This section is from the book "The Art Of Naming Dishes On Bills Of Fare", by L. Schumacher. Also available from Amazon: The Art of Naming Dishes on Bills of Fare.
In naming dishes two main factors are recommended: to mention their main ingredients and the way they are prepared. Secondary designations, such as geographical or personal names can then follow. Let us consider the soups. Before giving them a second designation, the main elements, such as meats, vegetables, etc., should be taken into consideration, as there are meat soup, vegetable soup, fruit soup, etc. When soups are prepared mainly or entirely out of a certain kind of meat, vegetable, etc., they have to be named as chicken soup, pea soup, tomato soup, cherry soup, etc. When soups are prepared in a particular Avay they must be called pea puree soup (strained pea soup), chicken cream soup, thick tomato soup, beef consomme, clear turtle soup, etc. All ingredients with few exceptions are considered as substitute designations and are seldom mentioned, but expressed by style names as Choiseul style, Koyal style, Manhattan style, etc. Simple soups which contain mainly one ingredient like dumplings, semola, etc., can be named with their contents as cherry soup w. dumplings, wine soup w. semola, etc. That it is absolutely necessary to name soups, as other dishes with their main ingredients and their manner of preparation is shown by different soups which have the same style of designation as for instance:— Clear chicken soup, Choiseul; Chicken cream soup, Choiseul; Chicken consomme, Choiseul. If they were all called simply Soup, Chois e fi 1, one could not tell which kind was meant, and there is certainly a big difference between each one.
It is the same with all other dishes. First mention the main ingredients (elements) and then the manner of preparation as boiled, baked, roasted, braised, stewed, rolled, mixed, filled, stuffed, Warded, etc., before any minor title is given. An exception to this are dishes which have names that already include a certain style of preparation such as fricassee, stew, ragout, etc., but the principal element (ingredient) should be given as chicken fricassee, veal fricassee, veal ragout, beef ragout, etc. Also other dishes such as peas, carrots, spinach, etc., when prepared plain, do not need any special designation as everybody knows they are prepared in the plain customary way. If they are prepared in a special way, then it is to the advantage of every restaurateur to mention it, as for instance : Creamed carrots, Spinach with egg, Puree of peas, etc. If the preparation is a complicated one so that a short name cannot be given besides that of the main contents of a dish, then the proper names should be quoted as: Carrots, English: Spinach, Monroe; etc.
 
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