THE COOK'S DECAMERON

A Study In Taste

Containing Over Two Hundred Recipes For Italian Dishes

By Mrs. W. G. Waters

"Show me a pleasure like dinner, which comes every day and lasts anhour. "-- Talleyrand circa 1901

To

A. V. 

In memory of Certain Ausonian Feasts

Preface

Montaigne in one of his essays* mentions the high excellence Italiancookery had attained in his day. "I have entered into this Discourseupon the Occasion of an Italian I lately receiv'd into my Service, and who was Clerk of the Kitchen to the late Cardinal Caraffa till hisDeath. I put this Fellow upon an Account of his office: Where he fellto Discourse of this Palate-Science, with such a settled Countenance andMagisterial Gravity, as if he had been handling some profound Pointof Divinity. He made a Learned Distinction of the several sorts ofAppetites, of that of a Man before he begins to eat, and of those afterthe second and third Service: The Means simply to satisfy the first, andthen to raise and acute the other two: The ordering of the Sauces, firstin general, and then proceeded to the Qualities of the Ingredients, andtheir Effects: The Differences of Sallets, according to their seasons, which ought to be serv'd up hot, and which cold: The Manner of theirGarnishment and Decoration, to render them yet more acceptable to theEye after which he entered upon the Order of the whole Service, full ofweighty and important Considerations. "

It is consistent with Montaigne's large-minded habit thus to applaud thegifts of this master of his art who happened not to be a Frenchman. Itis a canon of belief with the modern Englishman that the French alonecan achieve excellence in the art of cookery, and when once a notion ofthis sort shall have found a lodgment in an Englishman's brain, the taskof removing it will be a hard one. Not for a moment is it suggestedthat Englishmen or any one else should cease to recognise the sovereignmerits of French cookery; all that is entreated is toleration, andperchance approval, of cookery of other schools. But the favourableconsideration of any plea of this sort is hindered by the fact that thevast majority of Englishmen when they go abroad find no other schoolof cookery by the testing of which they may form a comparison. Thisuniversal prevalence of French cookery may be held to be a proof ofits supreme excellence--that it is first, and the rest nowhere; but thevictory is not so complete as it seems, and the facts would bring griefand humiliation rather than patriotic pride to the heart of a Frenchmanlike Brillat-Savarin. For the cookery we meet in the hotels of the greatEuropean cities, though it may be based on French traditions, is not thegenuine thing, but a bastard, cosmopolitan growth, the same everywhere, and generally vapid and uninteresting. French cookery of the grandschool suffers by being associated with such commonplace achievements. It is noted in the following pages how rarely English people on theirtravels penetrate where true Italian cookery may be tasted, wherefore ithas seemed worth while to place within the reach of English housewivessome Italian recipes which are especially fitted for the presentation ofEnglish fare to English palates under a different and not unappetisingguise. Most of them will be found simple and inexpensive, and specialcare has been taken to include those recipes which enable the lessesteemed portions of meat and the cheaper vegetables and fish to betreated more elaborately than they have hitherto been treated by Englishcooks. 

The author wishes to tender her acknowledgments to her husband forcertain suggestions and emendations made in the revision of theintroduction, and for his courage in dining, "greatly daring, " off manyof the dishes. He still lives and thrives. Also to Mrs. Mitchell, hercook, for the interest and enthusiasm she has shown in the work, for hervaluable advice, and for the care taken in testing the recipes. 

Contents

 Prologue

 Part I

 The First Day The Second Day. The Third Day. The Fourth Day The Fifth Day. The Sixth Day. The Seventh Day The Eighth Day The Ninth Day. The Tenth Day. 

 Part II--Recipes

 Sauces

 No. 

 1. Espagnole or Brown Sauce. 

 2. Velute Sauce. 

 3. Bechamel Sauce. 

 4. Mirepoix Sauce (for masking). 

 5. Genoese Sauce. 

 6. Italian Sauce. 

 7. Ham Sauce (Salsa di Prosciutto). 

 8. Tarragon Sauce. 

 9. Tomato Sauce. 

 10. Tomato Sauce Piquante. 

 11. Mushroom Sauce. 

 12. Neapolitan Sauce. 

 13. Neapolitan Anchovy Sauce. 

 14. Roman Sauce (Salsa Agro-dolce). 

 15. Roman Sauce (another way). 

 16. Supreme Sauce. 

 17. Pasta marinate (for masking Italian Frys). 

 18. White Villeroy. 

 Soups

 19. Clear Soup. 

 20. Zuppa Primaverile (Spring Soup). 

 21. Soup alla Lombarda. 

 22. Tuscan Soup. 

 23. Venetian Soup. 

 24. Roman Soup. 

 25. Soup alla Nazionale. 

 26. Soup alla Modanese. 

 27. Crotopo Soup. 

 28. Soup all'Imperatrice. 

 29. Neapolitan Soup. 

 30. Soup with Risotto. 

 31. Soup alla Canavese. 

 32. Soup alla Maria l'ia. 

 33. Zuppa d'Erbe (Lettuce Soup). 

 34. Zuppa Regina di Riso (Queen's soup). 

 Minestre

 35. A Condiment for Seasoning Minestre, &c. 

 36. Minestra alla Casalinga. 

 37. Minestra of Rice and Turnips. 

 38. Minestra alla Capucina. 

 39. Minestra of Semolina. 

 40. Minestrone alla Milanese. 

 41. Minestra of Rice and Cabbage. 

 42. Minestra of Rice and Celery. 

 43. Anguilla alla Milanese (Eels). 

 44. Filletti di Pesce alla Villeroy (Fillets of Fish). 

 45. Astachi all'Italiana (Lobster). 

 46. Baccala alla Giardiniera (Cod). 

 47. Triglie alla Marinara (Mullet). 

 48. Mullet alla Tolosa. 

 49. Mullet alla Triestina. 

 50. Whiting alla Genovese. 

 51. Merluzzo in Bianco (Cod). 

 52. Merluzzo in Salamoia (Cod). 

 53. Baccala in Istufato (Haddock). 

 54. Naselli con Piselli (Whiting). 

 55. Ostriche alla Livornese (Oysters). 

 56. Ostriche alla Napolitana (Oysters). 

 57. Ostriche alla Neneziana (Oysters). 

 58. Pesci diversi alla Casalinga (Fish). 

 59. Pesce alla Genovese (Sole or Turbot). 

 60. Sogliole in Zimino (Sole). 

 61. Sogliole al tegame (Sole). 

 62. Sogliole alla Livornese (Sole). 

 63. Sogliole alla Veneziana (Sole). 

 64. Sogliole alla parmigiana (Sole). 

 65. Salmone alla Genovese (Salmon). 

 66. Salmone alla Perigo (Salmon). 

 67. Salmone alla giardiniera (Salmon). 

 68. Salmone alla Farnese (Salmon). 

 69. Salmone alla Santa Fiorentina (Salmon). 

 70. Salmone alla Francesca (Salmon). 

 71. Fillets of Salmon in Papiliotte. 

 Beef, Mutton, Veal, Lamb, &c. 

 72. Manzo alla Certosina (Fillet of Beef). 

 73. Stufato alla Fiorentina (Stewed Beef). 

 74. Coscia di Manzo al Forno (Rump Steak). 

 75. Polpettine alla Salsa Piccante (Beef Olives). 

 76. Stufato alla Milanese (Stewed Beef). 

 77. Manzo Marinato Arrosto (Marinated Beef). 

 78. Manzo con sugo di Barbabietole (Fillet of Beef). 

 79. Manzo in Insalata (Marinated Beef). 

 80. Filetto di Bue con Pistacchi (Fillets of Beef with Pistacchios). 

 81. Scalopini di Rizo (Beef with Risotto). 

 82. Tenerumi alla Piemontese (Tendons of Veal). 

 83. Bragiuole di Vitello (Veal Cutlets). 

 84. Costolette alla Monza (Veal Cutlets). 

 85. Vitello alla Pellegrina (Breast of Veal). 

 86. Frittura Piccata al Marsala (Fillet of Veal). 

 87. Polpettine Distese (Veal Olives). 

 88. Coste di Vitello Imboracciate (Ribs of Veal). 

 89. Costolette di Montone alla Nizzarda (Mutton Cutlets). 

 90. Petto di Castrato all'Italiana (Breast of Mutton). 

 91. Petto di Castrato alla Salsa piccante (Breast of Mutton). 

 92. Tenerumi d' Agnello alla Villeroy (Tendons of Lamb). 

 93. Tenerumi d' Agnello alla Veneziana (Tendons of Lamb). 

 94. Costoletto d'Agnello alla Costanza (Lamb Cutlets). 

 Tongue, Sweetbread, Calf's Head, Liver, Sucking Pig, &c. 

 95. Timballo alla Romana. 

 96. Timballo alla Lombarda. 

 97. Lingua alla Visconti (Tongue). 

 98. Lingua di Manzo al Citriuoli (Tongue with Cucumber). 

 99. Lingue di Castrato alla Cuciniera (Sheep's Tongues). 

 100.. Lingue di Vitello all'Italiana (Calves' Tongues). 

 101. Porcelletto alla Corradino (Sucking Pig). 

 102. Porcelletto da Latte in Galantina (Sucking Pig). 

 103. Ateletti alla Sarda. 

 104. Ateletti alla Genovese. 

 105. Testa di Vitello alla Sorrentina (Calf's Head). 

 106. Testa di Vitello con Salsa Napoletana (Calf's head). 

 107. Testa di Vitello alla Pompadour (Calf's Head). 

 108. Testa di Vitello alla Sanseverino (Calf's Head). 

 109. Testa di Vitello in Frittata (Calf's Head). 

 110. Zampetti (Calves' Feet). 

 111. Bodini Marinati. 

 112. Animelle alla Parmegiana (Sweetbread). 

 113. Animelle in Cartoccio (Sweetbread). 

 114. Animelle all'Italiana (Sweetbread). 

 115. Animelle Lardellate (Sweetbread). 

 116. Frittura di Bottoni e di Animelle (Sweetbreads and Mushrooms). 

 117. Cervello in Filiserbe (Calf's Brains). 

 118. Cervello alla Milanese (Calf's Brains). 

 119. Cervello alla Villeroy (Calf's Brains). 

 120. Frittuta of Cervello (Calf's Brains). 

 121. Cervello alla Frittata Montano (Calf's Brains). 

 122. Marinata di Cervello alla Villeroy (Calf's Brains). 

 123. Minuta alla Milanese (Lamb's Sweetbread). 

 124. Animelle al Sapor di Targone (Lamb's Fry). 

 125. Fritto Misto alla Villeroy. 

 126. Fritto Misto alla Piemontese. 

 127. Minuta di Fegatini (Ragout of Fowls' Livers). 

 128. Minuta alla Visconti (Chickens' Livers). 

 129. Croutons alla Principessa. 

 130. Croutons alla Romana. 

 Fowl, Duck, Game, Hare, Rabbit, &c. 

 131. Soffiato di Cappone (Fowl Souffle). 

 132. Pollo alla Fiorentina (Chicken). 

 133. Pollo ali'Oliva (Chicken). 

 134. Pollo alla Villereccia (Chicken). 

 135. Pollo alla Cacciatora (Chicken). 

 136. Pollastro alla Lorenese (Fowl). 

 137. Pollastro in Fricassea al Burro (Fowl). 

 138. Pollastro in istufa di Pomidoro (Braized Fowl). 

 139. Cappone con Riso (Capon with Rice). 

 140. Dindo Arrosto alla Milanese (Roast Turkey). 

 141. Tacchinotto all'Istriona (Turkey Poult). 

 142. Fagiano alla Napoletana (Pheasant). 

 143. Fagiano alla Perigo (Pheasant). 

 144. Anitra Selvatica (Wild Duck). 

 145. Perniciotti alla Gastalda (Partridges). 

 146. Piccioni alla Diplomatica (Snipe). 

 147. Piccioni alla minute (Pigeons)

 148. Piccioni in Ripieno (Stuffed Pigeons). 

 149. Lepre in istufato (Stewed Hare). 

 150. Lepre Agro-dolce (Hare). 

 151. Coniglio alla Provenzale (Rabbit). 

 152. Coniglio arrostito alla Corradino (Roast Rabbit). 

 153. Coniglio in salsa Piccante (Rabbit). 

 Vegetables

 154. Asparagi alla salsa Suprema (Asparagus). 

 155. Cavoli di Bruxelles alla Savoiarda (Brussels Sprouts). 

 156. Barbabietola alla Parmigiana (Beetroot). 

 157. Fave alla Savoiarda (Beans). 

 158. Verze alla Capuccina (Cabbage). 

 159. Cavoli fiori alla Lionese (Cauliflower). 

 160. Cavoli fiori fritti (Cauliflower). 

 161. Cauliflower alla Parmigiana. 

 162. Cavoli Fiori Ripieni. 

 163. Sedani alla l'armigiana (Celery). 

 164. Sedani Fritti all'Italiana (Celery). 

 165. Cetriuoli alla Parmigiana (Cucumber). 

 166. Cetriuoli alla Borghese (Cucumber). 

 167. Carote al sughillo (Carrots). 

 168. Carote e piselli alla panna (Carrots and peas). 

 169. Verze alla Certosina (Cabbage). 

 170. Lattughe al sugo (Lettuce). 

 171. Lattughe farcite alla Genovese (Lettuce). 

 172. Funghi cappelle infarcite (Stuffed Mushrooms). 

 173. Verdure miste (Macedoine of Vegetables). 

 174. Patate alla crema (Potatoes in cream). 

 175. Cestelline cli patate alla giardiniera (Potatoes). 

 176. Patate al Pomidoro (Potatoes with Tomato Sauce). 

 177. Spinaci alla Milanese (Spinach). 

 178. Insalata di patate (Potato salad). 

 179. Insalata alla Navarino (Salad). 

 180. Insalata di pomidoro (Tomato Salad). 

 181. Tartufi alla Dino (Truffles). 

 Macaroni, Rice, Polenta, All Other Italian Pastes

 182. Macaroni with Tomatoes Macaroni alla Casalinga. 

 183. Macaroni al Sughillo. 

 184. Macaroni alla Livornese. 

 186. Tagliarelle and Lobster. 

 187. Polenta. 

 188. Polenta Pasticciata. 

 189. Battuffoli. 

 190. Risotto all'Italiana. 

 191. Risotto alla Genoxese. 

 192. Risotto alla Spagnuola. 

 193. Risotto alla Capuccina. 

 194. Risotto alla Parigina. 

 195. Ravioli. 

 196. Ravioli alla Fiorentina. 

 197. Gnoechi alla Romana. 

 198. Gnoechi alla Lombarda. 

 199. Frittata di Riso (Savoury Rice Pancake). 

 Omelettes and Other Egg Dishes

 200. Uova ai Tartufi (Eggs with Truffles). 

 201. Uova al Pomidoro (Eggs and Tomatoes). 

 202. Uova ripiene (Canapes of Egg). 

 203. Uova alla Fiorentina (Eggs). 

 204. Uova in fili (Egg Canapes). 

 205. Frittata di funghi (Mushroom Omelette). 

 206. Frittata eon Pomidoro (Tomato Omelette). 

 207. Frittata con Asparagi (Asparagus Omelette). 

 208. Frittata eon erbe (Omelette with Herbs). 

 209. Frittata Montata (Omelette Souffle'). 

 210. Frittata di Proseiutto (Ham Omelette). 

 Sweets and Cakes

 211. Bodino off Semolina. 

 212. Crema rappresa (Coffee Cream). 

 213. Crema Montata alle Fragole (Strawberry Cream). 

 214. Croccante di Mandorle (Cream Nougat). 

 215. Crema tartara alla Caramella (Caramel Cream). 

 216. Cremona Cake. 

 217. Cake alla Tolentina. 

 218. Riso all'Imperatrice. 

 219. Amaretti leggier (Almond Cakes). 

 220. Cakes alla Livornese. 

 221. Genoese Pastry. 

 222. Zabajone. 

 223. Iced Zabajone. 

 224. Panforte di Siena (Sienese Hardbake). 

 New Century Sauce

 225. Fish Sauce. 

 226. Sauce Piquante (for Meat, Fowl, Game, Rabbit, &c. ). 

 227. Sauce for Venison, Hare, &c. 

 228. Tomato Sauce Piquante. 

 229. Sauce for Roast Pork, Ham, &c. 

 230. For masking Cutlets, &c. 

PART I. THE COOK'S DECAMERON

Prologue

The Marchesa di Sant'Andrea finished her early morning cup of tea, andthen took up the batch of correspondence which her maid had placed onthe tray. The world had a way of treating her in kindly fashion, andhostile or troublesome letters rarely veiled their ugly faces under theenvelopes addressed to her; wherefore the perfection of that pleasanthalf-hour lying between the last sip of tea and the first step to meetthe new day was seldom marred by the perusal of her morning budget. Theapartment which she graced with her seemly presence was a choice one inthe Mayfair Hotel, one which she had occupied for the past four or fiveyears during her spring visit to London; a visit undertaken to keepalive a number of pleasant English friendships which had begun in Romeor Malta. London had for her the peculiar attraction it has for so manyItalians, and the weeks she spent upon its stones were commonly thehappiest of the year. 

The review she took of her letters before breaking the seals firstpuzzled her, and then roused certain misgivings in her heart. Sherecognised the handwriting of each of the nine addresses, and at thesame time recalled the fact that she was engaged to dine with every oneof the correspondents of this particular morning. Why should they allbe writing to her? She had uneasy forebodings of postponement, and shehated to have her engagements disturbed; but it was useless to prolongsuspense, so she began by opening the envelope addressed in the familiarhandwriting of Sir John Oglethorpe, and this was what Sir John had tosay--

"My Dear Marchesa, words, whether written or spoken, are powerless toexpress my present state of mind. In the first place, our dinner onThursday is impossible, and in the second, I have lost Narcisse andforever. You commented favourably upon that supreme of lobster and theRis de Veau a la Renaissance we tasted last week, but never againwill you meet the handiwork of Narcisse. He came to me with admirabletestimonials as to his artistic excellence; with regard to his moralpast I was, I fear, culpably negligent, for I now learn that all thetime he presided over my stewpans he was wanted by the French police ona charge of murdering his wife. A young lady seems to have helped him;so I fear Narcisse has broken more than one of the commandments inthis final escapade. The truly great have ever been subject tothese momentary aberrations, and Narcisse being now in the hands ofjustice--so called--our dinner must needs stand over, though not, Ihope, for long. Meantime the only consolation I can perceive is thechance of a cup of tea with you this afternoon. "

"J. O. "

Sir John Oglethorpe had been her husband's oldest and best friend. Heand the Marchesa had first met in Sardinia, where they had both of themgone in pursuit of woodcock, and since the Marchesa had been a widow, she and Sir John had met either in Rome or in London every year. Thedinner so tragically manque had been arranged to assemble a number ofAnglo-Italian friends; and, as Sir John was as perfect as a host asNarcisse was as a cook, the disappointment was a heavy one. She threwaside the letter with a gesture of vexation, and opened the next. 

"Sweetest Marchesa, " it began, "how can I tell you my grief at havingto postpone our dinner for Friday. My wretched cook (I gave herseventy-five pounds a year), whom I have long suspected of intemperatehabits, was hopelessly inebriated last night, and had to be conveyed outof the house by my husband and a dear, devoted friend who happened to bedining with us, and deposited in a four-wheeler. May I look in tomorrowafternoon and pour out my grief to you? Yours cordially, "Pamela St. Aubyn Fothergill. "

When the Marchesa had opened four more letters, one from Lady Considine, one from Mrs. Sinclair, one from Miss Macdonnell, and one from Mrs. Wilding, and found that all these ladies were obliged to postpone theirdinners on account of the misdeeds of their cooks, she felt that thelaws of average were all adrift. Surely the three remaining lettersmust contain news of a character to counterbalance what had already beenrevealed, but the event showed that, on this particular morning, Fortune was in a mood to strike hard. Colonel Trestrail, who gave inhis chambers carefully devised banquets, compounded by a Bengali who wasundoubtedly something of a genius, wrote to say that this personage hadleft at a day's notice, in order to embrace Christianity and marry alady's-maid who had just come into a legacy of a thousand pounds underthe will of her late mistress. Another correspondent, Mrs. Gradinger, wrote that her German cook had announced that the dignity of womanhoodwas, in her opinion, slighted by the obligation to prepare food forothers in exchange for mere pecuniary compensation. Only on condition ofthe grant of perfect social equality would she consent to stay, and Mrs. Gradinger, though she held advanced opinions, was hardly advanced farenough to accept this suggestion. Last of all, Mr. Sebastian van derRoet was desolate to announce that his cook, a Japanese, whose disheswere, in his employer's estimation, absolute inspirations, had decampedand taken with him everything of value he could lay hold of; and morethan desolate, that he was forced to postpone the pleasure of welcomingthe Marchesa di Sant' Andrea at his table. 

When she had finished reading this last note, the Marchesa gathered thewhole mass of her morning's correspondence together, and uttering a fewItalian words which need not be translated, rolled it into a ball andhurled the same to the farthest corner of the room. "How is it, " sheejaculated, "that these English, who dominate the world abroad, cannotget their food properly cooked at home? I suppose it is because they, intheir lofty way, look upon cookery as a non-essential, and consequentlyfall victims to gout and dyspepsia, or into the clutches of someinternational brigandaccio, who declares he is a cordon bleu. One hearsnow and again pleasant remarks about the worn-out Latin races, but Iknow of one Latin race which can do better than this in cookery. " Andhaving thus delivered herself, the Marchesa lay back on the pillows andreviewed the situation. 

She was sorry in a way to miss the Colonel's dinner. The dishes whichthe Bengali cook turned out were excellent, but the host himself wasa trifle dictatorial and too fond of the sound of his own voice, whilecertain of the inevitable guests were still worse. Mrs. Gradinger'sletter came as a relief; indeed the Marchesa had been wondering whyshe had ever consented to go and pretend to enjoy herself by eatingan ill-cooked dinner in company with social reformers and educationalprigs. She really went because she liked Mr. Gradinger, who was asunlike his wife as possible, a stout youth of forty, with a breezymanner and a decided fondness for sport. Lady Considine's dinners wereindifferent, and the guests were apt to be a bit too smart and tooredolent of last season's Monte Carlo odour. The Sinclairs gave gooddinners to perfectly selected guests, and by reason of this virtue, one not too common, the host and hostess might be pardoned for beinga little too well satisfied with themselves and with their last newbibelot. The Fothergill dinners were like all other dinners given by theFothergills of society. They were costly, utterly undistinguished, andinvariably graced by the presence of certain guests who seemed to havebeen called in out of the street at the last moment. Van der Roet'sJapanese menus were curious, and at times inimical to digestion, butthe personality of the host was charming. As to Sir John Oglethorpe, thequestion of the dinner postponed troubled her little: another repast, the finest that London's finest restaurant could furnish, wouldcertainly be forthcoming before long. In Sir John's case, herdiscomposure took the form of sympathy for her friend in his recentbereavement. He had been searching all his life for a perfect cook, and he had found, or believed he had found, such an one in Narcisse;wherefore the Marchesa was fully persuaded that, if that artist shouldevade the guillotine, she would again taste his incomparable handiwork, even though he were suspected of murdering his whole family as well asthe partner of his joys. 

That same afternoon a number of the balked entertainers foregathered inthe Marchesa's drawing-room, the dominant subject of discourse being theapproaching dissolution of London society from the refusal of one humanto cook food for another. Those present were gathered in two groups. Inone the Colonel, in spite of the recent desertion of his Oriental, was asserting that the Government should be required to bring overconsignments of perfectly trained Indian cooks, and thus trim thebalance between dining room and kitchen; and to the other Mrs. Gradinger, a gaunt, ill-dressed lady in spectacles, with a commandingnose and dull, wispy hair, was proclaiming in a steady metallic voice, that it was absolutely necessary to double the school rate at oncein order to convert all the girls and some of the boys as well, intoperfectly equipped food-cooking animals; but her audience gradually fellaway, and in an interval of silence the voice of the hostess was heardgiving utterance to a tentative suggestion. 

"But, my dear, it is inconceivable that the comfort and the movement ofsociety should depend on the humours of its servants. I don't blame themfor refusing to cook if they dislike cooking, and can find other work aslight and as well paid; but, things being as they are, I would suggestthat we set to work somehow to make ourselves independent of cooks. "

"That 'somehow' is the crux, my dear Livia, " said Mrs. Sinclair. "I havea plan of my own, but I dare not breathe it, for I'm sure Mrs. Gradingerwould call it 'anti-social, ' whatever that may mean. "

"I should imagine that it is a term which might be applied to any schemewhich robs society of the ministrations of its cooks, " said Sir John. 

"I have heard mathematicians declare that what is true of the whole istrue of its parts, " said the Marchesa. "I daresay it is, but I neverstopped to inquire. I will amplify on my own account, and lay downthat what is true of the parts must be true of the whole. I'm sure thatsounds quite right. Now I, as a unit of society, am independent of cooksbecause I can cook myself, and if all the other units were independent, society itself would be independent--ecco!"

"To speak in this tone of a serious science like Euclid seems ratherfrivolous, " said Mrs. Gradinger. "I may observe--" but here mercifullythe observation was checked by the entry of Mrs. St. Aubyn Fothergill. 

She was a handsome woman, always dominated by an air of seriouspreoccupation, sumptuously, but not tastefully dressed. In the socialstruggle upwards, wealth was the only weapon she possessed, and wealthwithout dexterity has been known to fail before this. She made efforts, indeed, to imitate Mrs. Sinclair in the elegancies of menage, and topose as a woman of mind after the pattern of Mrs. Gradinger; butthe task first named required too much tact, and the other powers ofendurance which she did not possess. 

"You'll have some tea, Mrs. Fothergill?" said the Marchesa. "It's sogood of you to have come. "

"No, really, I can't take any tea; in fact, I couldn't take any lunchout of vexation at having to put you off, my dear Marchesa. "

"Oh, these accidents will occur. We were just discussing the best way ofgetting round them, " said the Marchesa. "Now, dear, "--speaking to Mrs. Sinclair--"let's have your plan. Mrs. Gradinger has fastened like aleech on the Canon and Mrs. Wilding, and won't hear a word of what youhave to say. "

"Well, my scheme is just an amplification of your mathematicalillustrations, that we should all learn to cook for ourselves. I regardit no longer as impossible, or even difficult, since you have informedus that you are a mistress of the art. We'll start a new school ofcookery, and you shall teach us all you know. "

"Ah, my dear Laura, you are like certain English women in the huntingfield. You are inclined to rush your fences, " said the Marchesa with adeprecatory gesture. "And just look at the people gathered here inthis room. Wouldn't they--to continue the horsey metaphor--be rather anawkward team to drive?"

"Not at all, if you had them in suitable surroundings. Now, supposingsome beneficent millionaire were to lend us for a month or so a nicecountry house, we might install you there as Mistress of the stewpans, and sit at your feet as disciples, " said Mrs. Sinclair. 

"The idea seems first-rate, " said Van der Roet; "and I suppose, if weare good little boys and girls, and learn our lessons properly, we maybe allowed to taste some of our own dishes. "

"Might not that lead to a confusion between rewards and punishments?"said Sir John. 

"If ever it comes to that, " said Miss Macdonnell with a mischievousglance out of a pair of dark, flashing Celtic eyes, "I hope that ourmistress will inspect carefully all pupils' work before we are askedto eat it. I don't want to sit down to another of Mr. Van der Roet'sJapanese salads made of periwinkles and wallflowers. "

"And we must first catch our millionaire, " said the Colonel. 

During these remarks Mrs. Fothergill had been standing "with parted lipsand straining eyes, " the eyes of one who is seeking to "cut in. " Nowcame her chance. "What a delightful idea dear Mrs. Sinclair's is. Wehave been dreadfully extravagant this year over buying pictures, andhave doubled our charitable subscriptions, but I believe I can stillpromise to act in a humble way the part of Mrs. Sinclair's millionaire. We have just finished doing up the 'Laurestinas, ' a little place webought last year, and it is quite at your service, Marchesa, as soon asyou liketo occupy it. "

This unlooked-for proposition almost took away the Marchesa's breath. "Ah, Mrs. Fothergill, " she said, "it was Mrs. Sinclair's plan, not mine. She kindly wishes to turn me into a cook for I know not how long, justat the hottest season of the year, a fate I should hardly have chosenfor myself. "

"My dear, it would be a new sensation, and one you would enjoy beyondeverything. I am sure it is a scheme every one here will hail withacclamation, " said Mrs. Sinclair. All other conversation had now ceased, and the eyes of the rest of the company were fixed on the speaker. "Ladies and gentlemen, " she went on, "you have heard my suggestion, andyou have heard Mrs. Fothergill's most kind and opportune offer of hercountry house as the seat of our school of cookery. Such an opportunityis one in ten thousand. Surely all of us---even the Marchesa--must seethat it is one not to be neglected. "

"I approve thoroughly, " said Mrs. Gradinger; "the acquisition ofknowledge, even in so material a field as that of cookery, is always aclear gain. "

"It will give Gradinger a chance to put in a couple of days at Ascot, "whispered Van der Roet. 

"Where Mrs. Gradinger leads, all must follow, " said Miss Macdonnell. "Take the sense of the meeting, Mrs. Sinclair, before the Marchesa hastime to enter a protest. "

"And is the proposed instructress to have no voice in the matter?" saidthe Marchesa, laughing. 

"None at all, except to consent, " said Mrs. Sinclair; "you are going tobe absolute mistress over us for the next fortnight, so you surely mightobey just this once. "

"You have been denouncing one of our cherished institutions, Marchesa, "said Lady Considine, "so I consider you are bound to help us to replacethe British cook by something better. "

"If Mrs. Sinclair has set her heart on this interesting experiment. Youmay as well consent at once, Marchesa, " said the Colonel, "and teachus how to cook, and--what may be a harder task--to teach us to eat whatother aspirants may have cooked. "

"If this scheme really comes off, " said Sir John, "I would suggest thatthe Marchesa should always be provided with a plate of her own up hersleeve--if I may use such an expression--so that any void in the menu, caused by failure on the part of the under-skilled or over-ambitiousamateur, may be filled by what will certainly be a chef-d'oeuvre. "

"I shall back up Mrs. Sinclair's proposition with all my power, " saidMrs. Wilding. "The Canon will be in residence at Martlebridge forthe next month, and I would much rather be learning cookery under theMarchesa than staying with my brother-in-law at Ealing. "

"You'll have to do it, Marchesa, " said Van der Roet; "when a new ideacatches on like this, there's no resisting it. "

"Well, I consent on one condition--that my rule shall be absolute, "said the Marchesa, "and I begin my career as an autocrat by givingMrs. Fothergill a list of the educational machinery I shall want, andcommanding her to have them all ready by Tuesday morning, the day onwhich I declare the school open. "

A chorus of applause went up as soon as the Marchesa ceased speaking. 

