MONOTONOUS MENUS.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20333, 4 September 1931, Page 3

MONOTONOUS MENUS.

THOUGHTS ON AN OLD CONTROVERSY. (By KW., in the "Manchester Guardian.") We are in no danger of forgetting the old.gibe about our fifty religious and our.one sauce. Every year our Ajneriean visitors revive it, aud every year a lew Englishmen echo it and ask why it is that wo never get a decent omelette, or drinkable coffee, or properly cooked macaroni, or goulasch, or whatever is the popular dish in J/ho country they have just visited. In spite of all the cookery schools arid all the recipes in the .tress and all the instruction on the wireless and all the other opportunities to extend our repertoire (not forgetting foreign travel for the million), it remains true that up apd down the country there is only one standardised meal at each inn and eating-house, lioast beef and apple tart is tlio menu, and all through the summer, when half the population is away from home, they live on this restricted diet. It will hardly be believed by the foreigner that this is entirely due to tho Englishman, but so it is. Women lovo variety, and they were never more interested in cooking and diet than they are today. In tnis country of ours we can grow almost every fruit and vegetable, and can procure the utmost variety of food. But what is the use if the head of the house refuses to eat it? .

Almost every housewife knows the peril of introducing a new dish to her menfolk. It will be received with unqualified disapproval. Most likely it will, bo refused with scorn. If, _ however, they are persuaded to try it, no satisfaction will he expressed at the time. But a week or two afterwards her husband or son will grumble, "Rice pudding, again 1 Why can't we have some of that pudding you gave ;us the other-day ?We never get anything hut the same old stuff :" But she knows better than to try it often. • The caterer who relics on chance customers for a living cannot afford to run risks in the hope of pleasing a rare American who may or may not turn up that day, and who will never come again, and .startling and offending the score of Englishmen who will probably come again often. A restaurant keeper during a heat wave was bemoaning to a woman customer that she could not venture to serve only cold viands and salad; she was compelled to have at least one hot joint for her-men customers. "I served them cold roast beef. yesterday, and they grumbled awfully." "They" were the men customers, 'bus conductors, telegraph repairers, and other wayfarers, here to-day and gone to-mor-row, but wherever -they are they expect "roast beef and two vegetables, oven with the temperature well above ■9odeg. in the shade. It is true that it was the men who died of the heat, at the rate of thirty men to one woman. ■; , , . School caterers (in boys' schools), restaurant-keepe!rs, chefs, and the people who run canteens in factories all have the same story to tell. There r must always- he roast beef for the middaV meab Only three ways of cooking potatoes jjro safe i-there aye only six possible vegetables. - ail the year round (plain :boded. - conrso)» ■■ an< * three.' kinds; o£\ puddings,-\fruit, tarts, suefe puddings, <{ice. .Ail else .» a risk,' . " r „ English- folklore is full of stones of kings and millionaires who turned from their menus as long as, factory, abstracts to call for the plain boiled potato, and the homely pease pudding. And we all remember the despicable end of the monarch who succumbed to a- Btrange diet of lampreys. Shameful gluttony! If he had only stuck to the roast beef of , Old England his end would have been creditable. In this matter of food, the Englishmail's motttf is "Safety first, and no "kickshaws." Until he experiences a change of taste, there is no help tor the American tourist: Our cooks are all too ready to experiment, but they tiro., discouraged in- the sternest possible manner.

A HOLIDAY MEDICAL BOX.

Though no one likes to think of such a thing as illness during holidays, minor ailments, such as cuts and bruises, sprains and strains, do occur, especially where children Are-of the party, It is a" wise plan to fit out a _ small box with a few simple ' remedies to liave at hand in case of need, particularly if the chemist is likely to be some distance, away.. A supply of lint, bandages, cotton wool, and plaster is a first essential in every medical box. Another essential is a small bottle of iodine. Zinc and boracie ointment is invaluable for all kinds of blisters and sores. Cut and bruised feet are an almost daily occurrence amongst children on a seaside holiday. A bandage, the iodine, and a few squares of lint spread with the ointment should bo taken down to the beach each morning. Lead lotion and witch hazel will prove, useful for bruises, sprains, and strains, and calamine lotion for painful sunburn, Burns and scalds sometimes occur when spirit lamps aro used in the open, and the time-honoured remedy of carron oil is always useful when dealing with them. Insect bites are a constant source of irritation i when in the' open air, and are best treated by dabbing on a little ammonia. Very few medicines need to be taken away, but a small quantity of quinine in case of colds, and some aspirins should not bo omitted..

ST. GILES, PAPANUI, P.W.M.U

Miss Helen C. Imrie. a former president of the P.W.M.U., St. Andrew's, Wellington, and for many years a member of St. Columba's Church of Scotland, London, gave an address at the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union of St. Giles, Papanui, yesterday afternoon. Tho chair was taken by Mrs E. Bandy, who led the devotional Taking as her subject, "Women I met and worked with in St. Columba's Church of Scotland, London," Miss Imrie spoke of the higlr ideal of Christian service shown bv these Scottish women, particularly mentioning* ■ Miss Christian Fleming, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Fleming, and the Countess of Haddo, president of the Girls' Guild. Mrs Bandy thanked Miss Imrie for her interesting address, and many members .-expressed their pleasure at hearing what they termed a Home Mission talk. 'Tea was-served, *• arid a-" happy-social time-was spent, ■

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