Some cooks, however, with such a simple little dinner to aiTange as we have described, would, from simple ddatoriness, get into a muddle just at the finish. You will perhaps find them skimming the gravy or making the bread-crumbs all of a hurry when it wants but half an hour to dinner-time. Another instance in which a little forethought will save a gi-eat deal of trouble is that of pouring a little boiling water into a saucepan directly it comes ofi" the fire and is emptied. "We shall have, another time, to speak of the enormous power enamel saucepans possess of retaining heat. Now, suppose the cook boils up the gravy, pours it into the hot tureen ready for it, and puts the saucepan down just as it is. The dregs of the gravy cake on as hard as ii-on from the action of the heat, and the saucepan requires three times more washing than if the cook had had the common sense to put the saucepan under the boiler tap for a second or two, and given it a i-inse round. Having now briefly pointed out in these papers the outlines of the fii'st prin- ciples on which good cookery depends, we will proceed to discuss these principles more in detail. In all large works on cookery it must be borne in mind that receipts are of necessity brief A certain amount of knowledge on the pai't of the cook must be pre-supposed. For instance, in cooking fish — say, a fried sole — the directions given would be — " Egg and bread-crumb the sole," &c. In re- collect once asking a person of good education (an M.A. of Cambridge) what he would do were he to egg and bread-cnimb a fish. He candidly confessed he had not the slightest idea ; and on being pressed for an answer, guessed that the best method would be to first boil the egg and chop it fine, &c. . . . Now, of course, this is ignorance of a certain kind, but a very common form of ignorance which,, indeed, does not deserve the name. Ignorant persons with a little knowledge of a special kind are very apt to laugh at others who, while ten times better educated and better informed than themselves, happen to exhibit a little ignorance on the special subject on which they themselves are informed. For instance, a carpenter's appx'entice would probably laugh at and feel great contempt for a man who should walk into his Avorkshop and be unable to pick out a jack-plane from the others. For all that, however, this man might be the most brilliant statesman of the age. Again, the greatest living scholar or historian might be svipi-emely ignorant as to the best method of cleaning pewter, and might very possibly be regarded in con- sequence as a fool by the pot-boy. We consider it therefore, necessary in our cassell's dictionary of cookery.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Some cooks, however, with such a simple little dinner to arrange as we have described, would, from simple dilatoriness, get into a muddle just at the finish. You will perhaps find them skimming the gravy or making the bread-crumbs all of a hurry when it wants but half an hour to dinner-time. Another instance in which a little forethought will save a great deal of trouble is that of pouring a little boiling water into a saucepan directly it comes off the fire and is emptied. "We shall have, another time, to speak of the enormous power enamel saucepans possess of retaining heat. Now, suppose the cook boils up the gravy, pours it into the hot tureen ready for it, and puts the saucepan down just as it is. The dregs of the gravy cake on as hard as iron from the action of the heat, and the saucepan requires three times more washing than if the cook had had the common sense to put the saucepan under the boiler tap for a second or two, and given it a rinse round. Having now briefly pointed out in these papers the outlines of the first principles on which good cookery depends, we will proceed to discuss these principles more in detail. In all large works on cookery it must be borne in mind that receipts are of necessity brief A certain amount of knowledge on the part of the cook must be pre-supposed. For instance, in cooking fish — say, a fried sole — the directions given would be — " Egg and bread-crumb the sole," &c. In recollect once asking a person of good education (an M.A. of Cambridge) what he would do were he to egg and bread-crumb a fish. He candidly confessed he had not the slightest idea ; and on being pressed for an answer, guessed that the best method would be to first boil the egg and chop it fine, &c. . . . Now, of course, this is ignorance of a certain kind, but a very common form of ignorance which, indeed, does not deserve the name. Ignorant persons with a little knowledge of a special kind are very apt to laugh at others who, while ten times better educated and better informed than themselves, happen to exhibit a little ignorance on the special subject on which they themselves are informed. For instance, a carpenter's apprentice would probably laugh at and feel great contempt for a man who should walk into his workshop and be unable to pick out a jack-plane from the others. For all that, however, this man might be the most brilliant statesman of the age. Again, the greatest living scholar or historian might be supremely ignorant as to the best method of cleaning pewter, and might very possibly be regarded in consequence as a fool by the pot-boy. We consider it therefore, necessary in our cassell's dictionary of cookery.

Cassell's dictionary of cookery