A guide to modern cookery

A GUIDE TO MODERN COOKERY




A GUIDE TO MODERN COOKERY.

_SOME PRESS OPINIONS._


“This is probably one of the most important cookery books issued
this century, and will, it may be presumed, eventually take its
place alongside the familiar culinary classics of former days. It is
especially interesting as marking the inauguration of an entirely new
style of living. M. Escoffier’s book is a culinary education in itself,
and should take rank as a standard, be studied by all housekeepers who
have either large households or gourmets to cater for, and should most
certainly be placed in the hands of all persons training for high-class
cookery teachers.”—_Queen._

“His book is comprehensive. It begins at the beginning and explains
the principles, so that a lady who reads it may talk learnedly to her
cook; it deals fully with all the old-established dishes of different
countries; but its main feature is the number of delightful novelties
which it introduces to notice. There are plenty of recipes which may be
applied with advantage in the middle-class household where the lady in
the kitchen has nobody under her, for M. Escoffier’s directions deal
alike with humble and elaborate preparations.”—_Outlook._

“It is a big book written by a great cook, and it will be useful
not only to accomplished cooks and experienced housekeepers, but
also to beginners in the kitchen and the housekeeper’s room, for
M. Escoffier takes nothing for granted and explains very patiently all
the groundwork of the art of cookery before he discussed the _haute
cuisine_. It contains much that is interesting to the _gourmet_ as well
as much that is useful to the cook, for he has little tales to tell
concerning some of the dishes; and now and again a scrap of history
crops up.”—_Tatler._

“Even as you take up the volume a sense of pleasurable anticipation
takes possession of you, so pleasing is the cover, so clear and bold
is the type, and so delightful to the touch is the paper on which is
printed the garnered wisdom of the famous _chef_. A little reading
will soon show you that it is as full of sound wisdom, and of fresh
and interesting information, as Brillat-Savarin’s “Physiologie du
Goût”.”—_The Westminster Gazette._

“The ordinary good plain British cook will discover something worth the
learning on every page; the worried mistresses of small establishments
will cherish the book as a treasure-house of new ideas; the man who
likes a good dinner but has no special knowledge of the art of the
kitchen will find the preface and the introductions to the chapters
capital reading; and every English-speaking gourmet will have a well
thumbed copy of this very modern “Guide” upon his book-shelf. The book
is a comprehensive one, and at the same time a simple one. It is a
book that should be in every house.”—_Pall Mall Gazette._




[Illustration: _A. Escoffier_]




                              A GUIDE TO
                            MODERN COOKERY


                                  BY
                             A. ESCOFFIER
                         OF THE CARLTON HOTEL


                            _WITH PORTRAIT_


                        NEW AND REVISED EDITION


                        [Logo: Windmill, 1920]
                       LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN




_Printed in Great Britain._


        _First Printed, May 1907
     Second Impression, December 1907
  New and Revised Edition, January 1909
 New Impressions, August 1911, May 1913,
        March 1916, January 1920._


_Copyright 1907 by William Heinemann._




PREFACE


If the art of Cookery in all its branches were not undergoing 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’être_; 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 navigation, 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.