Who has not at some dinner-parties witnessed those awful pauses between the
courses, and have quite felt for the hostess, whose utmost endeavours to appear
unconcerned are but ill-concealed, and whose eyes turn anxiously towards the door
tlirough which nothing seems to make its appearance %
But if the mistress is to be pitied above, much more is the maid to be pitied
below, whose flurry of agitation is increased by the footman's, " Come, cook, make
haste, they are all waiting !"
Now all this confusion arises from want of forethought. The good old maxim,
" Never put off" till to-morrow what can be done to-day," never applies with greater
force than in the arrangement of a good dinner. As far as possible let everything
be arranged beforehand in proper order. The soup of course should always be made
beforehand if possible, and be of a nature that will keep. There are so many little
things that can only be done the last moment, that it is of the utmost importance
that everything that possibly can be done before should be finished and i:)ut by. I
will give an illustration of a dinner — a very ordinary one — in which the cook can
have plenty of time to herself at the finish. Suppose now a long dresser neatly
covered over with old newspapers, on wliich are stood in row cooking utensils as
follows : — Fu-st, a saucepan, containing mock-turtle soup ; second, a stewpan, con-
taining say some stewed eels ; third, a tin of oyster patties ; fourth, a stewpan,
with some haricot beef; here a saucepan containing some rich brown gravy,
and another in which an onion reposes quietly imbosomed in bread-crumbs and
milk.
Now, all these things might have been placed there hours before dinner. Say
the number of persons for dinner is eight. Now, on the dresser in front of the
soup-tureen should be placed a pile of eight clean-dusted soup-plates, and a pile of
eight ordinary plates in front of every other dish. We will supj^ose two roast fowls
PRINCIPLES — MANAGEMENT.
to be twirling round in front of the fire, and that the cook, when she put them down,
took into her calculations the time it would take to consume the soup, fish, and two
entrees of oyster patties and hailcot, and also the average length of delay common to
the family ; for masters of families who have a trick of ordering dinner at seven
o'clock, and coming home at half-j)ast, must put up with two alternatives — one to
have dinner regularly half an hour late, the other to have the dinner at times utterly
spoilt, from nearly everything being overcooked.
We might have added to our list a saucepan full of cold water, in which float
sufficient peeled potatoes, and a basin of water, in which float some well-washed
brussels sprouts. Now, if a cook arranges all these things a good hour before
dinner, has a good clear iire, and everything round bright and clean and washed up,
I defy her to get into a muddle. The soup-tureen and the vegetable-dishes must be
filled with boiling water some time before they are wanted.
If there is a proper plate-warmer the plates can be placed in it at the right
moment, and ever3rthing will go straight.
Page 19
Presented as published in 1892. 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
Who has not at some dinner-parties witnessed those awful pauses between the courses, and have quite felt for the hostess, whose utmost endeavours to appear unconcerned are but ill-concealed, and whose eyes turn anxiously towards the door through which nothing seems to make its appearance %
But if the mistress is to be pitied above, much more is the maid to be pitied below, whose flurry of agitation is increased by the footman's, " Come, cook, make haste, they are all waiting !"
Now all this confusion arises from want of forethought. The good old maxim, " Never put off" till to-morrow what can be done to-day," never applies with greater force than in the arrangement of a good dinner. As far as possible let everything be arranged beforehand in proper order. The soup of course should always be made beforehand if possible, and be of a nature that will keep. There are so many little things that can only be done the last moment, that it is of the utmost importance that everything that possibly can be done before should be finished and put by. I will give an illustration of a dinner — a very ordinary one — in which the cook can have plenty of time to herself at the finish. Suppose now a long dresser neatly covered over with old newspapers, on wliich are stood in row cooking utensils as follows : — First, a saucepan, containing mock-turtle soup ; second, a stewpan, containing say some stewed eels ; third, a tin of oyster patties ; fourth, a stewpan, with some haricot beef; here a saucepan containing some rich brown gravy, and another in which an onion reposes quietly imbosomed in bread-crumbs and milk.
Now, all these things might have been placed there hours before dinner. Say the number of persons for dinner is eight. Now, on the dresser in front of the soup-tureen should be placed a pile of eight clean-dusted soup-plates, and a pile of eight ordinary plates in front of every other dish. We will suppose two roast fowls
PRINCIPLES — MANAGEMENT.
to be twirling round in front of the fire, and that the cook, when she put them down, took into her calculations the time it would take to consume the soup, fish, and two entrees of oyster patties and hailcot, and also the average length of delay common to the family ; for masters of families who have a trick of ordering dinner at seven o'clock, and coming home at half-past, must put up with two alternatives — one to have dinner regularly half an hour late, the other to have the dinner at times utterly spoilt, from nearly everything being overcooked.
We might have added to our list a saucepan full of cold water, in which float sufficient peeled potatoes, and a basin of water, in which float some well-washed brussels sprouts. Now, if a cook arranges all these things a good hour before dinner, has a good clear iire, and everything round bright and clean and washed up, I defy her to get into a muddle. The soup-tureen and the vegetable-dishes must be filled with boiling water some time before they are wanted.
If there is a proper plate-warmer the plates can be placed in it at the right moment, and everything will go straight.