cookery, because I hold that the epithet " modern " is in-
sulting to the Greeks, who had a spoken and written poj^ular
language man}' hundreds of years before we arrogant English
folk had any settled language at all. Let it be broadly stated
that truly excellent cookery may be found in private houses
at Athens, at Smyrna, and at Constantinople, but that the
Hellenes as a whole have not a very copious or refined kitchen.
The staples, indeed, of the diet of the common people in
Greece comprise bread, somewhat coarse in texture and dark
in colour, gi-apes, and black olives. They Avill also cat as
much of a milky kind of cheese (furl) as they can get ; and
13
2 THE THOROUGH GOOD COOK.
they are greatly addicted to sousing nearly all their dishes
with olive oil. A common repast for a Greek peasant is a
himch of bread, scored backwards and forwards in parallel
lines with a knife to a criss-cross jDattern ; this is seasoned
with pepper and salt, and drenched with oil ; and is then
heartily partaken of, not only by the agricultural classes, but
by monks, sailors, and artisans.
The long and severe fasts ordained by the Greek Church
necessitate the consumption, during Lent and cognate periods
of abstinence, of vast quantities of dried fish ; and in the
Greek islands at all times tish is plentiful and cheap. When
meat is eaten, it is generally beef; and the people usually
seem to prefer the vraston, or boiled meat, to the iiseton, or
roast variety. Eggs, again, are in conuiion demand ; cabbage
and onions are favourite vegetables ; and in the way of
sauce the Greeks are never tired of oil and garlic. The
oleaginous product of the olive is as dear to them as ghee
to a Hindu ; and in devouring garlic they surpass even the
Marseillais. In polite society in Athens, French cookery,
intermingled with a few native dishes, prevails. Among
the middle classes the cuisine is a curiously compound one.
It has a basis of radically Romaic preparations ; but with
these are blended a large proportion of Italian dishes ; Avhile
the confectionery is almost wholly borrowed from the Turks.
I should here mention that the celebrated Eastern delicacy
called yaourt* which is simply curdled cream left till it
becomes quite sour and swims in liquid of a greenish hue,
can be made very imich after the fashion of Devonshire
junket. Perhaps the best substance with which to curdle
or coagulate it is rennet ; but should a vitelline membrane be
difficult to procure, any druggist will give you a few drops
of some perfectly harmless acid, Avhich will suffice to " turn "
the cream. But yaourt is rather a Djagetai Tartar than a
purely Ottoman dish. The Russians are quite as fond as
* Sec p. 444.
CHATS ABOUT COOKERY.
the Turks of sonr cream, the use of which they borrowed
from the Tartar tribes of the south, and which they serve
with their national cabbage soup. But of this I shall have
to speak in the chat about Muscovite cookery.
In conclusion, I may mention that in Greek sweet
dishes, and even in some savoury ones, a good deal of honey
is used ; and this, again, is a practice learnt from the
Turkish confectioners.
The Russian Cuisine.
I want to tell you something about Russian cookery,
iind to disabuse your minds of the possible impression that
the Russians are a people who chiefly support existence
Page 8
Presented as published in 1895. 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
cookery, because I hold that the epithet "modern" is insulting to the Greeks, who had a spoken and written popular language many hundreds of years before we arrogant English folk had any settled language at all. Let it be broadly stated that truly excellent cookery may be found in private houses at Athens, at Smyrna, and at Constantinople, but that the Hellenes as a whole have not a very copious or refined kitchen. The staples, indeed, of the diet of the common people in Greececomprises bread, somewhat coarse in texture and dark in colour, grapes, and black olives. They Avill also cat as much of a milky kind of cheese (furl) as they can get ; aand they are greatly addicted to sousing nearly all their dishes with olive oil. A common repast for a Greek peasant is a bunch of bread, scored backwards and forwards in parallel lines with a knife to a criss-cross jDattern ; this is seasoned with pepper and salt, and drenched with oil ; and is then heartily partaken of, not only by the agricultural classes, but by monks, sailors, and artisans.
The long and severe fasts ordained by the Greek Church necessitate the consumption, during Lent and cognate periods of abstinence, of vast quantities of dried fish ; and in the Greek islands at all times fish is plentiful and cheap. When meat is eaten, it is generally beef; and the people usually seem to prefer the vraston, or boiled meat, to the vseton, or roast variety. Eggs, again, are in common demand ; cabbage and onions are favourite vegetables ; and in the way of sauce the Greeks are never tired of oil and garlic. The oleaginous product of the olive is as dear to them as ghee to a Hindu ; and in devouring garlic they surpass even the Marseillais. In polite society in Athens, French cookery, intermingled with a few native dishes, prevails. Among the middle classes the cuisine is a curiously compound one. It has a basis of radically Romaic preparations ; but with these are blended a large proportion of Italian dishes ; Avhile the confectionery is almost wholly borrowed from the Turks.
I should here mention that the celebrated Eastern delicacy called yaourt* which is simply curdled cream left till it becomes quite sour and swims in liquid of a greenish hue, can be made very imich after the fashion of Devonshire junket. Perhaps the best substance with which to curdle or coagulate it is rennet ; but should a vitelline membrane be difficult to procure, any druggist will give you a few drops of some perfectly harmless acid, which will suffice to "turn" the cream. But yaourt is rather a Djagetai Tartar than a purely Ottoman dish. The Russians are quite as fond as
* Sec p. 444.
the Turks of sonr cream, the use of which they borrowed from the Tartar tribes of the south, and which they serve with their national cabbage soup. But of this I shall have to speak in the chat about Muscovite cookery.
In conclusion, I may mention that in Greek sweet dishes, and even in some savoury ones, a good deal of honey is used ; and this, again, is a practice learnt from the Turkish confectioners.
The Russian Cuisine.
I want to tell you something about Russian cookery,
iind to disabuse your minds of the possible impression that
the Russians are a people who chiefly support existence