"Everything shall be ready, " said Mrs. Fothergill, radiant with delightthat her offer had been accepted, "and I will put in a full staff ofservants selected from our three other establishments. "

"Would it not be as well to send the cook home for a holiday?" said theColonel. "It might be safer, and lead to less broth being spoilt. "

"It seems, " said Sir John, "that we shall be ten in number, and I wouldtherefore propose that, after an illustrious precedent, we limit ouroperations to ten days. Then if we each produce one culinary poem a daywe shall, at the end of our time, have provided the world with a hundrednew reasons for enjoying life, supposing, of course, that we have nofailures. I propose, therefore, that our society be called the 'NewDecameron. '"

"Most appropriate, " said Miss Macdonnell, "especially as it owes itsorigin to an outbreak of plague--the plague in the kitchen. "

The First Day

On the Tuesday morning the Marchesa travelled down to the "Laurestinas, "where she found that Mrs. Fothergill had been as good as her word. Everything was in perfect order. The Marchesa had notified to her pupilsthat they must report themselves that same evening at dinner, and shetook down with her her maid, one of those marvellous Italian servantswho combine fidelity with efficiency in a degree strange to the denizensof more progressive lands. Now, with Angelina's assistance, she proposedto set before the company their first dinner all'Italiana, and the lastthey would taste without having participated in the preparation. Thereal work was to begin the following morning. 

The dinner was both a revelation and a surprise to the majority ofthe company. All were well travelled, and all had eaten of the mongrelFrench dishes given at the "Grand" hotels of the principal Italiancities, and some of them, in search of adventures, had dined at Londonrestaurants with Italian names over the doors, where--with certainhonourable exceptions--the cookery was French, and not of the best, certain Italian plates being included in the carte for a regularclientele, dishes which would always be passed over by the Englishinvestigator, because he now read, or tried to read, their names for thefirst time. Few of the Marchesa's pupils had ever wandered away fromthe arid table d'hote in Milan, or Florence, or Rome, in search of theristorante at which the better class of townsfolk were wont to taketheir colazione. Indeed, whenever an Englishman does break fresh groundin this direction, he rarely finds sufficient presence of mind tocontrovert the suggestions of the smiling minister who, having spottedhis Inglese, at once marks down an omelette aux fines herbes and abiftek aux pommes as the only food such a creature can consume. Thus theculinary experiences of Englishmen in Italy have led to the perpetuationof the legend that the traveller can indeed find decent food in thelarge towns, "because the cooking there is all French, you know, " butthat, if he should deviate from the beaten track, unutterable horrors, swimming in oil and reeking with garlic, would be his portion. Oiland garlic are in popular English belief the inseparable accidentsof Italian cookery, which is supposed to gather its solitary claim toindividuality from the never-failing presence of these admirable, buteasily abused, gifts of Nature. 

"You have given us a delicious dinner, Marchesa, " said Mrs. Wildingas the coffee appeared. "You mustn't think me captious in myremarks--indeed it would be most ungracious to look a gift-dinner inthe--What are you laughing at, Sir John? I suppose I've done somethingawful with my metaphors--mixed them up somehow. "

"Everything Mrs. Wilding mixes will be mixed admirably, as admirably, say, as that sauce which was served with the Manzo alla Certosina, " SirJohn replied. 

"That is said in your best style, Sir John, " replied Mrs. Wilding; "butwhat I was going to remark was, that I, as a poor parson's wife, shallask for some instruction in inexpensive cooking before we separate. The dinner we have just eaten is surely only within the reach of richpeople. "

"I wish some of the rich people I dine with could manage now and then toreach a dinner as good, " said the Colonel. 

"I believe it is a generally received maxim, that if you want a truthto be accepted you must repeat the same in season and out, whenever youhave the opportunity, " said the Marchesa. "The particular truth I havenow in mind is the fact that Italian cookery is the cookery of a poornation, of people who have scant means wherewith to purchase the veryinferior materials they must needs work with; and that they producepalatable food at all is, I maintain, a proof that they bring highintelligence to the task. Italian culinary methods have been developedin the struggle when the cook, working with an allowance upon which anEnglish cook would resign at once, has succeeded by careful manipulationand the study of flavouring in turning out excellent dishes made of fishand meat confessedly inferior. Now, if we loosen the purse-stringsa little, and use the best English materials, I affirm that we shallachieve a result excellent enough to prove that Italian cookery isworthy to take its stand beside its great French rival. I am glad Mrs. Wilding has given me an opportunity to impress upon you all that itsmain characteristics are simplicity and cheapness, and I can assure herthat, even if she should reproduce the most costly dishes of our course, she will not find any serious increase in her weekly bills. When I usethe word simplicity, I allude, of course, to everyday cooking. Dishes ofluxury in any school require elaboration, care, and watchfulness. "

 Menu--Dinner {*}

 Zuppa d'uova alla Toscana. Tuscan egg-soup. Sogliole alla Livornese. Sole alla Livornese. Manzo alla Certosina. Fillet of beef, Certosina sauce. Minuta alla Milanese. Chickens' livers alla Milanese. Cavoli fiodi ripieni. Cauliflower with forcemeat. Cappone arrosto con insalata. Roast capon with salad. Zabajone. Spiced custard. Uova al pomidoro. Eggs and tomatoes. 

 * The recipes for the dishes contained in all these menus will be found in the second part of the book. The limits of the seasons have necessarily been ignored. 

The Second Day

Wednesday's luncheon was anticipated with some curiosity, or evensearchings of heart, as in it would appear the first-fruits of the handof the amateur. The Marchesa wisely restricted it to two dishes, for thecompounding of which she requisitioned the services of Lady Considine, Mrs. Sinclair, and the Colonel. The others she sent to watch Angelinaand her circle while they were preparing the vegetables and the dinnerentrees. After the luncheon dishes had been discussed, they were bothproclaimed admirable. It was a true bit of Italian finesse on the partof the Marchesa to lay a share of the responsibility of the first mealupon the Colonel, who was notoriously the most captious and the hardestto please of all the company; and she did even more than make himjointly responsible, for she authorised him to see to the productionof a special curry of his own invention, the recipe for which he alwayscarried in his pocket-book, thus letting India share with Italy in thehonours of the first luncheon. 

"My congratulations to you on your curry, Colonel Trestrail, " said MissMacdonnell. "You haven't followed the English fashion of flavouring acurry by emptying the pepper-pot into the dish?"

"Pepper properly used is the most admirable of condiments, " the Colonelsaid. 

"Why this association of the Colonel and pepper?" said Van der Roet. "In this society we ought to be as nice in our phraseology as in ourflavourings, and be careful to eschew the incongruous. You are coughing, Mrs. Wilding. Let me give you some water. "

"I think it must have been one of those rare grains of the Colonel'spepper, for you must have a little pepper in a curry, mustn't you, Colonel? Though, as Miss Macdonnell says, English cooks generally overdoit. "

"Vander is in one of his pleasant witty moods, " said the Colonel, "but Ifancy I know as much about the use of pepper as he does about the use ofoil colours; and now we have, got upon art criticism, I may remark, my dear Vander, I have been reminded that you have been poaching on myground. I saw a landscape of yours the other day, which looked as ifsome of my curry powder had got into the sunset. I mean the one poorblind old Wilkins bought at your last show. "

"Ah, but that sunset was an inspiration, Colonel, and consequentlybeyond your comprehension. "

"It is easy to talk of inspiration, " said Sir John, "and, perhaps, nowthat we are debating a matter of real importance, we might spend ourtime more profitably than in discussing what is and what is not a goodpicture. Some inspiration has been brought into our symposium, I ventureto affirm that the brain which devised and the hand which executed theTenerumi di Vitello we have just tasted, were both of them inspired. Inthe construction of this dish there is to be recognised a breath of thesame afflatus which gave us the Florentine campanile, and the Medicitombs, and the portrait of Monna Lisa. When we stand before any one ofthese masterpieces, we realise at a glance how keen must have been theprimal insight, and how strenuous the effort necessary for the evolutionof so consummate an achievement; and, with the savour of the Tenerumi diVitello still fresh, I feel that it deserves to be added to the list ofItalian capo lavori. Now, as I was not fortunate enough to be includedin the pupils' class this morning, I must beg the next time the dishis presented to us--and I imagine all present will hail its renaissancewith joy--that I may be allowed to lend a hand, or even a finger, in itspreparation. "

"Veal, with the possible exception of Lombard beef, is the best meat weget in Italy, " said the Marchesa, "so an Italian cook, when he wants toproduce a meat dish of the highest excellence, generally turns to vealas a basis. I must say that the breast of veal, which is the part we hadfor lunch today, is a somewhat insipid dish when cooked English fashion. That we have been able to put it before you in more palatable form, andto win for it the approval of such a connoisseur as Sir John Oglethorpe, is largely owing to the judicious use of that Italian terror--more direto many English than paper-money or brigands--garlic. "

"The quantity used was infinitesimal, " said Mrs. Sinclair, "but it seemsto have been enough to subdue what I once heard Sir John describe as thepallid solidity of the innocent calf. "

"I fear the vein of incongruity in our discourse, lately noted by Vander Roet, is not quite exhausted, " said Sir John. "The Colonel was up inarms on account of a too intimate association of his name with pepper, and now Mrs. Sinclair has bracketed me with the calf, a most usefulanimal, I grant, but scarcely one I should have chosen as a yokefellow;but this is a digression. To return to our veal. I had a notion thatgarlic had something to do with the triumph of the Tenerumi, and, thisbeing the case, I think it would be well if the Marchesa were to give usa dissertation on the use of this invaluable product. "

"As Mrs. Sinclair says, the admixture of garlic in the dish in questionwas a very small one, and English people somehow never seem to realisethat garlic must always be used sparingly. The chief positive idea theyhave of its characteristics is that which they gather from the odour ofa French or Italian crowd of peasants at a railway station. The effectof garlic, eaten in lumps as an accompaniment to bread and cheese, isnaturally awful, but garlic used as it should be used is the soul, thedivine essence, of cookery. The palate delights in it without being ableto identify it, and the surest proof of its charm is manifested by theflatness and insipidity which will infallibly characterise any dishusually flavoured with it, if by chance this dish should be preparedwithout it. The cook who can employ it successfully will be found topossess the delicacy of perception, the accuracy of judgment, and thedexterity of hand, which go to the formation of a great artist. It is aprimary maxim, and one which cannot be repeated too often, that garlicmust never be cut up and used as part of the material of any dish. Onesmall incision should be made in the clove, which should be put into thedish during the process of cooking, and allowed to remain there untilthe cook's palate gives warning that flavour enough has been extracted. Then it must be taken out at once. This rule does not apply in equaldegree to the use of the onion, the large mild varieties of which maybe cooked and eaten in many excellent bourgeois dishes; but in all finecooking, where the onion flavour is wanted, the same treatment which Ihave prescribed for garlic must be followed. "

The Marchesa gave the Colonel and Lady Considine a holiday thatafternoon, and requested Mrs. Gradinger and Van der Roet to attendin the kitchen to help with the dinner. In the first few days of thesession the main portion of the work naturally fell upon the Marchesaand Angelina, and in spite of the inroads made upon their time bythe necessary directions to the neophytes, and of the occasionaleccentricities of the neophytes' energies, the dinners and luncheonswere all that could be desired. The Colonel was not quite satisfied withthe flavour of one particular soup, and Mrs. Gradinger was of opinionthat one of the entrees, which she wanted to superintend herself, butwhich the Marchesa handed over to Mrs. Sinclair, had a great deal toomuch butter in its composition. Her conscience revolted at the action ofconsuming in one dish enough butter to solace the breakfast-table ofan honest working man for two or three days; but the faintness of thesecriticisms seemed to prove that every one was well satisfied with therendering of the menu of the day. 

 Menu--Lunch

 Tenerumi di Vitello. Breast of veal. Piccione alla minute. Pigeons, braized with liver, &c. Curry

 Menu--Dinner

 Zuppa alla nazionale. Soup alla nazionale. Salmone alla Genovese. Salmon alla Genovese. Costolette alla Costanza. Mutton cutlets alla Costanza. Fritto misto alla Villeroy. Lamb's fry alla Villeroy. Lattughe al sugo. Stuffed Lettuce. Dindo arrosto alla Milanese. Roast turkey alla Milanese. Crema montata alle fragole. Strawberry cream. Tartufi alla Dino. Truffles alla Dino. 

The Third Day

"I observe, dear Marchesa, " said Mrs. Fothergill at breakfast onThursday morning, "that we still follow the English fashion in ourbreakfast dishes. I have a notion that, in this particular especially, we gross English show our inferiority to the more spirituelles nationsof the Continent, and I always feel a new being after the light meal ofdelicious coffee and crisp bread and delicate butter the first morning Iawake in dear Paris. "

"I wonder how it happens, then, that two goes of fish, a plateful ofomelette, and a round and a half of toast and marmalade are necessary torepair the waste of tissue in dear England?" Van der Roet whispered toMiss Macdonnell. 

"It must be the gross air of England or the gross nature of the--"

The rest of Miss Macdonnell's remark was lost, as the Marchesa criedout in answer to Mrs. Fothergill, "But why should we have anything butEnglish breakfast dishes in England? The defects of English cookeryare manifest enough, but breakfast fare is not amongst them. In theseEngland stands supreme; there is nothing to compare with them, and theypossess the crowning merit of being entirely compatible with Englishlife. I cannot say whether it may be the effect of the crossing, or ofthe climate on this side, or that the air of England is charged withsome subtle stimulating quality, given off in the rush and strain ofstrenuous national life, but the fact remains that as soon as I findmyself across the Channel I want an English breakfast. It seems that Iam more English than certain of the English themselves, and I am sorrythat Mrs. Fothergill has been deprived of her French roll and butter. I will see that you have it to-morrow, Mrs. Fothergill, and to make theillusion complete, I will order it to be sent to your room. "

"Oh no, Marchesa, that would be giving too much trouble, and I amsure you want all the help in the house to carry out the service asexquisitely as you do, " said Mrs. Fothergill hurriedly, and blushing aswell as her artistic complexion would allow. 

"I fancy, " said Mrs. Sinclair, "that foreigners are taking to Englishbreakfasts as well as English clothes. I noticed when I was last inMilan that almost every German or Italian ate his two boiled eggs forbreakfast, the sign whereby the Englishman used to be marked for acertainty. "

"The German would probably call for boiled eggs when abroad on accountof the impossibility of getting such things in his own country. Nomatter how often you send to the kitchen for properly boiled eggs inGermany, the result is always the same cold slush, " said Mrs. Wilding;"and I regret to find that the same plague is creeping into the Englishhotels which are served by German waiters. "

"That is quite true, " said the Marchesa; "but in England we have no timeto concern ourselves with mere boiled eggs, delicious as they are. Theroll of delicacies is long enough, or even too long without them. WhenI am in England, I always lament that we have only seven days a week andone breakfast a day, and when I am in Italy I declare that the reasonwhy the English have overrun the world is because they eat such mightybreakfasts. Considering how good the dishes are, I wonder the breakfastsare not mightier than they are. "

"It always strikes me that our national barrenness of ideas appears asplainly in our breakfasts as anywhere, " said Mrs. Gradinger. "There is amonotony about them which--"

"Monotony!" interrupted the Colonel. "Why, I could dish you up a freshbreakfast every day for a month. Your conservative tendencies must bevery strong, Mrs. Gradinger, if they lead you to this conclusion. "

"Conservative! On the contrary, I--that is, my husband--always votes forProgressive candidates at every election, " said Mrs. Gradinger, droppinginto her platform intonation, at the sound of which consternation arosein every breast. "I have, moreover, a theory that we might reform ourdiet radically, as well as all other institutions; but before I expoundthis, I should like to say a few words on the waste of wholesome foodwhich goes on. For instance, I went for a walk in the woods yesterdayafternoon, where I came upon a vast quantity of fungi which our ignorantmiddle classes would pronounce to be poisonous, but which I--in commonwith every child of the intelligent working-man educated in a boardschool where botany is properly taught--knew to be good for food. "

"Excuse me one moment, " said Sir John, "but do they really useboard-school children as tests to see whether toadstools are poisonousor not?"

"I do not think anything I said justified such an inference, " said Mrs. Gradinger in the same solemn drawl; "but I may remark that the childrenare taught from illustrated manuals accurately drawn and coloured. Well, to come back to the fungi, I took the trouble to measure the plot onwhich they were growing, and found it just ten yards square. The averageweight of edible fungus per square yard was just an ounce, or a hundredand twelve pounds per acre. Now, there must be at least twenty millionsof acres in the United Kingdom capable of producing these fungi withoutcausing the smallest damage to any other crop, wherefore it seems that, owing to our lack of instruction, we are wasting some million tonsof good food per annum; and I may remark that this calculationpre-supposes, that each fungus springs only once in the season; but Ihave reason to believe that certain varieties would give five or sixgatherings between May and October, so the weight produced would beenormously greater than the quantity I have named. "

Here Mrs. Gradinger paused to finish her coffee, which was getting cold, and before she could resume, Sir John had taken up the parole. "I thinkthe smaller weight will suffice for the present, until the taste forstrange fungi has developed, or the pressure of population increased. And before stimulating a vastly increased supply, it will be necessaryto extirpate the belief that all fungi, except the familiar mushroom, are poisonous, and perhaps to appoint an army of inspectors to see thatonly the right sort are brought to market. "

"Yes, and that will give pleasant and congenial employment to thoseyouths of the working-classes who are ambitious of a higher career thanthat of their fathers, " said Lady Considine, "and the ratepayers willrejoice, no doubt, that they are participating in the general elevationof the masses. "

"Perhaps Mrs. Gradinger will gather a few of her less deadly fungi, andcook them and eat them herself, pour encourager les autres, " said MissMacdonnell. "Then, if she doesn't die in agonies, we may all forswearbeef and live on toadstools. "

"I certainly will, " said Mrs. Gradinger; "and before we rise from tableI should like--"

"I fear we must hear your remarks at dinner, Mrs. Gradinger, " said theMarchesa. "Time is getting on, and some of the dishes to-day are ratherelaborate, so now to the kitchen. "

 Menu--Lunch. 

 Risotto alla Genovese. Savoury rice. Pollo alla Villereccia. Chicken alla Villereccia. Lingue di Castrato alla cucinira. Sheeps' tongues alla cucinira. 

 Menu--Dinner

 Zuppa alla Veneziana. Venetian soup. Sogliole alla giardiniera. Sole with Vegetables. Timballo alla Romana. Roman pie. Petto di Castrato alla salsa di burro. Breast of mutton with butter sauce. Verdure miste. Mixed vegetables. Crema rappresa. Coffee cream. Ostriche alla Veneziana. Oyster savoury. 

The Fourth Day

THE Colonel was certainly the most severely critical member of thecompany. Up to the present juncture he had been sparing of censure, andsparing of praise likewise, but on this day, after lunch, he broke forthinto loud praise of the dish of beef which appeared in the menu. Afterspecially commending this dish he went on--

"It seems to me that the dinner of yesterday and to-day's lunch bearthe cachet of a fresh and admirable school of cookery. In saying thisI don't wish to disparage the traditions which have governed thepreparation of the delicious dishes put before us up to that date, whichI have referred to as the parting of the ways, the date when the palateof the expert might detect a new hand upon the keys, a phrase onceemployed, I believe, with regard to some man who wrote poetry. To meetan old friend, or a thoroughly tested dish, is always pleasant, but oldfriends die or fall out, and old favourite dishes may come to pall atlast; and for this reason I hold that the day which brings us a newfriend or a new dish ought to be marked with white chalk. "

"And I think some wise man once remarked, " said Sir John, "that thediscovery of a dish is vastly more important than the discovery of astar, for we have already as many stars as we can possibly require, butwe can never have too many dishes. "

"I was wondering whether any one would detect the variations I madeyesterday, but I need not have wondered, with such an expert at table asColonel Trestrail, " said the Marchesa with a laugh. "Well, the Colonelhas found me out; but from the tone of his remarks I think I mayhope for his approval. At any rate, I'm sure he won't move a vote ofcensure. "

"If he does, we'll pack him off to town, and sentence him to dine at hisclub every day for a month, " said Lady Considine. 

"What crime has this particular club committed?" said Mrs. Sinclair in awhisper. 

"Vote of censure! Certainly not, " said the Colonel, with an angryring in his voice. Mrs. Sinclair did not love him, and had calculatedaccurately the carrying power of her whisper. "That would be the basestingratitude. I must, however, plead guilty to an attack of curiosity, and therefore I beg you, Marchesa, to let us into the secret of yourlatest inspiration. "

"Its origin was commonplace enough, " said the Marchesa, "but in a wayinteresting. Once upon a time--more years ago than I care to remember--Iwas strolling about the Piazza Navona in Rome, and amusing myself bygoing from one barrow to another, and turning over the heaps ofrubbish with which they were stocked. All the while I was innocentlyplagiarising that fateful walk of Browning's round the Riccardi Palacein Florence, the day when he bought for a lira the Romana homocidiorum. The world knows what was the outcome of Browning's purchase, but it willprobably never fathom the full effect of mine. How do his lines run?"

 "These I picked the book from. Five compeers in flank Stood left and right of it as tempting more-- A dog's-eared Spicilegium, the fond tale O' the frail one of the Flower, by young Dumas, Vulgarised Horace for the use of schools, The Life, Death, Miracles of Saint Somebody, Saint Somebody Else, his Miracles, Death and Life. "

"Well, the choice which lay before me on one particular barrow was fullyas wide, or perhaps wider than that which met the poet's eye, but afterI had espied a little yellow paper-covered book with the title La CucinaPartenopea, overo il Paradiso dei gastronomi, I looked no farther. Whatinfinite possibilities of pleasure might lie hidden under such a name. I secured it, together with the Story of Barlaam and Josaphat, forthirty-five centesimi, and handed over the coins to the hungry-eyed oldman in charge, who regretted, I am sure, when he saw the eager look uponmy face, that he had not marked the books a lira at least. I should nowbe a rich woman if I had spent all the money I have spent as profitablyas those seven sold. Besides being a master in the art of cookery, theauthor was a moral philosopher as well; and he addresses his reader inprefatory words which bespeak a profound knowledge of life. He writes:'Though the time of man here on earth is passed in a never-endingturmoil, which must make him often curse the moment when he opened hiseyes on such a world; though life itself must often become irksomeor even intolerable, nevertheless, by God's blessing, one supremeconsolation remains for this wretched body of ours. I allude to thatmoment when, the forces being spent and the stomach craving support, thewearied mortal sits down to face a good dinner. Here is to be found aneffectual balm for the ills of life: something to drown all remembranceof our ill-humours, the worries of business, or even family quarrels. In sooth, it is only at table that a man may bid the devil fly away withSolomon and all his wisdom, and give himself up to an earthly delight, which is a pleasure and a profit at the same time. '"

"The circumstances under which this precious book was found seem tosuggest a culinary poem on the model of the 'Ring and the Book, "' saidMrs. Sinclair, "or we might deal with the story in practical shape byletting every one of us prepare the same dish. I fancy the individualrenderings of the same recipe would vary quite as widely as the versionsof the unsavoury story set forth in Mr. Browning's little poem. "

"I think we had better have a supplementary day for a trial of the sortMrs. Sinclair suggests, " said Miss Macdonnell. "I speak with the memoryof a preparation of liver I tasted yesterday in the kitchen--one of thedishes which did not appear at dinner. "

"That is rather hard on the Colonel, " said Van der Roet; "he did hisbest, and now, see how hard he is trying to look as if he didn't knowwhat you are alluding to!"

"I never in all my life--" the Colonel began; but the Marchesa, fearinga storm, interfered. "I have a lot more to tell you about my littleNeapolitan book, " she went on, "and I will begin by saying that, for thefuture, we cannot do better than make free use of it. The author openswith an announcement that he means to give exact quantities for everydish, and then, like a true Neapolitan, lets quantities go entirely, and adopts the rule-of-thumb system. And I must say I always find thequestion of quantities a difficult one. Some books give exact measures, each dish being reckoned enough for four persons, with instructions toincrease the measures in proportion to the additional number of dinersbut here a rigid rule is impossible, for a dish which is to serve byitself, as a supper or a lunch, must necessarily be bigger than onewhich merely fills one place in a dinner menu. Quantities can be givenapproximately in many cases, but flavouring must always be a question ofindividual taste. Latitude must be allowed, for all cooks who can turnout distinguished work will be found to be endowed with imagination, and these, being artists, will never consent to follow a rigid rule ofquantity. To put it briefly, cooks who need to be told everything, willnever cook properly, even if they be told more than everything. Andafter all, no one takes seriously the quantities given by the chef of amillionaire or a prince; witness the cook of the Prince de Soubise, whodemanded fifty hams for the sauces and garnitures of a single supper, and when the Prince protested that there could not possibly be foundspace for them all on the table, offered to put them all into a glassbottle no bigger than his thumb. Some of Francatelli's quantities arealso prodigious, as, for instance, when to make a simple glaze he callsfor three pounds of gravy beef, the best part of a ham, a knuckle ofveal, an old hen, and two partridges. "

 Menu--Lunch

 Maccheroni al sugillo. Macaroni with sausage and tomatoes. Manzo in insalata. Beef, pressed and marinated. Lingue di vitello all'Italiana. Calves' tongues. 

 Menu--Dinner. 

 Zuppa alla Modanese. Modenese soup. Merluzzo in salamoia. Cod with sauce piquante. Pollastro in istufa di pomidoro. Stewed chicken with tomatoes. Porcelletto farcito alla Corradino. Stuffed suckling pig. Insalata alla Navarino. Navarino salad. Bodino di semolino. Semolina pudding. Frittura di cocozze. Fried cucumber. 

The Fifth Day

The following day was very warm, and some half-dozen of the partywandered into the garden after lunch and took their coffee under a bigchestnut tree on the lawn. "And this is the 16th of June, " said LadyConsidine. "Last year, on this very day, I started for Hombourg. Ican't say I feel like starting for Hombourg, or any other place, just atpresent. "

"But why should any one of us want to go to Hombourg?" said Sir John. "Nobody can be afraid of gout with the admirable diet we enjoy here. "

"I beg you to speak for yourself, Sir John, " said Lady Considine. "Ihave never yet gone to Hombourg on account of gout. "

"Of course not, my dear friend, of course not; there are so many reasonsfor going to Hombourg. There's the early rising, and the band, and thenew people one may meet there, and the change of diet--especially thechange of diet. But, you see, we have found our change of diet within anhour of London, so why--as I before remarked--should we want to rush offto Hombourg?"

"I am a firm believer in that change of diet, " said Mrs. Wilding, "though in the most respectable circles the true-bred Briton still talksabout foreign messes, and affirms that anything else than plain Britishfare ruins the digestion. I must say my own digestion is none the worsefor the holiday I am having from the preparations of my own 'treasure. 'I think we all look remarkably well; and we don't quarrel or snap ateach other, and it would be hard to find a better proof of wholesomediet than that. "

"But I fancied Mrs. Gradinger looked a little out of sorts this morning, and I'm sure she was more than a little out of temper when I asked herhow soon we were to taste her dish of toadstools, " said Miss Macdonnell. 

"I expect she had been making a trial of the British fungi in herbedroom, " said Van der Roet; "and then, you see, our conversation isn'tquite 'high toned' enough for her taste. We aren't sufficiently awake tothe claims of the masses. Can any one explain to me why the people whoare so full of mercy for the mass, are so merciless to the unit?"

