At a pleasure resort it is the same as on
board a steamer or at the first table of a
public banquet, everybody sits down to
the table at the same instant, and, to- all
123
COOKING FOR PROMT.
appearances, begins instantly to wish
that he were the only guest and all the
other people were waiters so that he
might be instantaneously served. It may
seem somewhat ridiculous in people who
have really nothing else to do to become
so impatient over a little delay in receiving
their meals ; but with that we have noth-
ing to do; to be successful in serving
meals it is quite as important to get them
on the table expeditiously as it is,-,to have
them well cooked.
It happened that I was a passenger
on two excursion steamers belongmg
to the same line on the great lakes and
saw on board one of the very worst, and
on the other the very best_ method in
practice for dealing with this difficulty.
The first was the newest, largest, finest,
steamer of the line, the pet of the com-
pany, and, being too good to adopt com-
mon ways, its dining saloon was run on
the plan of those high-priced restaurants
which get about one customer in every
half hour, and keep him reading the pa-
per another half hour, while they cook a
meal for him, but it did not work on this
steamer, where a hundred people sat
down at once, and did not want to wait
over a half minute apiece. There was
nothing on the tables that people could
help themselves to. The waiters were
almost invisible ; a few ladies at the fur-
ther end took up all their time putting a
little more water in their tea, and chang-
ing their beefsteaks for one a little better
done, while all the rest at all the other
tables sat unnoticed and getting madder
the longer they sat. Perhaps a waiter
with a tray load of cups full of coffee
would be captured by one table, and an-
other with meat or rolls by another, but
very seldom did all the parts of a meal
meet together at any one place; the ser-
vice was, therefore, an utter failure, and
the quality of the cookery could not even
come into consideration, no matter how
high the pretensions of the boat to supe-
riority might be. The other boat had
two long tables with a large part of the
staple articles that go to complete a meal
SLt upon it within easy reach — the indi-
vidual butters and creams, bread, pickled
jellies, mustard, sugar, cheese, salt —
there was a saucer as well as a plate at
every seat. When the steward's bell taps
ior breakfast as the passengers filed in and
4,ook their places the waiters at the same
time came on with their trays ready
loaded with the dishes which were surest
to be called for — beefsteaks, ham, eggs,
chops, hot breads and fried potatoes —
and with cups of coffee, and by the time
the people were well in their seats, the
full meal was before them, and if the
waiters were then sent off by a few for
chocolate, hot milk, boiled fish instead of
fried omelets, or a little more water in
the tea, they did not leave the great major-
ity in a state of suffermg and suspense.
There is a good deal in having plenty of
waiters; and yet that is not all; for often
there are so many they are in one anoth-
er's way, because of the impossibility of
getting the cooking or carving done just
enough to keep them in motion.
Page 270
Presented as published in 1886. 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
At a pleasure resort it is the same as on board a steamer or at the first table of a public banquet, everybody sits down to the table at the same instant, and, to- all
appearances, begins instantly to wish that he were the only guest and all the other people were waiters so that he might be instantaneously served. It may seem somewhat ridiculous in people who have really nothing else to do to become so impatient over a little delay in receiving their meals ; but with that we have nothing to do; to be successful in serving meals it is quite as important to get them on the table expeditiously as it is to have them well cooked.
It happened that I was a passenger on two excursion steamers belonging to the same line on the great lakes and saw on board one of the very worst, and on the other the very best_ method in practice for dealing with this difficulty. The first was the newest, largest, finest steamer of the line, the pet of the company, and, being too good to adopt common ways, its dining saloon was run on the plan of those high-priced restaurants which get about one customer in every half hour, and keep him reading the paper another half hour, while they cook a meal for him, but it did not work on this steamer, where a hundred people sat down at once, and did not want to wait over a half minute apiece. There was nothing on the tables that people could help themselves to. The waiters were almost invisible ; a few ladies at the further end took up all their time putting a little more water in their tea, and changing their beefsteaks for one a little better done, while all the rest at all the other tables sat unnoticed and getting madder the longer they sat. Perhaps a waiter with a tray load of cups full of coffee would be captured by one table, and another with meat or rolls by another, but very seldom did all the parts of a meal meet together at any one place; the service was, therefore, an utter failure, and the quality of the cookery could not even come into consideration, no matter how high the pretensions of the boat to superiority might be. The other boat had two long tables with a large part of the staple articles that go to complete a meal set upon it within easy reach — the individual butters and creams, bread, pickled jellies, mustard, sugar, cheese, salt — there was a saucer as well as a plate at every seat. When the steward's bell taps for breakfast as the passengers filed in and took their places the waiters at the same
time came on with their trays ready loaded with the dishes which were surest to be called for — beefsteaks, ham, eggs, chops, hot breads and fried potatoes — and with cups of coffee, and by the time the people were well in their seats, the full meal was before them, and if the waiters were then sent off by a few for chocolate, hot milk, boiled fish instead of fried omelets, or a little more water in the tea, they did not leave the great majority in a state of suffering and suspense. There is a good deal in having plenty of waiters; and yet that is not all; for often there are so many they are in one another's way, because of the impossibility of getting the cooking or carving done just enough to keep them in motion.