DICKENS AS A DINER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8360, 13 September 1890, Page 2 (Supplement)

DICKENS AS A DINER.

HIS FAVOURITE Dickens, says Mr. John Hollingshead,~in his lately published "Niagara Spray" Chatto and Windus), was neither a gourmet nor a gourraent; but, as a man taking an mmcnso amount of walking exercise daily, ho possessed a healthy appetite, and was nob ashamed of it. Ho was born and lived in the days of taverns and chop-houses before the town was filled with restaurants of French or Italian origin. His taste for good food, plainly cooked, may have been ingrained in him in his youth ; but it was kept alive by tho three or four leading London taverns. The Garrick Club probably owed to him the introduction of tho monster steak, called tho " Garrick Steak," adopted from America, without acknowledgment, where it is known as tho *' Porter House." The Albion was his favourite tavern. The old boxes with leather seats gave a semi-privacy to a saiall and select party in tho public Coffee-room, and tho endless procession of joints gave a varied and substantial meal at a moderate price, without the trouble of ordering a sot dinner from a menu like a British Museum catalogue. In his own house, or ollico at "Household Words," where ho had a littlo dining or supper-room, he seldom, except on show occasions, departed from his favourite simplicity. The chief approach to artificiality at these little banquets was noticeable in a leg of mutton prepared in a manner not generally popular. Tho bono of the joint was taken out, and the place supplied with veal stuffing and oysters, and the whole roasted or baked in the usual fashion. Tho result, as it was cooked in the littlo kitchen at " Household Words," was always a success ; and if it had nob been, there was ample compensation afterwards in tho master's unrivalled gin-punch. A SOLEMN TSKKW. I verily believe that Charles Dickens was more proud of his skill in manufacturing this seductive compound than of being the author of all his great works. Tho preparations for this concoction (which 1 named "Five shillings and costs") were simple and yet elaborate. First of all tho jug was produced —the vat or the receptacle of the brew. Then came a plate and knives, then the lemons, the sugar-basin, and then, finally, a largo table napkin. In the meantime, the kettle on the hob had prepared the boiling water, and tho bottlo of distilled liquid—an important, factor, as the phrase goes—was placed in the hands of the master. I shall be guilty of no irreverence if I say that at this point his eyes twinkled and generally winked. The process of blending was like a conjuring trick performed by an accomplished professor. Tho mixture being made with care and delicacy, and with a certain amount of demonstrative pride, the jug was placed upon tho table and the napkin thrust into its mouth. The brew, timed by the master's watch, had commenced, and in a few minutes the napkin was withdrawn, and "Five shillings and costs" was ready for convivial distribution.

THACKERAY AND WILKTE COM.INS. Amongst those who drank (moderately) and admired (hugely) this Dickens' nectar was Wilkie Collins, who told me that next to a well-made apple-pudding he knew of nothing more agreeable. Wilkio's tastes, like Dickens', though he knew the culinary ways of the cultivated foreigners, were essentially simple ; and so were Thackeray's. Night after night the author of " Vanity Fair," leaving the delights of tho Garrick Club a few doors higher up in King-street, Covent Garden, was a constant visitor of Evans' Supper-rooms (the original of his " Cave of Harmony"), where ho "was not afraid to eat solid mutton chops and baked potatoes at midnight, and not ashamed to show his delight in the part-singing of the choir-boys, who divided their time between tho Cellars and a Roman Catholic Cathedral.