FEMINIST FORUM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 27, 1 February 1930, Page 4 (Supplement)

FEMINIST FORUM.

EMANCIPATION AND FOOD. THE PROPER USE OF WINE. (By & Feminist Correspondant.) The emancipation of women in tMt country is made public by a daily portent. One can see a woman enter a restaurant alone, sit down and order a mixed grill and a glass of beer. She ha.s risen out of the stage at which the thinks any old thing or an egg to liei tea will do for her when her man is out. It took a long time for her to realise after she escaped from the household round that a snack when she felt hungry, which had been her fare at home was not enough. As an industrial worker when she had won a competence —or as near It as sha could—good, feeding she discovered was next to good clotnes. Botn are necessary to industrial efficiency, and which of the two she placed first was a question dependent on her personal equation! But this at least was the great discovery that proper feeding must run as nearly as possible neck to-neck with good dressing if she is to hold her own. Good Food. Feminists of British origin should note as Mrs. Lucas points out that "most Frenchwomen claim a palate as their traditional heritage/'' and they may note incidentally that France is the country in which women have long been accorded a status in business nearer equality with their men folk than they have with us. Where cause and effect lie need, not detain'us, but these considerations make it unnecessary to apologise for discussing a French cookery book in a column usually devoted to constitutional issues. One has at least the excuse, that French cookery is held in well-deserved -esteem, and it behoves every woman, whether homekeeppr or industrial worker, to discover wherein lies its secret. Anyone who would do this cannot fail to find the recipe between the covers of "Mrs. Lucas' French Cookery Book," for it is i book in a class by itself. Of French cookery books there are more than enough on the-market, but many of these are mere translations from the French, giving no heed to such considerations as, whether the French recipes given can be attempted by the English cook or whether their ingredients are obtainable in our shops. English Cooking, Mrs. Lucas' book is in a class of its awn. She is not one of those who (hcry English cookery. Indeed, she prefixes to her book this remark of a French visitor to London. "English Cooking at its best is the most delicate and wholesome in the world. What a pity that so many streets lie between the houses where it is to be found in perfection." What in fact she does do in this book, and more effectively than any of its kind, is to tell us with that lucidity which is so characteristic of French as a language what are the essentials of good French cookery. Mrs. Lucas does not despair of seeing some of us rank with the cordons bleus, for she says: "The two best cooks I know in London are Englishwomen living .in French families. They have been trained, one by a business man who has never entered his kitchen, but who, by his enthusiasm and knowledge, has brought his cook to a level of excellence that is astounding; the other by a busy woman who devotes many odd moments and every Saturday afternoon to instruction." The French Cook. To begin with Mrs. Lucas realises that the English cook starts her day under a handicap, for French cooks start put with many advantages. In the first place, they are not obliged to prepare a solid breakfast; in the second, they have easy access to good, simple restaurants, where in France the best cooking is to be'found, and lastly, their ardour is continually stimulated by the discussion of food and cooking. On the Continent, this subject is always a fruitful theme for conversation. The mistress of the home understands cooking and assists her cook with practical advice, while most Frenchwomen claim a palate as their traditional heritage. Mrs. Ldcas does not go so far as to assert that there will not be enough time left for good cooking unless we sacrifice the English breakfast. She bids us cheer up and tackle the job, keeping two main points, simple but of great importance, well in mind: 1. That lunch should be kept a simple light meal. 2. That dinner, however simple, should contain one dish—fish, flesh, fowl, or vegetable —to which special thought has been given by' both mistress and cook. "If," she adds, "this were made a practice, every evening might bring variety, and that special enjoyment which is given by the unexpected. And enjoyment of food is undoubtedly the best g.id to digestion." Serving of Vegetables. A cook used only to English cookery books will see with some surprise that Mrs. Lucas devotes nearly as much attention to the cooking and serving of vegetables as to that of meat, actually forty pages to the former, thirty-three to the latter. The importance given to vegetables is not unexpected, since we have long awarded the palm to French cooks for their appreciation of the value of vegetables in the menu, but. thirtythree to forty! That does surprise. Vegetable Dishes. And in these days when we are never allowed to forget the importance of vitamins the full treatment of vegetables is very welcome. Even if one is not a vegetarian one can be a gourmet with a special cult for vegetables, and to such a one Mrs. Lucas holds out a most hplpful hand. She wishes the cult would spread far and wide, and in her view the real way to encourage it would be to imitate French example and served vegetables from time to time as a separate dish. Not until this is done will proper attention be paid to their preparation —and their choice; fer in this matter the housekeeper must see to her own province before she blames the cook. "Students of hygiene may, .f they like, put up learned arguments to justify their pre-occupation with this mbject. lam sure that economists ;ould do the same with ample cavse. But I write of food now simply from iha point of view of pleasantness. _ It vould bo a poor world in which a little scstasy was not permitted o» sr young jreen peas. Grimod de la Reyniere ailed them "the song of May." They vill not deserve the name if they are wt perectly fresh and shelled only just lefore they are cooked. And there are jther "songs" as good if not so rapturous." . .. . * i j