The midday meal, called luncheon, varies in character from a very informal service, where the dishes are placed on the table and the servants leave the room, to one of equal elaboration and formality with that of a dinner. As this meal is made to conform to convenience, it is difficult to give general rules, as rules are conventions of ceremony, and ceremony is sometimes disregarded, as in the case where a larger number of guests are received than the service of the house admits of entertaining in other than an informal manner.

Luncheon proper corresponds to what in foreign countries is called the second breakfast, or dÉjeÛner À la fourchette, where people are seated at the table and served as at dinner. The French breakfast hour, however, is usually twelve o’clock, while luncheon is an hour or more later.

"The company"Entertaining at luncheon is as customary as dinner giving, but ordinarily the company is composed of women alone, men as a rule not being entertained at this hour, except on holidays or special occasions.

"Seating the guests"A card with the name of the guest distinctly written on it designates the place at the table to be occupied by that guest, and each one finds her place without being otherwise directed, as the hostess is the last one to enter the dining-room. If, for any reason, one lady has precedence over the others, she is placed at the right of the hostess; otherwise the hostess selects for that seat the one whom she wishes particularly to compliment. If a stranger is being especially entertained, the other guests having been invited to meet her, she is given this seat of honor. The hostess in this case presents her as a new acquaintance to her friends, who afterward may call upon and extend to her other courtesies.

"Invitations"The invitations for luncheon are the same in form as for dinner; if the luncheon is a formal entertainment they are usually written in the third person, or conventionally expressed in the first person. An informal note is written for informal occasions. Under no circumstances should a verbal invitation be given.

It is polite to answer an invitation within twelve hours. People who are in the habit of entertaining are seldom remiss in the courtesy of a prompt reply, for they have probably experienced the inconvenience of uncertainty, and the embarrassment of having to fill places at the last minute, and so are better able to understand the significance of this social convention.

"Dress"Women wear street costumes or afternoon gowns; they lay off their wraps, but do not remove their hats. Men should wear afternoon dress.

"The table"At luncheon a table-cloth is not used if the table is handsome enough to permit its omission, but often leaves are put in which have not the same polish as the main table and must be covered with a cloth. The use of a cloth is, however, a matter of taste, not of rule.

The polished table requires care to keep it clean and free from stains and scratches. It should be very frequently rubbed hard with a soft cloth, and occasionally a little kerosene or furniture polish should be used; but what is particularly needed is plenty of hard rubbing. A varnish polish is easily defaced, especially by hot dishes, which leave white marks that are difficult to eradicate. The table top should have what is called hand polish. This can be washed without injury, does not easily stain, heat does not affect it, and with daily care it constantly grows handsomer. It is better for young housekeepers to start with a dull mahogany, or oak, than with a shellacked table, which needs frequent redressing.

"Mats"To protect the table when no table-cloth is used, mats are placed under the dishes. The plate mats, either square or round, are seven to nine inches across. Mats are sometimes lined with asbestos, felt, or other thick material to protect the table better from the heat of the plates. The mats, as a rule, match the centerpiece, but this is not obligatory. There is no limit to the variety of centerpieces and mats. They range from crochet work and embroidered linen to beautiful laces.

"Decorations"Except the mats, the decorations used are the same as for the dinner-table, flowers being the chief and always the most beautiful resource. The decorations should be kept low in order not to obstruct the view across the table and so make general conversation impossible.

A large table is more imposing with high centerpieces, and at buffet luncheons high decorations can be indulged in. The cold dishes used on such occasions are susceptible of much garnishing, and are made to form a part of the decoration.

Where a large number of guests are being entertained, as at wedding breakfasts, or where the luncheon is accessory to some other entertainment, the guests are frequently seated at small tables placed throughout the room. In this case, no ornamentation is attempted other than a few flowers on each table, as anything more would be an inconvenience.

"Lighting"The lighting of the table requires careful consideration. Artificial light is not used unless necessary; but a dark, gloomy table should always be avoided, and if the room is dark candles should be lighted. Sometimes half the guests face bright windows, while the faces of those sitting with their backs to the windows are in shadow. Shaded lights in the chandelier will often remove this shadow; and, if carefully managed, the gas-lights will not be disagreeably noticeable. This, together with a careful adjustment of the curtains, will often equalize the light; but if a blinding glare cannot thus be overcome, it is better to draw the shades and curtains and light the candles. In city houses this is frequently done.

