A treatise on the cooking of big joints : as also instructions for roasting and boiling poultry and game, together with hints on the preparation of vegetables and the making of salads / by Jenny Wren.

  • Wren, Jenny, active 1891.
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on the cooking of big joints : as also instructions for roasting and boiling poultry and game, together with hints on the preparation of vegetables and the making of salads / by Jenny Wren. 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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    “Although his means were very limited, Albignac went to dine in one°of the most famous taverns in London. Whilst fin- ishing his succulent beefsteak one day, there were five or six young dandies of good family regaling themselves at a neigh- bouring table. One of them came to him and said very politely, ‘Your nation excels in the art of making salads; will you be so good as oblige us by making one ? ’ Albignac consenting after a little hesitation, the gentlemen ordered all that was thought necessary for the expected masterpiece. The Frenchman used his best endeavours, and had the good luck to succeed. Whilst studying the ingredients, he answered frankly all questions about himself. He said he was an emigrant, and admitted, not with- out some natural shame, that he was receiving assistance from the English Government—a circumstance which no doubt authorised one of the young men to slip into the exile’s hand a five-pound note and insist on his keeping it. D’Albignac had given his address, and some time after he received a very civil note requesting him to come and mix a salad in one of the finest houses in Grosvenor Square. D’Albignac arrived punctually, after furnishing himself with some special seasonings and matur- ing his plans. He had the good fortune to succeed again. The first party for whom he had manipulated had circulated among their friends the merits of his salad, and the second company made so much more noise about it that D’Albignac’s reputation was at once assured. He became known as the fashionable salad-maker, and required a gig in order to keep his appoint- ments, as also a servant to bring in his mahogany case, contain- ing the ingredients of his business, such as vinegars of different flavours, oils with or without a fruity taste, sage, caviare, truffles, anchovies, ketchup, gravies, and even hard-boiled eggs. Later he got cases made to order, furnished them completely, and sold them by hundreds. In short, having diligently carried out his plans with sense and discretion, he came to realise a fortune of more than 80,000 francs; and returning to his own country when peace was restored, he invested 70,000 francs in the public funds