"That is her system of proselytising, " said the Colonel, "and if sheis content with outward conversion, it isn't a bad one. I often feelinclined to agree to any proposition she likes to put forward, and Iwould, if I could stop her talking by my submission. "

"You wouldn't do that, Colonel, even in your suavest mood, " said Vander Roet; "but I hope somebody will succeed in checking her flow ofdiscourse before long. I'm getting worn to a shadow by the grind of thatawful voice. "

"I thought your clothes were getting a bit loose, " said the Colonel, "but I put that phenomenon down to another reason. In spite of Mrs. Wilding's praise of our present style of cooking, I don't believe ourfriend Vander finds it substantial enough to sustain his manly bulk, andI'll tell you the grounds of my belief. A few mornings ago, when I wasshaving, I saw the butcher bring into the house a splendid sirloin, andas no sirloin has appeared at table, I venture to infer that thisjoint was a private affair of Vander's, and that he, as well as Mrs. Gradinger, has been going in for bedroom cookery. Here comes theMarchesa; we'll ask her to solve the mystery. "

"I can account for the missing sirloin, " said the Marchesa. "The Colonelis wrong for once. It went duly into the kitchen, and not to Mr. Van derRoet's bedroom; but I must begin with a slight explanation, or ratherapology. Next to trial by jury, and the reverence paid to rank, and thehorror of all things which, as poor Corney Grain used to say, 'arenot nice, ' I reckon the Sunday sirloin, cooked and served, one andindivisible as the typical fetish of the great English middle class. With this fact before my eyes, I can assure you I did not lightly lay ahand on its integrity. My friends, you have eaten that sirloin withoutknowing it. You may remember that yesterday after lunch the Colonel wasloud in praise of a dish of beef. Well, that beef was a portion of thesame, and not the best portion. The Manzo in insalata, which pleasedthe Colonel's palate, was that thin piece at the lower end, the chieffunction of which, when the sirloin is cooked whole, seems to lie inkeeping the joint steady on the dish while paterfamilias carves it. Itis never eaten in the dining-room hot, because every one justly prefersand goes for the under cut; neither does it find favour at lunch nextday, for the reason that, as cold beef, the upper cut is unapproachable. I have never heard that the kitchen hankers after it inordinately;indeed, its ultimate destination is one of the unexplained mysteries ofhousekeeping. I hold that never, under any circumstances, should it becooked with the sirloin, but always cut off and marinated and braized aswe had it yesterday. Thus you get two hot dishes; our particular sirloinhas given us three. The parts of this joint vary greatly in flavour, andin texture as well, and by accentuating this variation by treatmentin the kitchen, you escape that monotony which is prone to pervade thetable so long as the sirloin remains in the house. Mrs. Sinclair issufficiently experienced as a housekeeper to know that the dish offillets we had for dinner last night was not made from the under cutof one sirloin. It was by borrowing a little from the upper part that Imanaged to fill the dish, and I'm sure that any one who may have gotone of the uppercut fillets had no cause to grumble. The Filetto di Buewhich we had for lunch to-day was the residue of the upper cut, and, admirable as is a slice of cold beef taken from this part of the joint, I think it is an excellent variation to make a hot dish of it sometimes. On the score of economy, I am sure that a sirloin treated in thisfashion goes a long way further. "

"The Marchesa demolishes one after another of our venerable institutionswith so charming a despatch that we can scarcely grieve for them, " saidSir John. "I am not philosopher enough to divine what change may comeover the British character when every man sits down every day toa perfectly cooked dinner. It is sometimes said that our barbarianforefathers left their northern solitudes because they hankered afterthe wine and delicate meats of the south, and perhaps the modern Britonmay have been led to overrun the world by the hope of finding a greatervariety of diet than he gets at home. It may mean, Marchesa, that thismovement of yours for the suppression of English plain cooking will markthe close of our national expansion. "

"My dear Sir John, you may rest assured that your national expansion, aswell as your national cookery, will continue in spite of anything wemay accomplish here, and I say good luck to them both. When have I everdenied the merits of English cookery?" said the Marchesa. "Many of itsdishes are unsurpassed. These islands produce materials so fine, that noart or elaboration can improve them. They are best when they are cookedquite plainly, and this is the reason why simplicity is the key-note ofEnglish cookery. A fine joint of mutton roasted to a turn, a plain friedsole with anchovy butter a broiled chop or steak or kidney, fowls orgame cooked English fashion, potatoes baked in their skins and eatenwith butter and salt, a rasher of Wiltshire bacon and a new-laid egg, where will you beat these? I will go so far as to say no country canproduce a bourgeoises dish which can be compared with steak and kidneypudding. But the point I want to press home is that Italian cookerycomes to the aid of those who cannot well afford to buy those primequalities of meat and fish which allow of this perfectly plaintreatment. It is, as I have already said, the cookery of a nation shortof cash and unblessed with such excellent meat and fish and vegetablesas you lucky islanders enjoy. But it is rich in clever devices offlavouring, and in combinations, and I am sure that by its help Englishpeople of moderate means may fare better and spend less than they spendnow, if only they will take a little trouble. "

 Menu--Lunch

 Gnocchi alla Romana. Semolina with parmesan. Filetto di Bue al pistacchi. Fillet of beef with pistachios Bodini marinati. Marinated rissoles. 

 Menu--Dinner. 

 Zuppa Crotopo. Croute au pot soup. Sogliole alla Veneziana. Fillets of sole. Ateletti alla Sarda. Atelets of ox-palates, &c. Costolette di Montone alla Nizzarda. Mutton cutlets. Pollo alla Fiorentina. Fowl with macaroni. Crema tartara alla Caramella. Caramel cream. Uova rimescolati al tartufi. Eggs with truffles. 

The Sixth Day

The following morning, at breakfast, a servant announced that Sir JohnOglethorpe was taking his breakfast in his room, and that there was noneed to keep anything in reserve for him. It was stated, however, thatSir John was in no way indisposed, and that he would join the party atlunch. 

He seated himself in his usual place, placid and fresh as ever; but, unharmed as he was physically, it was evident to all the company thathe was suffering from some mental discomposure. Miss Macdonnell, with afrank curiosity which might have been trying in any one else, asked himpoint-blank the reason of his absence from the meal for which, inspite of his partiality for French cookery, he had a true Englishman'sdevotion. 

"I feel I owe the company some apology for my apparent churlishness, " hesaid; "but the fact is, that I have received some very harrowing, butat the same time very interesting, news this morning. I think I told youthe other day how the vacancy in my kitchen has led up to a very realtragedy, and that the abhorred Fury was already hovering terribly nearthe head of poor Narcisse. Well, I have just received from a friend inParis journals containing a full account of the trial of Narcisse and ofhis fair accomplice. The worst has come to pass, and Narcisse has beendoomed to sneeze into the basket like a mere aristocrat or politicianduring the Terror I was greatly upset by this news, but I wasinterested, and in a measure consoled, to find an enclosure amongstthe other papers, an envelope addressed to me in the handwriting of thecondemned man. This voix d'outre tombe, I rejoice to say, confides tome the secret of that incomparable sauce of his, a secret which I fearedmight be buried with Narcisse in the prison ditch. "

The Marchesa sighed as she listened. The recipe of the sauce was safeindeed, but she knew by experience how wide might be the gulf betweenthe actual work of an artist and the product of another hand guided byhis counsels, let the hand be ever so dexterous, and the counsels everso clear. "Will it be too much, " she said, "to ask you to give us thedetails of this painful tragedy?"

"It will not, " Sir John replied reflectively. "The last words of many aso-called genius have been enshrined in literature: probably no onewill ever know the parting objurgation of Narcisse. I will endeavour, however, to give you some notion as to what occurred, from the budgetI have just read. I fear the tragedy was a squalid one. Madame, thevictim, was elderly, unattractive in person, exacting in temper, andthe owner of considerable wealth--at least, this is what came out atthe trial. It was one of those tangles in which a fatal denouement isinevitable; and, if this had not come through Mademoiselle Sidonie, it would have come through somebody else. The lovers plotted to removemadame by first drugging her, then breaking her skull with thewood chopper, and then pitching her downstairs so as to produce theimpression that she had met her death in this fashion. But either thearm of Mademoiselle Sidonie--who was told off to do the hammering--wasunskilled in such work, or the opiate was too weak, for the victim beganto shriek before she gave up the ghost. Detection seemed imminent, soNarcisse, in whom the quality of discretion was evidently predominant, bolted at once and got out of the country. But the facts were absolutelyclear. The victim lived long enough to depose that Mademoiselle Sidonieattacked her with the wood chopper, while Narcisse watched the door. The advocate of Narcisse did his work like a man. He shed the regulationmeasure of tears; he drew graphic pictures of the innocent youth ofNarcisse, of his rise to eminence, and of his filial piety as evidencedby the frequent despatch of money and comestibles to his venerablemother, who was still living near Bourges. Once a year, too, thisincomparable artist found time to renew his youth by a sojourn in thesimple cottage which saw his birth, and by embracing the giver ofhis life. Was it possible that a man who treated one woman with suchdevotion and reverence could take the life of another? He adducedvarious and picturesque reasons to show that such an event must beimpossible, but the jury took the opposite view. Some one had to beguillotined, and the intelligent jury decided that Paris could spareNarcisse better than it could spare Mademoiselle Sidonie. I fear thefact that he had deigned to sell his services to a brutal islander mayhave helped them to come to this conclusion, but there were other andmore weighty reasons. Of the supreme excellence of Narcisse as anartist the jury knew nothing, so they let him go hang--or worse--butof Mademoiselle Sidonie they knew a good deal, and their knowledge, Ibelieve, is shared by certain English visitors to Paris. She is one ofthe attractions of the Fantasies d'Arcadie, and her latest song, BonjourCoco, is sung and whistled in every capital of Europe; so the jury, thrusting aside as mere pedantry the evidence of facts, set to work tofind some verdict which would not eclipse the gaiety of La Ville Lumiereby cutting short the career of Mademoiselle Sidonie. The art of the chefappealed to only a few, and he dies a mute, but by no means ingloriousmartyr: the art of the chanteuse appeals to the million, the voice ofthe many carries the day, and Narcisse must die. "

"It is a revolting story, " said Mrs. Gradinger, "and one possible onlyin a corrupted and corrupting society. It is wonderful, as Sir Johnremarks, how the conquering streams of tendency manifest themselveseven in an affair like this. Ours is a democratic age, and the wants anddesires of the many, who find delight in this woman's singing, overridethe whims of the pampered few, the employers of such costly luxuries asmen cooks. "

"You see you are a mere worm, Sir John, " laughed Miss Macdonnell, "andyou had better lay out your length to be trampled on. "

"Yes, I have long foreseen our fate, we who happen to possess what ourpoor brother hankers after. Well, perhaps I may take up the worm's roleat once and 'turn', that is, burn the recipe of Narcisse. "

"O Sir John, Sir John, " cried Mrs. Sinclair "any such burning wouldremind me irresistibly of Mr. Mantalini's attempts at suicide. Therewould be an accurate copy in your pocket-book, and besides this youwould probably have learnt off the recipe by heart. "

"Yes, we know our Sir John better than that, don't we?" said theMarchesa; "but, joking apart, Sir John, you might let me have therecipe at once. It would go admirably with one of our lunch dishes forto-morrow. "

But on the subject of the sauce, Sir John--like the younger Mr. Smallweed on the subject of gravy--was adamant. The wound caused by theloss of Narcisse was, he declared, yet too recent: the very odour of thesauce would provoke a thousand agonising regrets. And then the hideousinjustice of it all: Narcisse the artist, comparatively innocent (forto artists a certain latitude must be allowed), to moulder in quicklime, and this greedy, sordid murderess to go on ogling and posturing withsuperadded popularity before an idiot crowd unable to distinguish aRemoulade from a Ravigotte! "No, my dear Marchesa, " he said, "the secretof Narcisse must be kept a little longer, for, to tell the truth, I havean idea. I remember that ere this fortunes have been made out of sauces, and if this sauce be properly handled and put before the public, it maycounteract my falling, or rather disappearing rents. If only I couldhit upon a fetching name, and find twenty thousand pounds to spend inadvertising, I might be able once more to live on my acres. "

"Oh, surely we shall be able to find you a name between us, " said Mrs. Wilding; "money, and things of that sort are to be procured in the city, I believe; and I daresay Mr. Van der Roet will design a pretty label forthe sauce bottles. "

 Menu--Lunch. 

 Pollo all'olive. Fowl with olives. Scaloppine di rive. Veal cutlets with rice. Sedani alla parmigiana. Stewed celery. 

 Menu--Dinner. 

 Zuppa primaverile. Spring soup Sote di Salmone al funghi. Salmon with mushrooms. Tenerumi d'Agnello alla veneziana. Breast of lamb alla Veneziana. Testa di Vitello alla sorrentina. Calf's head alla Sorrentina. Fagiano alla perigo. Pheasant with truffles. Torta alla cremonese. Cremona tart. Uova alla fiorentina. Egg savoury. 

The Seventh Day

"It seems invidious to give special praise where everything is so good, "said Mrs. Sinclair next day at lunch, "but I must say a word about thatclear soup we had at dinner last night. I have never ceased to regretthat my regard for manners forbade me ask for a second helping. "

"See what it is to have no manners, " said Van der Roet. "I plungedboldly for another portion of that admirable preparation of calf's headat dinner. If I hadn't, I should have regretted it for ever after. Now, I'm sure you are just as curious about the construction of thesemasterpieces as I am, Mrs. Sinclair, so we'll beg the Marchesa to let usinto the secret. "

"Mrs. Sinclair herself had a hand in the calf's-head dish, 'Testa diVitello alla sorrentina, ' so perhaps I may hand over that part of thequestion to her. I am very proud that one of my pupils should have wonpraise from such a distinguished expert as Mr. Van der Roet, and Ileave her to expound the mystery of its charm. I think I may withoutpresumption claim the clear soup as a triumph, and it is a discovery ofmy own. The same calf's head which Mrs. Sinclair has treated with suchconsummate skill, served also as the foundation for the stock of theclear soup. This stock certainly derived its distinction from theaddition of the liquor in which the head was boiled. A good consomme canno doubt be made with stock-meat alone, but the best soup thus made willbe inferior to that we had for dinner last night. Without the calf'shead you will never get such softness, combined with full roundnesson the tongue, and the great merit of calf's head is that it lets youattain this excellence without any sacrifice of transparency. "

"I have marvelled often at the clearness of your soups, Marchesa, "said the Colonel. "What clearing do you use to make them look like palesherry?"

"No one has any claim to be called a cook who cannot make soup withoutartificial clearing, " said the Marchesa. "Like the poet, the consommeis born, not made. It must be clear from the beginning, an achievementwhich needs care and trouble like every other artistic effort, but onenevertheless well within the reach of any student who means to succeed. To clear a soup by the ordinary medium of white of egg or minced beefis to destroy all flavour and individuality. If the stock be kept fromboiling until it has been strained, it will develop into a perfectlyclear soup under the hands of a careful and intelligent cook. Thefleeting delicate aroma which, as every gourmet will admit, gives suchgrateful aid to the palate, is the breath of garden herbs and of herbsalone, and here I have a charge to bring against contemporary cookery. Imean the neglect of natural in favour of manufactured flavourings. Withregard to herbs, this could not always have been the rule, for I nevergo into an old English garden without finding there a border with allthe good old-fashioned pot herbs growing lustily. I do not say that theuse of herbs is unknown, for of course the best cookery is impossiblewithout them, but I fear that sage mixed with onion is about the onlyone which ever tickles the palate of the great English middle-class. Andsimultaneously with the use of herb flavouring in soup has arisen thepractice of adding wine, which to me seems a very questionable one. Ifwine is put in soup at all, it must be used so sparingly as to renderits presence imperceptible. Why then use it at all? In some sauces wineis necessary, but in all cases it is as difficult to regulate as garlic, and requires the utmost vigilance on the part of the cook. "

"My last cook, who was very stout and a little middle-aged, would alwaysuse flavouring sauces from the grocer's rather than walk up to thegarden, where we have a most seductive herb bed, " said Mrs. Wilding;"and then, again, the love of the English for pungent-made sauces isanother reason for this makeshift practice. 'Oh, a table-spoonful ofsomebody's sauce will do for the flavouring, ' and in goes the sauce, andthe flavouring is supposed to be complete. People who eat their chops, and steaks, and fish, and game, after having smothered the naturalflavour with the same harsh condiment, may be satisfied with a cuisineof this sort, but to an unvitiated palate the result is nauseous. "

"Yet as a Churchwoman, Mrs. Wilding, you ought to speak with respectof English sauces. I think I have heard how a libation of one of them, which was poured over a certain cathedral, has made it look as good asnew, " said Miss Macdonnell, "and we have lately learned that one of themost distinguished of our party is ambitious to enter the same career. "

"I would suggest that Sir John should devote all that money he proposesto make by the aid of his familiar spirit--the ghost of Narcisse--to thebuilding of a temple in honour of the tenth muse, the muse of cookery, "said Mrs. Sinclair; "and what do you think, Sir John, of a name I dreamtof last night for your sauce, 'The New Century Sauce'? How will thatdo?"

"Admirably, " said Sir John after a moment's pause; "admirably enough toallow me to offer you a royalty on every bottle sold. 'The New CenturySauce', that's the name for me; and now to set to work to build thefactory, and to order plans for the temple of the tenth muse. "

 Menu--Lunch. 

 Maccheroni al pomidoro. Macaroni with tomatoes, Vitello alla pellegrina. Veal cutlets alla pellegrina. Animelle al sapor di targone. Sweetbread with tarragon sauce. 

 Menu--Dinner. 

 Zuppa alla Canavese. Soup alla Canavese Naselli con piselli. Whiting with peas. Coscia di manzo al forno. Braized ribs of beef. Lingua alla Visconti. Tongue with grapes. Anitra selvatica. Wild duck. Zabajone ghiacciato. Iced syllabub. Crostatini alla capucina. Savoury of rice, truffles, &c. 

The Eighth Day

"We are getting unpleasantly near the end of our time, " said theColonel, "but I am sure not one of us has learnt one tithe of what theMarchesa has to teach. "

"My dear Colonel Trestrail, " said the Marchesa, "an education in cookerydoes not mean the teaching of a certain number of recipes. Education, Imaintain, is something far higher than the mere imparting of facts; mynotion of it is the teaching of people to teach themselves, and thisis what I have tried to do in the kitchen. With some of you I am sure Ihave succeeded, and a book containing the recipe of every dish we havetried will be given to every pupil when we break up. "

"I think the most valuable lesson I have learnt is that cookery is amatter for serious study, " said Mrs. Sinclair. "The popular English viewseems to be that it is one of those things which gets itself done. Thefood is subjected to the action of heat, a little butter, or pepper, oronion, being added by way of flavouring, and the process is complete. Toput it bluntly, it requires at least as much mental application toroast a fowl as to cut a bodice; but it does not strike the averageEnglishwoman in this way, for she will spend hours in thinking andtalking about dressmaking (which is generally as ill done as hercooking), while she will be reluctant to give ten minutes to theconsideration as to how a luncheon or supper dish shall be prepared. TheEnglish middle classes are most culpably negligent about the foodthey eat, and as a consequence they get exactly the sort of cooks theydeserve to get. I do not blame the cooks; if they can get paid forcooking ill, why should they trouble to learn to cook well?"

"I agree entirely, " said Mrs. Wilding. "That saying, 'What I like isgood plain roast and boiled, and none of your foreign kickshaws, ' is, asevery one knows, the stock utterance of John Bull on the stage or inthe novel; and, though John Bull is not in the least like his fictitiouspresentment, this form of words is largely responsible for the waste andwant of variety in the English kitchen. The plain roast and boiled meansa joint every day, and this arrangement the good plain cook finds anadmirable one for several reasons: it means little trouble, and it meansalso lots of scraps and bones and waste pieces. The good plain cookbrings all the forces of obstruction to bear whenever the mistresssuggests made dishes; and, should this suggestion ever be carried out, she takes care that the achievement shall be of a character not likelyto invite repetition. Not long ago a friend of mine was questioning acook as to soups, whereupon the cook answered that she had never beenrequired to make such things where she had lived; all soups were boughtin tins or bottles, and had simply to be warmed up. Cakes, too, were outside her repertoire, having always been 'had in' from theconfectioner's, while 'entrys' were in her opinion, and in the opinionof her various mistresses, 'un'ealthy' and not worth making. "

"My experience is that, if a mistress takes an interest in cooking, shewill generally have a fairly efficient cook, " said Mrs. Fothergill. "Iagree with Mrs. Sinclair that our English cooks are spoilt by neglect;and I think it is hard upon them, as a class, that so many inefficientwomen should be able to pose as cooks while they are unable to boil apotato properly. "

"And the so-called schools of cookery are quite useless in what theyteach, " said Miss Macdonnell. "I once sent a cook of mine to one tolearn how to make a clear soup, and when she came back, she sent up, as an evidence of her progress, a potato pie coloured pink and green, amost poisonous-looking dish--and her clear soups were as bad as ever. "

Said the Colonel, "I will beg leave to enter a protest against theimperfections of that repast which is supposed to be the peculiardelight of the ladies, I allude to afternoon tea. I want to know whyit is that unless I happen to call just when the tea is brought up--Igrant, I know of a few houses which are honourable exceptions--I amfated to drink that most abominable of all decoctions, stewed lukewarmtea. 'Will you have some tea? I'm afraid it isn't quite fresh, ' thehostess will remark without a blush. What would she think if her husbandat dinner were to say, 'Colonel, take a glass of that champagne. It wasopened the day before yesterday, and I daresay the fizz has gone off alittle'? Tea is cheap enough, and yet the hostess seldom or never thinksof ordering up a fresh pot. I believe it is because she is afraid of thebutler. "

"I sympathise with you fully, Colonel, " said Lady Considine, "and mywithers are unwrung. You do not often honour me with your presenceon Tuesdays, but I am sure I may claim to be one of your honourableexceptions. "

"Indeed you may, " said the Colonel. "Perhaps men ought not to intrudeon these occasions; but I have a preference for taking tea in a prettydrawing-room, with a lot of agreeable women, rather than in a clubsurrounded by old chaps growling over the latest job at the War Office, and a younger brigade chattering about the latest tape prices, and theweights for the spring handicaps. "

"All these little imperfections go to prove that we are not a nation ofcooks, " said Van der Roet. "We can't be everything. Heine once said thatthe Romans would never have found time to conquer the world if they hadbeen obliged to learn the Latin grammar; and it is the same with us. Wecan't expect to found an empire all over the planet, and cook as wellas the French, who--perhaps wisely--never willingly emerge from the fourcorners of their own land. "

"There is energy enough left in us when we set about some purelyutilitarian task, " said Mrs. Wilding, "but we never throw ourselves intothe arts with the enthusiasm of the Latin races. I was reading the otherday of a French costumier who rushed to inform a lady, who had ordereda turban, of his success, exclaiming, 'Madame, apres trots nun'sd'insomnie les plumes vent placees. ' And every one knows the story ofVatel's suicide because the fish failed to arrive. No Englishman wouldbe capable of flights like these. "

"Really, this indictment of English cookery makes me a little nervous, "said Lady Considine "I have promised to join in a driving tour throughthe southern counties. I shudder to think of the dinners I shall have toeat at the commercial hotels and posting-houses on our route. "

"English country inns are not what they ought to be, but now and thenyou come across one which is very good indeed, as good, if not better, than anything you could find in any other country; but I fear I mustadmit that, charges considered, the balance is against us, " said SirJohn. 

"When you start you ought to secure Sir John's services as courier, LadyConsidine, " said the Marchesa. "I once had the pleasure of driving fora week through the Apennines in a party under his guidance, and I canassure you we found him quite honest and obliging. "

"Ah, Marchesa, I was thinking of that happy time this very morning, "said Sir John. "Of Arezzo, where we were kept for three days by rain, which I believe is falling there still. Of Cortona, with that wonderfullittle restaurant on the edge of the cliff, whence you see Thrasumenelying like a silver mirror in the plain below. Of Perugia, the august, of Gubbio, Citta di Castello, Borgo San Sepolcro, Urbino, and diversothers. If you go for a drive in Italy, you still may meet with humoursof the road such as travellers of old were wont to enjoy. I wellremember on the road between Perugia and Gubbio we began to realise wewere indeed traversing mountain paths. On a sudden the driver got down, waved his arms, and howled to some peasants working in a field below. These, on their part, responded with more arm-waving and howling, directed apparently towards a village farther up the hill, whereupon wewere assailed with visions of brigands, and amputated ears, and ransom. But at a turn of the road we came upon two magnificent white oxen, which, being harnessed on in front, drew us, and our carriages andhorses as well, up five miles of steep incline. These beautifulfellows, it seemed, were what the driver was signalling for, and notfor brigands. Again, every inn we stayed at supplied us with somerepresentative touch of local life and habit. Here the whole personnelof the inn, reinforced by a goodly contingent of the townsfolk, wouldaccompany us even into our bedrooms, and display the keenest interestin the unpacking of our luggage. There the cook would come and takepersonal instructions as to the coming meal, throwing out suggestionsthe while as to the merits of this or that particular dish, and in oneplace the ancient chambermaid insisted that one of the ladies, who hadgot a slight cold, should have the prete put into her bed for a shorttime to warm it. You need not look shocked, Colonel. The prete inquestion was merely a wooden frame, in the midst of which hangs ascaldino filled with burning ashes--a most comforting ecclesiastic, Ican assure you. All the inns we visited had certain characteristics incommon. The entrance is always dirty, and the staircase too, the diningrooms fairly comfortable, the bedrooms always clean and good, and thefood much better than you would expect to find in such out-of-the-wayplaces; indeed I cannot think of any inn where it was not good andwholesome, while often it was delicious. In short, Lady Considine, Istrongly advise you to take a drive in Italy next spring, and if I amfree I shall be delighted to act as courier. "

"Sir John has forgotten one or two touches I must fill in, " said theMarchesa. "It was often difficult to arrange a stopping-place for lunch, so we always stocked our basket before starting. After the first day'sexperience we decided that it was vastly more pleasant to take ourmeal while going uphill at a foot-pace, than in the swing and jolt of adescent, so the route and the pace of the horses had to be regulated inorder to give us a good hour's ascent about noon. Fortunately hills areplentiful in this part of Italy, and in the keen air we generally madean end of the vast store of provisions we laid in, and the generousfiascho was always empty a little too soon. Our drive came to an end atFano, whither we had gone on account of a strange romantic desire of SirJohn to look upon an angel which Browning had named in one of his poems. Ah! how vividly I can recall our pursuit of that picture. It was a wet, melancholy day. The people of Fano were careless of the fame of theirangel, for no one knew the church which it graced. At last we cameupon it by the merest chance, and Sir John led the procession up to theshrine, where we all stood for a time in positions of mock admiration. Sir John tried hard to keep up the imposition, but something, either hisinnate honesty or the chilling environment of disapproval of Guercino'shandiwork, was too much for him. He did his best to admire, but thetask was beyond his powers, and he raised no protest when some scofferaffirmed that, though Browning might be a great poet, he was a mightypoor judge of painting, when he gave in his beautiful poem immortalityto this tawdry theatrical canvas. 'I think, ' said Sir John, 'we hadbetter go back to the hotel and order lunch. It would have been wiserto have ordered it before we left. ' We were all so much touched by hispenitence that no one had the heart to remind him how a proposition asto lunch had been made by our leading Philistine as soon as we arrived, a proposition waved aside by Sir John as inadmissible until the'Guardian Angel' should have been seen and admired. "

"I plead guilty, " said Sir John. "I think this experience gave adeath-blow to my career as an appreciator. Anyhow, I quite forget whatthe angel was like, and for reminiscences of Fano have to fall backupon the excellent colazione we ate in the externally unattractive, butinternally admirable, Albergo del Moro. "

 Menu--Lunch. 

 Astachi all'Italiana. Lobster all'Italiana Filetto di bue alla Napolitana. Fillet of beef with Neapolitan sauce. Risotto alla spagnuola. Savoury rice. 

 Menu--Dinner. 

 Zuppa alla Romana. Soup with quenelles. Salmone alla Genovese. Salmon alla Genovese. Costolette in agro-dolce. Mutton cutlets with Roman sauce. Flano di spinacci. Spinach in a mould. Cappone con rive. Capon with rice. Croccante di mandorle. Almond sweet. Ostriche alla Napolitana. Oyster savoury. 

The Ninth Day

"Since I have been associated with the production of a dinner, I havehad my eyes opened as to the complicated nature of the task, and thenumerous strings which have to be pulled in order to ensure success, "said the Colonel; "but, seeing that a dinner-party with well-chosensympathetic guests and distinguished dishes represents one of theconsummate triumphs of civilisation, there is no reason to wonder. Toachieve a triumph of any sort demands an effort. "

"Effort, " said Miss Macdonnell. "Yes, effort is the word I associatewith so many middle-class English dinners. It is an effort to the hosts, who regard the whole business as a mere paying off of debts; and aneffort to the guests, who, as they go to dress, recall grisly memoriesof former similar experiences. It often astonishes me that dinner-givingof this character should still flourish. "

"The explanation is easy, " said Van der Roet; "it flourishes because itgives a mark of distinction. It is a delicious moment for Mrs. Johnsonwhen she is able to say to Mrs. Thompson, 'My dear, I am quite worn-out;we dined out every day last week, and have four more dinners in the nextfive days. ' These good people show their British grit by the persistencywith which they go on with their penitential hospitality, and their lackof ideas in never attempting to modify it so as to make it a pleasureinstead of a disagreeable duty. "

"It won't do to generalise too widely, Van der Roet, " said Sir John. "Some of these good people surely enjoy their party-giving; and, from myown experience of one or two houses of this sort, I can assure you thefood is quite respectable. The great imperfection seems to lie in theutter want of consideration in the choice of guests. A certain numberof people and a certain quantity of food shot into a room, that is theirnotion of a dinner-party. "

"Of course we understand that the success of a dinner depends much moreon the character of the guests than on the character of the food, " saidMrs. Sinclair; "and most of us, I take it, are able to fill our tableswith pleasant friends; but what of the dull people who know none butdull people? What gain will they get by taking counsel how they shallfill their tables?"

"More, perhaps, than you think, dear Mrs. Sinclair, " said Sir John. "Dull people often enjoy themselves immensely when they meet dull peopleonly. The frost comes when the host unwisely mixes in one or twoguests of another sort--people who give themselves airs of finding morepleasure in reading Stevenson than the sixpenny magazines, and who don'tknow where Hurlingham is. Then the sheep begin to segregate themselvesfrom the goats, and the feast is manque. "

"Considering what a trouble and anxiety a dinner-party must be to thehostess, even under the most favouring conditions, I am always at aloss to discover why so many women take so much pains, and spend aconsiderable sum of money as well, over details which are unessential, or even noxious, " said Mrs. Wilding. "A few flowers on the table are allvery well--one bowl in the centre is enough--but in many houses the costof the flowers equals, if it does not outrun, the cost of all the restof the entertainment. A few roses or chrysanthemums are perfect asaccessories, but to load a table with flowers of heavy or pungent scentis an outrage. Lilies of the valley are lovely in proper surroundings, but on a dinner-table they are anathema. And then the mass of papermonstrosities which crowd every corner. Swans, nautilus shells, and evenwild boars are used to hold up the menu. Once my menu was printed on asatin flag, and during the war the universal khaki invaded the dinnertable. Ices are served in frilled baskets of paper, which have atendency to dissolve and amalgamate with the sweet. The only paper onthe table should be the menu, writ plain on a handsome card. "

"No one can complain of papery ices here, " said the Marchesa. "Ices maybe innocuous, but I don't favour them, and no one seems to have felt thewant of them; at least, to adopt the phrase of the London shopkeeper, 'I have had no complaints. ' And even the ice, the very emblem of purity, has not escaped the touch of the dinner-table decorator. Only a few daysago I helped myself with my fingers to what looked like a lovely peach, and let it flop down into the lap of a bishop who was sitting next tome. This was the hostess's pretty taste in ices. "

"They are generally made in the shape of camelias this season, " said Vander Roet. "I knew a man who took one and stuck it in his buttonhole. "

"I must say I enjoy an ice at dinner, " said Lady Considine. "I know thedoctors abuse them, but I notice they always eat them when they get thechance. "

"Ah, that is merely human inconsistency, " said Sir John. "I am inclinedto agree with the Marchesa that ice at dinner is an incongruity, and maywell be dispensed with. I think I am correct, Marchesa, in assuming thatItaly, which has showered so many boons upon us, gave us also the tastefor ices. "

"I fear I must agree, " said the Marchesa. "I now feel what a blessingit would have been for you English if you had learnt from us instead theart of cooking the admirable vegetables your gardens produce. How is itthat English cookery has never found any better treatment for vegetablesthan to boil them quite plain? French beans so treated are tender, andof a pleasant texture on the palate, but I have never been able to findany taste in them. They are tasteless largely because the cook persistsin shredding them into minute bits, and I maintain that they ought tobe cooked whole--certainly when they are young--and sautez, a perfectlyplain and easy process, which is hard to beat. Plain boiled caulifloweris doubtless good, but cooked alla crema it is far better; indeed, itis one of the best vegetable dishes I know. But perhaps the greatestdiscovery in cookery we Italians ever made was the combination ofvegetables and cheese. There are a dozen excellent methods of cookingcauliflower with cheese, and one of these has come to you throughFrance, choux-fleurs au gratin, and has become popular. Jerusalemartichokes treated in the same fashion are excellent; and the cucumber, nearly always eaten raw in England, holds a first place as a vegetablefor cooking. I seem to remember that every one was loud in its praiseswhen we tasted it as an adjunct to Manzo alla Certosina. Why is itthat celery is for the most part only eaten raw with cheese? We havenumberless methods of cooking it in Italy, and beetroot and lettuce aswell. There is no spinach so good as English, and nowhere is it so badlycooked; it is always coarse and gritty because so little trouble istaken with it, and I can assure you that the smooth, delicate dish whichwe call Flano di spinacci is not produced merely by boiling and choppingit, and turning it out into a dish. "

 Menu--Lunch

 Minestrone alla Milanese. Vegetable broth. Coniglio alla Provenzale. Rabbit alla Provenzale. Insalata di pomidoro. Tomato salad. 

