Ordinary Cookery Books, though of the greatest utility, are, like dictionaries, seldom if ever read through. In the present work, which contains all the important elements and first principles of Cookery necessary to be learnt, in order to render ordinary works on the subject intelligible, the attempt has been made to so mingle recipes with anecdote, that the perusal of the book may be a means of entertainment as well as of useful information. The work is intended more for the drawing-room than for the kitchen, for the Author believes that, among the great mass of the middle classes in this country—the class that is suffering most from the incapacity of domestic servants—the remedy lies with themselves
The present work has no pretensions to be a complete book on Cooking, but is simply a series of papers (which originally appeared in Cassell's Magazine) in which the endeavour has been, to impart a certain amount of useful knowledge of the Art of Cooking, by giving recipes at greater length than would be possible in any ordinary Cookery Book.
A helpless mistress too often makes helpless servants. It is in the hope of curing some of this wide-spread helplessness amongst ladies that the following papers have been written.
We had such an awful time of it with Mary Ann ! Probably, never have the domestic trials and difficulties of young housekeepers been summed up in fewer or more expressive words. However, the more w...
Go to the baker's at once, and order in as follows (it does not cost anything)—a bag of light-brown bread-raspings, of about the colour you would use for a ham. Always have some by you—they keep almos...
There is perhaps no word so little understood, or rather so misunderstood, as the word economy. Just as there is a vulgar and popular impression that political economists are a hard-hearted, selfis...
And now, let us return to the rest of the lobster, which we left being pounded in the mortar, and to which have been added the chopped onion, parsley, and lemon-peel in the proportions we have mention...
The importance of such a subject as the one I have now taken in hand is apt to be much underrated. Many a starving family could be fed from the wasted superabundance which falls, in too many cases, no...
Another common form of waste is home-made pastry. I recollect some oyster patties as they were called, but oyster pies as they really were, being very nearly as big as cheese-plates, in which the past...
A few years ago the leading comic journal of the day had the following graphic little sketch :—A middle-aged gentleman, leaving his house-door in the morning, inquires— What is there for dinner t...
And now for the next dish, which will consist of mince with poached eggs. We would, however, remind the reader that the previous dish required bread-crumbs and boiling fat. In order to make the bread-...
I fear that as a nation taste is not our forte. I wonder, too, if there is any French expression that would fully convey the idea, Wanted, a good plain cook. Wanted, a woman who can convert joints ...
We will now describe how a cook ought to proceed in order to make a good lobster salade. The first thing she would do would be to put an egg in a saucepan, and boil it for twenty minutes or so, and...
There are, perhaps, few meals that in this country vary more than breakfasts; and, indeed, it is not possible to draw any exact line between the hospitable and heavy Yorkshire breakfasts, including -t...
In cooking eggs and bacon, fried eggs are best. Have, as before, the eggs ready in a cup, each in a separate cup. As soon as the bacon is cooked, place it on the dish, and put it in front of the fire....
However strange may appear the statement, yet we have no hesitation in saying that one of the greatest steps ever made in economy in giving dinner-parties was the introduction into this country of the...
In small households, where a large quantity of cold meat is undesirable, this is far preferable to a large haunch, and of course it is exactly the same thing, so far as taste and appearance are concer...
Next take the slices of chicken and a few thin slices of ham, pour a little of the white sauce on to a plate, and before it has time to cool, cover the plate with very thin slices of chicken; dip the ...
The Christmas season is essentially one for parties— Christmas parties—those happy gatherings where old and young meet together for mutual enjoyment, and where the presence of children forms an...
How, you will ask, can this be done ? Very simply. Cut it out of a turnip with a penknife. It really is not nearly so difficult as you would imagine. Take a sharp knife and a little scoop, and try and...
Perhaps no season in the year is more eagerly welcomed than that of spring—earth's great annual resurrection from death unto life! How beautiful the first really spring morning ! A warm, balmy air, a ...
We next come to the general and nicest accompaniment to roast lamb, and that is, nice fresh young green peas. When we say fresh, we mean lately gathered. Peas that have been picked some time are very ...
