Modern domestic cookery : based on the well-known work of Mrs. Rundell, but including all the recent improvements in the culinary art, founded on principles of economy and practical knowledge, and adapted for private families / by a lady. With illustrative woodcuts.

Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Modern domestic cookery : based on the well-known work of Mrs. Rundell, but including all the recent improvements in the culinary art, founded on principles of economy and practical knowledge, and adapted for private families / by a lady. With illustrative woodcuts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

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    In all situations of life the entertainment should be no less suited to the station than to the fortune of the entertainer, as well as to the number and rank of those invited. If the ar- rangements of the table be properly studied, a degree of elegance is attainable under all circumstances, however econo- mical ; and the plainest fare, if carefully dressed, maybe made to furnish dishes which every one will eat with relish. Should there be only a joint and a pudding, they should always be served up separately ; and the dishes, however small the party, should always form two courses. Thus, in the old- fashioned style of entertaining a couple of friends with “ fish, soup, and a roast,” the soup and fish should be placed at the top and bottom of the table, removed by the joint with veget- ables and pastry; or, should the company consist of eight or ten, a couple or more of side dishes in the first course, with game and a pudding in the second, accompanied by confec- tionery, would be quite sufficient. In most of the books which treat of cookery, various bills of fare are given, which are never exactly followed. The mis- tress should select those dishes which are most in season. The cuts which are inserted in some of those lists put the soup in the middle of the table, where it should never be placed. For a small party a single lamp in the centre is sufficient; but for a larger number the room should be lighted with lamps hung over the table, and the centre occupied by a plateau of glass or plate, ornamented with flowers or figures. The mistress of a family should never forget that the welfare and good management of the house depend on the eye of the superior; and, consequently, that nothing is too trifling for her notice, whereby waste may be avoided or order maintained. If she has never been accustomed, while single, to think of family management, let her not upon that account fear that she cannot attain it: she may consult others who are more experienced, and acquaint herself with the necessary quantities, quality, and prices of the several articles of expenditure in a family, in proportion to the number it consists of. The chief duties of life are within the reach of humble abilities, and she