COOKERY FOR LICENSED VICTUALLERS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIII, Issue 770, 8 December 1904, Page 26

COOKERY FOR LICENSED VICTUALLERS.

(By “Cuisinier,” in

“L.V. Gazette”).

—Waste in the Kitchen—(Continued) I have said that the presence of cinders in a dust-bin is a sure sign that waste is going on. Cinders, like all other kinds of fuel, should be made the most of, and wonders can be done by watchfulness and care in this respect. The extravagant use of coal is one of the leakages to be specially guarded against, and a strict watch should be kept over the content* of the coal-cellar. I need hardly say that, where a cellar is sufficiently commodious, a supply sufficient to last over the winter should be laid in at the end of the summer, when prices are cheapest, but this obvious saving does not by any means exhaust the possibilities of economy. A suitable coal must be selected for the requirements of the range and other fires. ( lose ranges and kitcheners require a hard slow-burn-ing kind of coal, which would be entirely out of place in an open fireplace. For the latter a soft, bright-burring coal is best, but this would be both extravagant and unsuitable in the case of a cooking range, because it would burn away

-very quickly, and would give out so fierce a heat as to burn away the bars and injure the brickwork. It will be seen, therefore, that to procure the right kind of coal is an important detail in the economical management. All coal is accompanied with more or less coal-dust, and it often happens that this is permitted to accumulate until the cellar is half-full of it. And yet coaldust judiciously used makes coal burn much longer than it otherwise would. What a careful cook will aim at is to burn the coal-dust along with the coal to which it belongs, so that it shall never accumulate. A supply of dust and dross should be kept in a separate receptacle ; then, when the fire is burning brightly, sprinkle a shovelful gently and lightly over the top, letting it drop between the cinders. But let it be remembered that to mend a poor fire with coaldust is hopeless ; it either puts the fire out, or makes a good fire an impossibility for a considerable time.

Moderate-sized pieces of coal make the best fires, and these should not be thrown on from the scuttle, but put on gently with a scoop or shovel. Do not let the fire be broken up or disturbed, but only quietly added to from time to time. There will thus be little dust and no waste, and the even temperature that is so essential to good cooking will be maintained.

Having now dealt with the contents of the coal cellar and dustbin, there are a few other matters pertaining to waste in the kitchen that claim your attention. The custom of allowing servants to sell kitchen refuse of any kind, or to have any dealings whatever with persons who go about from house to house purchasing superfluous odds and ends, leads to a vast amount of leakage. It is a temptation to dishonesty, and a premium upon extravagance, and should never, on any account, be permitted. A very frequent cause of unnecessary wear and tear, leading to serious leakage, is the habit of using things improperly and in a wrong manner. This is always a sign of a careless and inferior worker. I will give a list of some of the most common misusages of things :— 1. To use silver or plated spoons for stirring the contents of saucepans. 2. To cut up meat with the carving knife, while the proper knife for the purpose is left to rust in the kitchen drawer.

3. To wipe dishes with a dinner serviette or kitchen tablecloth.

4. To dust a room with a dirty duster or d’oyley. 5. To sweep a room with a hearthbrush, or a hearth with a carpet-brush. 6. To ladle soup or hot water with a china cup. 7. To leave soap or brushes in water after use.

8. To wash paint with strong hot sodawater.

9. To light the gas with a candle. 10. To make chairs take the place of step-ladders.

11. To leave condiments and sauces uncorked, so that their aroma escapes. 12. To place a lighted candle in a draught so that it gutters away. 13. To throw away little drops of beer or milk.

14. To put ivory-handled knives into hot water, and so loosen the handles. 15. To put glass into hot water, so that it cracks.

IG. To let plated spoons, forks, etc., lie in a heap, and become scratched. Through all these causes, and many others besides, money is heedlessly and needlessly thrown away. They cause exper. ses to amount up to an unmanageable sum, they add to the worry of the proprietor, and they make it impossible for him to conduct his catering business at a profit. These are some of the leakages through which hardly-earned money slips away, and, if a profit is to be shown at the end of the year, these are some of the things that must either be ended or mended.

Hluny of such things may be considered too trivial for notice, but it must be remembered that all business leakages are, for the most part, trifling. The landlord who would succeed in making his business a success can on no account afford to disregard small things. As pounds are made up of pennies, so fortunes are made up of small sums. By stopping small leakages sums are saved, which, looked at separately, seem very insignificant, but which, when totalled up at the end of the year, may make a difference between a loss and a profit.

In a. busy thoroughfare in Glasgow there is a fully-licensed public-house, which is probably the smallest establishment. of its.kind in the kingdom. When full it can just accommodate eight customers. It is nicknamed the “ Coffin,” and the regular habitues give the various drinks, etc., names to correspond. A whisky is a ” nail,” a pint of beer a " lid,” and a brandy and soda is a “ monument/' The sandwiches are dubbed “ gravestones,” and the cigarettes “ worms.”

Sir Wilfrid Lawson, M.P., who is a teetotaler from conviction, is evidently a little annoyed with the continued protestations of the members of the United Kingdom Alliance, and their lack of united action and work for the cause which they are supposed to have at heart. Tie showed his annoyance recently in presiding over the Council meeting of the body. In connection with the passing of the Licensing Act, he asked them to consider where the balance of criminality lay : *' Some people said, ‘ Oh, that dreadful Mr Balfour’; but Mr Balfour had ‘no settled convictions,’ and a man without convictions could not be held responsible. Other people said, * Oh, the wicked brewers.’ How many members of the alliance, if they had inherited great breweries, would have supported that movement ?” Exactly so (comments the London Trade organ). Where are the members who, if they had been left a fortune by some friend in the Trade, would have sacrificed a paying brewery foi* their principles ? Sir Wilfrid says, and very rightly, that the Alliance have showed themselves splendid shouters, but poor voters. They have held meetings, passed resolutions by the thousand, and sent up 8000 petitions. Shouting ? Yes. They can do any amount of shouting, but for practical work they are not in it with the Trade. Sir Wilfrid recognises this, and halds that the temperance men will never become victorious until they sopy the publican and make their one Iquestion their politics.