"Laying the table"The table is laid as for dinner, except that bread-and-butter plates are placed at the left of the dinner plates, each bread-and-butter plate having a small knife laid across it. These plates are small, and are used for the breads and hors d’oeuvres.

"The food and courses"At luncheon the soup is served in cups, and, where the guests are seated at the table, roasts are seldom presented, the meats being served in the form of chops, or individual portions; otherwise, the service is the same as at dinner.

At buffet luncheons large cold roasts are used, and ordinarily not more than one or two hot dishes are served, such as bouillon, creamed oysters, or croquettes. Cold fish, cold joints, gelatines, and salads make the substantial part of the luncheon. All the dishes, including the ices, are placed on the buffet table at once, and no order is observed in respect to courses, each person making his own selection. On these occasions the gentlemen serve the ladies, and but little extra household service is needed.

Where the guests are seated at small tables the service is the same as if all were seated at one table, and a number of servants are required. There should always be enough waiters to serve the meal quickly. An hour and a half is the extreme limit of time that guests should be kept at the table. Seven or eight courses are all that should be presented, and these should be served quickly, but without apparent haste. The days of long feasting are passed. People of to-day value their health and time too much to sit for hours at a time at the table. The meal should be over before there is any fatigue or dullness; but on the word of Brillat-Savarin, an accepted authority on gastronomic subjects, it is safe to detain guests at the table for one hour. He says:

“La table est le seul endroit oÙ l’on ne s’ennuie jamais pendant la premiÈre heure.”

GARNISHING AND DISHING MEATS

One celebrated French chef says: “Il faut viser a charmer les yeux des gourmet avant d’en satisfaire le goÛt”; and another, in giving advice to beginners, says: “A cook should have that artistic feeling which imparts to everything, great and small, that harmony of style which captivates the eye.”

This necessity is well recognized by every good cook, and such a one tries to give dishes the inviting appearance justly demanded by epicures. It is not necessary that the dish belong to the category which in cooking parlance is termed “high class,” for the simplest one comes under the same rule and is capable of being raised to a higher rank by careful dishing and tasteful garnishing. The greatest cooks are renowned for such specialties.

It is said of Soyer, “for dishing up he was entitled to celebrity”; and of CarÊme, “he excelled in everything requiring perfect taste, and dealt in a new and very effective manner with the ornamentation of large cold dishes.”

There is nothing which so quickly indicates the grade of the cook as the manner in which she serves her dishes. One who has no pride in her work seldom takes time for ornamentation, though garnishing is the simplest part of her duty. When, however, attention is given to this branch, even though the result may not be perfect, it gives promise of better things, and one may confidently predict for the cook who thus shows desire to do well that she will attain a higher degree of excellence in her profession. There is no class of dishes, from breads to desserts, which are not more appetizing when made attractive in appearance. It has been said that “eyes do half the eating,” and as no expense need be incurred in the indulgence of tasteful arrangement of the dishes, there seems to be no reason why the simplest table should not share with the most expensive one this element of success. Care, taste, and ingenuity will do much to remedy the lack of money, and may change the standard of the table from coarseness to refinement. Many suggestions for decorations may be found in the show-windows of bakers, pastry-cooks, fishmongers, and of delicatessen shops. Many of the pieces displayed there may seem elaborate and difficult to the novice, but they are, in reality, simple enough when the use of materials is understood.

The word garnishing is used here in a broad interpretation of the term, meaning the general ornamentation of dishes, whether it be obtained by form, color, dishing, or by dressing them with those articles called garnishes.

