dripping or butter; then pour over it a wineglassful
of light French wine and the same of good clear
stock, and bake in a quick oven from ten to fifteen
minutes, watching it closely, and adding a very
little more stock should it show signs of drying up
too much. This is the general rule for preparing a
gratin of any kind, but it is naturally subject to
variations according to the foundation meat; for
instance if you intend to gratiner beef or mutton,
alternate the meat slices with sliced tomato or par-
boiled Spanish onions; if veal or lamb, or chicken is
used, employ sliced cucumber, artichoke bottoms, or
mushrooms, whilst for veal or chicken some thinly
sliced ham or tongue will also be found an addition;
many people also approve of the addition of finely
grated Parmesan cheese to the breadcrumbs and it
undoubtedly adds a flavour; then others use red
wine such as claret or Burgundy and brown stock
for brown meat, leaving the white wine and the
white stock for the more delicate meats, in short like
most other rechauffés the gratin may be varied to
suit individual tastes.
Next comes the familiar (far too familiar) mince,
almost as great a trial as hash, yet, like it, capable
of all sorts of dainty developments, if we will accept
the French hachis for our English mince. (By the
bye, how few people seem to realise that the Scotch
“haggis” is only a form of the French “hachis.”)
To begin with, please remember that for a mince
deserving the name, the mincer must be taboo, unless
its knives are kept in such a delicate condition of
cleanliness and sharpness as to ensure the meat