Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 61

" |1|1|1| 2| 2| 2| 4| 4| 4| 6| 8| 8| Salads of greens.

" |2|2|2| 4| 4| 4| 8| 8| 8|12|16| 16| Entremets.

" | | | | | | 2| 2| 2| 4| 4| 6| 8| Large side pieces of Releves & Entrees.

" | | | | | | | | 2| 2| 4| 4| 6| " cakes.

" |4|4|4| 8| 8| 8|16|16|16|24|32| 36| Plates of Dessert.

The above table shows the number of dishes, but more than one dish of the same kind can be served; for instance, four kinds of potages, _releves_, etc., are served for forty; but two or four dishes of each kind can be served.

The size of the _releves_ and _rots_ should be according to the number of guests.

It is just as easy to select dishes for a small family-dinner as for a grand one; two, three, four, or more dishes can be selected; for instance, you select a potage, an _entree_ or _rot_, or both, one vegetable or a sweet dish, or both; and one or as many plates of dessert as you please.

Have a bouquet on the middle of the table, if possible, or at least a basket of fruit. Flowers during dinner have the same effect as music after it; they soften the manners, and gently and sweetly gratify the senses.

To simplify and render the making of bills of fare easy, we have divided the different dishes into seven parts, each part being in the order the dishes of which must be served, and representing the seven kinds of dishes composing a dinner. By this means you select the dish or dishes which suit you, and which you can procure in any or all of the seven parts, and your bill of fare is made, and more to your liking than any steward on earth can do.

_Order of dishes._--1. _Potages_. 2. _hors-d'oeuvres_. 3. _Releves_: of fish, and then of meat. 4. _Entrees_: beef, mutton, lamb, veal, fish, poultry, and game last. 5. _Rots_: of meat, and then of fish. 6.

_Entremets_: salads of greens, vegetables, eggs, macaroni, sweet dishes, and cakes. 7. _Dessert_: cheese the first.

_First part_, or _Potages_.--Any kind coming under the head of potages or soups.

_Second part_, or _hors-d'oeuvres_.--These are small dishes placed on the table as soon as the soup-dish is removed or even before, and which are removed just before serving the sweet dishes of the _entremets_.

They are pa.s.sed round after every dish, on account of being considered more as appetizers, as repairers of the natural waste of animal life.

Very little of them is partaken of at a time; they are _anchovies_; _artichockes_, raw; pickled _beets_; _b.u.t.ter_; _caviare_; _cervelas_; raw _cuc.u.mbers_; _figs_; every kind of _fish_, salted, smoked, pickled, or preserved in oil; every kind of _pickled fruit_; _horse-radish_; _horse-radish b.u.t.ter_; _melons_; broiled _mushrooms_; _olives_; raw and pickled _oysters_; steamed _potatoes_ served with b.u.t.ter; _radishes_ and b.u.t.ter; _sardines_; _saucissons_; _sausages_, salt and smoked, but not fresh; salted and smoked _tongue_; _tunny_, _walnuts_ in salad.

_Third part_, or _Releves_.--_Releves_ are composed of fish and large pieces of meat. A fish served whole is always a _releve_; in pieces, it is an _entree_. Pieces of _beef_, _mutton_, and _pork_, roasted, are always served as _releves_. At a family dinner the _releve_ is almost always a fish. The other pieces of meat that are served as _releves_ are: _bear_, _buffalo_, boiled and corned _beef_, _leg_ and _saddle_ of mutton, _quarters_ of lamb, large pieces of _veal_; also all _vol-au-vent_ of meat and of fish, _bouchees_ and _fish-pies_.

_Fourth part_, or _Entrees_.--These comprise every dish of meat, except poultry and game, when roasted; every dish of _fish_ not served whole; also _pates de foies gras_, _sour-krout_, _snails_, _meat-pies_, _terrines_, _pains_ of game and of poultry. The dishes of _meat_ mentioned in the _releves_ may be served as entrees at a family dinner.

The order of the dishes is described above.

_Fifth part_, or _Rots_.--_Poultry_, _game_, and _fish_. At a family dinner, _lamb_ and _veal_ are often served as roasted pieces, especially at seasons when there is no game, and poultry is scarce.

_Sixth part_, or _Entremets_.--The following are served as _entremets_: all _salads_ of greens; all dishes of _vegetables_, of _omelets_, except four, viz., with bacon, salt pork, ham, and kidneys. Also dishes of _macaroni_, of _rice_, _eggs a la neige_, all _sweet dishes_ (sweet dishes are also served as _dessert_), and _cakes_; such as _baba_, _brioche_, _genoises_, _madeleines_, _savarin_, and sponge-cake.

_Seventh part_, or _Dessert_.--The dessert comprises ripe _fruit_, _sweet dishes_ (these are also served as _entremets_, according to taste), _pastry_ (except meat-pies, _terrines_, and _pains_), _salads_ of fruits, and cheese. The latter is always served the first (_see_ Cheese). After cheese, there is no rule for serving the other plates of dessert; it is according to each one's taste.

_Punch_ is served after the _entrees_ or after the _releves_ of fish, according to taste.

_Early Breakfast_.--We are of opinion that everybody ought to eat as little meat as possible, and drink no wine, beer, or any other liquor at an early breakfast, no matter what the s.e.x or age may be, except when prescribed by the physician in case of sickness, debility, etc. The food may be selected from the following: _bread_ and _b.u.t.ter_, _eggs_, _omelets_, fried _fish_, fried _vegetables_, _sardines_, and _fruit_, according to the season.

As for meat, in case it should be eaten, it ought to be cold, such as fowl or veal, cooked the day before.

m.u.f.fins, and other cakes or pastes, served warm, are very bad for the stomach and teeth.

The beverage ought to be either coffee, with milk, chocolate, cocoa, choca, or cold water, but do not by any means drink tea at breakfast; it is too astringent.

Although cold meat is not by far so injurious as warm meat for breakfast, it ought, nevertheless, to be as little partaken of as possible, and especially by the young.

_Late Breakfast, Lunch, Tea, and early Supper_.--At these meals the following dishes may be served:

Every dish served as a _hors-d'oeuvre_, _calf's_ head and feet, bear _hams_, _head-cheese_, _eggs_ cooked in any way, _omelets_, _mutton_ chops, _veal_ cutlets, fried _fish_, ripe _fruit_, boned _birds_, _ham_, cold _meat_ of any kind, _oysters_, _pate de foies gras_, _salads_ of chicken, or any other birds, and of lobster, _sandwiches_, _sardines_, fried _vegetables_, _sweet dishes_, and _pastry_.

_Late Supper_.--This being the last meal taken before retiring, persons should be careful about what they eat then, especially those who take no bodily exercise, or retire soon after it. Some are not aware that their rest depends nearly, if not entirely, on what they have eaten at supper.

The lighter the food the better; such as fried _fish_, _sardines_, _lait de poule_, _bavaroise_, well-ripened _fruit_, a _cream_, a little _iced fruit_, _fruit-jelly_, _prunes_, etc.

The gastronomical or hygienic rule to be observed in eating, it will be seen, is therefore, after the soup and _hors-d'oeuvres_, to commence with the heaviest or most substantial dishes, and to finish with the lightest. The rule is just the opposite for wines. Here we must commence with the lightest, and end with those which contain the most alcohol, and are consequently the heaviest.