Soyer's standard cookery

These hors-d'oeuvres are at their best in the months of September and October, when the first shoals of herrings begin to appear. They can only be kept a few days, but they form an excellent dish, and their flavor is exquisite. Before serving them, it is only needful to skin them, whereupon they may be dished up with a little chopped parsley. Send a bowl of French beans to the table with them, the vegetables having been freshly cooked, kept somewhat firm, buttered, and not cooled. Some cooks serve the beans cold, in the form of a salad, but as a rule they are preferred hot with butter, while the herrings should be very cold. Oysters. The best oysters to be had are those of Whitstable, and Colchester. Oysters are the dish par excellence: and they are so easily digested that the most delicate invalid can partake of them freely. With the exception of caviare, they are the only horsd'oeuvres which should ever appear on the menu of a wellordered dinner. Oysters ought to be served cold; hence the prevailing custom of dishing them on ice. In England they are served plain on the flat half of the shell. Send some slices of brown bread and butter and lemon to the table with the oysters. Melon with Port, Marsala, or Sherry, Etc. Select a cantaloupe melon and let it be just ripe. Make a round incision about the stalk, three inches in diameter; withdraw the plug thus cut, and through the resulting hole thoroughly remove all the pips by means of a silver spoon. Now pour one-half pint of best port, marsala, or sherry into the melon, replace the plug, and keep the melon for two or three hours in a cooler surrounded by broken ice. Do not cut the melon into slices when serving it. It should be taken to the table whole, and then the piece containing the stalk is withdrawn and the fruit is cut into shell-like slices with a silver spoon, and served with a little of the accompanying wine upon iced plates. Smoked Breast of Goose. Cut it into the thinnest possible slices, and garnish with very green parsley. Plain Olives. Olives of all kinds are suitable for hors-d'oeuvres, and are served plain. They are excellent, provided they be fleshy, firm, very green, and moderately salted. Stuffed Olives. Select large Spanish olives and stone them, either by cutting them spirally, or by means of a special machine. In the place of the stone, put one of the butters or creams for horsd'ceuvres. Before serving these olives, let them rest awhile in a moderately warm atmosphere. Stuffed olives are generally kept in the cool, immersed in oil with which they become thoroughly saturated, therefore it follows that the moment they come into contact with a slightly higher temperature they will exude that oil and reach the table swimming in oil, and not at all appetising. Hence the warning given above. Hard-Boiled Eggs as a Basis for hors-d'oeuvres. EGG DISKS. — Cut the eggs laterally into roundels a third of an inch in thickness, discarding the two end pieces of each egg, so that the shapes may be almost uniform, and the yolks appear about the same size throughout. In the center of each roundel make a little rosette of butter, by means of a small, grooved pipe, use different butters, such as the shrimp, montpellier, cavaire, and other kinds in order to vary the colors.