The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-28 00:00:00

THE EXHIBITION BILL OF FARE.

If there be any truth in the old saw that the
proof of the pudding is in the eating, then Mr.
Morrish has undoubtedly been a very successful
caterer for the wants of the public at the Exhibi-
tion. Thousands of visitors have probably never
tasted a morsel or drunk a cup in the building, and
of those wno have done both there will of course be
the usual percentage ready to assert that they were
badly waited on, that their sherry was hot and
their soup cold, and that they suffered all those
minor evils which usually occur to people who
think that they can dine as comfortably as they
can dine at home. It is evident, however, that the
number of those who did not eat, and the number
of those who did, and afterwards complained,
have been mere units in the great total of those who
to judge from the quantities consumed, must have
eaten pretty heartily. The whole bill of fare of a
Lord Mayor's banquet, with its traditional glories of
250 tureens of turtle, pales to mere insignificance
before the quantities which have apparently been
consumed weekly and daily by visitors to the
Exhibition. What will the French critics who
called on their countrymen to admire the English
ladies in the building, and warned them in solemn
terms against venturing to see them eat in the re-
freshment department, say when they see this
stupendous total of only a portion of the provisi, ns
eaten and drunk since the opening day? Will they
continue to ascribe these tons of meat and thousands
of barrels of ale and stout to the English fair
alone, or will they admit, when they look at the
items, that the rougher sex must also have found
time to give their better halves important aid in
disposing of this bill of fare ? In the matter of light
refreshments the ladies, as we shall see, have
evidently not lost much time. Country cousins,
too, have done their part in this national gorman-
dising; else how shall we account for the absence of
112,000 pork pies, to say nothing whatever of the
little mouthfuls implied by the consumption of
some 30,0001 b. of cheese and 3,0001 b. of bacon ?
Yet, if a stranger were to judge of the refreshment
department by the complaints which have now
and ilea been made, he would be apt hastily to
imagine that it was a place where it was next to
impossible to get anything to eat. When we bear
in mind these complaints now, and then look at the
amounts that have really been eaten, we are for-
cibly reminded of the friendly game at 100, where
Smith, the only winner, has gained no more than
75., though Brown has lost .E.l 35., and Jones and
Robinson 14s each. Somebody won the money at
the 100, and has eaten the refreshments at the
Exhibition—has eaten them, paid for them, and
gone away content, for the satisfied diners must
have been a very numerous class indeed, to judge
from what they have effected in the matter of con-
sumption. In simple truth, the items in this for-
midable list of eatables and driakables would ap-
pear
almost fabulous if it were not perfectly corro-
borated in every particular by the returns in 1851,
where the same descriptions of things were sold.
In 1851, the refreshments allowed to be sold in
the Exhibition were only of the kind technically
called " light"—what restaurateurs, in fact, call a
" lady and bun business." The strapping fellows
who came up from the Potteries and mining dis-
tricts, who wanted their cheese, and gallon of beer,
could get a wafer or an ice, or, if seriously, bent on
eating, a sandwich and a glass of sherry, while
their wives took a cup of cafe au bait and a thin
slice of brown bread. In fact, 100,000 hungry vi-
sitors were then expected to be content with the
same sort of tepid comfort that is offered to people
at a soiree, who don't want to eat, and who could
not get anything if they did. As a matter of
course, therefore, these " light" refreshments be-
came
heavy in the extreme to dispose of as they
fell in popular favour, and there was a gin gallery
and a beer gallery, so called not because these
liquors were sold there, though they were cer-
tainly drunk, and there, was an importation of fiat
bottles and not flat baskets into the building,
with the usual unseemly debris of crusts and
crumbs and greasy papers when the public
dined on what they had brought in with them.
Nevertheless, in spite of all, when Mr
Younghusband, then the contractor for the
refreshments, published his return of what had
been consumed, the totals were enormous, and
for a loog time even thought to be untrue. The
lesson then taught as to what might be madeofthe
refreshment department, when properly adminis-
tered in the matter of tood and drinks
that might
be sold, was one of the few by which the Commis-
sioners have profited on this occasion. Both the con-