For example, beginning with breads, embellishment is accomplished by means of form and color. The form is gained by molding and cutting; the color, by glazing with egg or sugar. A universal expedient, when short of bread, is the soda biscuit. These biscuits, when cut in very small rounds of uniform size, will tempt the scoffer of hot breads; while large or small crusty rolls, all of exactly the same size, and baked a golden color, will also make him forget his prejudices and find excuse in the delicious crust for eating them. But these same biscuits carelessly cut or molded or baked would offer him no excuse for inviting dyspepsia. Toast looks more inviting when cut into strips or triangles, or with the corners neatly cut off if served in whole slices. Any little thing which indicates care on the part of the cook recommends the dish to favor and almost guarantees its excellence—on the principle that straws show which way the wind blows.

For soups, there is to be found, in any cook book, a long list of garnishes which may be used. Certainly a clear soup is more beautiful when a few green peas or a few bits of celery increase its brilliancy; a cream soup is greatly improved by a few small croutons; and so on through the various classes of dishes.

The garnishes for meat dishes are so various, it may be said that their only limit is the ingenuity and resources of the cook.

It should be remembered that dishes which are served hot do not permit of as much garnishing as cold ones. The first requisite in the former is heat, and this must not be lost by time given to elaborate garnishing. It does not, however, exclude them from the privilege of being embellished; for if the garnishes are prepared and ready at hand, it takes but a minute to put them in place. Hot meat dishes can also rely on other things to improve their appearance, such as shapeliness and uniformity; therefore, strict attention should be given to the cutting and trimming of meats, to the molding of croquettes, of meat-balls, or of anything served in pieces, and also to the dishing of the same.

After meat is well cut, if a joint, it should be divested of all points and irregularities, and of cartilage which will interfere with the carving, and then should be trimmed into a well-balanced and symmetrical form, attention being given to the matter of its standing squarely and solidly upon the platter.

Chops and cutlets should be trimmed into uniform size and shape. This can be done without waste, as the trimmings have their uses. Careful dressing and trussing is essential for poultry, as the appearance of an untrussed fowl is enough to destroy the appetite and condemn the dinner. A fowl should be pressed into a rounded and smooth surface in order to dissociate the article served from the thing of life.

Meat should be placed exactly in the center of the platter, except in certain instances where studied irregularity is given for special garnishing. To place chops or cutlets neatly overlapping one another, either in rows or in a circle, requires some dexterity, perhaps, but this is acquired by a very little practice, and such an arrangement not only helps to keep the meats hot, but is in itself ornamental. The platter should be in right proportion to the article served upon it. A large joint on too small a platter gives the same sense of unsuitableness that an outgrown garment gives to a boy or a girl, and the carving of this seemingly overgrown joint usually results in accidents to the table-cloth. Again, too small a platter affords no room for garnishing.

The color given meat in cooking may be called its secondary garnish, space being the first. Care should be taken, if it is roasted, that it be well browned; if it is boiled, that it be white and clean-looking; if it is fried, that it be not blackened, but a clear lemon color. Poultry should have a golden color that suggests crispness. It is difficult to make the mediocre cook understand these points.

Larding also serves an ornamental purpose. Dry meats, like veal, and oftentimes fowls, are improved in flavor by being larded; and it should be so done as to make it an ornamental feature. There is no part in the preparation of dishes easier to perform than larding, and no novice need hesitate to undertake it.

Hashes and minces can, with very little trouble, be made attractive in appearance as well as in taste. Hash pressed into a mold, giving it a ring or a dome shape, then masked or not with a sauce, or simply turned upon a platter, can be prettily garnished with eggs and greens. Plain meat-balls and potato- or hominy-balls can be placed together on a platter with such regard to effect that the dish assumes the character of an entrÉe, instead of appearing like a makeshift from left-over pieces.

The next means after larding in what may be called natural garnishing is in the employment of gravies and sauces. No article should ever swim in sauce, but a little can be used with good effect on many dishes. A venison steak wet with a currant jelly sauce, and just enough of the sauce poured on the bottom of the platter to color it, gives a glaze and juicy look to the steak which improves its appearance. A very little tomato sauce under breaded veal chops or croquettes gives color and emphasis to the dish. White sauce poured over boiled dishes gives greater whiteness and often covers defects. In French cooking, much use is made of masking, which is often done by glazing and by the use of sauces. As white sauces will make white foods whiter, so brown ones will make brown ones browner. Fitness must of course be observed. If crispness is a part of the excellence of a dish, it would not do to destroy that quality by using a moistening garnish.