 Menu--Dinner. 

 Zuppa alla Maria Pia. Soup alla Maria Pia. Anguilla con ortaggi alla Milanese. Eels with vegetables. Manzo con sugo di barbabietoli. Fillet of beef with beetroot sauce. Animelle alla parmegiana. Sweetbread with parmesan. Perniciotti alla Gastalda. Partridges alla Gastalda. Uova ripiani. Stuffed eggs. 

The Tenth Day

The sun rose on the tenth and last day at the "Laurestinas" as hewas wont to rise on less eventful mornings. At breakfast the Marchesaproposed that the lunch that day should be a little more ornate thanusual, and the dinner somewhat simpler. She requisitioned the servicesof six of the company to prepare the lunch, and at the same timeannounced that they would all have a holiday in the afternoon exceptMrs. Sinclair, whom she warned to be ready to spend the afternoon in thekitchen helping prepare the last dinner. 

Four dishes, all admirable, appeared at lunch, and several of the partyexpressed regret that the heat of the weather forbade them from tastingevery one; but Sir John was not of these. He ate steadily through themenu, and when he finally laid down his knife and fork he heaved a sigh, whether of satisfaction or regret it were hard to say. 

"It is a commonplace of the deepest dye to remark that ingratitude isinherent in mankind, " he began; "I am compelled to utter it, however, bythe sudden longing I feel for a plate from the hand of the late lamentedNarcisse after I have eaten one of the best luncheons ever put on atable. "

"Experience of one school of excellence has caused a hankering after thetriumphs of another, " said Miss Macdonnell "There is one glory of theMarchesa, there is, or was, another of Narcisse, and the taste of theMarchesa's handiwork has stimulated the desire of comparision. Nevermind, Sir John, perhaps in another world Narcisse may cook you--"

"Oh stop, stop, for goodness' sake, " cried Sir John, "I doubt whethereven he could make me into a dainty dish to set before the King ofTartarus, though the stove would no doubt be fitted with the latestimprovements and the fuel abundant. "

"Really, Sir John, I'm not sure I ought not to rise and protest, " saidMrs. Wilding, "and I think I would if it weren't our last day. "

"Make a note of Sir John's wickedness, and pass it on to the Canon foruse in a sermon, " said Van der Roet. 

"I can only allow you half-an-hour, Laura, " said the Marchesa to Mrs. Sinclair, "then you must come and work with me for the delectation ofthese idle people, who are going to spend the afternoon talking scandalunder the chestnuts. "

"I am quite ready to join you if I can be of any help, " said Mrs. Gradinger. "When knowledge is to be acquired, I am always loath tostand aside, not for my own sake so much as for the sake of others lessfortunate, to whom I might possibly impart it hereafter. "

"You are very good, " said the Marchesa, "but I think I must adhere to myoriginal scheme of having Mrs. Sinclair by herself. I see coffee is nowbeing taken into the garden, so we will adjourn, if you please. "

After the two workers had departed for the kitchen, an unwonted silencefell on the party under the chestnuts. Probably every one was ponderingover the imminent dissolution of the company, and wondering whetherto regret or rejoice. The peace had been kept marvellously well, considering the composition of the company. Mrs. Fothergill at times hadmade a show of posing as the beneficent patron, and Mrs. Gradinger hadessayed to teach what nobody wanted to learn; but firm and judicioussnubbing had kept these persons in their proper places. Nearly every onewas sorry that the end had come. It had been real repose to Mrs. Wildingto pass ten days in an atmosphere entirely free from all perfume of thecathedral close. Lady Considine had been spending freely of late, andten days' cessation of tradesmen's calls, and servants on board wages, had come as a welcome relief. Sir John had gained a respite from thetask he dreaded, the task of going in quest of a successor to Narcisse. Now as he sat consuming his cigarette in the leisurely fashion socharacteristic of his enjoyment--and those who knew him best werewont to say that Sir John practiced few arts so studiously as that ofenjoyment--he could not banish the figure of Narcisse from his reverie. A horrible thought assailed him that this obsession might spring fromthe fact that on this very morning Narcisse might have taken his lastbrief walk out of the door of La Roquette, and that his disembodiedspirit might be hovering around. Admirable as the cookery of theMarchesa had been, and fully as he had appreciated it, he felt he wouldgive a good deal to be assured that on this the last evening of theNew Decameron he might sit down to a dinner prepared by the hand of hisdeparted chef. 

That evening the guests gathered round the table with more empressementthan usual. The Marchesa seemed a little flurried, and Mrs. Sinclair, ina way, shared her excitement. The menu, for the first time, was writtenin French, a fact which did not escape Sir John's eye. He made no remarkas to the soup; it was the best of its kind, and its French name made itno better than the other triumphs in the same field which the Marchesahad achieved. But when Sir John tasted the first mouthful of the fish hepaused, and after a reflective and regretful look at his plate, he casthis eye round the table. All the others, however, were too busily intentin consuming the Turbot la Vatel to heed his interrogative glance, so hefollowed suit, and after he had finished his portion, asked, sotto voce, for another bit. 

In the interval before the service of the next dish Sir John madeseveral vain attempts to catch the Marchesa's eye, and more than oncetried to get in a word; but she kept up a forced and rather nervousconversation with Lady Considine and Van der Roet, and refused tolisten. As Sir John helped himself to the next dish, Venaison sauceGrand Veneur, the feeling of astonishment which had seized him when hefirst tasted the fish deepened into something like Consternation. Hadhis palate indeed deceived him, or had the Marchesa, by some subtleeffort of experimental genius, divined the secret of Narcisse--thesecret of that incomparable sauce, the recipe of which was safelybestowed in his pocket-book? Occasionally he had taken a brief nap underthe verandah after lunch: was it possible that in his sleep he mighthave murmured, in her hearing, words which gave the key of the mystery, and the description of those ingredients which often haunted his dreams?One thing was certain, that the savour which rose from the venisonbefore him was the same which haunted his memory as the parting effortof the ill-starred Narcisse. 

Sir John was the least superstitious of mortals, still here he was faceto face with one of these conjunctions of affairs which the credulousaccept as manifestations of some hidden power, and sceptics ascoincidences and nothing more. All the afternoon he had been thinkingof Narcisse, and yearning beyond measure for something suggestive of hisart; and here, on his plate before him, was food which might have beentouched by the vanished hand. The same subtle influence pervaded theChartreuse a la cardinal, the roast capon and salad, and the sweet. At last, when the dinner was nearly over, and when the Marchesa hadapparently said all she had to say to Van der Roet, he lifted up hisvoice and said, "Marchesa, who gave you the recipe for the sauce withwhich the venison was served this evening?"

The Marchesa glanced at Mrs. Sinclair, and then struck a hand-bell onthe table. The door opened, and a little man, habited in a cook's dressof spotless white, entered and came forward. "M. Narcisse, " said theMarchesa, "Sir John wants to know what sauce was used in dressing thevenison; perhaps you can tell him. "

Here the Marchesa rose and left the room, and all the rest followed her, feeling it was unmeet that such a reunion should be witnessed by othereyes, however friendly they might be. 

 * * * * *

"Now, you must tell us all about it, " said Lady Considine, as soon asthey got into the drawing-room, "and how you ever managed to get him outof this scrape. "

"Oh, there isn't much to tell, " said the Marchesa. "Narcisse wascondemned, indeed, but no one ever believed he would be executed. One ofmy oldest friends is married to an official high up in the Ministry ofJustice, and I heard from her last week that Narcisse would certainlybe reprieved; but I never expected a free pardon. Indeed, he got thisentirely because it was discovered that Mademoiselle Sidonie, hisaccomplice, was really a Miss Adah Levine, who had graduated at amusic-hall in East London, and that she had announced her intentionof retiring to the land of her birth, and ascending to the apex of herprofession on the strength of her Parisian reputation. Then it was thatthe reaction in favour of Narcisse set in; the boulevards could notstand this. The journals dealt with this new outrage in their bestFashoda style; the cafes rang with it: another insult cast upon unhappyFrance, whose destiny was, it seemed, to weep tears of blood to the endof time. There were rumours of an interpellation in the Chamber, theposition of the Minister of the Interior was spoken of as precarious, indeed the Eclaireur reported one evening that he had resigned. Pocketswere picked under the eyes of sergents de ville, who were absorbed inproclaiming to each other their conviction of the innocence of Narcisse, and the guilt of cette coquine Anglaise. Cabmen en course ran downpedestrians by the dozen, as they discussed l'affaire Narcisse to anaccompaniment of whip-cracking. In front of the Cafe des Automobiles abelated organ-grinder began to grind the air of Mademoiselle Sidonie'sgreat song Bonjour Coco, whereupon the whole company rose with howls andcries of, 'A bas les Anglais, a bas les Juifs. 'Conspuez Coco. ' In lessthan five minutes the organ was disintegrated, and the luckless minstrelflying with torn trousers down a side street. For the next few days lahaute gomme promenaded with fragments of the piano organ suspended fromwatch chains as trophies of victory. But this was not all. Paris brokeout into poetry over l'affaire Narcisse, and here is a journal sentto me by my friend which contains a poem in forty-nine stanzas byAristophane le Beletier, the cher maitre of the 'Moribonds, ' the verynewest school of poetry in Paris. I won't inflict the whole of it onyou, but two stanzas I must read--

 "'Puisse-je te rappeler loin des brouillards maudits. Vers la France, sainte mere et nourrice! Reviens a Lutece, de l'art vrai paradis, Je t'evoque, O Monsieur Narcisse!

 Quitte les saignants bifteks, de tes mains sublimes Gueris le sein meurtri de ta mere! Detourne ton glaive trenchant de tes freles victimes Vers l'Albion et sa triste Megere. '"

"Dear me, it sounds a little like some other Parisian odes I have readrecently, " said Lady Considine. "The triste Megere, I take it, is poorold Britannia, but what does he mean by his freles victimes?"

"No doubt they are the pigeons and the rabbits, and the chickens and thecapons which Narcisse is supposed to have slaughtered in hecatombs, inorder to gorge the brutal appetite of his English employer, " said MissMacdonnell. "After disregarding such an appeal as this M. Narcisse hadbetter keep clear of Paris for the future, for if he should go back andbe recognised I fancy it would be a case of 'conspuvez Narcisse. "'

"The French seem to have lost all sense of exactness, " said Mrs. Gradinger, "for the lines you have just read would not pass muster asclassic. In the penultimate line there are two syllables in excess ofthe true Alexandrine metre, and the last line seems too long by one. Neither Racine nor Voltaire would have taken such liberties withprosody. I remember a speech in Phaedre of more than a hundred lineswhich is an admirable example of what I mean. I dare say some of youknow it. It begins:--

 "Perfide! oses-tu bien te montrer devant moi? Monstre, "

but before the reciter could get fairly under way the door mercifullyopened, and Sir John entered. He advanced towards the Marchesa, andshook her warmly by the hand, but said nothing; his heart was evidentlyyet too full to allow him to testify his relief in words. He wasfollowed closely by the Colonel, who, taking his stand on thehearth-rug, treated the company to a few remarks, couched in a strain ofunwonted eulogy. In the whole course of his life he had never passeda more pleasant ten days, though, to be sure, he had been a littlemistrustful at first. As to the outcome of the experiment, if theyall made even moderate use of the counsels they had received from theMarchesa, the future of cookery in England was now safe. He was notgoing to propose a formal vote of thanks, because anything he could saywould be entirely insufficient to express the gratitude he felt, andbecause he deemed that each individual could best thank the Marchesa onhis or her behalf. 

There was a momentary silence when the Colonel ceased, and then aclearing of the throat and a preliminary movement of the arms gavewarning that Mrs. Gradinger was going to speak. The unspoken passagefrom Racine evidently sat heavily on her chest. Abstracted andoverwrought as he was, these symptoms aroused in Sir John aconsciousness of impending danger, and he rushed, incontinent, into thebreach, before the lady's opening sentence was ready. 

"As Colonel Trestrail has just remarked, we, all of us, are in debt tothe Marchesa in no small degree; but, in my case, the debt is tenfold. I am sure you all understand why. As a slight acknowledgment of thesympathy I have received from every one here, during my late trial, Ibeg to ask you all to dine with me this day week, when I will try toset before you a repast a la Francaise, which I hope may equal, I cannothope that it will excel, the dinners all'Italiana we have tasted in thishappy retreat. Narcisse and I have already settled the menu. "

"I am delighted to accept, " said the Marchesa. "I have no engagement, and if I had I would throw my best friend over. "

"And this day fortnight you must all dine with me, " said Mrs. Sinclair. "I will spend the intervening days in teaching my new cook how toreproduce the Marchesa's dishes. Then, perhaps, we may be in a betterposition to decide on the success of the Marchesa's experiment. "

 * * * * *

The next morning witnessed the dispersal of the party. Sir John andNarcisse left by an early train, and for the next few days the reforminghand of the last-named was active in the kitchen. He arrived before thedeparture of the temporary aide, and had not been half-an-hour in thehouse before there came an outbreak which might easily have ended in thesecond appearance of Narcisse at the bar of justice, as homicide, thistime to be dealt with by a prosaic British jury, which would probablyhave doomed him to the halter. Sir John listened over the balusters tothe shrieks and howls of his recovered treasure, and wisely decided tolunch at his club. But the club lunch, admirable as it was, seemed flatand unappetising after the dainty yet simple dishes he had recentlytasted; and the following day he set forth to search for one of thoseItalian restaurants, of which he had heard vague reports. Certainly therepast would not be the same as at the "Laurestinas, " but it might servefor once. Alas! Sir John did not find the right place, for there are"right places" amongst the Italian restaurants of London. He beat ahasty retreat from the first he entered, when the officious proprietorassured him that he would serve up a dejeuner in the best French style. At the second he chose a dish with an Italian name, but the name was theonly Italian thing about it. The experiment had failed. It seemed asif Italian restaurateurs were sworn not to cook Italian dishes, and thenext day he went to do as best he could at the club. 

But before he reached the club door he recalled how, many years ago, heand other young bloods used to go for chops to Morton's, a queer littlehouse at the back of St. James' Street, and towards Morton's henow turned his steps. As he entered it, it seemed as if it was onlyyesterday that he was there. He beheld the waiter, with mouth all awry, through calling down the tube. The same old mahogany partitions to theboxes, and the same horse-hair benches. Sir John seated himself in abox, where there was one other luncher in the corner, deeply absorbedover a paper. This luncher raised his head and Sir John recognised Vander Roet. 

"My dear Vander, whatever brought you here, where nothing is to be hadbut chops? I didn't know you could eat a chop. "

"I didn't know it myself till to-day, " said Van der Roet, with a hungryglance at the waiter, who rushed by with a plate of smoking chops ineach hand. "The fact is, I've had a sort of hankering after an Italianlunch, and I went out to find one, but I didn't exactly hit on the rightshop, so I came here, where I've been told you can get a chop properlycooked, if you don't mind waiting. "

"Ah! I see, " said Sir John, laughing. "We've both been on the samequest, and have been equally unlucky. Well, we shall satisfy our hungerhere at any rate, and not unpleasantly either. "

"I went to one place, " said Van der Roet "and before ordering I askedthe waiter if there was any garlic in the dish I had ordered. 'Garlic, aglio, no, sir, never. ' Whereupon I thought I would go somewhere else. Next I entered the establishment of Baldassare Romanelli. How coulda man with such a name serve anything else than the purest Italiancookery, I reasoned, so I ordered, unquestioning, a piatio with anideal Italian name, Manzo alla Terracina. Alas! the beef used in thecomposition thereof must have come in a refrigerating chamber frompastures more remote than those of Terracina, and the sauce served withit was simply fried onions. In short, my dish was beefsteak and onions, and very bad at that. So in despair I fell back upon the trusty Britishchop. "

As Van der Roet ceased speaking another guest entered the room, and heand Sir John listened attentively while the new-comer gave his order. There was no mistaking the Colonel's strident voice. "Now, look here! Iwant a chop underdone, underdone, you understand, with a potato, and asmall glass of Scotch whisky, and I'll sit here. "

"The Colonel, by Jove, " said Sir John; "I expect he's beenrestaurant-hunting too. "

"Hallo!" said the Colonel, as he recognised the other two, "I neverthought I should meet you here: fact is, I've been reading aboutagricultural depression' and how it is the duty of everybody to eatchops so as to encourage the mutton trade, and that sort of thing. "

"Oh, Colonel, Colonel, " said Van der Roet. "You know you've beenhungering after the cookery of Italy, and trying to find a genuineItalian lunch, and have failed, just as Sir John and I failed, and havecome here in despair. But never mind, just wait for a year or so, untilthe 'Cook's Decameron' has had a fair run for its money, and then you'llfind you'll fare as well at the ordinary Italian restaurant as you didat the 'Laurestinas, ' and that's saying a good deal. "

PART II--RECIPES

Sauces

As the three chief foundation sauces in cookery, Espagnole or brownsauce, Velute or white sauce, and Bechamel, are alluded to so often inthese pages, it will be well to give simple Italian recipes for them. 

Australian wines may be used in all recipes where wine is mentioned:Harvest Burgundy for red, and Chasselas for Chablis. 

No. 1. Espagnole, or Brown Sauce

The chief ingredient of this useful sauce is good stock, to which addany remnants and bones of fowl or game. Butter the bottom of a stewpanwith at least two ounces of butter, and in it put slices of leanveal, ham, bacon, cuttings of beef, fowl, or game trimmings, threepeppercorns, mushroom trimmings, a tomato, a carrot and a turnip cut up, an onion stuck with two cloves, a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, parsleyand marjoram. Put the lid on the stewpan and braize well for fifteenminutes, then stir in a tablespoonful of flour, and pour in a quarterpint of good boiling stock and boil very gently for fifteen minutes, then strain through a tamis, skim off all the grease, pour the sauceinto an earthenware vessel, and let it get cold. If it is not richenough, add a little Liebig or glaze. Pass through a sieve again beforeusing. 

No. 2. Velute Sauce

The same as above, but use white stock, no beef, and only pheasant orfowl trimmings, button mushrooms, cream instead of glaze, and a choppedshallot. 

No. 3. Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients: Butter, ham, veal, carrots, shallot, celery bay leaf, cloves, thyme, peppercorns, potato flour, cream, fowl stock. 

Prepare a mirepoix by mixing two ounces of butter, trimmings of leanveal and ham, a carrot, a shallot, a little celery, all cut into dice, abay leaf, two cloves, four peppercorns, and a little thyme. Put this ona moderate fire so as not to let it colour, and when all the moistureis absorbed add a tablespoonful of potato flour. Mix well, and graduallyadd equal quantities of cream and fowl stock, and stir till it boils. Then let it simmer gently. Stir occasionally, and if it gets too thick, add more cream and white stock. After two hours pass it twice slowlythrough a tamis so as to get the sauce very smooth. 

No. 4. Mirepoix Sauce (for masking)

Ingredients: Bacon, onions, carrots, ham, a bunch of herbs, parsley, mushrooms, cloves, peppercorns, stock, Chablis. 

Put the following ingredients into a stewpan: Some bits of bacon andlean ham, a carrot, all cut into dice, half an onion, a bunch of herbs, a few mushroom cuttings, two cloves, and four peppercorns. To thisadd one and a quarter pint of good stock and a glass of Chablis, boilrapidly for ten minutes then simmer till it is reduced to a third. Passthrough a sieve and use for masking meat, fowl, fish, &c. 

No. 5. Genoese Sauce

Ingredients: Onion, butter, Burgundy, mushrooms, truffles, parsley, bayleaf, Espagnole sauce (No. 1), blond of veal, essence of fish, anchovybutter, crayfish or lobster butter. 

Cut up a small onion and fry it in butter, add a glass of Burgundy, somecuttings of mushrooms and truffles, a pinch of chopped parsley and halfa bay leaf. Reduce half. In another saucepan put two cups of Espagnolesauce, one cup of veal stock, and a tablespoonful of essence of fish, reduce one-third and add it to the other saucepan, skim off all thegrease, boil for a few minutes, and pass through a sieve. Then stirit over the fire, and add half a teaspoonful of crayfish and half ofanchovy butter. 

No. 6. Italian Sauce

Ingredients: Chablis, mushrooms, leeks, a bunch of herbs, peppercorns, Espagnole sauce, game gravy or stock, lemon. 

Put into a stewpan two glasses of Chablis, two tablespoonsful ofmushroom trimmings, a leek cut up, a bunch of herbs, five peppercorns, and boil till it is reduced to half. In another stewpan mix two glassesof Espagnole (No. 1) or Velute sauce (No 2) and half a glass of gamegravy, boil for a few minutes then blend the contents of the twostewpans, pass through a sieve, and add the juice of a lemon. 

No. 7. Ham Sauce, Salsa di Prosciutto

Ingredients: Ham, Musca or sweet port, vinegar, basil spice. 

Cut up an ounce of ham and pound it in a mortar then mix it with threedessert spoonsful of port or Musca and a teaspoonful of vinegar a littledried basil and a pinch of spice. Boil it up, and then pass it througha sieve and warm it up in a bain-marie. Serve with roast meats. If youcannot get a sweet wine add half a teaspoonful of sugar. AustralianMuscat is a good wine to use. 

No. 8. Tarragon Sauce

Ingredients: Tarragon, stock, butter, flour. 

To half a pint of good stock add two good sprays of fresh tarragon, simmer for quarter of an hour in a stewpan and keep the lid on. In another stewpan melt one ounce of butter and mix it with threedessert-spoonsful of flour, then gradually pour the stock from the firststewpan over it, but take out the tarragon. Mix well, add a teaspoonfulof finely chopped tarragon and boil for two minutes. 

No. 9. Tomato Sauce

Ingredients: Tomatoes, ham, onions, basil, salt, oil, garlic, spices. 

Broil three tomatoes, skin them and mix them with a tablespoonful ofchopped ham, half an onion, salt, a dessert-spoonful of oil, a littlepounded spice and basil. Then boil and pass through a sieve. Whilst thesauce is boiling, put in a clove of garlic with a cut, but remove itbefore you pass the sauce through the sieve. 

No. 10. Tomato Sauce Piquante

Ingredients: Ham, butter, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, thyme, cloves, peppercorns, vinegar, Chablis, stock, tomatoes, Velute orEspagnole sauce, castor sugar, lemon. 

Cut up an ounce of ham, half an onion, half a carrot, half a stick ofcelery very fine, and fry them in butter together with a bay leaf, asprig of thyme, one clove and four peppercorns. Over this pour a thirdof a cup of vinegar, and when the liquid is all absorbed, add half aglass of Chablis and a cup of stock. Then add six tomatoes cut up andstrained of all their liquid. Cook this in a covered stewpan and passit through a sieve, but see that none of the bay leaf or thyme goesthrough. Mix this sauce with an equal quantity of Velute (No. 2) orEspagnole sauce, (No. 1), let it boil and pass through a sieve againand at the last add a teaspoonful of castor sugar, the juice of half alemon, and an ounce of fresh butter. (Another tomato sauce may be madelike this, but use stock instead of vinegar and leave out the lemonjuice and sugar. )

No. 11. Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients: Velute sauce, essence of mushrooms, butter. 

Mix two dessert-spoonsful of essence of mushrooms with a cupful ofVelute sauce (No. 2), reduce, keep on stirring, and just before servingadd an ounce of butter. This sauce can be made with essence of truffle, or game, or shallot. 

No. 12. Neapolitan Sauce

Ingredients: Onions, ham, butter, Marsala, blond of veal, thyme, bayleaf, peppercorns, cloves, mushrooms, Espagnole sauce (No. 1), tomatosauce, game stock or essence. 

Fry an onion in butter with some bits of cut-up ham, then pour a glassof Marsala over it, and another of blond of veal, add a sprig of thyme, a bay leaf, four peppercorns, a clove, a tablespoonful of mushroomcuttings, and reduce half. In another saucepan put two cups of Espagnolesauce, one cupful of tomato sauce, and half a cup of game stock oressence. Reduce a third, and add the contents of the first saucepan, boil the sauce a few minutes, and pass it through a sieve. Warm it up ina bain-marie before using. 

No. 13. Neapolitan Anchovy Sauce

Ingredients: Anchovies, fennel, flour, spices, parsley, marjoram, garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, cream. 

Wash three anchovies in vinegar, bone and pound them in a mortar witha teaspoonful of chopped fennel and a pinch of cinnamon. Then mix in ateaspoonful of chopped parsley and marjoram, a squeeze of lemon juice, a teaspoonful of flour, half a gill of boiled cream and the bones ofthe fish for which you will use this sauce. Pass through a sieve, add aclove of garlic with a cut in it, and boil. If the fish you are usingis cooked in the oven, add a little of the liquor in which it has beencooked to the sauce. Take out the garlic before serving. Instead ofanchovies you may use caviar, pickled tunny, or any other pickled fish. 

No. 14. Roman Sauce (Salsa Agro-dolce)

Ingredients: Espagnole sauce, stock, burnt sugar, vinegar, raisins, pinenuts or almonds. 

Mix two spoonsful of burnt sugar with one of vinegar, and dilute with alittle good stock. Then add two cups of Espagnole sauce (No. 1), a fewstoned raisins, and a few pinocchi* (pine nuts) or shredded almonds. Keep this hot in a bain-marie, and serve with cutlets, calf's head orfeet or tongue. 

*The pinocchi which Italians use instead of almonds can be bought inLondon when in season. 

No. 15. Roman Sauce (another way)

Ingredients: Espagnole sauce, an onion, butter, flour, lemon, herbs, nutmeg, raisins, pine nuts or almonds, burnt sugar. 

Cut up a small bit of onion, fry it slightly in butter and a littleflour, add the juice of a lemon and a little of the peel grated, abouquet of herbs, a pinch of nutmeg, a few stoned raisins, shreddedalmonds or pinocchi, and a tablespoonful of burnt sugar. Add this to agood Espagnole (No. 1), and warm it up in a bain-marie. 

No. 16. Supreme Sauce

Ingredients: White sauce, fowl stock, butter. 

Put three-quarters of a pint of white sauce into a saucepan, and whenit is nearly boiling add half a cup of concentrated fowl stock. Reduceuntil the sauce is quite thick, and when about to serve pass it througha tamis into a bain-marie and add two tablespoonsful of cream. 

No. 17. Pasta marinate (For masking Italian Frys)

Ingredients: Semolina flour, eggs, salt, butter (or olive oil), vinegar, water. 

Mix the following ingredients well together: two ounces of semolinaflour, the yolks of two eggs, a little salt, and two ounces of meltedbutter. Add a glass of water so as to form a liquid substance. At thelast add the whites of two eggs beaten up to a snow. This will make agood paste for masking meat, fish, vegetables, or sweets which are tobe fried in the Italian manner, but if for meat or vegetables add a fewdrops of vinegar or a little lemon juice. 

No. 18. White Villeroy

Ingredients: Butter, flour, eggs, cream, nutmeg, white stock. 

Make a light-coloured roux by frying two ounces of butter and two ouncesof flour, stir in some white stock and keep it very smooth. Let it boil, and add the yolks of three eggs, mixed with two tablespoonsful of creamand a pinch of nutmeg. Pass it through a sieve and use for maskingcutlets, fish, &c. 

Soups

No. 19. Clear Soup

Ingredients: Stock meat, water, a bunch of herbs (thyme, parsley, chervil, bay leaf, basil, marjoram), three carrots, three turnips, threeonions, three cloves stuck in the onions, one blade of mace. 

Cut up three pounds of stock meat small and put it in a stock pot withtwo quarts of cold water, three carrots, and three turnips cut up, threeonions with a clove stuck in each one, a bunch of herbs and a blade ofmace. Let it come to the boil and then draw it off, at once skim offall the scum, and keep it gently simmering, and occasionally add twoor three tablespoonsful of cold water. Let it simmer all day, and thenstrain it through a fine cloth. 

Some of the liquor in which a calf's head has been cooked, or even acalf's foot, will greatly improve a clear soup. 

The stock should never be allowed to boil as long as the meat andvegetables are in the stock pot. 

No. 20. Zuppa Primaverile (Spring Soup)

Ingredients: Clear soup, vegetables. 

Any fresh spring vegetables will do for this soup, but they must all becooked separately and put into the soup at the last minute. It is bestmade with fresh peas, asparagus tips, and a few strips of tarragon. 

No. 21. Soup alla Lombarda

Ingredients: Clear soup, fowl forcemeat, Bechamel (No. 3), peas, lobsterbutter, eggs, asparagus. 

