The Press. — London, England, 1856-12-27 00:00:00

DECEMBER 27, 1856. point is to get rid of the "mauvais quart d'heure" before dinner is announced : If one of the guests be a stranger, he can, as is usual, be immediately taken under the wing of the master or mistress of the house ; but should there be more than one, then books of the season, engravings, prints, carica tures, curiosities, and novelties of all kinds afford pleasur able variety, till the icelike contact of the first meeting between guests is melted by those internal resources ever in command at the social dinner•table. Guests and hosts should alike be punctual : The Prince Cambaceras, who was Arch• Chancellor of the French Empire, and one of the first gastronomers of the day, is related to have invited the Emperor Napoleon to one of his celebrated dinners, but finding that half an hour had elapsed beyond the time of invitation, and yet no Bonaparte appeared, poor Carnbaceres, in a state of indescribable agony, sent for his chef de cuisine, and called out in true military language—" Henri, save the entremits —the entrees are annihilated s ! Much of the excellence of a dinner will depend on the preparation of the dining room : The best form of table is the round one, so that incon• venient angles are not encountered by the guests or the attendants, and accidental voids are rendered leas per• ceptible, the company seeing anti converging physically towards one another, as it is intended they shall, socially. This also relieves the master and mistress of the house from the painful endurance of sitting unsocially, anti ti,e guests from the annoyance consequent upon their elbows meeting. For the like reason, when the company is very nume rous, the oval table is the next best. An excellence attend ing these tables is, that they economise room, by giving the most thereof in the smallest space. • • • • • • • No ornaments which might obstruct the eye should be placed upon the table, since the guests should see one another, and above all the Amphitryon should be able to see them. Hence high, gaudy, gorgeous ornaments, over proportioned to the size of the table, aro considered offen• sive to good taste. The hints or. (lining are of general appli cation : Wenhatu ice, broken into pieces, and within the easy reach of every guest, is placed on the table in glass dishes, affording not only a great luxury, but a most salutary advance in the comforts of modern improvement. Ices and iced water cool the human frame, not alone by causing lowering of temperature, but by producing the healthful effects of reaction, as is consequent upon the shower-bath of the morning. In summer and ;n autumn, no dinner of pretension to judgment or elegance is given without it. So highly did that distinguished epicure, the Prince Talleyrand, esteem the excellent effects of the ice -water, that he always took intense draughts of it at dinner, and even doubled that quantity it suffering from a cold. The polar is considered to be as important in the open ing of every good dinner as the coach•door is to the carriage. "Du potage, qui eat, en quelquc sorte, la porte cochere de tont diner Bien °Monne." If turtle soup be taken, the proper place for this crown ing soup of the English table is before the host, who serves its contents with skill, so that he may obviate that diffi culty which is termed the breach of good manners—that of sending up the soup-plate a second time, no matter how much the guest may appreciate the excellence of this choice soup. • • • • • • • If turtle soup, follow with well iced punch, when the punch, if not too sweet, will give a bracing energy to appetite. This may be done betwixt the courses, in form of punch • la Romaine, or in simple form, as granite — then its effect is both cooling and reanimating. In the last course, the ices are found in the shape of Plombii•re, Charlotte-Russe, poudin d la Neaelrode, biscuits glories, which are the best and the most elegant of the sweet dishes. And the ices at the dessert, moulded into the shape of apples, pears, &c., are no less successful than the fore going. " If the potage may be considered as the principal gate of the edifice, the entries form, as it were, the chief moms of the structure We may invird the entries as the most solid part of the dinner ;—Si le potage est la principale porte de ]'edifice ; lee entrées en forment le premier stage et les appartemens les plus importans. On pent regarder les entrées oomme is partie is plus solide d'un diner." The first soup, the turtle, should be as light and pale as possible; and all rubies should be given later, in propor tion to its concentration and intensity of flavour, until the second roasts are reached. The meatcal epicure, observing that there are many stages and forms of congelation, from the sorbet to the fruit-ice, is regulated according to the advanced stage of the dinner in taking his ice more fluid, and of less intense congelation. Ater the turtle soup, which has been cor rected by the spirituous ingredients of the punch. the ice may be drunk fluid without danger, and also with benefit. Later in the dinner, in form of sorbet, it must be avoided as imprudent, lest too much cold descends nt the same moment into the