COOKERY—ENGLISH AND AMERICAN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 146, 14 March 1908, Page 10

COOKERY—ENGLISH AND AMERICAN.

SOME COMPARISONS. Thcro are four , tilings in the way of .eatables which tlio English/ visitor .to New York, or to any part of the United States, is suro.to miss, and 'as,surely to lament (says Mrs. Maxwell in. the "Daily Mail.") ■■They arc a really good mutton chop; nicely "cured" and iiic'ely cookcd breakfast bacon j a good cup of tea on ordinary occasions; thin broadband butter, as.so daintily and beautifully served by the typical British parlourmaid. . .. Potatoes? Thoy do know, how to cook potatoes, and in infinite variety. - It is a tradition that in a properly conducted New York household potatoes lire served in,,a different way every day of the month. Thebeef is good. In tho .coal ranges they cook it quite as nicely , as it is dorio by the best English . cooks, though with a. tendency, to having it a bit underdone. However, they liavo a way_ of .roasting it so that .you'may take a choice of "weli done," "medium," or '.'rare.'! ' :_■ . v . To all contemplating a visit to New York, : I would say, don't ever, help yourself to salt fdr your, soup and vegetables iintil you have tasted them; for tho first requisite of good .cookery on that side'is considered,to h6'the art of salting in the kitchen; Tlio;. co'pks taste and sample .their viands far morii frequently than do tlio English cooks; even tlio professional ones, and for a guest to : put salt into his food, before ho has tasted it .is considered somewhat of a reflection on tho cooking. Indeed, I shoftld say that tlio great difference betweSn English sind American cooker}' is almost entirely a matter of a pinch of ■ salt. Pepper, too; is' much more used in the kitchens there than in London. One; seldom finds the . necessity of adding cither popper or .salt, after tho food has been placed upon -the/table; 7 , In tho : roasting of joints. I; thiiik ;the New.' miss something .because of : tho''general use of/gas cooking ranges,, which. seems, to take. aWay. much" of tho natural- flavour.' Tliougli. the beef in itself is good, it loses in the roasting -of/tho gas-fango so commonly, tised, and one longs for a Joint doiio;by- tHp bid-fashioned. English spit. . _ .; " Another dainty tho cheapness of •' which surprises English .visitors/ is iccfcream...'.Poor peoplo usoiit quite,commonly 'there ,'.itf many a 'shilling luncheon at which it. is, serVed is/a sweet at -price .of icq-creim in, the"!best places is/one, sliiU ling and- eightpehco a quart _ all, tlio, year round:- ' It is not:,there' considered in th'a light of-a luxury at all. ! '..// / /.,.;_...' ! But'thore is certainly one art: they/miglit learn from, tho English/ of table-laying for' .the family .luncheon or dinner: Eor . dinlier-partioa . th'd . Amoricaii, .tablo/'is spread inall' daintiness,': though ..'even 'then/at 'lacks in .the. matter of a' variety : of glass and ' silver; •> Ordinarily priq' : does not .'find flowers on tho,table-nearly"so often as in, tho.sariio class of homo in London,' and ono, is expected to .perform .truly,.'reiyarkablo. feats; with' 'a, solitary knife arid, forkl' Elovfers there- aro more/expensive than'.in London',; and. tlio American woman.seems::to liavo a fancy. that ir she cannot dccor- ; /rate her table . with . roses , or : prchids: ; .it is not. worth . ,wliilo ' to liavo tho cheaper - flowers. ' . ' . In a .cener'al way/ •' I would say that American cookery is -monr "tasty", than T-; English, but,food is. , not so nicely served £ as 'with' the., same 7; class-, of. people,- and.-therois ... a.certain ; lack' .-of ■ ceremony at .meal- ., timo /dear.'tb-vtlie _ , ..i..English heart.■' '■''Permhiicrit Kotol-life", may, be. pl'eaisarit, to con template/in the abstract, but, it agree's with very few ;women, iii, practice.. . Before ,i<>. vanish thes irespo'nsib'ilitie3,._6f, housekeeping and' t-b'e/monotofiy ";of sitting down to tlio ex.pedtcd at -'dinner'; '-'Kut'f t-hose'wh<s; attempt, to, dultivate tho h'ptel/ habit put/themselves off from .all the associations; of bad, or indifferent. But oven, horiiG-at itsworst is an infallible sourco :6f relief—something, personal aiid possessed whicli .be at, rearranged,, .and', ransacked ■ .without tho obligation of ' consulting/ tho ifnanagement. .. . '' .-, as ho, had. finished & letter, to. his wife, ■ ijiid his.'clerk, willing to break the matter to' her gently, added :/-"P.S. v th6'!-'aD6v4- : I liciVe die.d."