Make a firm forcemeat of fowl and divide it into three parts, to thefirst add two spoonsful of cream Bechamel, to the second four spoonsfulof puree of green peas, to the third two spoonsful of lobster butter andthe yolk of an egg; thus you will have the Italian colours, red, white, and green. Butter a pie dish and make little quenelles of the forcemeat. Just before serving boil them for four minutes in boiling stock, takethem out carefully and put them in a warm soup tureen with two spoonsfulof cooked green peas and pour a very fresh clear soup over them. Handlittle croutons fried in lobster butter separately. 

No. 22. Tuscan Soup

Ingredients: Stock, eggs. 

Whip up three or four eggs, gradually add good stock to them, and keepon whisking them up until they begin to curdle. Keep the soup hot in abain-marie. 

No. 23. Venetian Soup

Ingredients: Clear soup, butter, flour, Parmesan, eggs. 

Make a roux by frying two ounces of butter and two ounces of flour, addan ounce of grated cheese and half a cup of good stock. Mix up well soas to form a paste, and then take it off the fire and add the yolks offour eggs, mix again and form the again and form the paste into littlequenelles. Boil these in a little soup, strain off, put them into thetureen and pour a good clear soup over them. 

No. 24. Roman Soup

Ingredients: Stock, butter, eggs, salt, crumb of bread, parsley, nutmeg, flour, Parmesan. 

Mix three and a half ounces of butter with two eggs and four ounces ofcrumbs of bread soaked in stock, a little chopped parsley, salt, and apinch of nutmeg. Reduce this and add two tablespoonsful of flour andone of grated Parmesan. Form this into little quenelles and boil themin stock for a few minutes put them into a tureen and pour a good clearsoup over them. 

No. 25. Soup alla Nazionale

Ingredients: Clear soup, savoury custard. 

Make a savoury custard and divide it into three parts, one to be leftwhite, another coloured red with tomato, and the third green withspinach. Put a layer of each in a buttered saucepan and cook for aboutten minutes, cut it into dice, so that you have the three Italiancolours (red, white, and green) together, then put the custard into asoup tureen and pour a good clear soup over it. 

No. 26. Soup alla Modanese

Ingredients: Stock, spinach, butter, salt, eggs, Parmesan, nutmeg, croutons. 

Wash one pound of spinach in five or six waters, then chop it very fineand mix it with three ounces of butter, salt it and warm it up. Thenlet it get cold, pass through a hair sieve, and add two eggs, atablespoonful of grated Parmesan, and very little nutmeg. Add this tosome boiling stock in a copper saucepan, put on the lid, and on the topput some hot coals so that the eggs may curdle and help to thicken thesoup. Serve with fried croutons. 

No. 27. Crotopo Soup

Ingredients: Clear soup, veal, ham, eggs, salt, pepper, nutmeg, rolls. 

Pound half a pound of lean veal in a mortar, then add three ounces ofcooked ham with some fat in it, the yolk of an egg, salt, pepper, andvery little nutmeg. Pass through a sieve, cut some small French rollsinto slices, spread them with the above mixture, and colour them in theoven. Then cut them in halves or quarters, put them into a tureen, andjust before serving pour a very good clear soup over them. 

No. 28. Soup all'Imperatrice

Ingredients: Breast of fowl, eggs, salt, pepper, ground rice, nutmeg, clear stock. 

Pound the breast of a fowl in a mortar, and add to it a teaspoonful ofground rice, the yolk of an egg, salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Pass this through a sieve, form quenelles with it, and pour a good clearsoup over them. 

No. 29. Neapolitan Soup

Ingredients: Fowl, potato flour, eggs, Bechamel sauce, peas, asparagus, spinach, clear soup. 

Mix a quarter pound of forcemeat of fowl with a tablespoonful of potatoflour, a tablespoonful of Bechamel sauce (No. 3), and the yolk of anegg; put this into a tube about the size round of an ordinary macaroni;twenty minutes before serving squirt the forcemeat into a saucepan withboiling stock, and nip off the forcemeat as it comes through the pipeinto pieces about an inch and a half long. Let it simmer, and add boiledpeas and asparagus tips. If you like to have the fowl macaroni whiteand green, you can colour half the forcemeat with a spoonful of spinachcolouring. Serve in a good clear soup. 

No. 30. Soup with Risotto

Ingredients: Risotto (No. 189), eggs, bread crumbs, clear or brown soup. 

If you have some good risotto left, you can use it up by making it intolittle balls the size of small nuts. Egg and bread crumb and fry them inbutter; dry them and put them into a soup tureen with hot soup. The soupmay be either clear or brown. 

No. 31. Soup alla Canavese

Ingredients: White stock, butter, onions, carrot, celery, tomato, cauliflower, fat bacon, parsley, sage, Parmesan, salt, pepper. 

Chop up half an onion, half a carrot, half a stick of celery, a smallbit of fat bacon, and fry them in two ounces of butter. Then cover themwith good white stock, boil for a few minutes, pass through a sieve, andadd two tablespoonsful of tomato puree. Then blanch half a cauliflowerin salted water, let it get cold, drain all the water out of it, andbreak it up into little bunches and put them into a stock pot with thestock, a small leaf of dried sage, crumbled up, and a little choppedparsley, and let it all boil; add a pinch of grated cheese and somepepper. Serve with grated Parmesan handed separately. 

No. 32. Soup alla Maria Pia

Ingredients: White stock, eggs, butter, peas, white beans, carrot, onion, leeks, celery, cream croutons. 

Soak one pound of white beans for twelve hours, then put them into astock pot with a little salt, butter, and water, add a carrot, an onion, two leeks, and a stick of celery, and simmer until the vegetables arewell cooked; then take out all the fresh vegetables, drain the beans andpass them through a sieve, but first dilute them with good stock. Putthis puree into a stock pot with good white stock, and when it hasboiled keep it hot in a bain-marie until you are about to serve; thenmix the yolk of three eggs in a cup of cream, and add this to the soup. Pour the soup into a warm tureen, add some boiled green peas, and servewith fried croutons handed separately. 

No. 33. Zuppa d' Erbe (Lettuce Soup)

Ingredients: Stock, sorrel, endive, lettuce, chervil, celery, carrot, onion, French roll, Parmesan cheese. 

Boil the following vegetables and herbs in very good stock for an hour:Two small bunches of sorrel, a bunch of endive, a lettuce, a small bunchof chervil, a stick of celery, a carrot and an onion, all well washedand cut up. Then put some slices of toasted French roll into a tureenand pour the above soup over them. Serve with grated Parmesan handedseparately. 

No. 34. Zuppa Regina di Riso (Queen's Soup)

Ingredients: Fowl stock, ground rice, milk, butter. 

Put a tablespoonful of ground rice into a saucepan and gradually addhalf a pint of milk, boil it gently for twelve minutes in a bainmarie, but stir the whole time, so as to get it very smooth. Just beforeserving add an ounce of butter, pass it through a sieve, and mix it withgood fowl stock. 

Minestre

Minestra is a thick broth, very much like hotch-potch, only thicker. InItaly it is often served at the beginning of dinner instead of soup; italso makes an excellent lunch dish. Two or three tablespoonsful of No. 35 will be found a great improvement to any of these minestre. 

No. 35. A Condiment for Seasoning Minestre, &c. 

Ingredients: Onions, celery, carrots, butter, salt, stock, tomatoes, mushrooms. 

Cut up an onion, a stick of celery, and a carrot; fry them in butter andsalt; add a few bits of cooked ham and veal cut up, two mushrooms, andthe pulp of a tomato. Cook for a quarter of an hour, and add a littlestock occasionally to keep it moist. Pass through a sieve, and use forseasoning minestre, macaroni, rice, &c. It should be added when the dishis nearly cooked. 

No. 36. Minestra alla Casalinga

Ingredients: Rice, butter, stock, vegetables. 

All sorts of vegetables will serve for this dish. Blanch them in boilingsalted water, then drain and fry them in butter. Add plenty of goodstock, and put them on a slow fire. Boil four ounces of rice in stock, and when it is well done add the stock with the vegetables. Season withtwo or three spoonsful of No. 35, and serve with grated cheese handedseparately. 

No. 37. Minestra of Rice and Turnips

Ingredients: Rice, turnips, butter, gravy, tomatoes. 

Cut three or four young turnips into slices and put them on a dish, strew a little salt over them, cover them with another dish, and letthem stand for about two hours until the water has run out of them. Then drain the slices, put them in a frying-pan and fry them slightlyin butter. Add some good gravy and mashed-up tomatoes, and after havingcooked this for a few minutes pour it into good boiling stock. Add threeounces of well-washed rice, and boil for half-an-hour. 

Minestra loses its flavour if it is boiled too long. In Lombardy, however, rice, macaroni, &c. , are rarely boiled enough for Englishtastes. 

No. 38. Minestra alla Capucina

Ingredients: Rice, anchovies, butter, stock, and onions. 

Scale an anchovy, pound it, and fry it in butter together with a smallonion cut across, and four ounces of boiled rice. Add a little salt, andwhen the rice is a golden brown, take out the onion and gradually addsome good stock until the dish is of the consistency of rice pudding. 

No. 39. Minestra of Semolina

Ingredients: Stock, semolina, Parmesan. 

Put as much stock as you require into a saucepan, and when it begins toboil add semolina very gradually, and stir to keep it from gettinglumpy Cook it until the semolina is soft, and serve with grated Parmesanhanded separately. To one quart of soup use three ounces of semolina. 

No. 40. Minestrone alla Milanese

Ingredients: Rice or macaroni, ham, bacon, stock, all sorts ofvegetables. 

Minestrone is a favourite dish in Lombardy when vegetables areplentiful. Boil all sorts of vegetables in stock, and add bits of bacon, ham, onions braized in butter, chopped parsley, a clove of garlic withtwo cuts, and rice or macaroni. Put in those vegetables first whichrequire most cooking, and do not make the broth too thin. Leave thegarlic in for a quarter of an hour only. 

No. 41. Minestra of Rice and Cabbage

Ingredients: Rice, cabbage, stock, ham, tomato sauce. 

Cut off the stalk and all the hard outside leaves of a cabbage, wash itand cut it up, but not too small, then drain and cook it in good stockand add two ounces of boiled rice. This minestre is improved by adding alittle chopped ham and a few spoonsful of tomato sauce. 

No. 42. Minestra of Rice and Celery

Ingredients: Celery, rice, stock. 

Cut up a head of celery and remove all the green parts, then boil it ingood stock and add two ounces of rice, and boil till it is well cooked. 

Fish

No. 43. Anguilla alla Milanese (Eels). 

Ingredients: Eels, butter, flour, stock, bay leaves, salt, pepper, Chablis, a macedoine of vegetables. 

Cut up a big eel and fry it in two ounces of butter, and when it is agood colour add a tablespoonful of flour, about half a pint of stock, aglass of Chablis, a bay leaf, pepper, and salt, and boil till it is wellcooked. In the meantime boil separately all sorts of vegetables, such ascarrots, cauliflower, celery, beans, tomatoes, &c. Take out the piecesof eel, but keep them hot, whilst you pass the liquor which forms thesauce through a sieve and add the vegetables to this. Let them boil alittle longer and arrange them in a dish; place the pieces of eel onthem and cover with the sauce. It is most important that the eels shouldbe served very hot. 

Any sort of fish will do as well for this dish. 

No. 44. Filletti di Pesce alla Villeroy (Fillets of Fish)

Ingredients: Fish, flour, butter, Villeroy. 

Any sort of fish will do, turbot, sole, trout, &c. Cut it into fillets, flour them over and cook them in butter in a covered stewpan; then makea Villeroy (No. 18), dip the fillets into it and fry them in clarifiedbutter. 

No. 45. Astachi all'Italiana (Lobster)

Ingredients: Lobsters, Velute sauce, Marsala, butter, forcemeat of fish, olives, anchovy butter, button mushrooms, truffles, lemon, crayfish, Italian sauce. 

Two boiled lobsters are necessary. Cut all the flesh of one of thelobsters into fillets and put them into a saucepan with half a cup ofVelute sauce (No. 2) and half a glass of Marsala, and boil for a fewminutes. Put a crouton of fried bread on an oval dish and cover it witha forcemeat of fish, and on this place the whole lobster, cover it withbuttered paper, and put it in a moderate oven just long enough to cookthe forcemeat. Then make some quenelles of anchovy butter, olives, andbutton mushrooms, mix them with Italian sauce (No. 6), and garnish thedish with them, and round the crouton arrange the fillets of lobsterwith a garnish of slices of truffle. Add a dessert-spoonful of crayfishbutter and a good squeeze of lemon juice to the sauce, and serve. 

No. 46. Baccala alla Giardiniera (Cod)

Ingredients: Cod or hake, carrots, turnips, butter, herbs. 

Boil a piece of cod or hake and break it up into flakes, then cut up twocarrots and a turnip; boil them gently, and when they are half boileddrain and put them into a stewpan with an ounce of butter, half a teacupof boiling water, salt, and herbs. When they are well cooked add thefish and serve. Fillets of lemon soles may also be cooked this way. 

No. 47. Triglie alla Marinara (Mullet)

Ingredients: Mullet, salt, pepper, onions, parsley, oil, water. 

Cut a mullet into pieces and put it into a stewpan (with the lidon), with salt, pepper, a cut-up onion, some chopped parsley, half awineglass of the finest olive oil and half a pint of water, and in thiscook the fish gently. Arrange the fillets on a dish, pour a little ofthe broth over them, and add the onion and parsley. Instead of mulletyou can use cod, hake, whiting, lemon sole, &c. 

No. 48. Mullet alla Tolosa

Ingredients: Mullet, butter, salt, onions, parsley, almonds, anchovies, button mushrooms, tomatoes. 

Cut off the fins and gills of a mullet, put it in a fireproof dish withtwo ounces of butter and salt. Cut up a small bit of onion, a sprigof parsley, a few blanched almonds, one anchovy, and a few buttonmushrooms, previously softened in hot water, and put them over the fishand bake for twenty minutes Then add two tablespoonsful of tomatosauce or puree, and when cooked serve. If you like, use sole instead ofmullet. 

No. 49. Mullet alla Triestina

Ingredients: Mullet (or sole or turbot), butter, salt half a lemon, Chablis. 

Put the fish in a fireproof dish with one and a half ounces of butter, salt, a squeeze of lemon juice, and half a glass of Chablis. Put it ona very, slow fire and turn the fish when necessary. When it is cookedserve in the dish. 

No. 50. Whiting alla Genovese

Ingredients: Whiting, butter, pepper, salt, bay leaf claret, parsley, onions, garlic capers, vinegar, Espagnole sauce, mushrooms, anchovies. 

Put one or two whiting into a stewpan with two ounces of butter, salt, pepper, two bay leaves, and a glass of claret or Burgundy; cook on a hotfire and turn the fish when necessary. Have ready beforehand a remouladesauce made in the following manner: Put in a saucepan 1 1/2 ounces ofbutter, half a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, half an onion, a clove ofgarlic (with one cut), four capers, one anchovy, all chopped up exceptthe garlic. Then add three tablespoonsful of vinegar and reduce thesauce. Add two glasses of Espagnole sauce (No. 1) and a little goodstock; boil it all up (take out the garlic and bay leaves) and passthrough a sieve, then pour it over the whiting. Boil it all again fora few minutes, and before serving garnish with a few button mushroomscooked separately. The remoulade sauce will be much better if made somehours beforehand. 

No. 51. Merluzzo in Bianco (Cod)

Ingredients: Cod or whiting, salt, onions, parsley, cloves, turnips, marjoram, chervil, milk. 

Boil gently in a big cupful of salted water two onions, one turnip, apinch of chopped parsley, chervil, and marjoram and four cloves. Afterhalf an hour pass this through a sieve (but first take out the cloves), and add an equal quantity of milk and a little cream, and in this cookthe fish and serve with the sauce over it. 

No. 52. Merluzzo in Salamoia (Cod)

Ingredients: Cod, hake, whiting or red mullet, onions, parsley, mint, marjoram, turnips, mushrooms, chervil, cloves, salt, milk, cream, eggs. 

Put a salt-spoonful of salt, two onions, a little parsley, marjoram, mint, chervil, a turnip, a mushroom, and the heads of two cloves intoa stewpan and simmer in a cupful of milk for half an hour, then let allthe ingredients settle at the bottom, and pass the broth through a hairsieve, and add to it an equal quantity of milk or cream, and in it cookyour fish on a slow fire. When the fish is quite cooked, pour off thesauce, but leave a little on the fish to keep it warm; reduce the restin a bain-marie; stir all the time, so that the milk may not curdle. Thicken the sauce with the yolk of an egg, and when about to serve pourit over the fish. 

No. 53. Baccala in Istufato (Haddock)

Ingredients: Haddock or lemon sole, carrots, anchovies, lemon, pepper, butter, onions, flour, white wine, stock. 

Stuff a haddock (or filleted lemon sole) with some slices of carrotwhich have been masked with a paste made of pounded anchovies, verylittle chopped lemon peel, salt and pepper. Then fry an onion with twocuts across it in butter. Take out the onion as soon as it has become agolden colour, flour the fish and put it in the butter, and when it hasbeen well fried on both sides pour a glass of Marsala over it, and whenit is all absorbed add a cup of fowl or veal stock and let it simmer forhalf an hour, then skim and reduce the sauce, pour it over the fish andserve. 

No. 54. Naselli con Piselli (Whiting)

Ingredients: Whiting, onions, parsley, peas, tomatoes, butter, Parmesan, Bechamel sauce. 

Cut a big whiting into two or three pieces and fry them slightly inbutter, add a small bit of onion, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley andfry for a few minutes more. Then add some peas which have been cooked insalted water, three tablespoonsful of Bechamel sauce (No. 3), and threeof tomato puree, and cook all together on a moderate fire. 

No. 55. Ostriche alla Livornese (Oysters)

Ingredients: Oysters, parsley, shallot, anchovies, fennel pepper, breadcrumbs, cream, lemon. 

Detach the oysters from their shells and put then into china shells withtheir own liquor. Have ready a dessert-spoonful of parsley, shallot, anchovy and very little fennel, add a tablespoonful of bread crumbs anda little pepper, and mix the whole with a little cream. Put some ofthis mixture on each oyster, and then bake them in a moderate fire fora quarter of an hour. At the last minute add a squeeze of lemon juice toeach oyster and serve on a folded napkin. 

No. 56. Ostriche alla Napolitana (Oysters)

Ingredients: Oysters, parsley, celery, thyme, pepper, garlic, oil, lemon. 

Prepare the oysters as above, but rub each shell with a little garlic. Put on each oyster a mixture made of chopped parsley, a little thyme, pepper, and bread crumbs. Then pour a few drops of oil on each shell, put them on the gridiron on an open fire, grill for a few minutes, andadd a little lemon juice before serving. 

No. 57. Ostriche alla Veneziana (Oysters)

Ingredients: Oysters, butter, shallots, truffles, lemon juice, forcemeatof fish. 

Take several oysters out of their shells and cook them in butter, alittle chopped shallot, and their own liquor, add a little lemon juiceand then put in each of the deeper shells a layer of forcemeat made offish and chopped truffles, then an oyster or two, and over this againanother layer of the forcemeat, cover up with the top shell and put themin a fish kettle and steam them. Then remove the top shell and arrangethe shells with the oysters on a napkin and serve. 

No. 58. Pesci diversi alla Casalinga (Fish)

Ingredients: Any sort of fish, celery, parsley, carrots, garlic, onion, anchovies, almonds, capers, mushrooms, butter, salt, pepper, flour, tomatoes. 

Chop up a stick of celery, a sprig of parsley, a carrot, an onion. Poundup an anchovy in brine (well cleaned, boned, and scaled), four shreddedalmonds, three capers and two mushrooms. Put all this into a saucepanwith one ounce of butter, salt and pepper, and fry for a few minutes, then add a few spoonsful of hot water and a tablespoonful of flour andboil gently for ten minutes, put in the fish and cook it until it isdone. If you like, you may add a little tomato sauce. 

No. 59. Pesce alla Genovese (Sole or Turbot)

Ingredients: Fish (sole, mullet, or turbot), butter, salt, onion, garlic, carrots, celery, parsley, nutmeg, pepper, spice, mushrooms, tomatoes, flour, anchovies. 

Fry an onion slightly in one and a half ounces of butter, add a smallcut-up carrot, half a stick of celery, a sprig of parsley, and a saltanchovy (scaled), which will dissolve in the butter. Into this put thefish cut up in pieces, a pinch of spice and pepper, and let it simmerfor a few minutes, then add two cut-up mushrooms, a tomato mashed up, and a little flour. Mix all together, and cook for twenty minutes. 

No. 60. Sogliole in Zimino (Sole)

Ingredients: Sole, onion, beetroot, butter, celery, tomato sauce orwhite wine. 

Cut up a small onion and fry it slightly in one ounce of butter, thenadd some slices of beetroot (well-washed and drained), and a littlecelery cut up; to this add fillets of sole or haddock, salt and pepper. Boil on a moderate on the fish kettle. When the beetroot is nearlycooked add two tablespoonsful of tomato puree and boil till all is wellcooked. Instead of the tomato you may use half a glass of Chablis. 

No. 61. Sogliole al tegame (Sole)

Ingredients: Sole (or mullet), butter, anchovies, parsley, garlic, capers, eggs. 

Put an ounce of butter and an anchovy in a saucepan together with a soleor mullet. Fry lightly for a few minutes, then strew a little pepper andchopped parsley over it, put in a clove of garlic with one cut, and cookfor half an hour, but turn the fish over when one side is sufficientlydone. A few minutes before taking it off the fire add three capers andstir in the yolk of an egg at the last minute. Do not leave the garlicin more than five minutes. 

No. 62. Sogliole alla Livornese (Sole)

Ingredients: Sole, butter, garlic, pepper, salt, tomatoes, fennel. 

Fillet a sole and put it in a saute-pan with one and a half ounces ofbutter and a clove of garlic with one cut in it, then sprinkle over ita little chopped fennel, salt and pepper, and let it cook for a fewminutes. Turn over the fillets w hen they are sufficiently cooked on oneside, take out the garlic and cover the fish with a puree of tomatoes atthe last. 

No. 63. Sogliole alla Veneziana (Sole)

Ingredients: Sole, anchovies, butter, bacon, onion, stock, Chablis, salt, nutmeg, parsley, Spanish olives, one bay leaf. 

Fillet a sole and interlard each piece with a bit of anchovy. Tie up thefillets and put them in a saute-pan with two ounces of butter, a sliceof bacon or ham, and a few small slices of onion. Cover half over withgood stock and a glass of Chablis, and add salt, a pinch of nutmeg, abunch of parsley, and a bay leaf. Cover with buttered paper, and cook ona slow fire for about an hour. Drain the fish, pass the liquor througha sieve, reduce it to the consistency of a thick sauce, and pour it overthe fish. Garnish each fillet with a Spanish olive stuffed with anchovy. 

No. 64. Sogliole alla Parmigiana (Sole). *

Ingredients: Sole, Parmesan, butter, cream, cayenne. 

Fillet a sole and wipe each piece with a clean cloth, then place them ina fireproof dish, and put a small piece of butter on each fillet. Thenmake a good white sauce, and mix it with two tablespoonsful of gratedParmesan and half a gill of cream. Cover the fish well with the sauce, and bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes. 

*Lemon soles may be used in any of the above-named dishes. 

No. 65. Salmone alla Genovese (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, Genoese sauce (No. 5), butter, lemon. 

Boil a bit of salmon, drain it, take off the skin, and mask it with aGenoese sauce, to which add a spoonful of the water in which the salmonhas been boiled, and at the last add a pat of fresh butter and a squeezeof lemon juice. 

No. 66. Salmone alla Perigo (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, forcemeat of fish, truffles, butter, Madeira, croutons of bread, crayfish tails, anchovy butter. 

Cut a bit of salmon into well shaped fillets, and marinate them in lemonjuice and a bunch of herbs for two hours, wipe them, put a layer offorcemeat of fish over each, and decorate them with slices of truffle. When put them into a well-buttered saute-pan with half a cup of stockand a glass of Madeira or Marsala, cover with buttered paper, and putthem into a moderate oven for twenty minutes. Arrange the fillets in acircle on croutons of bread, garnish the centre with crayfish tails andwith truffles cut into dice, a quarter of a pint of Velute sauce (No. 2), and half a teaspoonful of anchovy butter. Glaze the fillets andserve. 

No. 67. Salmone alla giardiniera (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, forcemeat of fish, vegetables, butter, Bechamel, and Espagnole sauce. 

Prepare the fillets as above (No. 66), and put on each a layer ofwhite forcemeat of fish. Cook a macedoine of vegetables separately, andgarnish each fillet with some of it, then cook them in a covered stewpanPut a crouton of bread in an entree dish and garnish it with cookedpeas, mixed with Bechamel sauce (No. 3), stock, and butter. Around thisplace the fillets of fish, leaving the centre with the peas uncovered. Pour some rich Espagnole sauce (No. 1) round the fillets and serve. 

No. 68. Salmone alla Farnese (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, oil, lemon juice, thyme, salt, pepper, nutmeg, mayonnaise sauce, lobster butter, gelatine, Velute sauce, olives, anchovy butter, white truffles, mushrooms in oil, crayfish. 

Boil a piece of salmon, and when cold cut it into fillets and marinatethem for two hours in oil, lemon juice, salt, thyme pepper, and nutmeg. Then make a good mayonnaise and add to it some lobster butter mixed witha little dissolved gelatine and Velute sauce (No. 2). Wipe the filletsand arrange them in a circle on a dish, and pour the mayonnaise overthem. Then decorate the border of the dish with aspic jelly, and inthe centre put some stoned Spanish olives stuffed with anchovy butter, truffles, mushrooms in oil, and crayfish tails. 

No. 69. Salmone alla Santa Fiorentina (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, eggs, mayonnaise, parsley, flour. 

Marinate a piece of boiled salmon for an hour; take out the bone andcut the fish into fillets, wipe them, roll them in flour and dip themin eggs beaten up or in mayonnaise sauce, and fry them a good colour. Arrange in a circle on the dish, garnish with fried parsley, and servewith Dutch or mayonnaise sauce. Any fillets of fish may be cooked inthis manner. 

No. 70. Salmone alla Francesca (Salmon)

Ingredients: Salmon, butter, onions, parsley, salt, pepper, nutmeg, stock, Chablis, Espagnole sauce (No. 1) mushrooms, anchovy butter, lemon. 

Put a firm piece of salmon in a stewpan with one and a half ounces ofbutter, an onion cut up, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley (blanched), salt, pepper, very little nutmeg, a cup of stock, and a glass ofChablis. Cook for half an hour over a hot fire, turn the salmonoccasionally, and if it gets dry, add a cup of Espagnole sauce. Letit boil until sufficiently cooked, and then put it on a dish. Into thesauce put four mushrooms cooked in white sauce, half a teaspoonful ofanchovy butter and a little lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the salmonand serve. 

No. 71. Fillets of Salmon in Papiliotte

Ingredients: Salmon, oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, nutmeg, herbs. 

Cut a piece of salmon into fillets, marinate them in oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and herbs for two hours. Wipe and put them intopaper souffle cases with a little oil, butter, and herbs. Cook them on agridiron, and serve with a sauce piquante made in the following manner:Half a pint of rich Espagnole sauce (No. 1) and a dessert-spoonful ofNew Century{*} sauce, warmed up in a bain-marie. 

*Can be obtained at Messrs Lazenby's, Wigmoree Street, W. 

Beef, Mutton, Veal, Lamb, &C. 

No. 72. Manzo alla Certosina (Fillet of Beef)

Ingredients: Fillet of beef or rump steak, bacon, olive oil, salt, nutmeg, anchovies, herbs, stock, garlic. 

Put a piece of very tender rump steak or fillet of beef into a stewpanwith two slices of fat bacon and three teaspoonsful of the finest oliveoil; season with salt and a tiny pinch of nutmeg; let it cook uncovered, and turn the meat over occasionally. When it is nicely browned add ananchovy minced and mixed with chopped herbs, and a small clove of garlicwith one cut across it. Then cover the whole with good stock, put thecover on the stewpan, and when it is all sufficiently cooked, skim thegrease off the sauce, pass it through a sieve, and pour it over thebeef. Leave the garlic in for five minutes only. 

No. 73. Stufato alla Florentina (Stewed Beef)

Ingredients: Beef, mutton, or veal, onions, rosemary, Burgundy, tomatoes, stock, potatoes, butter, garlic. 

Cut up an onion and three leaves of rosemary, fry them slightly inan ounce of butter, then add meat (beef, mutton, or veal), cut intofair-sized pieces, salt it and fry it a little, then pour half a glassof Burgundy over it, and add two tablespoonsful of tomato conserve, orbetter still, fresh tomatoes in a puree. Cover up the stewpan and cookgently, stir occasionally, and add some stock if the stew gets too dry. If you like to add potatoes, cut them up, put them in the stewpan anhour before serving, and cook them with the meat. A clove of garlic withone cut may be added for five minutes. 

No. 74. Coscia di Manzo al Forno (Rump Steak)

Ingredients: Rump steak, ham, salt, pepper, spice, fat bacon, onion, stock, white wine. 

Lard a bit of good rump steak with bits of lean ham, and season it withsalt, pepper, and a little spice, slightly brown it in butter for a fewminutes, then cover it with three or four slices of fat bacon and put itinto a stewpan with an onion chopped up, a cup of good stock, and halfa glass of white wine; cook with the cover on the stewpan for about anhour. You may add a clove of garlic for ten minutes. 

No. 75. Polpettine alla Salsa Piccante (Beef Olives)

Ingredients: Beef steak, butter, onions, stock, sausage meat. 

Cut some thin slices of beef steak, and on each place a little forcemeatof fowl or veal, to which add a little sausage meat: roll up the slicesof beef and cook them with butter and onions, and when they are wellbrowned pour some stock over them, and let them absorb it. Serve with atomato sauce (No. 10), or sauce piquante made with a quarter of a pintof rich Espagnole (No. 1), and a dessert-spoonful of New Century sauce(see No. 71 note). 

No. 76. Stufato alla Milanese (Stewed Beef)

Ingredients: Rump steak, bacon, ham, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, butter, onions, Burgundy. 

