Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1865-11-18
From fhc Round Table
CULINARY REFORM p Orr REsTAU-


CULINARY REFORM ORR RESTAU
RANTS.
Plying the dyspeptie pangs Of nattoI
whose cooks play into the hands OF lt
physicians as If business understanding
existed between the kitchen and dispen
| sary a Parisian clGSillicT OF some not
has settled in New York, with the beneY
Oient purpose of improving the condition
Of our gastric apparatus and tickling oul
misused palates. This philanthropl'
| ArchiBtdgirlls, whose surname is Blot
! has established in our midst a normal
school for cooks, and it is said that the
! fair students who have gone through the
curriculum Of the institution do honor to
| the instructions of their culinary Atnias
! PHeT.
Let US hope that each graduate viii act
missionary part, freely teaching what
| she has wisely learned, and thus assist
| ing 30 relieve our country from the re-
prOach Of having but one gravy. There
are ;ts many varieties of meat As OF mind ;
why should there not be rs many sauces
as sects, as many condiments as creeds
The kitchen apostle from France is
welcome On behalf Of the American
stomach we greet him kindly, and are
thankful that this advent has preceded
ing his dietary many Ofus may escape the
scOurge Of which Indigestion is said to be
potent ally. But if ray of light is at
last struggling through the ill-favored
fog, which, from time immemOrial,
has pervaded our private kitchens /;
if, under the tutelate Of American
matrOns who have taken their degrees in
Blot's gastrOnOmic college, new ideas Cf
favors are beginning to dawn upon the
" foreign element" in our households,
the change has not yet reached our eating
houses and restaurants. On the contrary,
they get worse and worse. As their
charges increase, their prOvant degener-
ates All the articles they parade on their
bills of fare, from pork and beans TO
8leriROaes and ChdrlOttss, have a pecul-
iarly HlduuGjs QOia, compounded Of their
several eXhalations, which assures the
sensitive palate that they have all sim
mered together in one OmnivOrous oven,
and been simultaneously disgOrged from
its steaming mouth.
The cdrtes presented to guests at these
establishments comprehend a eOpious
variety of dishes, but the promise they
make to the eye is wofUlly broken to the
sense of taste. The mephitic whihs
elected into the side walk air from the
subterranean caYerns of our large eating
houses, between the hours Of twelve II.
and three P. NJ, remind one of the stories
of the undiscriminating dragon Of Want
ley who, after swallowing everything
edible that he could lay his claws upon,
poisoned the atmosphere of a whole
with the gaseous results Of
his surfeit Verify, the OdOr without is
a true advertisementOfthe fiavOrs within.
of u D,
10 making a selection, is mere waste of
time. Let the customer tell the waiter
10 bring him whatever is handiest, and
if when he opens his mouth, he shuts
his eyes, he will never know what he is
eating.
The rapidity with which Americans
dispatch their meals has always been a
marvel to Europeans. And yet it is quite F..
natural. The Englishman or French- /
man repairs TO his ordinary to dine, the /
American rushes to his eating house or /
boarding house TO feed. His object is /
simply to take ia fuel to sustain the flame |
lf life, and, like a Mississippi steamboat. /
he "wOOds-Upn as fast as possible. He I
bolts his food bOius-wise because he does I
not relish the taste Of it. Under a better (
culinary dispensatiun he would enjoy his 1
meals; as it is, he eudures them.
To the man who knows how to dine,
he interior Of a New York restaurant OF I
he immediate dispatch - class presents,
'etween the hours Of one and two o'clock, /
! most uncomfortable spectacle. Perched
literally " cheek by jowl - on high stools,
loosely wedged together, one sees twenty
" thirty men and youths with their
reads bent down and their elbows in
apid motion. Viewed from the rear
me might suppose them 10 be weaving
i tiddling. Behind them stands another
ow waiting for vacancies. Every now
nd then one of the perchers IN the front
ank slips of his rOosting-place, where
pOn the member Of the reserve corDs
behind him hops intoit ana
ives his order. About two minutes
hereafter the new candidate for
flying dinner has his plate of
neat sluGg at him along the
Teasy marble counter with that singular
race and dexterity characteristic of
\ew York walters of the impulsive OF
lam-bang school. The heavy solids dis
Osed of, the tiatulent desert i instantly
thrown in, y and in eight minutes from
he time he mounted his prandial perch
he guest has dined If one did not feel
hat the fast feeders at the restaurants
rer6 committing slow suicide their
abits would be rather an amusingstudy.
hey climb up and dart down from their
Oings of vantage sG much after the mar
ar Of birds shall We say cornorants ~
hat one IS inyoluntarily reminded Of
'latO' S definition OF man as a featherless
peeimeB OF OrnithOlogy.
The ladies' who perch daily in pigeon
Ike rows before the counters Of the dry
GODS establishments arc, however, much
'retter sampleS Of our bird-like race.
IN la the name Of all the household
ods, why don't they spend portion of
he time they consume 50 prOiiLlessly
broad IN providing something delectable
L home nor their mates to peck at?
But let Us not be unjust. Our culinary
respects are frightening. Monsieur
Blot 10 fashionable. His Se0Hces are well
and there is hope that in the
curse OF time the spit and the gridiTon
nay prove formidable rivals 10 the harp
nd the pianl IA the affections of our
wives gnl ,la.osnters. The reform in
ugGrated IN the uptown circles may,
n the progress of events, extend even to
he downtown restaurants, and those
.uisaDces, bau-cooking, hesdlung masti- /
alton, and dyspepsia, be sensihly abated /
II all the walks Of life, Unquestionably,
5 the home standard Of cookery Inn
royes Tie public purveyors will lind it
TO cater to the more critical
which such Improvement ell
renders.
Therefore. ladies, as you love us, nav,
IS you love domestic harmony-fOr rec0l- !
ect, that Of ill-cooked dinners come indi-
gestion and biliOusnesS, and Of these i'll /
emper and discord-keep the ball Of Gu |
mary reform, 50 happily started by NJ. /
Blot, brlskly IN motion. Positively, you /
never look more fascinating than when 4
the Lares to whom, by the /
way, bad cooks were sacrificed in ancient |
times by officiating with your own fair /
hands at the culinary altar. Do you re- |
member the description in "Martin |
'huZzleWitn of the sweet little Ruth /
Pinch's first essay in cookery:
" Such a busy little woman as she was. !
So full Of fself-impoTtance. 1t was a per- |
reot treat TO see her, with her brows knit |
and her rosy lips pursed up, kneading |
away at the crust, rolling il out, cutting !
it into strips, lining the basin with Il, |
shaving i off round the edges, chOBPing |
the meat into small pieces, raining down
pepper and salt upon them, packing them
into the basin; until, at last, the basin
being quite full and only wanting the
tul tLuHLi sit GlstlJ lJleu iltF 4EtthuS, All COW
cred with paste and iiour, and burst out
heartily into such a charming laugh of
triumph thai the pudding need have had
no other seasoning to commend it To the
taste Of any reasonable man on earth %
So Tom Pinch's sister achieved her
first beefsteak padding, and pursuing
steadily the wholesome course thus
begun, became in time almost q Franca-
tell in petticoats. CoguHYwomen, 20
We and do likewise, Blot stands ready to
confer the honorable degree Of F. r. c.
lfirst-Tate cook upon such Of you as
choose TO perfect yourselves in kitchen
lore under his instructions. ]. B.
A. DELAP, W. L. TRAsK,
OF Memphis. Late of New lOrleans
II D. a d G. q n