stomach; consequently it is afterwards served in the semi-fluid state, which still allows the guest to drink, and without having recourse to his plate,—it compels his sipping slowly. At dessert, he must cut the ice with a spoon, and eat the mimic fruits particle by partiole-..since the epicure considers ice as acting upon the palate in effect as milk and apples do; and therefore th;liteda:etuw and gourmets employ it to restore the taste aMr ashacitlou by dosiustfuloa l sad to impart tom to ill ctgrageb, THE PRESS. When the second roast is reached, the dishes should then but coquette with the p slate, until the dessert comes, capped by the coffee, and followed by the chaise cafe, which consecutively reward and confirm the palate, after all its labours in recruiting the system. On wines and liqueurs the Maitre &Hotel speaks with precision : Respecting wines, taste varies very much ; yet there are some very broad and plain rules concerning them, re• suiting from the experience of the epicure and the phy sician: as the white wines, from their solvent quality, are deemed the hest adapted to the courses of the dinner, the light white wines should bo taken with the dinner exclu sively; Chablis, Bantu, and Grave should be taken with the oysters before dinner; Sauterne and Sherry after the soup ; White Hermitage at the end of the first course ; Burgundy and other wines, such as COte Roti. Red Her. mitage, Chambertin, after the game ; Madeira, Port. Brown Sherry, and Claret with the dessert. Champagne begins almost with the first entrEes, and often extends its sway to the end of the other courses. As regards other wines served with ices, according to taste, such as the liqueur wines, or the sweet wines Con stance, Pacaret, Cyprus, &c., they may be taken with safety. Of the sweet wines, none are to be compared to Tokay, which, when it is genuine and old enough, pos sesses, in the estimation of the gastronome, a fragrant energy mingling with, and overmastering, the luscious sweetness. The great objections to the usual run of sweet wines are, that they cloy the palate, injure digestion, and readily ferment in the stomach. The most fashion. able practice is to serve the sweet wines immediately on the partaking of ices. Respecting liqueurs, it behoves the hospitable Amphi tryon to be very cautious. The imitations of come liqueurs at Bordeaux are considered tolerable; but, un fortunately, they are manufactured everywhere, and with out improvement. The real Curacao, the white with a crystal deposit, is considered the best ; the real Maraschino should be imported direct from Zara, the Rosoglio from Italy, the Noyeau from the West India Islands, the Crame de Café from Mauritius, Kirsohenwasser from the Black Forest, lc. Bad liqueurs are sometimes somewhat deleterious, and may be fatal. The last Duke of Lorraine is reported to have died from drinking a glass of noyeau, at a time when prussic acid was unknown ! The directio►►s for the preparation of good coffee are unive►•sally applicable : Coffee is sadly used [abused ?) in England. The physician ;nstructs, that the coffee berry contains many constituents that undergo changes at different temperatures ; that no cupidity or deceit should enter into its admixture; and that coffee, to be agreeable, digestive, and wholesome, should be served with all its constituents elicited in the exact proportions in which they present themselves when the coffee bean is roasted; and that no possible excuse exists for serving it otherwise, since its preparation is of the simplest possible process, and as follows • Put enough for your object of light brown roasted coffee in a thick flannel funnel•shaped bag, held by a rim of wire ; then pour boiling water thereon, and collect the liquor into a vessel heated for the purpose, and serve instantly. The above is stated to have been the mode in which the illustrious Talleyrand used to have his coffee served, and which was ever considered by his epicurean guests as most delicious, shedding the sweets of its aroma. The best berry for this purpose is of the finest kind, and never roasted beforehand. but is, according tot Eastern custom, roasted on the instant immediately preceding the making coffee, and then served in very delicate small china or porcelain cups; but in the absence of the berry prepared in the above state, the most recently-roasted coffee is preferred. From these specimens our readers mnv judge of the use of this volume It has the merit of being original, and of being written with perfect knowledge of the subjects dis cussed. The Russian Embassy, we may re mark, has long been. famous for its hospi tality : The time Prince Esterhazy was in London was re markable for its splendid and costly entertainments. The dinners given by his Excellency were attended by all the elite in rank and fashion of the day, and were no where surpassed in their artistic arrangement and per. fection in serving. The expenses of one of the large evening parties, given by the Prince in 1838, amounted to 9271.; there were present about fifteen hundred persons, and cards issued for more than that number. Out of the 9271, there was an outlay of 2171. for the construction of a temporary room, or tent. A considerable portion of the other