Vegetables as garnishes come next in order of suitableness and convenience. When vegetables are placed on the same platter with meats, they not only ornament the dish, but contribute to the ease of serving a dinner. When they are used the dish is called À la jardiniÈre or À la printaniÈre. Probably every cook knows how to serve mashed or fried potatoes or green peas in the center of a circle of chops. Similar combinations can be made in various ways and of many things. Spinach, beans, carrots, purÉes, macaroni, spaghetti, or rice may be placed so as to form a base, raising the chops like a crown, or grouped with them in rows, or alternating with the individual pieces. Macedoine is a mixture of any number of vegetables, such as peas, beans of various kinds, carrot and turnip balls, flowers of cauliflower and any other vegetable obtainable. They may be mixed together, or each vegetable may be kept distinct and placed in small piles around the platter. Small portions of vegetables left over may be used to advantage in this way. Very little need be used of any one, and any number may be combined on the same dish. Potatoes boiled or fried can be prepared in many fancy ways to make them suitable for garnishing. Well-seasoned spinach is excellent with chops, steaks, or roasts. Browned onions are often used. Meats with onion garnishes make dishes called À la soubise. Brussels sprouts, hot, are a suitable garnish for corned beef; or cold, with a French dressing, are an excellent salad to serve with cold beef. They should not be over-cooked or they will lose their shape. Stuffed tomatoes may be used with almost any meat dish.

Vegetable purÉe, in fancy form, is useful for embellishment, and may take the place of a fresh vegetable. PurÉe is made of any vegetable mashed and seasoned in the same manner as potato. Navy beans, lima beans, flageolets, and peas, either fresh or dried, are so used. The purÉe can be pressed through a pastry-bag into forms simulating roses, or placed in piles on rounds of toast. Vegetables intended to be eaten with the meats they garnish should be well seasoned before being placed on the platter; but where they are to serve only an ornamental purpose, they may sometimes, as in the case of carrots and turnips, be used uncooked, as they have a better color and more firmness when raw. These two vegetables are very useful, as they are obtainable all the year round. Carrots are particularly pretty when small. Large ones sliced and then stamped into fancy shapes, combined with turnips treated in the same way, are frequently used for making designs. Sometimes they are cut into balls, sometimes are carved into forms simulating roses. It is easy to make them into cups, using a fluted knife to shape the outside, and hollowing the center with a potato-scoop. These cups are good for holding any vegetable or for vegetable salads.

Rice is generally used for borders which are intended to keep creamed dishes and fricassees in shape. Sausages cut in halves or quarters, or fried bacon, make a good relish as well as a garnish for many meats; they are particularly good with egg dishes. Paper frills on protruding bones serve the excellent purpose of concealing these unsightly ends. They are easily made by folding a strip of paper lengthwise, then cutting it down about one and a half inches at intervals of one-eighth inch on the folded side, thus making a double fringe; next slip one side up a little, making the fringe round out; and, finally, roll this around a stick, leaving the openwork in a close spiral. These frills are used on the bones of a leg of mutton, on ham, on chops, and on drumsticks.

The green garnishes are parsley, watercress, small crisp lettuce leaves, green lettuce cut into ribbons, chicory, and celery tops. These are all edible, and all have places where they are especially appropriate. Parsley, which is most commonly used, is preËminent for convenience, beauty of leaf, and freshness. In many cases, however, greens which can be eaten with the dish are preferable, such as watercress with broiled or fried meats or fish. Parsley may be used with almost everything in its purely ornamental function, but it can be chopped and sprinkled over foods for both its flavoring and decorative qualities. A woman who has mastered the art of making an omelet will usually give it this finishing touch. Parsley should be very green and crisp, well washed, and dried with a cloth before being used; it may then be broken into sprigs and placed at intervals, or formed into a wreath. Sometimes a large bunch, like a bouquet, may be used with good effect.