Beat a piece of rump steak to make it tender and lard it well, cut upsome bits of fat bacon and dust them over with salt, pepper, and a tinypinch of cinnamon, and put them on the steak. Stick three cloves intothe steak, then put it into a stewpan, add a little of the fat of thebeef chopped up, an ounce of butter, an onion cut up, and some bits oflean ham. Put in sufficient stock to cover the steak, add a glass ofBurgundy, and stew gently until it is cooked. 

No. 77. Manzo Marinato Arrosto (Marinated Beef)

Ingredients: Beef, salt, larding bacon, Burgundy, vinegar, spices, herbs, flour. 

Beat a piece of rump steak, or fillet to make it tender; sprinkle itwell with salt and some chopped herbs, and leave it for an hour; thenlard it and marinate it as follows: Half a pint of red wine (AustralianHarvest Burgundy is best), half a glass of vinegar, a pinch of spice, and a bouquet of herbs; leave it in this for twenty-four hours then takeit out, drain it well sprinkle it with flour, and roast it for twentyminutes before a clear fire, braize it till quite tender, then press andglaze it. The thin end of a sirloin is excellent cooked this way. Servecold. 

No. 78. Manzo con sugo di Barbabietole (Fillet of Beef)

Ingredients: Beef, beetroot, salt. 

Cut up three raw beetroots put them into an earthen ware pot and coverthem with water. Keep them in some warm place, and allow them to fermentfor five, six, or eight days according to the season; the froth at thetop of the water will indicate the necessary fermentation. The take outthe pieces of beetroot, skim off all the froth, and into the fermentedliquor put a good piece of tender rump steak or fillet with some salt. Braize for four hours and serve. 

No. 79. Manzo in Insalata (Marinated Beef)

Ingredients: Beef, oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, parsley, capers, mushrooms, olives, vegetables. 

Cook a fillet of beef (or the thin end of a sirloin), which has beenpreviously marinated for two days in oil, salt, pepper, vinegar, andchopped parsley. When cold press and glaze it, garnish it with capers, mushrooms preserved in vinegar or gherkins, olives, and any kind ofvegetables marinated like the beef. Serve cold. 

No. 80. Filetto di Bue con Pistacchi (Fillets of Beef with Pistacchios)

Ingredients: Fillet of beef, oil, salt, flour, pistacchio nuts, gravy. 

Cut a piece of tender beef into little fillets, and put a them in astewpan with a tablespoonful of olive oil and salt. After they havecooked for a few minutes, powder them with flour, and strew over eachfillet some chopped pistacchio nuts. Add a few spoonsful of very goodboiling gravy, and cook for another half-hour. 

No. 81. Scalopini di Riso (Beef with Risotto)

Ingredients: Rump steak, butter, rice, truffles, tongue, stock, mushrooms. 

Slightly stew a bit of rump steak with bits of tongue and mushrooms; letit get cold, and cut it into scallops. Butter a pie dish, and garnishthe bottom of it with cooked tongue and slices of cooked truffle, thenover this put a layer of well-cooked and seasoned risotto (No. 190), then a layer of the scallops of beef, and then another layer of risotto. Heat in a bain-marie, and turn out of the pie dish, and serve with avery good sauce poured round it. 

No. 82. Tenerumi alla Piemontese (Tendons of Veal)

Ingredients: Tendons of veal, fowl forcemeat, truffles, risotto (No. 190), a cock's comb, tongue. 

Tendons of veal are that part of the breast which lies near the ribs, and forms an opaque gristly substance. Partly braize a fine bit ofthis joint, and press it between two plates till cold. Cut it up intofillets, and on each spread a thin layer of fowl forcemeat, and decoratewith slices of truffle. Put the fillets into a stewpan, cover them withvery good stock, and boil till the forcemeat and truffles are quitecooked. Prepare a risotto all'Italiana (No. 190), put it on a dish anddecorate it with bits of red tongue cut into shapes, and in the centreput a whole cooked truffle and a white cock's comb, both on a silverskewer. Place the tendons of veal round the dish. Add a good Espagnolesauce (No. 1) and serve. 

If you like, leave out the risotto and serve the veal with Espagnolesauce mixed with cooked peas and chopped truffle. 

No. 83. Bragiuole di Vitello (Veal Cutlets)

Ingredients: Veal, salt, pepper, butter, bacon, carrots, flour, Chablis, water, lemon. 

Cut a bit of veal steak into pieces the size of small cutlets, saltand pepper them, and put them in a wide low stewpan. Add two ounces ofbutter, a cut-up carrot, and some bits of bacon also cut up. When theyare browned, add a spoonful of flour, half a glass of Chablis, and halfa glass of water, and cook on a slow fire for half an hour, then takeout the cutlets, reduce the sauce, and pass it through a sieve. Put itback on the fire and add an ounce of butter and a good squeeze of lemon, and when hot pour it over the cutlets. 

No. 84. Costolette alla Manza (Veal Cutlets)

Ingredients: Veal cutlets (fowl or turkey cutlets), forcemeat, truffles, mushrooms, tongue, parsley, pasta marinate (No. 17). 

Cut a few horizontal lines along your cutlets, and on each put alittle veal or fowl forcemeat, to which add in equal quantities choppedtruffles, tongue, mushrooms, and a little parsley. Over this put a thinlayer of pasta marinate, and fry the cutlets on a slow fire. 

No. 85. Vitello alla Pellegrina (Breast of Veal)

Ingredients: Breast of veal, butter, onions, sugar, stock, red wine, mushrooms, bacon, salt, flour, bay leaf. 

Roast a bit of breast of veal, then glaze over two Spanish onions withbutter and a little sugar, and when they are a good colour pour a teacupof stock and a glass of Burgundy over them, and add a few mushrooms, a bay leaf, some salt, and a few bits of bacon. When the mushrooms andonions are cooked, skim off the fat and thicken the sauce with a littleflour and butter fried together; pour it over the veal and put theonions and mushrooms round the dish. 

No. 86. Frittura Piccata al Marsala (Fillet of Veal)

Ingredients: Veal, butter, Marsala, stock, lemon, bacon. 

Cut a tender bit of veal steak into small fillets, cut off all the fatand stringy parts, flour them and fry them in butter. When they areslightly browned add a glass of Marsala and a teacup of good stock, andfry on a very hot fire, so that the fillets may remain tender. Take themoff the fire, put a little roll of fried bacon on each, add a squeeze oflemon juice, and serve. 

No. 87. Polpettine Distese (Veal Olives)

Ingredients: Veal steak, butter, bread, eggs, pistacchio nuts, spice, parsley. 

Cut some slices of veal steak very thin as for veal olives, and spreadthem out in a well-buttered stewpan. On each slice of veal put half aspoonful of the following mixture: Pound some crumb of bread and mix itwith a whole egg; add a little salt, some pistacchio nuts, herbs, andparsley chopped up, and a little butter. Roll up each slice of veal, cover with a sheet of buttered paper, put the cover on the stewpan andcook for three-quarters of an hour in two ounces of butter on a slowfire. Thicken the sauce with a dessert-spoonful of flour and butterfried together. 

No. 88. Coste di Vitello Imboracciate (Ribs of Veal)

Ingredients: Ribs of veal, butter, eggs, Parmesan, bread crumbs, parsley. 

Cut all the sinews from a piece of neck or ribs of veal, cover the meatwith plenty of butter and half cook it on a slow fire, then let it getcold. When cold, egg it over and roll it in bread crumbs mixed with atablespoonful of grated Parmesan; fry in butter and serve with a garnishof fried parsley and a rich sauce. A dessert-spoonful of New Centurysauce mixed with quarter of a pint of good thick stock makes a goodsauce. (See No. 226. )

No. 89. Costolette di Montone alla Nizzarda (Mutton Cutlets)

Ingredients: Mutton cutlets, butter, olives, mushrooms, cucumbers. 

Trim as many cutlets as you require, and marinate them in vinegar, herbs, and spice for two hours. Before cooking wipe them well and thensaute them in clarified butter, and when they are well coloured on bothsides and resist the pressure of the finger, drain off the butter andpour four tablespoonsful of Espagnole sauce (No. 1) with a teaspoonfulof vinegar and six bruised pepper corns over them. Arrange them on adish, putting between each cutlet a crouton of fried bread, and garnishwith olives stuffed with chopped mushrooms and with slices of friedcucumber. 

No. 90. Petto di Castrato all'Italiana (Breast of Mutton)

Ingredients: Breast of mutton, veal, forcemeat, eggs, herbs, spice, Parmesan. 

Stuff a breast of mutton with veal forcemeat mixed with two eggs beatenup, herbs, a little spice, and a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan, braize it in stock with a bunch of herbs and two onions. Serve withItalian sauce (No. 6). 

No. 91. Petto di Castrato alla Salsa piccante (Breast of Mutton)

Ingredients: Same as No. 90. 

When the breast of mutton has been stuffed and cooked as above, let itget cold and then cut it into fillets, flour them over, fry in butter, and serve with tomato sauce piquante (No. 10), or one dessert-spoonfulof New Century sauce in a quarter pint of good stock or gravy. 

No. 92. Tenerumi d'Agnello alla Villeroy (Tendons of Lamb)

Ingredients: Tendons of lamb, eggs, bread crumbs, truffles, butter, stock, Villeroy sauce. 

Slightly cook the tendons (the part of the breast near the ribs) oflamb, press them between two dishes till cold, then cut into a goodshape and dip them into a Villeroy sauce (No. 18) egg and bread-crumb, and saute them in butter. When about to serve, put them in a dish withvery good clear gravy. A teaspoonful of chopped mint and a tablespoonfulof chopped truffles mixed with the bread crumbs will be a greatimprovement. 

No. 93. Tenerumi d' Agnello alla Veneziana (Tendons of Lamb)

Ingredients: Tendons of lamb, butter, parsley, onions, stock. 

Fry the tendons of lamb in butter together with a teaspoonful of choppedparsley and an onion. Serve with good gravy. 

No. 94. Costolette d' Agnello alla Costanza (Lamb Cutlets)

Ingredients: Lamb cutlets, butter, stock, cocks' combs, fowl's liver, mushrooms. 

Fry as many lamb cutlets as you require very sharply in butter, drainoff the butter and replace it with some very good stock or gravy. Makea ragout of cocks' combs, bits of fowl's liver and mushrooms all cut up;add a white sauce with half a gill of cream mixed with it, and with thismask the cutlets, and saute them for fifteen minutes. 

Tongue, Sweetbread, Calf's Head, Liver, Sucking Pig, &C. 

No. 95. Timballo alla Romana

Ingredients: Cold fowl, game, or sweetbread, butter, lard, flour, Parmesan, truffles, macaroni, onions, cream. 

Make a light paste of two ounces of butter, two of lard, and half apound of flour, and put it in the larder for two hours. In the meantimeboil a little macaroni and let it get cold, then line a plain mould withthe paste, and fill it with bits of cut-up fowl, or game, or sweetbread, bits of truffle cut in small dice, grated Parmesan, and a little choppedonion. Put these ingredients in alternately, and after each layer addenough cream to moisten. Fill the mould quite full, then roll out a thinpaste for the top and press it well together at the edges to keep thecream from boiling out. Bake it in a moderate oven for an hour anda half, turn it out of the mould, and serve with a rich brown sauce. Decorate the top with bits of red tongue and truffles cut into shapes orwith a little chopped pistacchio nut. 

No. 96. Timballo alla Lombarda

Ingredients: Macaroni, fowl or game, eggs, stock, Velute sauce (No. 2), tongue, butter, truffles. 

Butter a smooth mould, then boil some macaroni, but take care that it isin long pieces. When cold, take the longest bits and line the bottom ofthe mould, making the macaroni go in circles; and when you come to theend of one piece, join on the next as closely as possible until thewhole mould is lined; paint it over now and then with white of eggbeaten up; then mask the whole inside with a thin layer of forcemeat offowl, which should also be put on with white of egg to make it adhere;then cut up the bits of macaroni which remain, warm them up in some goodfowl stock and Velute sauce much reduced, a little melted butter, somebits of truffle cut into dice, tongue, fowl, or game also cut up inpieces. When the mould is full, put on another layer of forcemeat, steamfor an hour, then turn out and serve with a very good brown sauce. 

No. 97. Lingua alla Visconti (Tongue)

Ingredients: Tongue, glaze, bread, spinach, white grapes, port. 

Soak a smoked tongue in fresh water for forty-eight hours, then boilit till it is tender. Peel off the skin, cut the tongue in rather thickslices, and glaze them. Prepare an oval border of fried bread, cover itwith spinach about two inches thick, and on this arrange the slices oftongue. Fill in the centre of the dish with white grapes cooked in portor muscat. 

No. 98. Lingua di Manzo al Citriuoli (Tongue with Cucumber)

Ingredients: Ox tongue, salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley, bacon, veal, carrots, onions, thyme, bay leaves, cloves, stock. 

Gently boil an ox tongue until you can peel off the skin, then lard it, season it with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and chopped parsley, and boil itwith some bits of bacon, ham, veal, a carrot, an onion, two bay leaves, thyme and two cloves. Pour some good stock over it and let it simmergently until it is cooked. Put the tongue on a dish and garnish it withslices of fried cucumber. Boil the cucumber for five minutes before youfry it, to take away the bitter taste. Serve the tongue with a saucepiquante, made with one dessert-spoonful of New Century sauce to aquarter pint of good Espangole sauce (No. 1). 

No. 99. Lingue di Castrato alla Cuciniera (Sheep's Tongues)

Ingredients: Sheep's tongues, bacon, beef, onions, herbs, spice, eggs, butter, flour. 

Cook three or four sheep's tongues in good stock, and add some slices ofbacon, bits of beef, two onions, a bunch of herbs, and a pinch of spice. Let them get cold, flour them and mask them with egg beaten up and fryquickly in butter. Serve with Italian sauce (No. 6)

No. 100. Lingue di Vitello all'Italiana (Calves' Tongues)

Ingredients: Calves' tongues, salt, butter, stock, water, glaze, potatoes, ham, truffles, sauce piquante. 

Rub a good handful of salt into two or three calves' tongues and leavethem for twenty-four hours, then wash off all the salt and soak them infresh water for two hours. Stew them gently till tender, take them out, skin and braize them in butter and good stock for half an hour. Letthem get cold and cut them into slices about half an inch thick; put theslices into a buttered saute-pan and cover them with a good thick glaze;let them get quite hot and then arrange them on a border of potatoes, and garnish each slice with round shapes of cooked ham and truffle. Fillthe centre with any vegetables you like; fried cucumber is excellent, but if you use it do not forget to boil it for five minutes before youfry it to take away the bitter taste. Serve with a sauce piquante (No. 10, or No. 226). 

No. 101. Porcelletto alla Corradino (Sucking Pig)

Ingredients: Sucking pig, ham, eggs, Parmesan, truffles, mushrooms, garlic, bay leaves, coriander seeds, pistacchio nuts, veal forcemeat, suet, bacon, herbs, spice. 

Bone a sucking pig, remove all the inside and fill it with a stuffingmade of veal forcemeat mixed with a little chopped suet, ham, bacon, herbs, two tablespoonsful of finely chopped pistacchio nuts, a pinchof spice, six coriander seeds, two tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan, cuttings of truffles and mushrooms all bound together with eggs. Sewthe pig up and braize it in a big stewpan with bits of bacon, a cloveof garlic with two cuts, a bunch of herbs and one bay leaf, for half anhour. Then pour off the gravy, cover the pig with well-buttered paper, and finish cooking it in the oven. Garnish the top with vegetables andtruffles cut into shapes, slices of lemon and sprigs of parsley. Servewith a good sauce piquante (No. 229). Do not leave the garlic in formore than ten minutes. 

No. 102. Porcelletto da Latte in Galantina (Sucking Pig)

Ingredients: Sucking pig, forcemeat of fowl, bacon, truffles, pistacchionuts, ham, lemon, veal, bay leaves, salt, carrots, onions, shallots, parsley, stock, Chablis, gravy. 

Bone a sucking pig all except its feet, but be careful not to cut theskin on its back. Lay it out on a napkin and line it inside with aforcemeat of fowl and veal about an inch thick, over this put a layer ofbits of marinated bacon, slices of truffle, pistacchio nuts, cooked ham, and some of the flesh of the pig, then another layer of forcemeat untilthe pig's skin is fairly filled. Keep its shape by sewing it lightlytogether, then rub it all over with lemon juice and cover it with slicesof fat bacon, roll it up and stitch it in a pudding cloth. Then put thebones and cuttings into a stewpan with bits of bacon and veal steak cutup, two bay leaves, salt, a carrot, an onion, a shallot, and a bunchof parsley. Into this put the pig with a bottle of white wine andsufficient stock to cover it, and cook on a slow fire for three hours. Then take it out, and when cold take off the pudding-cloth. Pass theliquor through a hair sieve, and, if necessary, add some stock; reduceand clarify it. Decorate the dish with this jelly and serve cold. 

No. 103. Ateletti alla Sarda

Ingredients: Veal or fowl, ox palates, stock, tongue, truffles, butter, mushrooms, sweetbread. 

Soak two ox palates in salted water for four hours, then boil them untilthe rough skin comes off, and cook them in good stock for six hours, press them between two plates and let them get cold. Roll some forcemeatof veal or fowl in flour, cut it into small pieces about the size ofa cork, boil them in salted water, let them get cold and cut them intocircular pieces. Cut the ox palates also into circular pieces the samesize as the bits of forcemeat, then thinner circles of cooked tongueand truffles. String these pieces alternately on small silver skewers. Reduce to half its quantity a pint of Velute sauce (No. 2), and add thecuttings of the truffles, mushroom trimmings, bits of sweetbread, anda squeeze of lemon juice. Let it get cold and then mask the atelets(or skewers with the forcemeat, &c. ) with it, and fry them quickly inbutter. Fry a large oval crouton of bread, scoop out the centre andfill it with fried slices of cucumber and truffles boiled in a littleChablis. Stick the skewers into the crouton and pour the sauce round it. 

For a maigre dish use fillets of fish, truffles, mushrooms, and Bechamelsauce (No. 3). The cucumber should be boiled for five minutes before itis fried. 

No. 104. Ateletti alla Genovese

Ingredients: Veal, sweetbread, calf's brains, ox palates, mushrooms, fonds d'artichauds, cocks' combs, eggs, Parmesan, bread crumbs. 

Cook two ox palates as in the last recipe, then take equal quantitiesof veal steak, sweetbread, calf's brains, equal quantities of mushrooms, fonds d'artichauds, and cocks' combs. Fry them all in butter except thepalates, but be careful to put the veal in first, as it requires longercooking; the brains should go in last. Then put all these ingredientson a cutting board and add the palates (cooked separately); cut themall into pieces of equal size, either round or square, but keep theingredients separate, and string them alternately on silver skewers, as in the last recipe. Then pound up all the cuttings and add a littlecrumb of bread soaked in stock, the yolks of three eggs, the whites oftwo well beaten up, two dessert-spoonsful of grated Parmesan, salt totaste, and chopped truffles. Mix all this well together and mask theatelets with it; egg and bread crumb them and fry in butter. When theyare a good colour, serve with fried parsley. 

No. 105. Testa di Vitello alla Sorrentina (Calf's Head)

Ingredients: Calf's head, veal, sweetbread, truffles, mushrooms, pistacchio nuts, eggs, herbs, spice, stock, bacon, ham. 

Boil a half calf's head well, and when it is half cold, bone it and fillit with a stuffing of veal, the calf's brains, sweetbread, truffles, mushrooms, pistacchio nuts, the yolks of two eggs, herbs, and a littlespice. Then stitch it up and braize it in good stock, with some slicesof bacon, ham, and a bunch of herbs. Serve with brain sauce mixed withcream. 

No. 106. Testa di Vitello con Salsa Napoletana (Calf's Head)

Ingredients: Calf's head, calf's liver, bacon, suet, truffles, almonds, olives, calf's brains, capers, spice, coriander seeds, herbs, ham, stock. 

Boil half a calf's head, bone it and fill it with a stuffing made offour ounces of calf's liver, well chopped up and pounded in a mortar;two ounces of bacon, one ounce of suet, three truffles, six almonds, three olives, six coriander seeds, six capers, the calf's brains, apinch of spice and a teaspoonful of chopped herbs. Roll up the head, tieit up and put it into a stewpan with some bits of bacon, ham, and verygood stock, and stew it slowly. Serve with Neapolitan sauce (No. 12), orwith tomato sauce piquante (No. 10). 

No. 107. Testa di Vitello alla Pompadour (Calf's Head)

Ingredients: Calf's head, calf's brains, cream, eggs, truffles, cinnamon, stock, butter, Parmesan. 

Boil and bone half a calf's head and fill it with a stuffing made of thecalf's brains, a gill of cream, the yolks of two eggs, two truffles cutup, a little chopped ham, and a tiny pinch of cinnamon. Boil it in goodstock, and when it is sufficiently cooked take it out and mask it allover with a mixture of butter, yolk of egg, and a tablespoonful ofgrated Parmesan, then brown it in the oven and serve hot. 

No. 108. Testa di Vitello alla Sanseverino (Calf's Head)

Ingredients: Calf's head, sweetbread, fowl's liver, anchovies, herbs, capers, garlic, bacon, ham, Malmsey or Muscat. 

Boil and bone half a calf's head, and fill it with a stuffing made ofhalf a pound of sweetbread, a fowl's liver, two anchovies, a teaspoonfulof chopped herbs, a few chopped capers, and the calf's brains. Roll thehead up, stitch it together and braize it in half a tumbler of Malmseyor Australian Muscat (Burgoyne's), half a cup of very good white stock, some bits of ham and bacon, and a clove of garlic with two cuts. Cook itgently for four hours and serve it with its own sauce. Do not leave thegarlic in longer than ten minutes. 

No. 109. Testa di Vitello in Frittata (Calf's Head)

Ingredients: Calf's head, eggs, Parmesan, ham, pepper, butter, croutons. 

A good rechauffe' of calf's head may be made in the following manner:After the head has been well boiled in good stock, cut it into slicesand mask these with a mixture of eggs well beaten up, grated Parmesan, pepper, and chopped ham. Fry in butter, and garnish with fried parsleyand fried croutons. Serve with a sauce made of a quarter of a pint ofgood Bechamel (No. 3) and a dessert-spoonful of New Century sauce. 

No. 110. Zampetti (Calves' Feet)

Ingredients: Calves' or pigs' feet, butter, leeks or small onions, parsley, salt, pepper, stock, tomatoes, eggs, cheese, cinnamon. 

Blanch and bone two or more calves' or pigs' feet and put them into astewpan with butter, leeks, or onions, chopped parsley, salt, pepper, and a little stock. Let them boil till the liquid is somewhat reduced, then add good meat gravy and two tablespoonsful of tomato puree, andjust before taking the stewpan off the fire, add the yolks of twoeggs beaten up, a tablespoonful of grated cheese, and a tiny pinch ofcinnamon. Mix all well together and serve very hot. 

No. 111. Bodini Marinati

Ingredients: Veal forcemeat, truffles, sweetbread, mushrooms, herbs, flour, pasta marinate (No. 17), tongue, butter. 

Make a mixture of truffles, tongue, sweetbread, mushrooms, and herbs, all chopped up, and add it to a forcemeat of veal, the proportions beingtwo-thirds veal forcemeat and the other ingredients one third. Mix thiswell and form it into little balls about the size of a pigeon's egg, flour them and mask them all over with pasta marinate (No. 17). Frythem in butter over a slow fire, so that the balls may be well cookedthrough, and when they are the right colour dry them in a napkin andserve very hot. 

These bodini may be made with various ingredients; they will be mostdelicate with a forcemeat of fowl and bits of brain mixed with herbs, truffle, cooked ham, or tongue. They are also excellent made with fish(sole, mullet, turbot, &c. ), either cooked or raw, and marinated inlemon, salt, pepper, oil, nutmeg, and parsley. 

No. 112. Animelle alla Parmegiana (Sweetbread)

Ingredients: Sweetbread, bread crumbs, Parmesan, butter. 

Blanch as many sweetbreads as you require, and then roll them in breadcrumbs mixed with grated Parmesan, salt, and pepper; wrap them up inbuttered grease-proof paper and grill them. When they are cooked, takeoff the paper, and serve with a good sauce in a sauce-boat. 

No. 113. Animelle in Cartoccio (Sweetbread)

Ingredients: Sweetbread, butter, herbs, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, Parmesan, lemons, gravy, tomatoes. 

Blanch a pound of sweetbread cuttings, mix it with two ounces of meltedbutter, chopped herbs, salt, and pepper, and put it into paper soufflecases. Then strew over each some bread crumbs mixed with gratedParmesan, put the cases in the oven, and when they are browned serveeither with good gravy and lemon juice or with tomato sauce (No. 9). 

No. 114. Animelle all'Italiana (Sweetbread)

Ingredients: Sweetbread, butter, onions, salt, herbs, eggs, glaze, Risotto (No. 190), truffles, quenelles of fowl, Espagnole sauce, whitesauce. 

Blanch as many sweetbreads as you require, cut them into quarters andsaute them in butter with a small onion cut up, salt, and a bunch ofherbs. Then pour over them two cups of white sauce and cook gently fortwenty minutes; take out the sweetbreads and put them in a stewpan. Reduce the sauce, and add to it a mixture made of the yolks of foureggs, one and a half ounce of butter and a teaspoonful of glaze; pass itthrough a sieve, pour it over the sweetbreads, and keep them warm in abain-marie. Have ready a good Risotto all'Italiana (No. 190), and putit into a border mould (but first decorate the inside of the mould withslices of truffle), put it in a moderate oven, and when it is warm turnit out on a dish. Place the sweetbreads on the risotto and fill in thecentre with quenelles of fowl and Espagnole sauce (No. 1). 

No. 115. Animelle Lardellate (Sweetbread)

Ingredients: Sweetbreads, larding, bacon, stock, a macedoine ofvegetables. 

Blanch two sweetbreads, lard them, and cook them very slowly in goodstock. Skim the stock and reduce it to a glaze to cover the sweetbreads. Then cut them into three or four pieces and arrange them round a dish, but see that the larding is well glazed over. In the centre of thedish place a piece of bread in the shape of a cup and fill this with amacedoine of vegetables. 

No. 116. Frittura di Bottoni e di Animelle (Sweetbread and Mushrooms)

Ingredients: Sweetbread, fresh button mushrooms, flour, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, parsley, butter, lemons. 

Peel some button mushrooms and cut them in halves. Boil a sweetbread, and cut it into pieces about the same size as the mushrooms, flour, egg, and bread crumb them, and fry in butter; then serve with a garnish offried parsley. Hand cut lemons with this dish. 

No. 117. Cervello in Fili serbe (Calf's Brains)

Ingredients: Calf's brains, stock, butter, parsley, lemon. 

Boil half a calf's brain in good stock for ten minutes then drain andpour a little melted butter and the juice of half a lemon over thebrain; add some chopped parsley fried for one minute in butter, andserve as hot as possible. 

No. 118. Cervello alla Milanese (Calf's Brains)

Ingredients: Calf s brains, eggs, bread crumbs, butter. 

Scald a calf's brain and let it get cold. Wipe it on a cloth, and get itas dry as possible, then cut it into pieces about the size of a walnut, egg and bread crumb them, fry in butter, and strew a little salt overthem. 

No. 119. Cervello alla Villeroy (Calf's Brains)

Ingredients: Calf's brains, eggs, flour, mushrooms, Velute sauce. 

Scald a calf's brain, and when cold cut it up and mask each piece witha thick sauce made of well-reduced Velute (No. 2), mixed with choppedcooked mushrooms; flour them over and dip them into the yolk of an egg, and fry as quickly as possible. 

No. 120. Frittura of Liver and Brains

Ingredients: Calf's liver and brains (or lamb's or pig's fry), butter, ham, flour, puff pastry. 

Cut up half a pound of liver in small slices, flour and fry them inbutter or dripping, together with a calf's or pig's or sheep's brain, previously scalded and also cut up. Serve with bits of fried ham andlittle diamond-shaped pieces of puff pastry. 

No. 121. Cervello in Frittata Montano (Calf's Brains)

Ingredients: Calf's brains, stock, cream, eggs, spice, Parmesan, butter. 

Boil a calf's brain in good stock for ten minutes, let it get cold, cutit up into little balls, and mask each piece with a mixture made of halfa gill of cream, the yolks of two eggs, a little spice, a tablespoonfulof grated Parmesan, and the whites of two eggs well beaten up. Fry theballs in butter, and serve as hot as possible. You may mask and cook thecalf's brain without cutting it up, if you prefer it so. 

No. 122. Marinata di Cervello alla Villeroy (Calf's Brains)

Ingredients: Calf's brains, stock, Bechamel sauce, eggs, butter, lemon, forcemeat of fowl, flour. 

Boil a calf's or sheep's brain in good stock, wipe it well, and cut itup. Reduce a pint of Bechamel (No. 3), and add to it the yolks of threeeggs, an ounce of butter, and the juice of a lemon. When it boils throwin the cut-up brain; let it cool, then take out the brain and form itinto little balls about the size of a small walnut. Make a forcemeat offowl, and add a dessert-spoonful of flour to it, and spread it outvery thin on a paste-board, and into this wrap the balls of brain, eachseparately. Dip them into a pasta marinate (No. 17), and fry them agolden brown. 

No. 123. Minuta alla Milanese (Lamb's Sweetbread)

Ingredients: Lamb's sweetbread, butter, onions, stock, Chablis, salt, lemon, herbs, cocks' combs, fowls' livers. 

Cut up equal quantities of lamb's sweetbreads, cocks' combs, fowls'livers in pieces about the size of a filbert, flour and fry themslightly in butter and a small bit of onion, add half a glass ofChablis, a cup of good stock, and a bunch of herbs. Reduce the sauce, and thicken it with a tablespoonful of butter and flour fried together. Make a border of Risotto all'Italiana (No. 190), and put the sweetbread, &c. , together with the sauce in the centre. 

No. 124. Animelle al Sapor di Targone (Lamb's Fry)

Ingredients: Lamb's fry, ham, garlic, larding bacon, spice, herbs, butter, flour, stock. 