tractors were bound to supply all that the public
could really want in this respect, and the returns
which we now give of what Mt. Morrish's consump-
tion has been up to last Saturday show how much
the public has appreciated the permission, and to
what a liberal extent they have availed themselves
of its advantages. The returns we give are those
of Mr. Morrish, made up of the totals entered as
sold in his books each week. They are, therefore,
necessarily incomplete to the amount of M. Veil-
lard's sales, which must have been considerable, as
upwards of £70,000 was taken over the counters
for refreshments in that contractor's portion of the
bui.ding. Allowing for this, however, and bearing
in mind that Mr. Morrish's sales as compared with
those of M. Veillard were nearly as three to one, a
tolerably accurate estimate may be formed of the
total consumed altogether. At all events, what-
ever the latter contractor may have done, Mr. Mor-
rish's books, as we have said, show him at least to
have sold as follows :—First, to judge from the
light refreshments, the " lady and bun business"
appears on this occasion to have been one of con-
siderable magnitude, inasmuch as up to Saturday
last there were consumed, in round numbers, no less
than 1,300,000 ices, 554,000 Bath buns, 133,500
sponge cakes, 475,400 plum buns, 69,2001 b. weight
of Genoa cakes, 15,000 Queen cakes, 6,000 fancy
cakes at 2d. each, 21,000 pastry tarts, 180,000
small cakes and biscuits, and 80,000 macaroons.
These may be termed the lightest of the light re-
freshments, the kind of lunch, in fact, to which
ladies would give that name as distinguished from
what gentlemen would term a light repast—
namely, a meat pie and a bottle of bitter ale. With
such unsubstantial diet as the cakes, only such
drinks as tea or coffee, lemonade, or, at the most,
liqueurs, would ever be ventured on, and these appear
in exact proportion to the pastry. Ginger-beer ap-
pears to have been the favourite, heading the list
with a clear majority of 20,000 over its competing
beverages. Of this drink, as little known for cheer-
ing as inebriating, 123,000 bottles have been drunk,
with 101,000 of lemonade, 31,000 of soda water,
10,500 of Seltzer water, and 930 pints of liqueurs.
Of the pints of tea, coffee, and chocolate the register
is as yet incomplete, as it is also about the number
of sandwiches consumed, but that the former have
been drunk and the latter eaten pretty extensively
our readers may easily judge when we find the tea
even to amount to 5,1951 b, the coffee to 8,3881 b, and
the chocolate to 1,9221 b. Of herbaceous mixtures—
which we should translate as meaning mint juleps,
if it were not now a question of ladies' diet—only
eight bottles were sold—a moderate amount of con-
sumption, which in itself negatives whatever suppo-
sition might exist as to its being the Transatlantic
drink. The amount of bread to all this modest sack
is 44,000 small French loaves and 2,600 brown loaves.
Thus far into this bill of fare we think we can
distinctly trace the mouths of the ladies ; but now
the gentlemen begin to make play in the long cata-
logue of light refreshments, which, to do them simple
justice, they appear to have wished to make as heavy
as the bill of fare of the Commissioners allowed.
To these we suppose we must ascribe the 12 tons of
cheese, the 112,000 pork pies, 27,480 other meat
pies of various kinds, 189,00016 weight of plain
bread, 62,5001 b weight of bread cut into sandwiches,
1,4001 b of fresh butter, and 110,000 Abernethy and
captains' biscuits. Assuredly the young men have
been here both from London and the country too.
Even M. Assolant says the English ladies drink
nothing but rum, so that the matter is placed be-
yound a doubt when we come to examine the fluids
which were drunk with these pies, sandwiches, &c.
Let Burton hear it and rejoice that of Allsopp's
chef d'oeuvre of malt and hops no less than 523,000
bottles were sold, and of draught 3,261 barrels ; in
all no less than 1,600,000 pints. Of Ireland's
famous drink, though nowhere drunk less than in
Ireland Guinness's stout—there have been sold
259,000 bottles, and of Hoare and Co's draught stout
1,575 barrels, or in all upwards of 700,000 pints. Of
wines or spirits scarcely any amount worth men-
tioning was sold over the counter. These, therefore,
we will carry forward to the dinner account; for even
after these lunches people must dine—at all events
they seem to have thought so at the Exhibition,
and to have dined pretty heartily too. Of soups over
100,000 quarts have been consumed, exclusive of
oxtail, the register of which only shows the t
1,477 tails have been boiled down to make it, with
1,684 calves' heads for stock. Judging merely by
the accounts, one is tempted with surmises as to
what arrangements, if any, were made about these
surplus animals whose heads only were wanted.
Of salmon there have been used 6,5001 b; of eels,
1,4651 b ; of codfish, 92 ; of turbots, 393 ; haddocks,
6; soles, 1,210; brills, 3; John Doreys, 9; red
mullets, 343 ; whitings, 493 doz.; smelts, 292 doz.;
mackerel, 100 doz.; prawns, 2001 b ; and whitebait,
1121 b, with 21 bushels of oysters for sauce, and 271
bushels for eating in lieu of fish. This extensive
course appears to have been followed by one of
butcher's meat to the valve of £22,000, or in weight

