366 menus and 1200 recipes of the Baron Brisse in French and English / translated by Mrs Matthew Clark.

  • Brisse, baron, 1813-1876.
Date:
[1884?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: 366 menus and 1200 recipes of the Baron Brisse in French and English / translated by Mrs Matthew Clark. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Vlll O RD ER O F D INNE R. particularly if you think there are two people who will sympa- thize with each other. The decision how to place the guests at table must always be a troublesome business for the host ; in fact, I consider this the most difficult part of giving a dinner, if you wish it to go off well. The host must always hâve his eye on his guests’ plates and glasses, to make sure they hâve ail they require ; and if a guest refuses a dish, the host must try and persuade him to change his mind. A host whose guest has had to ask for anything is a dishonoured man. Duties of a Guest towards his Host. The first duty of a guest is to be punctual. Unpunc- tuality must necessarily cause confusion in the kitchen. A dish you hâve had to wait for is generally good, whilst a dish which has had to wait is generally the contrary. The resuit is that the cook gets demoralized, he loses his temper at the dinner not being appreciated, and certainly it is sufficient cause to discourage the best of chefs. In conséquence it follows that the cook gets into the bad habit of sacrificing the flavour of a dish to the form of serving, finding he has not given satisfaction in the cooking, he tries to please the eye. I cannot speak too strongly on the affectation of being late for dinner, and a good host ought not to wait for one or two people who are late whilst five or six others are watching the hands of the dock and yawning convulsively, a sure proof of how hungry they are. Shame on unpunctual people ! These persons are sometimes called inexact, but it is a wrong name to give them ; for a really inexact man will arrive one day ten minutes before his time and the next day ten minutes after, but unpunc- tual people are very exact, they always corne late. They are generally people who find it is the only means of attracting attention, and there are others who think it makes them of importance. Unpunctuality really means a wish to force people to ac- knowledge their slavery to the laws of society.