The lamb's fry should be nearly all sweetbread, and very little liver. Lard each piece with bacon and ham, and roll it in chopped herbs and apinch of pounded spice. Then dip it in flour and braize in good stock, to which add three ounces of butter, some bits of bacon, ham, a bayleaf, herbs, and a clove of garlic with two cuts. Cook until the fry iswell glazed over, and serve with Tarragon sauce (No. 8). Do not leavethe garlic in longer than ten minutes. 

No. 125. Fritto Misto alla Villeroy

Ingredients: Cocks' combs, calf's brains, sweetbread, stock, truffles, mushrooms, Villeroy, eggs, bread crumbs. 

Cook some big cocks' combs, bits of calf s brains, and sweetbread ingood stock, then drain them and marinate them slightly in lemon juiceand herbs. Prepare a Villeroy (No. 18), and add to it cuttings ofsweetbread, brains, truffles, mushrooms, &c. When it is cold, mask thecocks' combs and other ingredients with it, egg and bread-crumb them, and fry them a golden brown. 

No. 126. Fritto Misto alla Piemontese

Ingredients: Sweetbread, calf s brains, ox palate, flour, eggs, Chablis, salt, herbs butter. 

Make a thin paste with a tablespoonful of flour, the yolks of two eggs, two Spoonsful of Chablis, and a little salt. Mix this up well, and if itis too thick add a little water. Beat up the whites of the two eggs intoa snow. In the meantime blanch a sweetbread, half a calf's brain, anda few bits of cooked ox palate; boil them all up with a bunch of herbs;cut them into pieces about the size of a walnut, and dip them intothe paste so that each piece is well covered, then dip them into thebeaten-up whites of egg, and fry them very quickly in butter. This fryis generally served with a garnish of French beans, which should notbe cut up, but half boiled, then dried, floured over and fried togetherwith the other ingredients. The ox palates should be boiled for at leastsix hours before you use them in this dish. 

No. 127. Minuta di Fegatini (Ragout of Fowls' Livers)

Ingredients: Fowls' or turkeys' livers, flour, butter, parsley, onions, salt, pepper, stock, Chablis. 

Cut the livers in half, flour them, and fry lightly in butter withchopped parsley, very little chopped onion, salt and pepper, then adda quarter pint of boiling stock and half a glass of Chablis, and cookuntil the sauce is somewhat reduced. You can also cook the livers simplyin good meat gravy, but in this case they should not be floured. Servewith a border of macaroni (No. 183), or Risotto (No. 190), or Polenta(No. 187). 

No. 128. Minuta alla Visconti (Chickens' Livers)

Ingredients: Fowls' livers, eggs, cheese, butter, cream, cayenne pepper. 

Braize two fowls' livers in butter, then pound them up, and mix with alittle cream, a tablespoonful of grated cheese and a dust of cayenne. 

Spread this rather thickly over small squares of toast, and keep themhot whilst you make a custard with half an ounce of butter, an egg wellbeaten up, and a tablespoonful of cheese. Stir it over the fire tillthick and then spread it on the hot toast. Serve very hot. This makes agood savoury. 

No. 129. Croutons alla Principesca

Ingredients: Croutons, tongue, sweetbread, truffles, fowl or game, Velute sauce, stock, eggs, butter. 

Fry a bit of bread in butter till it is a light brown colour, thencut it into heart-shaped pieces. Prepare a ragout with bits oftongue, sweetbread, fowl or game, truffles, two or three spoonsful ofwell-reduced Velute sauce (No. 2), and two or three of reduced gravy. Put a spoonful of the ragout in each crouton, and over it a layer offowl forcemeat half an inch thick; trim the edges neatly, glaze themwith the yolk of eggs beaten up, and put them in a buttered fireproofdish in the oven for twenty minutes. Then glaze them with reduced stockand serve hot. 

For a maigre dish use fish for the ragout and forcemeat. 

No. 130. Croutons alla Romana

Ingredients: Bread, fowl forcemeat, tongue, truffles, herbs, cream, stock, butter, flour, eggs. 

Cut a bit of crumb of bread into round or square shapes, and on each puta spoonful of fowl or rabbit forcemeat, a little chopped tongue, and aslight flavouring of chopped herbs; cover with a slice of bread the sameshape as the underneath piece, put them in a buttered fireproof dish, and moisten them well with cream, butter, and stock. Cook until all theliquor is absorbed, but turn them over so that both sides may be wellcooked, then flour and dip them into beaten-up eggs; fry them a goodcolour and serve very hot. 

For a maigre dish use forcemeat of fish or lobster, and more creaminstead of stock. 

Fowl, Duck, Game, Hare, Rabbit, &c. 

No. 131. Soffiato di Cappone (Fowl Souffle)

Ingredients: Fowl, Bechamel, stock, semolina flour, potatoes, salt, eggs, butter, smoked tongue or ham. 

Prepare a puree of fowl or turkey and a small quantity of grated tongueor ham, and whilst you are pounding the meat add some good gravy orstock. Then make a Bechamel sauce (No. 3) and add two table-spoonsfulof semolina flour, a boiled potato and salt to taste, boil it up and addthe puree of fowl, then let it get nearly cold, add yolks of eggs andthe white beaten up into a snow. (For one pint of the puree use theyolks of three eggs. ) Pour the whole into a buttered souffle case, andhalf an hour before serving put it in a moderate oven and serve hot. Youcan use game instead of fowl, and serve in little souffle cases. 

No. 132. Pollo alla Fiorentina (Chicken)

Ingredients: Fowl, butter, vegetables, rice or macaroni, peppercorns, stock, ham, tomatoes, bay leaves, onions, cloves, Liebig. 

Roll up a fowl in buttered paper and put it in the oven in a fireproofdish with all kinds of vegetables and a few peppercorns. Leave it therefor about two hours, then put the fowl and vegetables into two quarts ofgood stock and let it simmer for one hour; serve on well-boiled riceor macaroni and pour the following sauce over it. Sauce: Two poundstomatoes, one big cup of good stock, a quarter pound of chopped ham, three bay leaves, one onion stuck with cloves, one teaspoonful ofLiebig. Simmer an hour and a half. 

No. 133. Pollo all'Oliva (Chicken)

Ingredients: Fowl, onions, celery, salt, parsley, carrots, butter, stock, olives, tomatoes. 

Cut up half an onion, a stick of celery, a sprig of parsley, a carrot, and cook them all in a quarter pound of butter. Into this put a fowl cutup and let it act brown all over, turn when necessary and then basteit with boiling stock. Add four Spanish olives cut up and four otherspounded in a mortar, eight whole olives and three tablespoonsful oftomato puree reduced, and when the fowl is well cooked pour the sauceover it. 

No. 134. Pollo alla Villereccia (Chicken)

Ingredients: Fowl, butter, flour, stock, bacon, ham, mushrooms, onions, cloves, eggs, cream, lemons. 

Cut up a fowl into quarters and put it into a saucepan with three ouncesof butter and a tablespoonful of flour Put it on the fire, and when itis well browned add half a pint of stock, bits of bacon and ham, butter, three mushrooms (previously boiled), an onion stuck with three cloves. When this is cooked skim off the grease, pass the sauce through a sieve, and add the yolks of two eggs mixed with two tablespoonsful of cream. Lastly, add a squeeze of lemon juice to the sauce and pour it over thefowl. 

No. 135. Pollo alla Cacciatora (Chicken)

Ingredients: The same as No. 134 and tomatoes. 

Cook the fowl exactly as above, but add either a puree of tomatoes ortomato sauce. 

No. 136. Pollastro alla Lorenese (Fowl)

Ingredients: Fowl, butter, parsley, lemon, small onions, bread crumbs. 

Cut up a fowl and put it into a frying pan with two ounces of butter, one onion cut up and a sprig of chopped parsley, salt and pepper; putit on the fire and cook it, but turn the pieces several times: then takethem out and roll them whilst hot in bread crumbs, and fry them. Servewith cut lemons. 

No. 137. Pollastro in Fricassea al Burro (Fowl)

Ingredients: Fowl, butter, fat bacon, ham, mushrooms, truffles, herbs, spice, gravy. 

Cut up a fowl and cook it in a fricassee of butter, bacon, ham, herbs, mushrooms, truffles, spice, and good gravy or stock. Serve in its owngravy. 

No. 138. Pollastro in istufa di Pomidoro (Braized Fowl)

Ingredients: Fowl, bacon, ham, bay leaf, spice, garlic, Burgundy, tomatoes. 

Braize a fowl with bits of fat bacon, ham, a bay leaf, a clove of garlicwith one cut in it, a pinch of spice, and a glass of Burgundy. Onlyleave the garlic in for five minutes. When cooked serve with tomatosauce (No. 9). 

No. 139. Cappone con Riso (Capon with Rice)

Ingredients: Capon, veal forcemeat, fat bacon, stock, rice, truffles, mushrooms, cocks' combs, kidneys or fowls' liver, supreme sauce, milk, Chablis. 

Stuff a fine capon with a good firm forcemeat made of veal, tongue, ham, and chopped truffles; cover it with larding bacon; tie it up in butteredpaper, and cook it in very good white stock. In the meantime boil fourounces of rice in milk till quite stiff, mix in some chopped truffles, and make ten little timbales of it. Take out the capon when it issufficiently cooked and place it on a dish; garnish it with cookedmushrooms, cocks' combs, kidneys, or fowls' livers, and pour a saucesupreme (No. 16) over it; round the dish place the timbales of rice, and between each put a whole truffle cooked in white wine. Serve a saucesupreme in a sauce bowl. 

No. 140. Dindo Arrosto alla Milanese (Roast Turkey)

Ingredients: Turkey, sausage meat, prunes, chestnuts, a pear, butter, Marsala, salt, rosemary, bacon, carrot, onion, turnip, garlic. 

Blanch for seven or eight minutes three prunes, quarter of a pound ofsausage meat, three tablespoonsful of chestnut puree, two small slicesof bacon, half a cooked pear, and saute them in butter; chop up theliver and gizzard of the turkey, mix them with the other ingredients, and add half a glass of Marsala; use this as a stuffing for the turkey, and first braize it for three quarters of an hour with salt, butter, a blade of rosemary, bits of fat bacon, a carrot, a turnip, an onion, three cloves, and a clove of garlic with a cut; then roast it before aclear fire for about twenty minutes; put it back into the sauce till itis ready to serve. Only leave the garlic in ten minutes. 

No. 141. Tacchinotto all'Istrione (Turkey Poult)

Ingredients: A turkey poult, ham, mace, bay leaves, lemons, water, salt, onions, parsley, celery, carrots, Chablis. 

Truss a turkey poult, and cover it all over with slices of ham or bacon, put two bay leaves and four slices of lemon on it, and sprinkle with asmall pinch of mace, then sew it up tight in a dishcloth, and stew it ingood stock, salt, an onion, parsley, a stick of celery, a carrot, and apint of Chablis; cook for an hour, take it out of the cloth, and pour agood rich sauce over it. It is also good cold with aspic jelly. 

No. 142. Fagiano alla Napoletana (Pheasant)

Ingredients: Pheasant, macaroni, gravy, butter, Parmesan, tomatoes. 

Lard a pheasant, roast it, and serve it on a layer of macaroni cookedwith good reduced gravy, two ounces of butter, a tablespoonful of gratedParmesan, and a puree of tomatoes. Serve with Neapolitan sauce (No. 12)in a sauce bowl. 

No. 143. Fagiano alla Perigo (Pheasant)

Ingredients: Pheasant, butter, truffles, larding bacon, Madeira. 

Make a mixture of three tablespoonsful of chopped truffles, three ouncesof butter and a little salt, and with this stuff a pheasant. Then coverit with slices of fat bacon and keep it in a cool place till next day. A few hours before serving, roast the pheasant and baste it well withmelted butter and a wine-glass of Madeira or Marsala. Make a croutonof fried bread the shape of your dish, and over this put a Layer offorcemeat of fowl and a number of small fowl quenelles; cover them withbuttered paper, then put the dish in the oven for a few minutes so asto settle the forcemeat. When the pheasant is cooked, place it on thecrouton and garnish it with slices of truffle which have been previouslycooked in Madeira, and serve with a Perigord sauce. 

No. 144. Anitra Selvatica (Wild Duck)

Ingredients: Wild duck, butter, fowls' livers, Marsala, gravy, turnips, carrots, parsley, mushrooms. 

Cut a wild duck into quarters and put it into a stewpan with two fowls'livers cut up and fried in butter. When the pieces of duck are colouredon both sides, pour off the butter, and in its place pour a glass ofMarsala, a cup of stock, and a cup of Espagnole sauce (No. 1), and cookgently for ten minutes. In the meantime shape and blanch six youngturnips and as many young carrots, put them into a stewpan, and on thetop of them put the pieces of wild duck, liver, &c. Pass the liquorthrough a sieve and pour it over the wild duck, add a bunch of parsleyand other herbs and five little mushrooms cut up, and cook on a slowfire for half an hour. Skim the sauce, pass it through a sieve and adda pinch of sugar. Put the pieces of wild duck in an entree dish, add thevegetables, &c. , pour the sauce over and serve. 

No. 145. Perniciotti alla Gastalda (Partridges)

Ingredients: Partridges, cauliflower, bacon, sausage, fowls' livers, carrots, onions herbs, stock, gravy, butter, Madeira. 

Cut a cauliflower into quarters, blanch for a few minutes, drain, andput it into a saucepan with some bits of bacon. Let it drain on papertill dry, then arrange the bits in a circle in a deep stewpan, and inthe centre put a small bit of sausage, the livers of the partridges, a fowl's liver cut up, a carrot, an onion, and a bunch of herbs. Coverabout three-quarters high with good stock and gravy, put butter on thetop and boil gently for an hour; then take out the sausage, replace itby two or three partridges, and simmer for three-quarters of an hour. Inthe meantime cut a sausage in thin slices and line a mould with it. Whenthe birds are cooked, take them out, drain and cut them up, and fill themould with alternate layers of partridge and cauliflower, and steamfor half an hour. Five minutes before serving turn the mould over on aplate, but do not take it off, so as to let all the grease drain off. Cut up the fowls' and partridges' livers, make them into scallopsand glaze them. Wipe off all the grease round the mould; take it off, garnish the dish with the scallops of liver and serve hot with anEspagnole sauce (No. 1) reduced, and add a glass of Madeira or Marsala, and a glass of essence of game to it. This is an excellent way ofcooking an old partridge or pheasant. 

No. 146. Beccaccini alla Diplomatica (Snipe)

Ingredients: Snipe, ham, larding bacon, herbs, Marsala, croutons, truffles, cocks' combs, mushrooms, sweetbread, tongue. 

Truss fourteen snipe and cook them in a mirepoix made with plenty ofham, fat bacon, herbs, and a wine glass of Marsala. When they are cookedpour off the sauce, skim off the grease and reduce it. Take the twosmallest snipe and make a forcemeat of them by pounding them in amortar with the livers of all the snipe, then dilute this with reducedEspagnole sauce (No. 1) and add it to the first sauce. Cut twelvecroutons of bread just large enough to hold a snipe each, and fry themin butter. Add some chopped herbs and truffles to the forcemeat, spreadit on the croutons, and on each place a snipe and cover it with a bitof fat bacon and buttered paper. Put them in a moderate oven for a fewminutes, arrange them on a dish, and pour some of their own sauce overthem. Garnish the spaces between the croutons with white cocks' combs, mushrooms, and truffles. The truffles should be scooped out and filledwith a little stuffing of sweetbread, tongue, and truffles mixed witha little of the sauce of the snipe. Serve the rest of the sauce in asauce-boat. 

No. 147. Piccioni alla minute (Pigeons)

Ingredients: Pigeons, butter, truffles, herbs, fowls' livers, sweetbread, salt, flour, stock, Burgundy. 

Prepare two pigeons and put them into a stewpan with two ounces ofbutter, two truffles cut up, two fowls' livers, half-pound of sweetbreadcuttings (boiled), a bunch of herbs and salt. Let them brown a little, then add a dessert-spoonful of flour mixed with stock, and half a glassof Burgundy, and stew gently for half an hour. 

No. 148. Piccioni in Ripieno (Stuffed Pigeons)

Ingredients: Pigeons, sweetbread, parsley, onions, carrots, salt, pepper, bacon, stock, Chablis, fowls' livers, and gizzards. 

Cut up a sweetbread, a fowl's liver and gizzard, an onion, a sprig ofparsley, and add salt and pepper. Put this stuffing into two pigeons, tie larding bacon over them, and put them into a stewpan with a glassof Chablis, a cup of stock, an onion, and a carrot. When cooked passthe sauce through a sieve, skim it, add a little more sauce, and pour itover the pigeons. 

No. 149. Lepre in istufato (Stewed Hare)

Ingredients: Hare, butter, onions, garlic, marjoram, celery, ham, salt, Chablis, stock, mushrooms, spice, tomatoes. 

Put into a stewpan three ounces of butter, an onion cut up, a clove ofgarlic with a cut across it, a sprig of marjoram, and a little cut-upham. Fry these slightly, put the hare cut up into the same stewpan, andlet it get brown. Then pour a glass of Chablis and a glass of stock overit; add a little tomato sauce or a mashed-up tomato, a pinch of spice, and a few mushrooms; take out the garlic and let the rest stew gentlyfor an hour or more. Keep the cover on the stewpan, but stir the stewoccasionally. 

No. 150. Lepre Agro-dolce (Hare)

Ingredients: Hare, vinegar butter, onion, ham, stock salt, sugar, chocolate, almonds, raisins. 

Cut up a hare and wash the pieces in vinegar, then cook them in butter, chopped onion, some bits of ham stock and a little salt. Half fill awine-glass with sugar and add vinegar until the glass is three-quartersfull mix the vinegar and sugar well together, and when the hare isbrowned all over and nearly cooked, pour the vinegar over it and add adessert spoonful of grated chocolate a few shredded almonds and stonedraisins. Mix all well together and cook for a few minutes more. This isa favourite Roman dish. 

No. 151. Coniglio alla Provenzale (Rabbit)

Ingredients: Rabbit, flour butter, stock, Chablis, parsley onion, spice, mushrooms. 

Cut up a rabbit, wipe the pieces, flour them over, and fry them inbutter until they are coloured all over. Then pour a glass of Chablisover them, add some chopped parsley, half an onion, three mushrooms, salt, and a cup of good stock. Cover the stewpan and cook on a moderatefire for about three-quarters of an hour. Should the stew act too dry, add a spoonful of stock occasionally. 

No. 152. Coniglio arrostito alla Corradino (Roast Rabbit)

Ingredients: Rabbit, pig's fry, butter, salt, pepper, fennel, bay leaf, onions. 

Make a stuffing of pig's fry (previously cooked in butter), salt, pepper, fennel, an onion, all chopped up, and a bay leaf. With thisstuff a rabbit well and braize it for half an hour, then roast it beforea brisk fire and baste it well with good gravy. If you like, put in aclove of garlic with one cut whilst it is being braized, but only leaveit in for five minutes. Serve with ham sauce (Salsa di prosciutto, No. 7. ) A fowl may be cooked in this way. 

No. 153. Coniglio in salsa Piccante (Rabbit)

Ingredients: Rabbit, butter, flour, celery, parsley, onion, carrot, mushrooms, cloves, spices, Burgundy, stock, capers, anchovies. 

Cut up a rabbit, wipe the pieces well on a dishcloth, flour them overand put them into a frying-pan with two ounces of butter and fry forabout ten minutes. Then add half a stick of celery, parsley, an onion, half a carrot, and three mushrooms, all cut up, three cloves, a pinchof spice and salt, a glass of Burgundy, and the same quantity of stock;cover the stewpan and cook for half an hour, then put the pieces ofrabbit into another stewpan and pass the liquor through a sieve; pressit well with a wooden spoon, so as to get as much through as possible, pour this over the rabbit and add four capers and an anchovy in brinepounded in a mortar, mix all well together, let it simmer for a fewminutes, then serve hot with a garnish of croutons fried in butter. 

Vegetables

No. 154. Asparagi alla salsa Suprema (Asparagus)

Ingredients: Asparagus, butter, nutmeg, salt, supreme sauce (No. 16)gravy, lemon, Parmesan. 

Cut some asparagus into pieces about an inch long and cook them inboiling water with salt, then drain and put them into a saute pan withone and a half ounce of melted butter and sautez for a few minutes, butfirst add salt, a pinch of nutmeg, and a dust of grated cheese. Pour alittle supreme sauce over them, and at the last add a little gravy, oneounce of fresh butter, and a squeeze of lemon juice. 

No. 155. Cavoli di Bruxelles alla Savoiarda (Brussels Sprouts)

Ingredients: Brussels sprouts, butter, pepper, stock, Bechamel sauce, Parmesan, croutons. 

Take off the outside leaves of half a pound of Brussels sprouts, washand boil them in salted water. Let them get cool, drain, and put them ina pie-dish with two ounces of fresh butter, a quarter pint of very goodstock, a little pepper, and a dust of grated Parmesan. When they arewell glazed over, pour off the sauce, season with three tablespoonsfulof boiling Bechamel sauce (No. 3), and serve with croutons fried inbutter. 

No. 156. Barbabietola alla Parmigiana (Beetroot)

Ingredients: Beetroot, white sauce, Parmesan, Cheddar. 

Boil a beetroot till it is quite tender, peel it, cut into slices, putit in a fireproof dish, and cover it with a thick white sauce. Strew alittle grated Parmesan and Cheddar over it. Put it in the oven for a fewminutes, and serve very hot in the dish. 

No. 157. Fave alla Savoiarda (Beans)

Ingredients: Beans, stock, a bunch of herbs, Bechamel sauce. 

Boil one pound of broad beans in salt and water, skin and cook them ina saucepan with a quarter pint of reduced stock and a hunch of herbs. Drain them, take out the herbs, and season with two glasses of Bechamelsauce (No. 3). 

No. 158. Verze alla Capuccina (Cabbage)

Ingredients: Cabbage or greens, anchovies, salt, butter, parsley, gravy, Parmesan. 

Boil two cabbages in a good deal of water, and cut them into quarters. Fry two anchovies slightly in butter and chopped parsley, add thecabbages, and at the last three tablespoonsful of good gravy, twotablespoonsful of grated Parmesan, salt and pepper, and when cooked, serve. 

No. 159. Cavoli fiodi alla Lionese (Cauliflower)

Ingredients: Cauliflower, butter, onions, parsley, lemon, Espagnolesauce. 

Blanch a cauliflower and boil it, but not too much. Cut up a smallonion, fry it slightly in butter and chopped parsley, and when it iswell coloured, add the cauliflower and finish cooking it, then take itout, put it in a dish, pour a good Espagnole sauce (No. 1) over it, andadd a squeeze of lemon juice. 

No. 160. Cavoli fiodi fritti (Cauliflower)

Ingredients: Cauliflower or broccoli, gravy, lemon, salt, eggs, butter. 

Break up a broccoli or cauliflower into little bunches, blanch them, andput them on the fire in a saucepan with good gravy for a few minutes, then marinate them with lemon juice and salt, let them get cold, eggthem over, and fry in butter. 

No. 161. Cauliflower alla Parmigiana

Ingredients: Cauliflower, butter, Parmesan, Cheddar, Espagnole, stock. 

Boil a cauliflower in salted water, then sautez it in butter, but becareful not to cook it too much. Take it off the fire and strew gratedParmesan and Cheddar over it then put in a fireproof dish and add a goodspoonful of stock and one of Espagnole (No. 1), and put it in the ovenfor ten minutes. 

No. 162. Cavoli Fiori Ripieni

Ingredients: Cauliflower, butter, stock, forcemeat of fowl, tongue, truffles, mushrooms, parsley, Espagnole, eggs. 

Break up a cauliflower into separate little bunches, blanch them, and put them in butter, and a quarter pint of reduced stock. Make aforcemeat of fowl, add bits of tongue, truffles, mushrooms, and parsley, all cut up small and mixed with butter. With this mask the pieces ofcauliflower, egg and breadcrumb them, fry like croquettes, and servewith a good Espagnole sauce (No. 1). 

No. 163. Sedani alla Parmigiana (Celery)

Ingredients: Celery, stock, ham, salt, pepper, Cheddar, Parmesan, butter, gravy. 

Cut all the green off a head of celery, trim the rest. Cut it intopieces about four inches long, blanch and braize them in good stock, ham, salt, and pepper. When cooked, drain and arrange them on a dish, sprinkle with grated Parmesan and Cheddar, and add one and a half ounceof butter, then put them in the oven till they have taken a good colour, pour a little good gravy over them and serve. 

No. 164. Sedani fritti all'Italiana (Celery)

Ingredients: Same as No. 163, eggs, bread crumbs, tomatoes. 

Prepare a head of celery as above, and cut it up into equal pieces. Blanch and braize as above, and when cold egg and breadcrumb and sautezin butter. Serve with tomato sauce. 

No. 165. Cetriuoli alla Parmigiana (Cucumber)

Ingredients: Cucumber, butter, cheese, gravy, salt, cayenne. 

Cut a cucumber into slices about half an inch thick, boil for fiveminutes in salted water, drain in a sieve, and fry slightly in meltedbutter, then strew a little grated Parmesan over it, and add a goodthick gravy, put it into the oven for ten minutes to brown, and serve ashot as possible. 

No. 166. Cetriuoli alla Borghese (Cucumber)

Ingredients: Cucumber, cream, salt, Bechamel sauce, butter, Parmesan, cayenne pepper. 

Cook a cucumber as in No. 165, braize it for five minutes, add to it agood rich Bechamel (No. 3), mixed with cream and grated Parmesan Spreadthis well over the cucumber, and put it into the oven for ten minuteskeeping the rounds of cucumber separate, so as to arrange them in acircle on a very hot dish. Care should be taken not to cook the cucumbertoo long, or it will break in pieces and spoil the look of the dish. 

No. 167. Carote al sughillo (Carrots)

Ingredients: Carrots, stock, butter, sausage, pepper. 

Boil some young carrots in stock, slice them up, and put them in astewpan with a sausage cut up; cook for quarter of an hour on a slowfire, then stir up the fire, and when the carrots and sausage are a goodcolour add a good Espagnole sauce (No. 1), and serve. 

No. 168. Carote e piselli alla panna (Carrots and Peas)

Ingredients: Young carrots, peas, cream, salt. 

Half cook equal quantities of peas and young carrots (the carrots shouldbe cut in dice, and will require a little longer cooking), then put themtogether in a stewpan with three or four tablespoonsful of cream, andcook till quite tender. Serve hot. 

No. 169. Verze alla Certosine (Cabbage)

Ingredients: Cabbage, butter, salt, leeks or shallots, sardines, cheese. 

Any vegetable may be cooked in the following simple manner: Boil themwell, then slightly fry a little bit of leek or shallot and a sardine inbutter; drain the vegetables, put them in the butter, and cook gentlyso that they may absorb all the flavour, and at the last add a dust ofgrated cheese and a tiny pinch of spice. 

No. 170. Lattughe al sugo (Lettuce)

Ingredients: Lettuce, Parmesan, bacon, stock, butter, croutons of bread, gravy. 

Take off the outside leaves of a lettuce, blanch and drain them well. Put on each leaf a mixture of grated Parmesan, salt, little bits ofchopped bacon or ham, add a little good stock, cover over with butteredpaper, and cook in a hot oven for five minutes. Then drain off the stockand roll up each leaf with the bacon, &c. , put them on croutons of friedbread and pour some good thick gravy over them. 

No. 171 Lattughe farcite alla Genovese (Lettuce)

Ingredients: Lettuce, forcemeat of fowl or veal, ham, Espagnole sauce. 

Prepare a lettuce as above, and spread on each leaf a spoonful offorcemeat of fowl or veal, add a little cooked ham chopped up, rollup the leaves, and cook as above. Drain them on a cloth, arrange themneatly on a dish, and pour some good Espagnole sauce (No. 1) over them. 

No. 172. Funghi cappelle infarcite (Stuffed Mushrooms)

Ingredients: Mushrooms, bread, stock, garlic, parsley, salt, Parmesan, butter, eggs, cream. 

Choose a dozen good fresh mushrooms, take off the stalks and put thetops into a saucepan with a little butter. See that they lie bottomupwards. Then cut up and mix together half the stalks of the mushrooms, a little bread crumb soaked in gravy, the merest scrap of garlic and alittle chopped parsley. Put this into a separate saucepan and add to ittwo eggs, half a gill of cream, salt, and two tablespoonsful of gratedParmesan. Mix well so as to get a smooth paste and fill in the cavitiesof the mushrooms with it. Then add a little more butter, strew somebread crumbs over each mushroom, and cook in the oven for ten to fifteenminutes. 

No. 173. Verdure miste (Macedoine of Vegetables)

Ingredients: Cauliflower, carrots, celery, spinach, butter, cream, pepper, Parmesan. 

Boil some carrots, cauliflower, spinach, and celery (all cut up) inwater. Then put them in layers in a buttered china mould, and betweeneach layer add a little cream, pepper, and a little grated Parmesan andCheddar. Fill the mould in this manner, and put it in the oven for halfan hour, so that the vegetables may cook without adhering to the mould. Turn out and serve. 

No. 174. Patate alla crema (Potatoes in cream)

Ingredients: Potatoes, butter, Parmesan, white stock, cream, pepper, salt. 

Boil two pounds of potatoes in salted water for a quarter of an hour, peel and cut them into slices about the size of a penny, then arrangethem in layers in a very deep fireproof dish (with a lid), and on eachlayer pour a little melted butter, a little good white stock and adust of grated Parmesan. Reduce a pint and a half of cream to half itsquantity, add a little pepper, and pour it over the potatoes. Put thedish in the oven for twenty minutes. Serve as hot as possible. 

No. 175. Cestelline di patate alla giardiniera (Potatoes)

Ingredients: Potatoes, white stock, salt, butter, peas, asparagus, sprouts, beans, &c. 

Choose some big sound potatoes, cut them in half and scoop out a littleof the centre so as to form a cavity, blanch them in salted water andcook for a quarter of an hour in good white stock and a little butter. Then fill in the cavities with a macedoine of cooked vegetables and adda little cream to each. 

No. 176. Patate al Pomidoro (Potatoes with Tomato Sauce)

Ingredients: Potatoes, butter, salt, tomatoes, lemon, stock. 

Peel three or four raw potatoes, cut them in slices about the size ofa five-shilling piece, then put them into a stewpan with two ounces ofmelted butter, and cook them gently until they are a good colour, addsalt, drain off the butter, then glaze them by adding half a glass ofgood stock. Arrange them on a dish, pour some good tomato sauce overthem, and add a little butter and a squeeze of lemon juice. 