It is almost too hot to eat. How often do we hear this remark during what is popularly known as the dog days ! There is no doubt that as a nation we do not make sufficient allowance for the variation...
The next point necessary is that this curry sauce should be made of the necessary thickness; and for the purpose, what I have alluded to before under the name of brown thickening is necessary. ...
There can be no doubt that the last ten or fifteen years have witnessed, if not a revolution, at any rate a very great change in the domestic habits of the middle classes of this country. Persons nowa...
The other salad to which we refer is the old-fashioned dish, potato salad, and is the best made from new potatoes, or rather from potatoes not too old and floury. Considering the number of houses wher...
There are perhaps few months that test the cook's art more than that of August; and not only the cook, but the housekeeper, must exercise some little tact, in order to avoid the waste that too often e...
An exceedingly delicious and at the same time un-intoxicating drink is some syrup of pineapple added to a bottle of soda-water and a lump of ice. This syrup can be obtained at S. Sainsbury's, 177, Str...
What subject is so suitable for early summer ? Who has not at times experienced that strange and almost painful feeling that must exist in the throat in order that the sensation may be worthy of the n...
Take therefore about an ounce and a half of white sugar, and dissolve it by pouring a table-spoonful of hot water on it, and afterwards adding a little claret. I have always found this plan best, as o...
The month 'tis now September; the season has begun when English customs give us game, when dinner's almost done. Now for my own part I think we often rather waste our game in this country, by bring...
Well, my dear, it is time they were shot, for they are getting very high. The next point to be considered is the actual cooking. We will suppose the birds ready trussed. They should be wiped ins...
To make fried bread-crumbs—the best accompaniment to grouse—a clear fire is necessary. Get an enamelled stew-pan, and put a little butter in it (about an ounce), then get some bread-crumbs, stale and ...
We will not dwell upon that not very agreeable but still necessary process of skinning the hare, but will at once commence to make the stuffing, which must be tied up inside it. Ordinary veal stuffing...
There can be no doubt that we live in an exceedingly variable climate, and for by far the greater part of the year we suffer neither the extreme of heat nor cold. Still we have at times our hot July o...
Once more the season has come round in which our Saviour's birth is celebrated, and though more than eighteen centuries have passed away, still the clarion voice rings as fresh as ever in our ears— G...
To carry a large flat dish with ignited brandy is extremely dangerous, and I have not forgotten that dreadful story which appeared in the papers one or two years ago, about the poor girl who was burnt...
A very nice stuffing for turkeys can be made from chestnuts, but space will not allow me to enter into further details. In conclusion, let me add, let Christmas come as a blessing, and not as a cur...
There can be no doubt but that the season of Christmas is especially associated with eating and drinking. The most approved English method of exhibiting goodwill towards men, is by asking them to d...
The turtle-flesh must be then cut up into small pieces about two inches square, and boiled for about twelve hours in some stock prepared as follows—and it is in the preparation of this stock that the ...
We have discussed the subject of wedding breakfasts,, which are so similar to nice little suppers that we were unable, when so doing, to give many practical recipes ; but we will endeavour to make ame...
Next, the curry sauce in the little saucepan. This may have been, and should be, made long before; some curried mutton the day before for dinner will be found an advisable dish, as the sauce left will...
My chapter on wedding breakfasts must not consist in simply saying, Don't have one; though I must in the name of common sense enter my protest against the vulgarity—for it is nothing else—of giving on...
The sick-room—what echoes does not the very name awaken in the memories of the past! There are few moments in our lives' history more solemn than those when we have watched by the bedside of one we lo...
The first point to ascertain is whether the patient will take the arrowroot thick or thin; some persons have strong prejudices on this point, and thick arrowroot will require double the quantity of th...
The Great Painters of Christendom, from Cimabue to Wilkie. By John Forbes Robertson. Illustrated throughout with carefully-executed Engravings of the Masterpieces of the several Painters. Royal 4to, c...
I. The Uses And Abuses Of A Frying Pan
