SCIENCE OF COOKING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9305, 4 August 1908, Page 3

SCIENCE OF COOKING.

<* A LATTER-DAY ART. The problem of how to cook properly is one that has pursued man almost since the day when he stumbled across the art of making tire. Cooks are valued adjuncts in the modern household, and the mistress who can keep a cook is looked on as something of a genius. There is an axiom to the effect that the surest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, and though this may not sound very polite it is said to be none the less true. Nowadays the art of cooking occupies a prominent place in the curriculum of the up-to-date domestic college, and a reporter who called on Miss Mildred Trent yesterday learnt much that was of interest regarding modern methods. Miss Trent is a daughter of Mr F. Trent, of this city, and has spent a considerable time in Great Britain, learning the useful art of how to make things that will make people happy. It is six years since Miss Trent went to Edinburgh, where she entered one of the largest domestip colleges in the world, and there gained a number of diplomas, that show how thoroughly she has mastered the art of dainty cooking. Among her awards are a first-class diploma, a City of London Guild's diploma, a licentiateship of the Cookery Association, and a medal for proficiency in the work of making cakes. It is in the making of cakea that Miss Trent has specialised, and some idea of the magnitude of the work she has undertaken may be gathered from the fact that in her working-book alone there are one hundred and twenty recipes for different kinds of cakes. In London Miss Trent catered for a number of large garden parties, diuners and suppers, and she was much struck by the difference in the styles of cooking there and in the colonies. The Londoners make all their cakes much smaller than those to be seen in New Zealand, and use a great deal more science than the people of the dominion. At the school which Miss Trent attended in Edinburgh everything in connection with household management was taught. The Scotch, she says, are excellent teachers, being by nature careful and economical. As a nation she was very much struck by the Scotch., who" are, she says, wonderfully kind-hearted and generous. Edinburgh was a lovely city, and though her long , residence in London made her very well acquainted with that city, she likes Edinburgh much more. The climate , was not as cold as people made* it out to be, and the inhabitants were so uni- , formly kind that she felt quite at home there. In London, Miss Trent continued, women were taking up the art of cake- i making as a profession, and some wonderful results were obtained. She herself had invented several new cakes, ; and found the work exceedingly inter- ; esting. The study of household hygiene entered largely into the work, and the student had a great deal of that to : learn. Though she had such an enjoyable time, Miss Trent is glad to be home again, and says that there is, after all, no place like New Zealand. She has so far made no immediate plans, but intends to settle down in Christchurch if possible.