Preface

Upwards of thirty years' practice and assiduous study of my profession, have undoubtedly given me a thorough knowledge of it; and it must be conceded, that to conquer all the difficulties attached to it, is not a trifling task. The patronage and encouragement I received in this country, at the hands of one of the best masters man ever served, co-operating with my experience, enabled me to succeed in all my undertakings; and my gratitude can cease only with my existence.

Many professional men have written on this subject; but very few of them have possessed at once the theory and practice of the art. I must own, that my severity towards my apprentices, and my unremitting care in keeping the inferiors who attended me, in a state of constant assiduity in what concerned the cleanliness of the kitchen as well as of the larder, has been of the utmost advantage to myself as well as to them: I have the satisfactory reward of seeing all my pupils held in the highest estimation by persons of the greatest distinction.

I shall in this edition, as I did in the former, say, that Cookery is an art appreciated by only a very few individuals, and which requires, in addition to a most diligent and studious application, no small share of intellect, and the strictest sobriety and punctuality: without the latter, the very best Cook is unavoidably deficient in the delicacies of his profession: there are cooks, and cooks, as there are painters, and painters: the difficulty lies in finding the perfect one; and I dare assert, that the nobleman who has in his service a thorough good one, ought to be as proud of the acquisition, as of possessing in his gallery a genuine production of the pencil of Rubens, Raphael, or Titian.

In England the few assistants allowed to a head cook, and the number of dishes he has to prepare, often deprive him of an opportunity of displaying his abilities; and after ten years of the utmost exertion to bring his art to perfection, he has the mortification of ranking no higher than an humble domestic.

As several noblemen and ladies of distinction have remarked to me, that my book contained too many French terms, I have endeavoured in this edition to meet their goodness and liberality towards me, by giving translations of such names as were translatable. But I must still observe, as I did in' the preceding editions, that Cookery, like fortification, music, dancing, and many other arts, being of foreign origin, its nomenclature is, like theirs, in the language of the people who first cultivated it; and hence the impossibility of transferring by an equivalent, many terms into English, so as to convey any intelligible meaning. In this case they have been unavoidably retained; but care has been taken to give at the bottom of the respective pages where the expressions occur, such elucidations as may be fully explanatory of their import to the practitioner.

As I shall explain the manner of dressing entrees, it is proper for me to observe here, that the word en-tree has no equivalent in English. It is the name of any dish of meat, fowl, game, or fish, dressed and cooked for the first course; all vegetable dishes, jellies, pastries, salad, prawns, lobsters, and in general every thing that appears in the second course, except the roast, are termed entremets.

It is time for me to give the translation of such words as are of most immediate occurrence.

Most of the dishes retain their original name. In a former edition I enumerated the articles in season ; hut I find it useless in the present one, because, when in London, the markets and shop-keepers are always provided according to the season; the price of the various articles is always the thermometer to be consulted: when in the country, the Cook must use in preference the produce of the farm and gardens. The futile search after novelty in Cookery, is the running after the philosopher's stone. Every thing is equally good when done in perfection. The sweet dishes that conclude this work, have no translation, any more than plum-pudding has in Paris; it bears the same name there which it does in London; so Suedoise, Charlotte of apples, or Charlotte of apricot, rice, and apples, Chartreuse of fruits, apple fritures glazed, soufflees, miroton of apples, croquettes of rice farcie d'abricots, croquettes of potatoe, panequet, are at once French and English: however, no difficulty can result from a dish bearing a foreign name, as the way of making it is explained in English, and the learner will be easily familiarized with their names. The various articles will be treated of in their respective classes, of which there are seven, viz. soups, fish, removes of either fishes and soups; entrees, entremets, roasts for the second course; in the first course there are always removes; and then the removes of roasts, called soufflees, or biscuits a la creme, or fondus, etc. etc. It is necessary to remember all these observations, as they teach the learner to serve with order; by taking a dish from the different classes, you may compose your dinner without any assistance but this book. Suppose you have eight persons at dinner, you cannot send up less than four entrees, a soup, and a fish; you must have two removes, viz. for the second course two dishes of roast, next four entremets; and if you think proper, two removes of the roast.

Plate 1.

First Course.

Second Course.

Make the hill of fare, by choosing out of each chapter whatever you may want, namely, a soup, a fish, two removes, four entrees for the first course; then for the second course, two roasts, four entremets, and two removes of the roast.

By this I mean that you must take one article out of the chapter that relates to mutton, or lamb, or veal, or fowl, or fish, taking care, however, that no two dishes are to he alike, either in shape, colour, or taste. For the second course you must act on the same principle: the roasts must likewise not hear any resemblance to each other. In summer-time you will select two dishes from among the vegetables, one from among the jellies, and one out of the chapter of pastry; as for instance: