COLD DISHES

Common-sense cookery for English hous... · Kenney-Herbert, A. R. (Arthur Robert), 1840-1916 · 1905
Source
Common-sense cookery for English households : with twenty menus worked out in detail
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success · extracted 12 days ago
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Instructions (10)
  1. On the score alike of economy and good quality I would urge all who like to have such spécialités as galantines, pressed beef, tongues, brawn, cold boiled fowls masked with white sauce, &c., to cook them at home.
  2. Without wishing to cry down the ready-made specimens of this kind of food to be pur-chased at the various Stores and the shops of purveyors of dressed provisions, I cannot but point out that you ought to be able to turn out any of them just as nicely in your own kitchens.
  3. It is only at the very best places that their prepara-tion is marked with any special excellence, and this is chiefly noticeable in regard to external finish rather than the quality of the food itself.
  4. There is nothing at all difficult in the dress-ing of such dishes; they simply require proper care in cooking and neatness in the trimming and dishing afterwards.
  5. The practice which now prevails of profusely ornamenting cold pièces for luncheons and suppers cannot be in any way com-mended.
  6. Glaze properly applied, as will presently be described, broken aspic jelly, or neatly stamped-out pieces of the same for garnish, with bunches of parsley or watercress, snowy dish papers, and frills to cover unsightly knuckle ends of hams, &c., are all the accessories that are necessary.
  7. The laying-on of devices of sorts on the surfaces of hams, tongues, galantines, and poultry, and worse still, the squeezing of patterns upon them in colours similar to those laid upon cakes by confec-tioners, are wholly out of place on the one hand and silly waste of time on the other.
  8. It is but lost labour too, for all the lovely tracery and gimcrack moulding is studiously scraped off by the carver as soon as business begins.
  9. If it were the custom for people to display in their dining-room windows for the admiration of passers-by the dishes prepared for their little entertainments, this embellishment might perhaps be excused.
  10. Since, however, we have not come to do anything quite so outrageous at present, why should we encourage a vulgarity which is almost as bad?
Original Text
COLD DISHES. On the score alike of economy and good quality I would urge all who like to have such spécialités as galantines, pressed beef, tongues, brawn, cold boiled fowls masked with white sauce, &c., to cook them at home. Without wishing to cry down the ready-made specimens of this kind of food to be pur-chased at the various Stores and the shops of purveyors of dressed provisions, I cannot but point out that you ought to be able to turn out any of them just as nicely in your own kitchens. It is only at the very best places that their prepara-tion is marked with any special excellence, and this is chiefly noticeable in regard to external finish rather than the quality of the food itself. There is nothing at all difficult in the dress-ing of such dishes; they simply require proper care in cooking and neatness in the trimming and dishing afterwards. The practice which now prevails of profusely ornamenting cold pièces for luncheons and suppers cannot be in any way com-mended. Glaze properly applied, as will presently be described, broken aspic jelly, or neatly stamped-out pieces of the same for garnish, with bunches of parsley or watercress, snowy dish papers, and frills to cover unsightly knuckle ends of hams, &c., are all the accessories that are necessary. The laying-on of devices of sorts on the surfaces of hams, tongues, galantines, and poultry, and worse still, the squeezing of patterns upon them in colours similar to those laid upon cakes by confec-tioners, are wholly out of place on the one hand and silly waste of time on the other. It is but lost labour too, for all the lovely tracery and gimcrack moulding is studiously scraped off by the carver as soon as business begins. If it were the custom for people to display in their dining-room windows for the admiration of passers-by the dishes prepared for their little entertainments, this embellishment might perhaps be excused. Since, however, we have not come to do anything quite so outrageous at present, why should we encourage a vulgarity which is almost as bad?
Notes
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