A recent writer in the Westminster Gazette has pointed out that there are three different species of English cooks. (1.) The cook who is born, equipped by nature for her work. (2.) The cook who, having entered by the scullery door, has been in the kitchen all her life and has risen by degrees to her present position. (3.) The wretched incompetent creature who, having tried and failed in other occupations, thinks she would like to be a cook, enters herself at a School of Cookery, pays her fee for certificates and diplomas, and believes herself to be an accom- plished professor of an art in which she has never been grounded. Patience, simplicity, and the learning by one’s own mistakes (all three cardinal virtues in a cook), are not taught in Schools of Cookery. Cooking can only be learned step by step, and through the patient correction of natural blunders and mistakes. It is quite possible that an intelligent and experienced cook may pick up a few hints at a lecture on Cookery, but sound general knowledge must be the foundation, so that the cook may under- stand at once why one ingredient is put in and another left out. I agree with the writer in the Westminster Gazette that “ Cookery “ is not to be learnt in any School of Cookery. Here, as every - “ where else, it is your own mistakes you have got to make, and “ it avails you nothing to sit in a tightly-packed lecture-hall, “ watching a much-waited-upon genius who is naturally making- “ none.” How can a cook direct those working under her if she has not in past years worked her own way patiently up from drudgery and dull work to the place she now fills, thoroughly understanding every detail as the result of personal experience ? 45° ENGLISH AND FRENCH COOKERY Nobody has ever yet learnt from the scars on other people’s fingers; everybody must burn their own. The history of French cookery is interesting from its con- nection with the history of France. It began in 1558 with the skilled cooks who attended Catherine de Medicis from Florence on her marriage to Henry II of France. These cooks introduced the fashion of ices into France. One of them had already in- vented the fricandeau for the benefit of Pope Leo X. Villeroi, whose name still survives in menus, was Minister of State under four Kings of France and was the only person trusted by Catherine de Medicis. Louis XIV prided himself as much on his kitchen as on the victories of his armies. Bechamel was his maitre d’hotel. The Prince de Soubise and the Due d’Uxelles, who both invented sauces, were among his Marshals. Liqueurs were invented for Louis XIV, and Madame de Maintenon intro- duced the cutlets still called by her name in order to protect the old king’s stomach from too rich a sauce. Robert, chef to the Archbishop of Aix before the Revolution, had afterwards to keep a cafe, and there made himself famous by his sauce. Talleyrand introduced the custom of eating grated cheese with soup when he was French Ambassador in England after Waterloo. Preparations of potatoes a la Parmentier recall the name of Monsieur Parmentier, who, although he did not introduce potatoes into France, greatly encouraged their cultivation about 1790. A few French dishes are called after places.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

A recent writer in the Westminster Gazette has pointed out that there are three different species of English cooks. (1.) The cook who is born, equipped by nature for her work. (2.) The cook who, having entered by the scullery door, has been in the kitchen all her life and has risen by degrees to her present position. (3.) The wretched incompetent creature who, having tried and failed in other occupations, thinks she would like to be a cook, enters herself at a School of Cookery, pays her fee for certificates and diplomas, and believes herself to be an accomplished professor of an art in which she has never been grounded. Patience, simplicity, and the learning by one’s own mistakes (all three cardinal virtues in a cook), are not taught in Schools of Cookery. Cooking can only be learned step by step, and through the patient correction of natural blunders and mistakes. It is quite possible that an intelligent and experienced cook may pick up a few hints at a lecture on Cookery, but sound general knowledge must be the foundation, so that the cook may understand at once why one ingredient is put in and another left out. I agree with the writer in the Westminster Gazette that “ Cookery “ is not to be learnt in any School of Cookery. Here, as every - “ where else, it is your own mistakes you have got to make, and “ it avails you nothing to sit in a tightly-packed lecture-hall, “ watching a much-waited-upon genius who is naturally making- “ none.” How can a cook direct those working under her if she has not in past years worked her own way patiently up from drudgery and dull work to the place she now fills, thoroughly understanding every detail as the result of personal experience ? Nobody has ever yet learnt from the scars on other people’s fingers; everybody must burn their own. The history of French cookery is interesting from its connection with the history of France. It began in 1558 with the skilled cooks who attended Catherine de Medicis from Florence on her marriage to Henry II of France. These cooks introduced the fashion of ices into France. One of them had already invented the fricandeau for the benefit of Pope Leo X. Villeroi, whose name still survives in menus, was Minister of State under four Kings of France and was the only person trusted by Catherine de Medicis. Louis XIV prided himself as much on his kitchen as on the victories of his armies. Bechamel was his maitre d’hotel. The Prince de Soubise and the Due d’Uxelles, who both invented sauces, were among his Marshals. Liqueurs were invented for Louis XIV, and Madame de Maintenon introduced the cutlets still called by her name in order to protect the old king’s stomach from too rich a sauce. Robert, chef to the Archbishop of Aix before the Revolution, had afterwards to keep a cafe, and there made himself famous by his sauce. Talleyrand introduced the custom of eating grated cheese with soup when he was French Ambassador in England after Waterloo. Preparations of potatoes a la Parmentier recall the name of Monsieur Parmentier, who, although he did not introduce potatoes into France, greatly encouraged their cultivation about 1790. A few French dishes are called after places.

Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book