French Chefs Plea

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 13, 17 January 1939, Page 3

French Chefs Plea

LIPSTICK AND COOKING POTS LONDON, Dec. 15. The founding of a chair of gas tronomy at Oxford or Cambridge Uni versity was suggested by Mr. Emil* Aymoz, maitre chef of the Dorchester Hotel, in an address to a gathering of doctors. He pleaded for study of cuisine research in nutrition and the training of men to minister to the bodily needs of the nation. “Your nation should lead the world in the study of food and the cooking of food,” said M. Aymoz. “I say bodily that the man who grows food, whether he is a farmer or a coffee planter, and the chef or cook who prepares it, are as important to the nation’s wellbeing as any scientist or physician. ’ ’ The Modern Woman Because good food is the concern of everyone, he argued, in English-speak-ing countries all menus should be in English as well as in French. Cooking, like learning, could not bo exclusive. Good food was the rightful possession of the people, and must be presented to them in their own language. “The modem woman no longer tries to slim herself down to a skeleton/* he said. “A few years ago three women out of five would refuse to eat potatoes. Now not more than one in 10 will pass them by. Food is much lighter. Heavy, starchy foods seldom appear on the menu of any restaurant which prides itself on its cuisine. “Even a banquet nowadays seldom includes more than five courses. Where is this shortening of meals to end? Soon we shall eat a smaller amount ol a greater number of courses. The earlier the dinner hour, the more gastronomically minded the nation. The French usually dine between 7 and 7.30. The Spaniard seldom sits down to dinner before 10. The English, who like to dine between 8.30 and 9, have probably chosen the best hour. Affections of Man “I come from my kitchen/’ he said, “for the first time to reveal its secret* —its mysteries. Wo are on the threshold of a nation’s awakening, and awakening to the physical needs and care of her people. Too long have we been content to minister, from our seats of learning, exclusively for the mental and spiritual health of our peoples. It is time that more attention was paid to our physical needs. “When I see a lady wasting her time with a lipstick and a powder-puff 1 feel inclined to remind her that from the beginning of all time it has been the cooking pot, not the paint pot, that has won the affections of man. When a man is feeling unwell ho usually goes to his doctor, but if I may say so before such an eminent company, he would often be better advised to change hi* cook.”