630,0001 b ; 1,237 cwt of hams, 3,128 tongues,
11,234 fowls, 12 geese, 673 ducks, 632 turkeys, 84
capons, 8,960 pigeons, 290 partridges ; 384 plover,

with 42 dozen of their eggs ; 186 hares, 30 brace
of quails, 41 brace of grouse, and 80 brace of
pheasants_ The bread and vegetables to these are
in proportion ; thus there are 192,000 dinner rolls,
with 192 tons of potatoes, 1,968 bunches of carrots,
912 bunches of turnips, 3,960 cucumbers, 6,647 cauli-
flowers, 222 baskets of mushrooms, 3,240 bunches
of parsley, 2,857 bunches of mint, 463 bundles of
celery, 3,464 bundles of mixed herbs, 4201 b of garlic,
208 bushels of onions, 6,600 quarts of shelled peas,
4.440 heads of greens, 390 bundles of asparagus, 109
bushels of spinach, and 551 b of currant jelly. After

the dinner comes the salad, to furnish up which in
its due proportion no less than 9,138 lobsters, with
72 crayfish, 182,754 heads of lettuce, 19,680
bunches of water-tresses, 10,800 beetroots, 20,592
baskets of small salad, 2,160 baskets of tarragon,
with 400 gallons of salad oil, and 1,5001 b of mus-

tard, were required. For dessert and in pies there
have been used 98 bushels of apples, 150 lb of
filberts, 36 bushels of pears, 1,4281 b of currants,
4,2611 b of plain strawberries, with 4,0571 b for ice,
and 4,0061 b of raspberries also for ice, 517 foreign
pine-apples and 23 English ditto, 4,2681 b of cherries,
179 bushels of gooseberries, 1701 b of grapes, 128
dozen ar.d 861 b of apricots, 46 dozen peaches, 396
bushels of plums and greengages, 6361 b of walnuts,
80 melons, 137 baskets of various hothouse dessert
fruits, 2841 b of crystallised fruits, 9001 b of raisins,
5451 b of almonds, 3351 b of sultanas, 141 b of prunes,
621 b of dried French plums, 351 b of preserved gin-
ger, 371 b of pistachio nuts, 2601 b of figs, &c. With
the dinners have been drunk 34,400 pints of sherry,
8,960 bottles of port, 21,750 bottles of champagne,
22,600 bottles of claret, and 18,800 bottle of various
other wines. Of spirits there have been consumed
8,000 pints of brandy, 4,000 pints of gin, 1,600 pints
of whisky, and 1,200 pints of rum, hollands, and
other spirits.

In what may he termed the grocer's bill, the little
sundries of this account, there appear such items of
2,829 gallons of pickles, 210 gallons of spice, 24
dozen pint tins of mushrooms, 2781 b of tomatoes,
1141 b of capers, 201 b of olives, 901 b of curry pow-
der, 1 barrel of anchovies, 251 b of vanilla, 30 cases
of truffles, 28 bushels of split peas, 5441 b of gelatine,
551 b of cinnamon, 301 b of ginger, 2941 b of rice, 1261 b
of coriander seeds, 1091 b of wax candles, 1101 b of
soap, 7,1881 b of soda, 20 gallons of colza oil, 2361 b
of paper bags, 7611 b of currants, 3341 b of candied
peel, 3,0001 b of mustard, 14,9231 b of moist sugar,
67,1691 b of lump sugar, 112,000 eggs, 3,300 quarts
of cream, 62,200 quarts of milk, 211 b of mace, 4781 b
of pepper, 251 b of cloves, 65 tons of salt, 1121 b of
allspice, 431 b of mixed spice, 101 b of cwyPnne, 52
sacks of flour, 203 cwt of salt butter, 12 cwt of NH.
and 501 b of bitter Edmonds. The clear ice consumed
has been nearly 800,000 lb weight.
The staff required for the daily preparation and
serving
up of all these viands has been in propor-
tion to the colossal bill of fare. There have been
50 men cooks and 15 women cooks, 80 kitchen-
maids,
te,
maids, 120 washers and cleaners, 300 men
260 barmaids, 30 clerks, 60 messengers,
andwaiters 180
porters, with nearly 100 waggons.
co. kin and lighting, and
of gas have been used in 4,396,000 feet
225,000 gallons of water in boiling,
Amid arrangaments on such washing, &c.
a scale of magnitude
it is easy to understand how a certain percentage of
individuals must have been overlooked and ill
waited on, and how 4 certain number also must have

=MI'WI

indigested their dinners to such an extent that no-
thing but unsparing condemnation of the refresh-
ment department and ail belonging to it would re-
lieve their minds and bodies. To the generally well-
founded grievances of these our columns have always
been open, so that of their number and quality the
public have been well able to judge. Now, how-
ever, that the Exhibition is nearly over, it is but
fair to Mr. Morrish, and to his manager, Mr.
Ferrer, to state that the complaints have been very
few indeed, and that their exceptional nature may,
therefore, be taken as a tacit proof that on the whole
the department has been well administered.