ARMY COOKS SHOW THE LADIES HOW

Evening Star, Issue 22083, 17 July 1935, Page 12

ARMY COOKS SHOW THE LADIES HOW

Woman’s rule over the kitchen received an unexpected challenge when it was revealed that the first prize is a contest for vegetable soup recipes, which drew more than 600 entries from all over the world, had been won by Staff-sergeant Brown, of the Army School of Cookery at Aldershot, says a writer in the ‘ Daily Telegraph.’ As Army cooks, Staff-sergeant Brown among them, also secured a large proportion of the awards at the recent University Cookery and Food Exhibition in London, I called at the War Office prepared to hear of a new recruiting campaign, with “Join the Army and learn to cook ” as the slogan. But I learned that these successes were merely the consequence of_ the Army’s increased interest in catering. “ A man who wants to become a cook is first sent as an assistant to the battalion or regimental kitchen,” a War Office official told me. “If ho shows a flair for cooking he then passes to the Army School of Cookery, through which 800 students pass every year. “ The principal courses are of three months for sergeant cooks, and six weeks for privates. There has recently been an increase, varying from 3d to 6d a day, in cooks’ pay. We aim at constantly higher standards. “ The men are taught every side of the work, from- boiling an egg to preparing a Christmas dinner. Many officers’ mess cooks are talented chefs. “ After leaving the school the cooks continue to attend lectures, and frequently put forward suggestions to Captain R. G. Leggett, the Army inspector of catering.” A typical Army menu to-day is:—

—Breakfast. — Tea, bread, margarine, marmalade, fresh fish with parsley sauce, “Alternative Dinners. — Sea pic. Roast meat and greens. Potatoes in pie, Boiled potatoes, Root vegetables, Root vegetables, Fruit salad. Date pudding. —Tea. — Tea, bread and margarine, mince roll or mince steak. There is only one drawback to the good living in the Army of to-day. 'Because of the excellent way soldiers are fed, says an Army Boxing Association statement, fly-weight boxing is dying out in the service for.lack of men of Bst and under. 1