Lemons, like parsley, have convenience to recommend them, and, like watercress, are acceptable with fried meats. The acid of lemon is the best condiment for veal. When they serve the double purpose of garnish and condiment, they should be cut so the pieces can be taken in the hand and pressed without soiling the fingers. This is effected by cutting them in quarters lengthwise, or in halves and then in quarters. In some instances a half lemon is not too much to serve with one portion, but ordinarily quarters are sufficient. Slices are useless with meats, except as ornaments. Illustration No. 1 shows a lemon ready to be sliced. It has been channeled so as to give the notched edges which make the slices more ornamental. The illustration also shows a lemon made to simulate a pig. This form can be used with propriety on a ham or pork dish. The ears are formed by cutting and raising a triangular slice on each side of the pointed end, the eyes are made of cloves, the legs and tail of wooden toothpicks.

Hard-boiled eggs ornament in a variety of ways. They should be boiled very hard, then cut with a thin, sharp knife so the slices will be smooth and the edges clean. Illustration No. 2 shows plain slices, rings made by slipping the yolk out of slices, an egg cut into quarters and eighths, a whole yolk set into a ring, and a stuffed egg. Yolks pressed through a colander and sprinkled over creamed meat and fish dishes, cream toast, and some other dishes make a beautiful golden covering. Chopped whites in conjunction with crumbed yolks are used for tracing designs over salads, minces, and cold pieces.

Pickled beets are a useful and effective garnish. The color gives decided contrast, and the flavor is a good relish. Sliced beets can be stamped with vegetable-cutters into fancy shapes, or cut with a knife into diamonds, cubes, or strips. One can easily have them always at hand. Two or three boiled beets sliced thin and put into vinegar will last until all are used, and should be among the stores in the dresser awaiting the convenience of the cook. Cucumber pickles and gherkins are equally useful in point of color effects, and in giving piquancy to many foods. They are used in slices stamped into fancy shapes, or chopped and arranged in lines or in little heaps. Gherkins are usually left whole, but may be sliced, giving buttons of color. Capers and olives complete the list of condiment garnishes, though any pickle may be used with propriety on cold meat dishes. Illustration No. 3 shows various garnishes as explained in legend.

Croutons are an indispensable part of hot minced meat dishes, creamed mixtures, and eggs cooked in various ways. They serve also to ornament these dishes, which especially require garnishing to make them presentable. Croutons are pieces of bread browned in butter in a sautÉ-pan, or moistened with butter and browned in the oven. Care should be taken to cut them exactly, the shape depending on the dish with which they are to be used. For soups they should be quarter-inch cubes; for minced meats, triangles more or less acute. Circles, squares, and strips also have their places. The color should be light golden, not dark brown; the latter color betrays inexperience or carelessness.

Fontage cups holding vegetables are useful for garnishing.

The articles in the following list are used for garnishing meats:

A cook who has a desire to ornament her dishes can make an infinite variety of garnishings by combining various things, or by changing the form and arrangement of any one of them. Most of the articles used are within the reach of all. It is even not necessary to buy articles especially for this purpose, for odds and ends left over, or those standard stores always in the larder, will afford enough material tastefully to ornament the dishes.

It must be borne in mind that decorations should not be such as will embarrass the carver.

VEGETABLES

With very few exceptions, vegetables should be served au naturel. Meats require all the aids of skilful handling and tasteful adornment. Vegetables, on the contrary, have great beauty in themselves, and the art of the cook cannot rival that of nature. Therefore a few sprigs of parsley so arranged as to give a finish to the dish are ordinarily sufficient garnishing. In those cases, however, where the vegetables lose form and color in cooking, the skill of the cook may be employed to restore these qualities as far as possible. The more a cabbage can be made to look like itself, the more attractive it will be. This, at first thought, may seem a difficult thing to do, but the boiled vegetable can easily be placed in a cup made of the outside green leaves of the cabbage, and so, in a measure, present its own beautiful form and color. Illustration No. 4 shows a plain boiled cabbage mixed with a white sauce and so arranged.

The color of this vegetable in its natural state appeals to the esthetic sense of every artist, and many a beautiful picture has been made of a field of cabbages; yet the farmer who sees a man sit down with canvas and brush before his cabbage patch usually regards him as a crank, for to his untutored mind cabbages are associated only with their utility. Many housekeepers are equally mistaken in their views about this vegetable, and consider it coarse food fit to serve only garnished with apologies. Such opinions are based on error, however, for the cabbage is both beautiful to look at and delicious to eat. There are many receipts for cooking cabbage which make it as delicate a dish as cauliflower.

