ROYAL CHEFS OF EUROPE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10760, 6 May 1911, Page 2 (Supplement)

ROYAL CHEFS OF EUROPE.

King George V., like his father, never allows a royal menu to be -published. If one docs appear anywhere it is against his wish. The late King Edward thought that the making public of royal menus savored of ostentation, and his son shares this prejudice.. King George's new chef is a Frenchman, Hoiii i Codard,, who succeeds another frenchman, 31.. Menager. The l itter had a salary £2OOO a year, and aitc twenty-five years service in the royal service iias become head of the kitchens of the now Royal Automobile Cluo 1;. Pail Mail. The most highly reputed royal kitchens in Europe are those at Windsor Castle. They were established there seven centuries ago . hikLt tile arciies of the castle and have ve-.f adapted to modern needs. 1 hey are very handsome. While those m i;tirkingham Palace are white "ilel, tile Windsor kitchens are panelled -.i black oak, a work carried out by George Ji. .at a cost.of £IO,OOO. fCach ldl:he.i is in charge of a special cook, who is an expert in cooking soups or fish, ;■ nines or. roasts,, vegetables or pastry. Tb'-n; are four sergeant cooks, if s.h-.* to; >ll may J>e used, under the head cnei'. i n the sweets and pastry there are two tivec-ai ehcis. In all about thin v {,:,j 1 - cipnls are engaged. For coo.* ; 'ig p;; 1 - poses there are about 800 poos and pans, for the most part in ei.d jive men have nothing, to do but ki • tluMi! scoured. These [jots and pai.s • aio!!" are worth £2OOO. The gjiJ plate which belongs to ilie British sovero g::s is of immense value. Ordi.nar;!y it :s kept ,in a safe set. in walls tb.ee Uet thick, ajid always guarded bv pel- : There arc dishes bearitig the arii>3 cf the Tudor Kings. Others for.ned jail of the treasure of Tippoo 3aii:'ii, ilie fainouf. Indian clueftaui. There is .m<> complete service ot massive gold with ,8000 forks and spoons to match. That. yi to' , '1 > 4 i'c IWI but there tie several other wonderful services for ordinary use. 'Much of the silver is modern. The plate is valued in millions sterling, though a largo nan, is only silver gilt and is excelled b\ the 1 solid gold dshes of several Indian! Raialif;. t'f.ually nionarchs v.lien ;n 1 private do- linger the table. 'I liev are too bin;v. King Edward was a very ] rapid'eacer, but-jiis son has t.7*be more i careful. Dinner with him never lasU | more than forty or fifty - ... E-jeh service is presented in flr-'ib!", ;:■) tiinr a choice is available, and c-ach bears rhe name of the under chef- responsible for it. " This- is an old custom due to the irav cooks in past times had cf ( lain|ing all the good disbes 'iind repudiating any share in the bad. ones. Since "the days of tlie Jacobites no finger bowls are provided at the royal table. The -Jacobites . used them to drink the health of the King "over the water." Not in al! roval palaces are. there Trench cooks, • The Jvaiser must

not have one. German public opinion is. against, it. In fact, for years a grand culinary quarrel has been in p r „. gross 111 Germany. There arc at least JQO French cooks in the best houses m Berlin. Jjvcn the Chancellor has French cook, but the Emperor, onj|.\ to the Pali-Germanic idea, &ero.< t» Uk! native article and has liis bill of f ;iru written out m ' German. Kr«*iifij methods, except when macaroni is dealt . v.nii, are tJie rule at the court of ir : ,| v Ah Italian who has studied the ,i n co.oking in France, Signer de -Aniioi, the chef. The I'ope holds by the cool', ing o£ his native Venice and has iiu-rdinacr- fancy for his own pilaff, a complicated dish which cniiruins rico, two dozen prawn.-;, « | lllt . more of mussels, butter, cheese, -.ilp ~ iiic, salfrou. pepper, parsle salt .so ou and a minute quantity .if (1 .

Although in Spain the cuisine ot t .] lo court is,in charge of a Frenchman, j[ Cnpdeville; curiously enough German iiil flUeiice is strong at the royal talife Then' there are also the national t ;i.<ti-i to consider, these leading to the piodu,. tion of eliickeu in a thick soup of cap. sicum, dishes floating with ml, ercam tarts upon cabbage leaves and the f a . inous gazpaclio, a peculiar Spanish cu ],] soup which contains tomatoes, onions cucumbers, garlic, a glass of nil, vine! gar, pepper, and bread, to which liefor,-. serving powdered ice is added. A qiicor story is told of how the Kmperor of Austria got his cook, Perski, who i s a Hungarian'. The Emperor is not i nqc j, of an eater. One day he was flininr witli tho Count of Klieingaum and iv 3s delighted with the way in which a vilj boar's head was cooked.

Two days afterward an enormous b ox arrived' at Schocnbrunn, where i he perur was ill residence, sent with the homage of the Count. When, it w.is opened Perski was found insiile, i,„ worse for his experience, and the Km. purer accepting the gift made him | ]N chief cook. French influence is mi prom,, in the cuisine of. the Czars, and has been. Once the post of chef in I{ U .C sia was not without danger, for ther.' is- a tradition of a cook who, lmvisit; spoiled a roast, was impaled and liiin s ,.jJ roasted before his own lire. In tineighteenth century, when French funking was most famous, a chef at the Km. sian court got as much as 10(1,01 in lj vrc ,, a year. -What is more, he was ,so i m . portant that when in a lit ol pique Ik. left suddenly the Czar sent courier after him to induce him to return. ami lie did so when he had. got an from the sovereign. Tile present Car's chef is Pierre Cubat, who is als.Ta major domo. He is a regular Parisian and goes to Paris always to purchase hi; best materials. The most important■ oi these are foies gras truffled and chickens. He has to provide food each day i,.r 300 people, because meals are provided at the royal table not only for -Nicholas 11. and his family but for all the in™, bers of the court down to the civil aiid j military officials. Cubat receives L'HtM a year! One has to remember his re sponsibilitics, for each cutlet, each piny of bread, each portion of dessert may carry death to the Czar in it . 51. Culiat keeps his precautions a strict mystery. The truth' is that the imperial kitchens are full of secret police agents who an as dishwashers, scullions, coal carriers, etc. Codfish fried in oil is the Czar's favorite fish, chocolate cream delimits Queen Wilhelmina of Holland; Abdul Hamid lived on eggs and milk: -Minnsn XIII. declares that tile best meal he ever had was when, detained tlirnugh a motor car breakdown, he shard the meal of some carters by roadside. President Fallieres, of the French republic. is all for his own Gascon dishes. He quarrelled with the great Elvsee chef, M. Tesch, because the latter would not put garlic into some of the ili.deat a state banquet or introduce the President's local viands. t Tcseh l:,e! served under men like Camel, helix Faurc, and Loubet, and! promptly |mlled oif his apron, as the I' reach Now a woman cook serves in his [ilaee. It is said that when M. Kallien.s C".> i-,1 his vineyards at Loupilhm lie hasni!.great feast- on garlic sou-): but it isal>' said thai: he is the author ol a mip for a salmi of woodcock which i> & iov of his friends. The present president, as a fact, does nut raw Ills tastes on the guestsat the tee. The custom is for all official dinrrvt luncheon to be served by one »r «!■' of the leading Paris restaurant*, fe as- at the Mansion House in Lon«. and to a large extent now with state dinners even at Buckingham Mac.-* Windsor, most of the dishes sire WW j in from one or other of the lic.-i ii™"-