper by the side of his plate to which he occasionally referred. One of the guests asked the Duke what the paper was for ; upon this his grace explained that it was a programme of what was being served for the banquet, and by consulting it he could preserve his appetite for the dishes he liked best. The idea was so much admired that it became very popular, and the plan was soon adopted, and has since developed to the present state of perfection. Whatever may be said for and against menu or bill of fare compilation, to compose a menu is an art, and the style in which this is done adds considerably to the popularity and success of a repast. The dinner is unquestionably the most important as well as the most substantial meal of the three or four served daily. Brillat Savarin’s verdict in the matter of menus is very curt, but nevertheless to the point. It is ‘ Menu mal fait, diner perdu,’ meaning that if the menu is badly composed the dinner is sure to be a failure. A menu gives one, as it were, a foretaste of the cook’s ability, and if the bill of fare is well and carefully compiled, and, needless to say, 626 THE NEW CENTURY COOKERY BOOK the cooking all that is desired, perfect in every way, the confidence of the diner is at once inspired. To order a dinner is to be able to put together a list of dishes ; which requires thought, invention, and combination. This is the essence of the art of menu compilation, for it involves four important things : novelty, simplicity, originality, and taste. A well balanced menu must be original, seasonable, and characteristic in every sense ; the old-fashioned and dull routine must as much as possible be avoided.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Speaking in the broadest sense, to make a menu is nothing more than to select the dishes for a repast. Unfortunately, the selection of food, more especially among the middle and lower classes, does not receive that attention which it should have ; and little is done to help the ordinary housewife to solve this important question. If it were a question of feeding animals, ample information could be gained from innumerable publications ; and yet if one wishes to know how to select the right ingredients and proportions of food for the nutrition of men, the anxious inquirer can only be referred to some scientific treatise. Such works are, as a rule, not very clear to anyone unacquainted with the scientific principles of the chemistry of food. To return to our subject. It should be mentioned that, so far as menu cards are concerned, they are essentially the outcome of modern civilisation. The ancients knew nothing of them ; they contented themselves with judging the nature and character of dishes as they were brought on the table. No mention of bills of fare or menus is to be found in any classic writings. Our forefathers had probably no need for such things, for the dishes in those days were comparatively small in number. But at the present time, when articles of food have become almost innumerable, and the selection is so great, menus are a necessity as well as a convenience. The use of menu was first heard of in 1541, when at a banquet given by the Duke of Brunswick it was observed that he had a long piece of paper by the side of his plate to which he occasionally referred. One of the guests asked the Duke what the paper was for ; upon this his grace explained that it was a programme of what was being served for the banquet, and by consulting it he could preserve his appetite for the dishes he liked best. The idea was so much admired that it became very popular, and the plan was soon adopted, and has since developed to the present state of perfection. Whatever may be said for and against menu or bill of fare compilation, to compose a menu is an art, and the style in which this is done adds considerably to the popularity and success of a repast. The dinner is unquestionably the most important as well as the most substantial meal of the three or four served daily. Brillat Savarin’s verdict in the matter of menus is very curt, but nevertheless to the point. It is ‘ Menu mal fait, diner perdu,’ meaning that if the menu is badly composed the dinner is sure to be a failure. A menu gives one, as it were, a foretaste of the cook’s ability, and if the bill of fare is well and carefully compiled, and, needless to say, the cooking all that is desired, perfect in every way, the confidence of the diner is at once inspired. To order a dinner is to be able to put together a list of dishes ; which requires thought, invention, and combination. This is the essence of the art of menu compilation, for it involves four important things : novelty, simplicity, originality, and taste. A well balanced menu must be original, seasonable, and characteristic in every sense ; the old-fashioned and dull routine must as much as possible be avoided.

The new century cookery book