No. 177. Spinaci alla Milanese (Spinach)

Ingredients: Spinach, butter, Velute sauce, salt, pepper, flour, stock. 

Wash three pounds of spinach at least six times, boil it in a pint ofwater, then mince it up very fine, pass it through a hair-sieve, and putit in a saucepan with one and a half ounces of butter, add a cupfulof reduced Velute sauce (No. 2) with cream, salt, and pepper, add adessert-spoonful of flour and butter mixed, and boil until the spinachis firm enough to make into a shape, garnish with hardboiled eggs cutinto quarters, and pour a good Espagnole sauce (No. 1) round the dish. 

No. 178. Insalata di patate (Potato salad)

Ingredients: New potatoes, oil, white vinegar, onions, parsley, tarragon, chervil, celery, cream, salt, pepper, tarragon vinegar, watercress, cucumber, truffles. 

Steam as many new potatoes as you require until they are well cooked, let them get cold, cut them into slices and pour three teaspoonsful ofsalad oil and one of white vinegar over them. Then rub a salad bowl withonion, put in a layer of the potato slices, and sprinkle with choppedparsley, tarragon, chervil, and celery, then another layer of potatoesuntil you have used all the potatoes; cover them with whipped creamseasoned with salt, pepper, and a little tarragon vinegar, and garnishthe top with watercress, a few thin slices of truffle cooked in whitewine, and some slices of cooked cucumber. 

No. 179. Insalata alla Navarino (Salad)

Ingredients: Peas, bean onions, potatoes, tarragon, chives, parsley, tomatoes, anchovies, oil, vinegar, ham. 

Mix a tablespoonful of chopped parsley, a teaspoonful of chopped onion, a teaspoonful of tarragon and chopped chives with half a gill of oiland half a gill of vinegar. Put this into a salad bowl with all sorts ofcooked vegetables: peas, haricot beans, small onions, and potatoes cutup, and mix them w ell but gently, so as not to break the vegetables. Then add two or three anchovies in oil, and on the top place three orfour ripe tomatoes cut in slices. A little cooked smoked ham cut in diceadded to this salad is a great improvement. 

No. 180. Insalata di pomidoro (Tomato Salad)

Ingredients: Tomatoes, mayonnaise, shallot, horseradish, gherkin, anchovies, fish, cucumber, lettuce, chervil, tarragon, eggs. 

Mix the following ingredients: two anchovies in oil boned and minced, a gill of mayonnaise sauce, a little grated horseradish, very littlechopped shallot, a little cold salmon or trout, and a small gherkinchopped. With this mixture stuff some ripe tomatoes. Then make a goodsalad of endive or lettuce, a teaspoonful of chopped tarragon andchervil, season it with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper (the proportionsshould be three of oil to one of vinegar), put a layer of slices ofcucumber in the salad, place the tomatoes on the top of these, anddecorate them with hard-boiled eggs passed through a wire sieve. 

No. 181. Tartufi alla Dino (Truffles)

Ingredients: Truffles, fowl forcemeat, champagne. 

Allow one truffle for each person, scoop out the inside, chop it up fineand mix with a good forcemeat of fowl. With this fill up the truffles, place a thin layer of truffle on the top of each, and cook them inchampagne in a stewpan for about half an hour. Then take them out, makea rich sauce, to which add the champagne you have used and some of thechopped truffle, put the truffles in this sauce and keep hot for tenminutes. Serve in paper souffle cases. 

Macaroni, Rice, Polenta, and Other Italian Pastes{*}

 * Italian pastes of the best quality can be obtained at Cosenza's, Wigmore Street, NW. For the following dishes, tagliarelle and spaghetti are recommended. 

No. 182. Macaroni with Tomatoes

Ingredients: Macaroni, tomatoes, butter, onion, basil, pepper, salt. 

Fry half an onion slightly in butter, and as soon as it is colouredadd a puree of two big cooked tomatoes. Then boil quarter of a pound ofmacaroni separately, drain it and put it in a deep fireproof dish, addthe tomato puree and three tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan and Cheddarmixed, and cook gently for a quarter of an hour before serving. Thisdish may be made with vermicelli, spaghetti, or any other Italian paste. 

No. 183. Macaroni alla Casalinga

Ingredients: Macaroni, butter, stock, cheese, water, salt, nutmeg. 

Cut up a quarter pound of macaroni in small pieces and put it in boilingsalted water. When sufficiently cooked, drain and put it into a saucepanwith two ounces of butter, add good gravy or stock, three tablespoonsfulof grated Parmesan and Cheddar mixed, and a tiny pinch of nutmeg. Stirover a brisk fire, and serve very hot. 

No. 184. Macaroni al Sughillo

Ingredients: Macaroni, stock, tomatoes, sausage, cheese. 

Half cook four ounces of macaroni, drain it and put it in layers in afireproof dish, and gradually add good beef gravy, four tablespoonsfulof tomato puree, and thin slices of sausage. Sprinkle with gratedParmesan and Cheddar, and cook for about twenty minutes. Before servingpass the salamander over the top to brown the macaroni. 

No. 185. Macaroni alla Livornese

Ingredients: Macaroni, mushrooms, tomatoes, Parmesan, butter, pepper, salt, milk. 

Boil about four ounces of macaroni, and stew four or five mushrooms inmilk with pepper and salt. Put a layer of the macaroni in a butteredfireproof dish, then a layer of tomato puree, then a layer of themushrooms and another layer of macaroni. Dust it all over with gratedParmesan and Cheddar, put it in the oven for half an hour, and servevery hot. 

No. 186. Tagliarelle and Lobster

Ingredients: Tagliarelle, lobster, cheese, butter. 

Boil half a pound of tagliarelle, and cut up a quarter of a pound oflobster. Butter a fireproof dish, and strew it well with grated Parmesanand Cheddar mixed, then put in the tagliarelle and lobster in layers, and between each layer add a little butter. Strew grated cheese overthe top, put it in the oven for twenty minutes, and brown the top with asalamander. 

No. 187. Polenta

Polenta is made of ground Indian-corn, and may be used either as aseparate dish or as a garnish for roast meat, pigeons, fowl, &c. It ismade like porridge; gradually drop the meal with one hand into boilingstock or water, and stir continually with a wooden spoon with the otherhand. In about a quarter of an hour it will be quite thick and smooth, then add a little butter and grated Parmesan, and one egg beaten up. Letit get cold, then put it in layers in a baking-dish, add a little butterto each layer, sprinkle with plenty of Parmesan, and bake it for aboutan hour in a slow oven. Serve hot. 

No. 188. Polenta Pasticciata

Ingredients: Polenta, butter, cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes. 

Prepare a good polenta as above, put it in layers in a fireproof dish, and add by degrees one and a half ounces of melted butter, two cookedmushrooms cut up, and two tablespoonsful of grated cheese. (If you like, you may add a good-sized tomato mashed up. ) Put the dish in the oven, and before serving brown it over with salamander. 

No. 189. Battuffoli

Ingredients: Polenta, onion, butter, salt, stock, Parmesan. 

Make a somewhat firm polenta (No. 187) with half a pound of ground maizeand a pint and a half of salted water, add a small onion cut up andfried in butter, and stir the polenta until it is sufficiently cooked. Then take it off the fire and arrange it by spoonsful in a largefireproof dish, and give each spoonful the shape and size of an egg. Place them one against the other, and when the first layer is done, pourover it some very good gravy or stock, and plenty of grated Parmesan. Arrange it thus layer by layer. Put it into the oven for twenty minutes, and serve very hot. 

No. 190. Risotto all'Italiana

Ingredients: Rice, an onion, butter, stock, tomatoes, cheese. 

Fry a small onion slightly in butter, then add half a pint of very goodstock. Boil four ounces of rice, but do not let it get pulpy, add itto the above with three medium-sized tomatoes in a puree. Mix it allup well, add more stock, and two tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan andCheddar mixed, and serve hot. 

No. 191. Risotto alla Genovese

Ingredients: Rice, beef or veal, onions, parsley, butter, stock, Parmesan, sweetbread or sheep's brains. 

Cut up a small onion and fry it slightly in butter with some choppedparsley, add to this a little veal, also chopped up, and a little suet. Cook for ten minutes and then add two ounces of rice to it. Mix allwith a wooden spoon, and after a few minutes begin to add boiling stockgradually; stir with the spoon, so that the rice whilst cooking mayabsorb the stock; when it is half cooked add a few spoonsful of goodgravy and a sweetbread or sheep's brains (previously scalded and cut upin pieces), and, if you like, a little powdered saffron dissolved ina spoonful of stock and three tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan andCheddar mixed. Stir well until the rice is quite cooked, but take carenot to get it into a pulp. 

No. 192. Risotto alla Spagnuola

Ingredients: Rice, pork, ham, onions, tomatoes, butter, stock, vegetables, Parmesan. 

Put a small bit of onion and an ounce of butter into a saucepan, addhalf a pound of tomatoes cut up and fry for a few minutes. Then put insome bits of loin of pork cut into dice and some bits of lean ham. Aftera time add four ounces of rice and good stock, and as soon as it beginsto boil put on the cover and put the saucepan on a moderate fire. Whenthe rice is half cooked add any sort of vegetable, by preference peas, asparagus cut up, beans, and cucumber cut up, cook for another quarterof an hour, and serve with grated Parmesan and Cheddar mixed and goodgravy. 

No. 193. Risotto alla Capuccina

Ingredients: Risotto (No. 190) eggs, truffles, smoked tongue, butter. 

Make a good risotto, and when cooked put it into a fireproof dish. Whencold cut into shapes with a dariole mould and fry for a few minutes inbutter, then turn the darioles out, scoop out a little of each and fillit with eggs beaten up, cover each with a slice of truffle and garnishwith a little chopped tongue. Put them in the oven for ten minutes. 

No. 194. Risotto alla Parigina

Ingredients: Risotto (No. 190), game, sauce, butter. 

Make a good risotto, and when cooked pour it into a fireproof dish, letit get cold, and then cut it out with a dariole mould, or else form itinto little balls about the size of a pigeon's egg. Fry these in butterand serve with a rich game sauce poured over them. 

No. 195. Ravioli

Ingredients: Flour, eggs, butter, salt, forcemeat, Parmesan, gravy orstock. 

Make a paste with a quarter pound of flour, the yolk of two eggs, alittle salt and two ounces of butter. Knead this into a firm smoothpaste and wrap it up in a damp cloth for half an hour, then roll it outas thin as possible, moisten it with a paste-brush dipped in water, and cut it into circular pieces about three inches in diameter. On eachpiece put about a teaspoonful of forcemeat of fowl, game, or fish mixedwith a little grated Parmesan and the yolks of one or two eggs. Foldthe paste over the forcemeat and pinch the edges together, so as to givethem the shape of little puffs; let them dry in the larder, then blanchby boiling them in stock for quarter of an hour and drain them in anapkin. Butter a fireproof dish, put in a layer of the ravioli, powderthem over with grated Parmesan, then another layer of ravioli and moreParmesan. Then add enough very good gravy to cover them, put the dish inthe oven for about twenty-five minutes, and serve in the dish. 

No. 196. Ravioli alla Fiorentina

Ingredients: Beetroot, eggs, Parmesan, milk or cream, nutmeg, spices, salt, flour, gravy. 

Wash a beetroot and boil it, and when it is sufficiently cooked throw itinto cold water for a few minutes, then drain it, chop it up and add toit four eggs, one ounce of grated Parmesan, one ounce of grated Cheddar, two and a half ounces of boiled cream or milk, a small pinch of nutmegand a little salt. Mix all well together into a smooth firm paste, thenroll into balls about the size of a walnut, flour them over well, letthem dry for half an hour, then drop them very carefully one by oneinto boiling stock and when they float on the top take them out with aperforated ladle, put them in a deep dish, dust them over with Parmesanand pour good meat or game gravy over them. 

No. 197. Gnocchi alla Romana

Ingredients: Semolina, butter, Parmesan, eggs, nutmeg, milk, cream. 

Boil half a pint of milk in a saucepan, then add two ounces of butter, four ounces of semolina, two tablespoonsful of grated Parmesan, theyolks of three eggs, and a tiny pinch of nutmeg. Mix all well together, then let it cool, and spread out the paste so that it is about thethickness of a finger. Put a little butter and grated Parmesan and twotablespoonsful of cream in a fireproof dish, cut out the semolina pastewith a small dariole mould and put it in the dish. Dust a little moreParmesan over it, put it in the oven for five minutes and serve in thedish. 

No. 198. Gnocchi alla Lombarda

Ingredients: Potatoes, flour, salt, Parmesan and Gruyere cheese, butter, milk, eggs. 

Boil two or three big potatoes, and pass them through a hair sieve, mixin two tablespoonsful of flour, an egg beaten up, and enough milk toform a rather firm paste; stir until it is quite smooth. Roll it intothe shape of a German sausage, cut it into rounds about three quartersof an inch thick, and put it into the larder to dry for about half anhour. Then drop the gnocchi one by one into boiling salted water andboil for ten minutes. Take them out with a slice, and put them in awell-buttered fireproof dish, add butter between each layer, and strewplenty of grated Parmesan and Cheddar over them. Put them in the ovenfor ten minutes, brown the top with a salamander, and serve very hot. 

No. 199. Frittata di Riso (Savoury Rice Pancake)

Ingredients: Rice, milk, salt, butter, cinnamon, eggs, Parmesan. 

Boil quarter of a pound of rice in milk until it is quite soft andpulpy, drain off the milk and add to the rice an ounce of butter, twotablespoonsful of grated Parmesan, and a pinch of cinnamon, and whenit has got rather cold, the yolks of four eggs beaten up. Mix all welltogether, and with this make a pancake with butter in a frying pan. 

Omelettes And Other Egg Dishes

No. 200. Uova al Tartufi (Eggs with Truffles)

Ingredients: Eggs, butter, cream, truffles, Velute sauce, croutons. 

Beat up six eggs, pass them through a sieve, and put them into asaucepan with two ounces of butter and two tablespoonsful of cream. Putthe saucepan in a bain-marie, and stir so that the eggs may not adhere. Sautez some slices of truffle in butter, cover them with Velute sauce(No. 2) and a glass of Marsala, and add them to the eggs. Serve veryhot with fried and glazed croutons. Instead of truffles you can useasparagus tips, peas, or cooked ham. 

No. 201. Uova al Pomidoro (Eggs and Tomatoes)

Ingredients: Eggs, salt, tomatoes, onion, parsley, butter, pepper. 

Cut up three or four tomatoes, and put them into a stewpan with a pieceof butter the size of a walnut and a clove of garlic with a cut in it. Put the lid on the stewpan and cook till quite soft, then take out thegarlic, strain the tomatoes through a fine strainer into a bain-marie, beat up two eggs and add them to the tomatoes, and stir till quitethick, then put in two tablespoonsful of grated cheese, and serve ontoast. 

No. 202. Uova ripiene (Canapes of Egg)

Ingredients: Eggs, butter, salt, pepper, nutmeg, cheese, parsley, mushrooms, Bechamel and Espagnole sauce, stock. 

Boil as many eggs as you want hard, and cut them in half lengthwise;take out the yolks and mix them with some fresh butter, salt, pepper, very little nutmeg, grated cheese, a little chopped parsley, and cookedmushrooms also chopped. Then mix two tablespoonsful of good Bechamelsauce (No. 3) with the raw yolk of one or two eggs and add it to therest. Put all in a saucepan with an ounce of butter and good stock, thenfill up the white halves with the mixture, giving them a good shape;heat them in a bain-marie, and serve with a very good clear Espagnolesauce (No. 1). 

No. 203. Uova alla Fiorentina (Eggs)

Ingredients: Eggs, butter, Parmesan, cream, flour, salt, pepper, curds. 

Boil as many eggs as you require hard, then cut them in half and takeout the yolks and pound them in a mortar with equal quantities of butterand curds, a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan, salt and pepper. Put thisin a saucepan and add the yolks of eight eggs and the white of one (thisis for twelve people), mix all well together and reduce a little. Withthis mixture fill the hard whites of the eggs and spread the rest of thesauce on the bottom of the dish, and on this place the whites. Thenin another saucepan mix half a gill of cream and an ounce of butter, adessert-spoonful of flour, salt, and pepper; let this boil for a minute, and then glaze over the eggs in the dish with it, and on the top ofeach egg put a little bit of butter, and over all a powdering of gratedcheese. Put this in the oven, pass the salamander over the top, and whenthe cheese is coloured serve at once. 

No. 204. Uova in fili (Egg Canapes)

Ingredients: Eggs, butter, mushrooms, onions, flour, white wine, fish ormeat stock, salt, pepper, croutons of bread. 

Put into a saucepan two ounces of butter, three large fresh mushroomscut into slices, and an onion cut up, fry them slightly, and when theonion begins to colour add a spoonful of flour, a quarter of a glass ofChablis, salt and pepper, and occasionally add a spoonful of either fishor meat stock. Let this simmer for half an hour, so as to reduce it toa thick sauce. Then boil as many eggs as you want hard; take out theyolks, but keep them whole. Cut up the whites into slices, and add themto the above sauce, pour the sauce into a dish, and on the top of itplace the whole yolks of egg, each on a crouton of bread. 

No. 205. Frittata di funghi (Mushroom Omelette)

Ingredients: Mushrooms, butter, eggs, bread crumbs, Parmesan, marjoram, garlic. 

Clean four or five mushrooms, cut them up, and put them into afrying-pan with one and a half ounces of butter, a clove of garlic withtwo cuts in it, and a little salt; fry them lightly till the mushroomsare nearly cooked, and then take out the garlic. In the meantime beat upseparately the yolks and the whites of two or three eggs, add a littlecrumb of bread soaked in water, a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan, andtwo leaves of marjoram; go on beating all up until the crumb of breadhas become entirely absorbed by the eggs, then pour this mixture intothe frying-pan with the mushrooms, mix all well together and make anomelette in the usual way. 

No. 206. Frittata con Pomidoro (Tomato Omelette)

Ingredients: Eggs, tomatoes, butter, marjoram, parsley, spice. 

Peel two tomatoes and take out the seeds; then mix them with an ounce ofbutter, chopped marjoram, parsley, and a tiny pinch of spice. Add threeeggs beaten up (the yolks and whites separately), and make an omelette. 

No. 207. Frittata con Asparagi (Asparagus Omelette)

Ingredients: Eggs, asparagus, butter, ham, herbs, cheese. 

Blanch a dozen heads of asparagus and cook them slightly, then cut themup and mix with two ounces of butter, bits of cut-up ham, herbs, and atablespoonful of grated Parmesan. Add them to three beaten-up eggs andmake an omelette. 

No. 208. Frittata con erbe (Omelette with Herbs)

Ingredients: Eggs, onions, sorrel, mint, parsley, asparagus, marjoram, salt, pepper, butter. 

Chop a little sorrel, a small bit of onion, mint, parsley, marjoram, and fry in two ounces of butter, add some cut-up asparagus, salt, andpepper. Then add three eggs beaten up and a little grated cheese, andmake your omelette. 

No. 209. Frittata Montata (Omelette Souffle)

Ingredients: Eggs, Parmesan, pepper, parsley. 

Beat up the whites of three eggs to a froth and the yolks separatelywith a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan, chopped parsley, and a littlepepper. Then mix them and make a light omelette. 

No. 210. Frittata di Prosciutto (Ham Omelette)

Ingredients: Eggs, ham, Parmesan, mint, pepper, clotted cream. 

Beat up three eggs and add to them two tablespoonsful of clotted cream, one tablespoonful of chopped ham, one of grated Parmesan, chopped mintand a little pepper, and make the omelette in the usual way. 

Sweets and Cakes

No. 211. Bodino of Semolina

Ingredients: Semolina, milk, eggs, castor sugar, lemon, sultanas, rum, butter, cream, or Zabajone (No. 222). 

Boil one and a half pints of milk with four ounces of castor sugar, andgradually add five ounces of semolina, boil for a quarter of an hourmore and stir continually with a wooden spoon, then take the saucepanoff the fire, and when it is cooled a little, add the yolks of sixand the whites of two eggs well beaten up, a little grated lemon peel, three-quarters of an ounce of sultanas and two small glasses of rum. Mix well, so as to get it very smooth, pour it into a buttered mouldand serve either hot or cold. If cold, put whipped cream flavoured withstick vanilla round the dish; if hot, a Zabajone (No. 222). 

No. 212. Crema rappresa (Coffee Cream)

Ingredients: Coffee, cream, eggs, sugar, butter. 

Bruise five ounces of freshly roasted Mocha coffee, and add it tothree-quarters of a pint of boiling cream; cover the saucepan, let itsimmer for twenty minutes, then pass through a bit of fine muslin. Inthe meantime mix the yolks of ten eggs and two whole eggs with eightounces of castor sugar and a glass of cream; add the coffee cream tothis and pass the whole through a fine sieve into a buttered mould. Steam in a bain-marie for rather more than an hour, but do not let thewater boil; then put the cream on ice for about an hour, and beforeserving turn it out on a dish and pour some cream flavoured with stickvanilla round it. 

No. 213. Crema Montata alle Fragole (Strawberry Cream)

Ingredients: Cream, castor sugar, Maraschino, strawberries or strawberryjam. 

Put a pint of cream on ice, and after two hours whip it up. Passthree tablespoonsful of strawberry jam through a sieve and add twotablespoonsful of Maraschino; mix this with the cream and build it upinto a pyramid. Garnish with meringue biscuits and serve quickly. Youmay use fresh strawberries when in season, but then add castor sugar totaste. 

No. 214. Croccante di Mandorle (Cream Nougat)

Ingredients: Almonds, sugar, lemon juice, butter, castor sugar, pistachios, preserved fruits. 

Blanch half a pound of almonds, cut them into shreds and dry them in aslow oven until they are a light brown colour; then put a quarter poundof lump sugar into a saucepan and caramel it lightly; stir well with awooden spoon. When the sugar is dissolved, throw the hot almonds intoit and also a little lemon juice. Take the saucepan off the fire and mixthe almonds with the sugar, pour it into a buttered mould and pressit against the sides of the mould with a lemon, but remember that thecasing of sugar must be very thin. (You may, if you like, spread out themixture on a flat dish and line the mould with your hands, but the sugarmust be kept hot. ) Then take it out of the mould and decorate it withcastor sugar, pistacchio nuts, and preserved fruits. Fill this case withwhipped cream and preserved fruits or fresh strawberries. 

No. 215. Crema tartara alla Caramella (Caramel Cream)

Ingredients: Cream, eggs, caramel sugar, vanilla or lemon flavouring. 

Boil a pint of cream and give it any flavour you like. When cold, addthe yolks of eight eggs and two tablespoonsful of castor sugar, mix welland pass it through a sieve; then burn some sugar to a caramel, line asmooth mould with it and pour the cream into it. Boil in a bain-mariefor an hour and serve hot or cold. 

No. 216. Cremona Cake

Ingredients: Ground rice, ground maize, sugar, one orange, eggs, salt, cream, Maraschino, almonds, preserved cherries. 

Weigh three eggs, and take equal quantities of castor sugar, butter, ground rice and maize (the last two together); make a light paste withthem, but only use one whole egg and the yolks of the two others, addthe scraped peel of an orange and a pinch of salt. Roll this paste outto the thickness of a five-shilling piece, colour it with the yolk of anegg and bake it in a cake tin in a hot oven until it is a good colour, then take it out and cut it into four equal circular pieces. Have readysome well-whipped cream and flavour it with Maraschino, put a thicklayer of this on one of the rounds of pastry, then cover it with: thenext round, on which also put a layer of cream, and so on until youcome to the last round, which forms the top of the cake. Then splitsome almonds and colour them in the oven, cover the top of the cake withicing sugar flavoured with orange, and decorate the top with the almondsand preserved cherries. 

No. 217. Cake alla Tolentina

Ingredients: Sponge-cake, jam, brandy or Maraschino, cream, pine-apple. 

Make a medium-sized sponge-cake; when cold cut off the top and scoop outall the middle and leave only the brown case; cover the outside with agood coating of jam or red currant jelly, and decorate it with some ofthe white of the cake cut into fancy shapes. Soak the rest of the crumbin brandy or Maraschino and mix it with quarter of a pint of whippedcream and bits of pineapple cut into small dice; fill the cake withthis; pile it up high in the centre and decorate the top with the browntop cut into fancy shapes. 

No. 218. Riso all'Imperatrice

Ingredients: Rice, sugar, milk, ice, preserved fruits, blanc-mange, Maraschino, cream. 

Boil two dessert-spoonsful of rice and one of sugar in milk. Whensufficiently boiled, drain the rice and let it get cold. In the meantimeplace a mould on ice, and decorate it with slices of preserved fruit, and fix them to the mould with just enough nearly cold dissolvedisinglass to keep them in place. Also put half a pint of blanc-mange onthe ice, and stir it till it is the right consistency, gradually add theboiled rice, half a glass of Maraschino, some bits of pineapple cut indice, and last of all half a pint of whipped cream. Fill the mould withthis, and when it is sufficiently cold, turn it out and serve with agarnish of glace fruits or a few brandy cherries. 

No. 219. Amaretti leggieri (Almond Cakes)

Ingredients: Almonds (sweet and bitter), eggs, castor sugar. 

Blanch equal quantities of sweet and bitter almonds, and dry them alittle in the oven, then pound them in a mortar, and add nearly doubletheir quantity of castor sugar. Mix with the white of an egg well beatenup into a snow, and shape into little balls about the size of a pigeon'segg. Put them on a piece of stout white paper, and bake them in a veryslow oven. They should be very light and delicate in flavour. 

No. 220. Cakes alla Livornese

Ingredients: Almonds, eggs, sugar, salt, potato flour, butter. 

Pound two ounces of almonds, and mix them with the yolks of two eggsand a spoonful of castor sugar flavoured with orange juice. Then mixtwo ounces of sugar with an egg, and to this add the almonds, a pinch ofsalt, and gradually strew in one and a half ounces of potato flour. Whenit is all well mixed, add one ounce of melted butter, shape the cakesand bake them in a slow oven. 

No. 221. Genoese Pastry

Ingredients: Eggs, sugar, butter, flour, almonds, orange or lemon, brandy. 

Weigh four eggs, and take equal weights of castor sugar, butter, andflour. Pound three ounces of almonds, and mix them with an egg, meltthe butter, and mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon in a puddingbasin for ten minutes, then add a little scraped orange or lemon peel, and a dessert-spoonful of brandy. Spread out the paste in thin layerson a copper baking sheet, cover them with buttered paper, and bake in amoderately hot oven. 

These cakes must be cut into shapes when they are hot, as otherwise theywill break. 

No. 222. Zabajone

Ingredients: Eggs, sugar, Marsala, Maraschino or other light-colouredliqueur, sponge fingers. 

Zabajone is a kind of syllabub. It is made with Marsala and Maraschino, or Marsala and yellow Chartreuse. Reckon the quantities as follows: foreach person the yolks of three eggs, one teaspoonful of castor sugar toeach egg, and a wine-glass of wine and liqueur mixed. Whip up the yolksof the eggs with the sugar, then gradually add the wine. Put this ina bain-marie, and stir until it has thickened to the consistency of acustard. Take care, however, that it does not boil. Serve hot in custardglasses, and hand sponge fingers with it. 

No. 223. Iced Zabajone

Ingredients: Eggs, castor sugar, Marsala, cinnamon, lemon, stickvanilla, rum, Maraschino, butter, ice. 

Mix the yolks of ten eggs, two dessert-spoonsful of castor sugar, andthree wine-glasses of Marsala, add half a stick of vanilla, a small bitof whole cinnamon, and the peel of half a lemon cut into slices. 

Whip this up lightly over a slow fire until it is nearly boiling andslightly frothy; then remove it, take out the cinnamon, vanilla, andlemon pool, and whip up the rest for a minute or two away from the fire. Add a tablespoonful of Maraschino and one of rum, and, if you like, asmall quantity of dissolved isinglass. Stir up the whole, pour it into asilver souffle dish, and put it on ice. Serve with sponge cakes or icedwafers. 

No. 224. Pan-forte di Siena (Sienese Hardbake)

Ingredients: Honey, almonds, filberts, candied lemon peel, pepper, cinnamon, chocolate, corn flour, large wafers. 

Boil half a pound of honey in a copper vessel, and then add to it a fewblanched almonds and filberts cut in halves or quarters and slightlybrowned, a little candied lemon peel, a dust of pepper and powderedcinnamon and a quarter pound of grated chocolate. Mix all well together, and gradually add a tablespoonful of corn flour end two of groundalmonds to thicken it. Then take the vessel off the fire, spread themixture on large wafers, and make each cake about an inch thick. Garnish them on the top with almonds cut in half, and dust over a littlepowdered sugar and cinnamon, then put them in a very slow oven for anhour. 

NEW CENTURY SAUCE * * The New Century Sauce may be bought at Messrs. Lazenby's, Wigmore Street, W

No. 225. Fish Sauce

Add one dessert-spoonful of the sauce to a quarter pint of melted buttersauce. 

No. 226. Sauce Piquante (for Meat, Fowl, Game, Rabbit, &c. )

One dessert-spoonful to a quarter pint of ordinary brown or white stock. It may be thickened by a roux made by frying two ounces of butter withtwo ounces of flour. 

No. 227. Sauce for Venison, Hare, &c. 

Two dessert-spoonsful of New Century Sauce to half a pint of game gravyor sauce, and a small teaspoonful of red currant jelly. 

No. 228. Tomato Sauce Piquante

Fry three medium-sized tomatoes in one and a half ounce of butter. Passthis through a sieve, then boil it up in a bain-marie till it thickens, and add one dessertspoonful of New Century Sauce. 

No. 229. Sauce for Roast Pork, Ham, &c. 

Add to any ordinary white or brown sauce one dessert-spoonful of NewCentury Sauce and two of port or Burgundy if the sauce is brown, two ofChablis if white. 

No. 230. For masking Cutlets, &c. 

Making a roux by frying two ounces of butter with two ounces offlour, and add two tablespoonsful of boiling stock. Stir in onedessert-spoonful of New Century Sauce. Let it get cold, and it will thenbe quite firm and ready for masking cutlets, &c.