In the case of spinach, since the form cannot be preserved, recourse is had to molding; the color also may be heightened by contrast with other colors. Illustration No. 5 shows spinach molded by being pressed into a basin decorated with the whites of hard-boiled eggs, and with croutons placed around the form after it is unmolded. Both the eggs and the croutons improve the taste of the spinach. The basin was first buttered to hold the egg in place while the design was being arranged. Crumbed yolk of hard-boiled egg sprinkled over spinach is another garnishing for this vegetable which enhances its green color and gives the dish a better appearance.

There are many ways of cooking any vegetable. These various ways may serve for change, but few of them are better than the simple one of boiling and serving with a suitable sauce. Attention should be given to dishing vegetables so that there is no appearance of their having been turned carelessly on to the platter. A neatly folded napkin can be used under dry, unseasoned vegetables, like asparagus, artichokes, or corn. The napkin gives daintiness to the dish, and in the case of corn, when folded over it, helps to keep it hot.

COLD DISHES

It has been said above that discrimination should be made in garnishing dishes; those to be served hot, for instance, should go directly from the fire to the table, and not be allowed to become cool while being elaborately garnished; on the other hand, cold dishes demand no haste and permit of so much elaboration that at suppers and buffet luncheons they are depended upon largely for table decoration.

The accomplished cook considers the work on cold pieces an opportunity for giving examples of his skill, and the ornamentation of molds and chaud-froids a kind of fancy work which requires nicety and taste. Under the head of cold dishes come all the salads, the pÂtÉs, galantines, cold fish dishes, ices, and sweets. In each of these there is range in which to display culinary accomplishments. The skill requisite for moderate adornment of these dishes is not so great that one need hesitate to undertake them. Cold dishes are often more gratefully received in summer than hot ones, therefore it is desirable that every cook should be able to serve them in attractive forms. Again, from an economic point of view they are desirable, as meats can be served a second time in cold forms quite as acceptably as before.

Many meats, when served cold, require to be boned and pressed into good shape. Ordinary kitchen boards weighted down serve very well for a press. The meat, while hot, is put into molds, or is rolled in cloth, the ends tied, and then placed in the press. Small muffin-rings can be used for sweetbreads, bread-tins or oval molds for other meats. Chaud-froid sauce is often spread over galantines, and jellied mayonnaise over cold fish. On this smooth surface the decoration is laid in some design traced in fancy cuts of truffle, or in a combination of white of egg with truffles, cold tongue, olives, and other suitable things which give color. See illustration No. 114.

Aspic jelly is a principal reliance for covering cold pieces. It is not masking in this case, for the jelly should be perfectly transparent, while masking conceals the material of which the dish is composed. Aspic is also cut into small triangles or in squares to make borders, and is sometimes chopped and used for decoration. See illustration No. 3. Aspic is no longer one of the difficult preparations reserved for the hand of the very experienced cook. Any of the beef or chicken extracts stiffened with gelatine, and seasoned and cleared if necessary, make good aspic. The preparation is as simple as that of any jelly. A little care, however, in molding and handling is requisite for good results. Jellied vegetables are appropriate to use with jellied or other cold meats. Small cups are used for molding them, and the pieces can be made very ornamental. See illustration No. 6. The small forms placed around meat and served with a green salad make an attractive cold course.

Fancy skewers are much employed on cold meats. Their office is purely ornamental, so when they are used trouble is not to be considered. A fancy-headed skewer is run through, perhaps, a fine red cockscomb, then a truffle, then a fancy cut of lemon, or a mushroom, or a carved vegetable. Truffles in combination with vegetables molded in aspic and quenelles also are often used. If all these things are impracticable, one can devise combinations more easily obtained. A trussing needle can be utilized, concealing the head in a section of lemon and building down with carrot and turnip in alternating colors and shapes, and perhaps using a crawfish, an egg, or an olive in the combination. See illustration No. 7. French authors recommend that these skewers be employed only occasionally, so that they may not lose the attraction which novelty gives them.

