PREFACE
If the art of Cookery in all its branches were not under-
going a process of evolution, and if its canons could be once
and for ever fixed, as are those of certain scientific operations
and mathematical procedures, the present work would have no
raison d'etre; inasmuch as there already exist several excellent
culinary text-books in the English language. But everything
is so unstable in these times of progress at any cost, and social
customs and methods of life alter so rapidly, that a few years
now suffice to change completely the face of usages which at
their inception bade fair to outlive the age — so enthusiastically
were they welcomed by the public.
In regard to the traditions of the festal board, it is but
twenty years ago since the ancestral English customs began to
make way before the newer methods, and we must look to the
great impetus given to travelling by steam traction and naviga-
tion, in order to account for the gradual but unquestionable
revolution.
In the wake of the demand came the supply. Palatial hotels
were built, sumptuous restaurants were opened, both of which
offered their customers luxuries undreamt of theretofore in such
establishments.
Modern society contracted the habit of partaking of light
suppers in these places, after the theatres of the Metropolis
had closed; and the well-to-do began to flock to them on
Sundays, in order to give their servants the required weekly
rest. And, since restaurants allow of observing and of being
observed, since they are eminently adapted to the exhibiting of
magnificent dresses, it was not long before they entered into
the life of Fortune's favourites.
But these new-fangled habits had to be met by novel methods
of Cookery — ^better adapted to the particular environment in
which they were to be practised. The admirable productions
popularised by the old Masters of the Culinary Art of the pre-
vi PREFACE
ceding Century did not become the light and more frivolous
atmosphere of restaurants ; were, in fact, ill-suited to the brisk
waiters, and their customers who only had eyes for one another.
The pompous splendour of those bygone dinners, served in
the majestic dining-halls of Manors and Palaces, by liveried
footmen, was part and parcel of the etiquette of Courts and
lordly mansions.
It is eminently suited to State dinners, which are in sooth
veritable ceremonies, possessing their ritual, traditions, and —
one might even say — their high priests ; but it is a mere hin-
drance to the modern, rapid service. The complicated and
sometimes heavy menus would be unwelcome to the hyper-
critical appetites so common nowadays; hence the need of a
radical change not only in the culinary preparations themselves,
but in the arrangements of the menus, and the service.
Circumstances ordained that I should be one of the movers
in this revolution, and that I should manage the kitchens of
two establishments which have done most to bring it about.
I therefore venture to suppose that a book containing a record
of all the changes which have come into being in kitchen work —
changes whereof I am in a great part author^may have some
chance of a good reception at the hands of the public, i.e., at
the hands of those very members of it who have profited by
the changes I refer to.
For it was only with the view of meeting the many and
persistent demands for such a record that the present volume
was written.
I had at first contemplated the possibility of including only
new recipes in this formulary. But it should be borne in mind
that the changes that have transformed kitchen procedure during
the last twenty-five years could not all be classed under the head
of new recipes ; for, apart from the fundamental principles of
the science, which we owe to Careme, and which will last as
long as Cooking itself, scarcely one old-fashioned method has
escaped the necessary new moulding required by modern
demands.....
If the art of Cookery in all its branches were not under-
going a process of evolution, and if its canons could be once
and for ever fixed, as are those of certain scientific operations
and mathematical procedures, the present work would have no
raison d'etre; inasmuch as there already exist several excellent
culinary text-books in the English language. But everything
is so unstable in these times of progress at any cost, and social
customs and methods of life alter so rapidly, that a few years
now suffice to change completely the face of usages which at
their inception bade fair to outlive the age — so enthusiastically
were they welcomed by the public.
In regard to the traditions of the festal board, it is but
twenty years ago since the ancestral English customs began to
make way before the newer methods, and we must look to the
great impetus given to travelling by steam traction and naviga-
tion, in order to account for the gradual but unquestionable
revolution.
In the wake of the demand came the supply. Palatial hotels
were built, sumptuous restaurants were opened, both of which
offered their customers luxuries undreamt of theretofore in such
establishments.
Modern society contracted the habit of partaking of light
suppers in these places, after the theatres of the Metropolis
had closed; and the well-to-do began to flock to them on
Sundays, in order to give their servants the required weekly
rest. And, since restaurants allow of observing and of being
observed, since they are eminently adapted to the exhibiting of
magnificent dresses, it was not long before they entered into
the life of Fortune's favourites.
But these new-fangled habits had to be met by novel methods
of Cookery — ^better adapted to the particular environment in
which they were to be practised. The admirable productions
popularised by the old Masters of the Culinary Art of the pre-
vi PREFACE
ceding Century did not become the light and more frivolous
atmosphere of restaurants ; were, in fact, ill-suited to the brisk
waiters, and their customers who only had eyes for one another.
The pompous splendour of those bygone dinners, served in
the majestic dining-halls of Manors and Palaces, by liveried
footmen, was part and parcel of the etiquette of Courts and
lordly mansions.
It is eminently suited to State dinners, which are in sooth
veritable ceremonies, possessing their ritual, traditions, and —
one might even say — their high priests ; but it is a mere hin-
drance to the modern, rapid service. The complicated and
sometimes heavy menus would be unwelcome to the hyper-
critical appetites so common nowadays; hence the need of a
radical change not only in the culinary preparations themselves,
but in the arrangements of the menus, and the service.
Circumstances ordained that I should be one of the movers
in this revolution, and that I should manage the kitchens of
two establishments which have done most to bring it about.
I therefore venture to suppose that a book containing a record
of all the changes which have come into being in kitchen work —
changes whereof I am in a great part author^may have some
chance of a good reception at the hands of the public, i.e., at
the hands of those very members of it who have profited by
the changes I refer to.
For it was only with the view of meeting the many and
persistent demands for such a record that the present volume
was written.
I had at first contemplated the possibility of including only
new recipes in this formulary. But it should be borne in mind
that the changes that have transformed kitchen procedure during
the last twenty-five years could not all be classed under the head
of new recipes ; for, apart from the fundamental principles of
the science, which we owe to Careme, and which will last as
long as Cooking itself, scarcely one old-fashioned method has
escaped the necessary new moulding required by modern
demands.....
