CULINARY SECRETS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume 1, Issue 3, 9 February 1914, Page 4

CULINARY SECRETS.

HOW THE FRENCH DO IT. *'. We French people taste food as we prepare it. You seldom taste a dish in the process of the making," said the French cook to the American housekeeper who was extolling the cooking of his land. "You go by rule, not by taste. I have watched cooks in this country prepare water for boiling potatoes by simply throwing some salt in. The French cook would not think of doing this. He would put a little gait in the water, then he would taste as ha added more until the water was just salty, enough. "In making soup, preparing a sauce, cooking vegetables, etc., it is: always the same rule—flavours added in small'

quantities, then more added until the cook's taste is satisfied. '' A French cook would never put a cake into the oven without tasting the dough. A reeipe to us is simply a general guide, to be tuned to the taste of the cook. That is one reason why there is so much individuality in French ■ cooking,, and why, when you go,about j in French homes," the food at one host-'j

you not vary this monotony by cooking vegetables'in fine, clear."stock? Have you tasted string beans cooked in stock? I've an idea you'll not oook' them, in water after trying them that: way. ""■'*"' ''And ihen try steaming-vegetables,' instead of boiling; them.. Put them _in a colander over, a pot of boiling water and steam them until tender, then "but'-'