Cracked, crushed, or ground ice can often be used with good effect. It gives crispness to olives, celery, radishes, and cucumbers, and enhances the beauty of the dish as well. With raw oysters it is indispensable, and with melons very desirable. A free use of ice on the summer breakfast table will go far toward inviting an appetite for that meal.

It is well to remember that although great elaboration is possible in cold dishes, it is not necessary, and dishes can be made very attractive without chaud-froid, aspic, or traced designs. If the pieces are shapely, they will look well if simply sprinkled with chopped parsley, chopped white of egg, or the crumbed yolks, and dressed with any of the green salads. Flowers also can be used to aid in adornment.

FISH

As fish dishes rank with any other kind in point of attractiveness, and are open to almost as great a variety of garnishing as are meats, the same general remarks apply to them. The matter of shape and color here, too, has to be considered. A boiled fish dropping to pieces from over-cooking, or bereft of its head or tail, is an unsightly dish. It is permitted to serve fish au naturel, even going so far as to simulate swimming. This is done by propping it with a whole carrot laid inside, which gives the fish enough rigidity to stand upright. Illustration No. 8 shows a fish served in this way. The garnishing is white rings of hard-boiled egg, holding sprigs of parsley, laid along the back. A slice of lemon sprinkled with and surrounded by parsley, giving the effect of a medallion, is placed against the side of the fish. A fish to be baked may be twisted like the letter S to make it stand upright. A boiled fish, whether served whole or in part, should appear clean. No scum from the kettle should be suffered to remain on it, and no water should drip from it into the platter. A folded napkin is usually placed under boiled fish to insure dryness.

Boiled potatoes are ordinarily served with boiled fish, and may be used for garnishing, if cut into balls and cooked so that they are very white and mealy. Parsley gives color and also a sense of freshness. It may be used in large bunches, especially when the fish is cut, or on creamed fish dishes.

Illustration No. 9 shows a middle cut of fish with potato and parsley decoration. The fish being cod, the flesh is not sufficiently white to be attractive, and so it is masked with white sauce, then sprinkled with chopped parsley. Had the fish been halibut, the sauce would have been omitted. Hard-boiled eggs are an excellent accompaniment for boiled fish, and when not used in the sauce may be supplied in the garnishing. Creamed fish is pretty with the top made golden with crumbed yolks.

Fried fish should have a lemon color and look clean, dry, and bright, not black or greasy. The color is secured by dipping them in milk, then rolling in flour and frying in smoking-hot fat; or, if eggs and crumbs are used, having white, fresh crumbs grated from the stale loaf. Fish to be fried is often cut into slices, or into fillets, but small fish need not be cut and so lose their character. Smelts are sometimes turned into rings, or are laid open and the head drawn through a slit cut in the back. Different ways of dressing them give variety, and make dishes ornamental from form alone. If potatoes are served with fried fish, they should be cut into balls and fried. Lemons are indispensable with fried or broiled fish. They are frequently sliced, but are better cut in quarters so as to give more of the juice, which is needed for condiment. Lemon sprinkled with chopped parsley is very pretty.

Broiled fish is improved by being spread with maÎtre d’hÔtel butter. This gives it a moist appearance, and is the best possible sauce for it; at the same time the parsley in the sauce helps to garnish the dish. Watercress placed around the fish completes the garnishing and makes the dish perfect. Lemon and watercress are the best condiments for any fried or broiled dish. Baked fish will not bear more than a few sprigs of parsley as garnishing.

Lobster coral is much esteemed on account of its brilliant color, and when lobster is served it is well to use it as a garnish. It may be sprinkled over the whole surface of a lobster dish, or be arranged in lines or dots as the circumstances suggest. Shrimps, prawns, and crawfish make good garnishes for any fish, whether it is served hot or cold.

When dishes are to be passed, the dishing and garnishing should be such that the portions are easily distinguishable.