expenses was made up by the hire of plate, glass, waiters, music, &c. The whole cost of refreshments and wine did not much exceed 4001., a little more than ss. per head. The item of flowers is set down at 60/. The whole volume is penned with considerable spirit and taste. The second volume is an encyclopaedia of economy. It gives details from the cost and particulars of building a house down to the smallest matters of daily expenditure. It is truly a family book, treating of health and of sickness, of tho nursery and the dining• room— inonleating now economy, now elegance, and at all times prndence end foresight; and tend• 1241 ins to make. as far as rules can, life com modious, cheerful, and convenient. As far as our housekeeping experience goes, however, the writer is too sanguine. He seems to imagine that money will go farther than our housekeeping bills warn us is the case. In the scale of expenditure for 1,000/. a year, for example, there is first given the amounts which must be reckoned to be paid for every department of household expenditure For fish and poultry (including game) there is set down 30/. a year, a very scanty allowance, when the bills of fare given are considered. One day we have " turbot ;" another day, " brace of grouse ;" another day, " cod's•head and shoulders ;" another, " wild ducks ;" another, " partridges ;" another " chickens," and so on. Thirty pounds a year for fish and poultry would go but a short way at this rate. Gene rally the bills of fare seem far better than the items set down for domestic expenditure would justify. Anything like precision in such cases is impossible. Every family must apportion its expenditure to its means and wants, and the only rule to be laid down for young housekeepers is to keep within tho mark. The volume is illustrated with a great number of engravings, and seems to be most carefully compiled. Ditto Ditto PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.—DEC. Booxs. History of the Christian Church. James C. Robertson, M.A. John Murray Plain Sermons. Rev. J. J. Blunt, B.D. Ditto The Edusation of Character. Mrs. Ellis. Ditto The Early Flemish Painters. Ditto Elvara ; and other Poems. Saunders and Otley England's Greatness; Its Rise and Progress. John Wade Longman. 7'he Book of Job. Illustrated by John Gilbert. Nisbet and Co. Craigcrook Castle. Gerald Massey. Bogu• Sidney Grey. A Tale of School Life. Ditto Florence Templar. Smith anti Elder Sketches from Life. Harriet Martineau. _ _ Whittaker and Co. Jessie Cameron. A Highland Story. Lady Rubel Butler Blackwood' Story by an Archcaologist and His Friends. Two Vole. Bell and Daldy Lires of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seat of England. John Lord Campbell, LL.D., F.R.S.E. Fourth Edition. Ten Vols. Vol I. John Murray Letters of Queen Henrietta Maria. Edited by Mary Anne Everett Green. Bentley Myths traced to their Primary Source through Language. Morgan Kavannah. Two Vole. T. C. Newby A Ramble through the United States, Canada, and the West Indies. John Shawe, M.D.. F.G.S., F.L.S. Hope Fririurn. A Novel. Octavia Oliphant. Two Vole. Ditto Julia ; or, the Neapolitan Marriage. Margaret Tulloh. Ditto Ditto Duty to Parents. The Cabinet Lawyer. Seventeenth Edition. Longrnans Sydney Fielding. Edwin Keene. 2 Vole. Bentley The Epicurean A Tale. Thorium Moore. Longman' A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. Sir Bernard Burke. Hurst and Blackett Alfieri and Goldoni; their Lives and Adventures. E. Copping. Addey and Co. Giulio Branchi. The Story of a Tuscan. Alfred Elwell. Whaling and Fishing. The Chevalier Memento: ; or, the Conspirators. Alexan•lre Dimas. Hodgson Smeltla Tria. An Allegory of Life. Itogue Poems and Songs. James M'Dongall. Hall and Virtue The Historic Peerage of England. The late Sir Harris Nicolas, G.C.M.G. Murray State Papers and Correspondence. John M. Kembell. M.A. J. W. Parker The Wedding Guests ; or, the Happiness of Life. A Novel. Mary C. HornP. Two Vola. Ditto Eight ,Months' Journal, kept on Board one of her 21fqjesty's Sloops of War. Alfred L. Halloran. Longmans Queen Lode; and the Mieleloe. A Fairy Rhyme for the Fireside. Addev and Co. The Orean Child ; or, Showers and Sunshine. Sirs. Harr riet Myrtle. Ditto History and Life of Rev. Dr. John Tauler. With Twenty• five of his Sermons. Smith and Elder Pictures of Life anti Character. John Leech. From the Collection of Punch. Bradbury and Evans PAMPHLETS. Prince Albert Why is he Unpopular ? F. Airplay. Saunders and Otler.—A Report on the State of Popular Education. Simpkin and Marshall.—Education. kin and Marshall.—Bible Revision and Translation. Rev. J. Cunningham, D.D. Hall and Virtne.—Arnold. A Dramatic History. Hope.—Sir Beirant's Daughter. Hope. —The Lord's Anointed. Rev. M. Margoliouth, M.A. (tooth.—Jacob (Minium on the Purchase System. Brad• bury and Evans.—The Mysterious Birth. Hall and Virtue . —Gibraltar: or, the Foreign Policy of England. J. W. Parker.—The Shads af Cocker and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Wilton —The IL .IL the ,•ootit-- F 2 143. 2 101., Wilson --The Home School; or. Hintr on and Homo Ethication. Hamilton and Ad anc—Camloola tena• the Montages Collection. Pert 11..../41# Practice. Mill.lll.llll.llllllllMA