An amusing story is told by a scientist of the predicament in which he was placed when the guest of honor at an English table. He was a man of simple habits in his home, and was very near-sighted. Elaborately garnished dishes were passed to him first, as he sat at the right of the host, and he had to break the construction of what he was pleased to call architectural or master-builder’s dishes, and this without knowing where their keystone lay, or of what they were composed. He was thus obliged to make public exhibition of his awkwardness, as well as betray ignorance in that branch of his own business, which left him unable to recognize biological specimens when they had evolved into their highest development in the hands of the cook. This story serves as an important hint that no dish should be entirely disguised. A lobster should still be a lobster in form or suggestion, however it is prepared. For example, should it be served in chops, a claw pressed into one end would not only carry out the form of a chop, but would also designate the dish. There is generally something that can be reserved from an article which loses its shape in cooking that may be used to garnish the dish and act as a kind of label.

The garnishes are:

For Vegetables

For Cold Meats

For Fish

POTATOES

Potatoes are a universal dish, and there are an infinite variety of ways of cooking them: boiling, baking, frying, all manner of ways to suit all manner of people, and to accompany all kinds of meats. Yet, strange as it may seem, it is the food usually the worst cooked of any that is presented. The potatoes are too often soggy, greasy, blackened, burned. The poor cook seems determined to destroy both the favor and flavor of this useful vegetable. The potato is mostly starch, and it is not as well known as it should be that the principle of cooking starch is to cook it only until the starch grains burst, and then remove it from moisture, for the starch grains, when open, readily absorb moisture and become soggy. Hence we see this vegetable a most delicious dish or one unfit to eat, according to the skill of the cook. Mashed potato is served from the simplest kitchen, but betrays the poor cook as quickly as a greasy soup. Sometimes one sees an attempt made to improve the appearance of this dish by pressing and smoothing it over the top. This makes a hard and compact mass of what ought to be a light and flaky substance. Often it is served in a deep dish, which is another mistake; for the potato, when light and white, is tempting enough to serve on a flat dish where it may be seen. Potatoes that are to be served in this way should be mashed the moment they are cooked, and not set aside for a more convenient time. They may then be moistened with milk or cream and be seasoned with butter, pepper, and salt, in measure to the richness desired, and whipped until, like the whites of eggs, they become white and spongy from the air imprisoned in the cells. Mashed potato may be served in a great variety of ways. It can be run through the menu from soup to salad; can be used for entrÉes, and can make ornamental fancy dishes out of even minces and stews. It is invaluable as a mask for broken dishes; for instance, a leg of mutton can be made a presentable dish to serve a second time by filling the cut with mashed potato. In this case it must be molded to the shape of the roast and be painted with egg over the top, so it will take color and not betray the patch. Such expedients are at times admissible and should not be scorned. It has been wisely said that “if there is not economy in the kitchen there will soon be no kitchen.”

When potato is made into cakes, timbales, or croquettes, it must have egg mixed through it, else it will lose its form when cooked the second time. When used as borders for minces or creamed dishes, it can be turned into shape with a knife, be lightly pressed into a mold to give it form, or be pressed through a pastry-bag and tube into fancy forms.

Frying is perhaps the method of cooking potatoes which requires the most skill. Fried balls, slices, or straws are always excellent with broiled meats, and at the same time are the best garnish for them. The height of skill is reached in the soufflÉ. These small balloons are something of a marvel, and are seldom seen except from the hand of a French cook. The amateur seldom succeeds with this dish, yet it is one worthy of the practice which makes perfect. To prepare the delectable soufflÉ, the potato is cut lengthwise, or with the grain; the slices must be one eighth of an inch in thickness and taken off with one clean, sharp cut, then trimmed to uniform shapes, either elliptical or round. The slices are soaked in cold water and dried with a cloth at the moment of cooking. They are immersed in fat just below the smoking-point, and cooked for five minutes, or until softened; are then drained and allowed to cool for a little time in an open oven, and then immersed a second time in fat which is very hot, when the slices at once puff and brown. They should be served at once.

NO. 10. UTENSILS.
1. Baking sheet.
2. PurÉe sieve.
3. Fontage or Swedish timbale irons.
4. Pastry brush.
5. Two pastry bags made of rubber cloth, the larger one holding a star tube.
6. Tubes for pastry bags with plain, round, and star openings of different sizes. The last four on the right are small tubes for icing cake in ornamental designs.