The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1870-03-18
French CookerI And is ORIGIN.

The kitchen of the epicure, no mat
/ ter how varied and improved the
utensils. and how perfect the appoint
ments, is far from complete, unless
the foreign chef dc cuisine hold office
I therein, to guide and direct the mean
beF officials His artistic talent Is in
I ldispensable; he invents, he improves,
he remOdels, now adding some sauce
with an unpTOnOuncable name to IN
/ crease or reduce flavor, now trifie
of dressing, now n new seasoning, and
so on, calling into play the aceumu-
/ lated skill and experience of life in
the kitchen. a great man in his way
is the chef de cuisine, very priest at
the shrine of gastrOnOmic pleasure,
and withal an expensive luxury. He
has reyOlutioniZed England, he has
established schools of cookery in
America, and he is found in every
town and village of the great cOnti-
nent that lays any claims to civiliZa-
ton. AT plain meat prepared in the
primeyal way, he shrugs his should
ers if a dish be unappreciated, he
turns up his eyes and hints at uneul-
tivated palates. This is generally
settler, and the grumbler eats the food
silent and uncomplaining, for rather
than eat under the innuendO of the
Chef, he would devOur wormwOcd q Ia
pate under the eye of the monster
But in his very soulhe wonders how a
continental education can effect so
grand change in the inclinatjOns of
the pupil
Looking back on the history of the
French, and their rude tastes when
conquered by the victorious Caesar, it
appears extraordinary that they
should stand to-day at the head of the
culinary world. When the Roman
Legions swept all before them in their
raid ON Gaul, they found the inhabit-
ants subsisting on insects, roots and
herbs, as the Digger Indian lives in
California at the present time. But
their conquerOrs were far advanced in
the art of cookery, and from them the
Gauls received their first lessons. Af-
ter that their progress was rapid, and
in the twelfth century, so extreme
had they become in the refine
ments of the table, that a law
was passed restricting these exeesses,
and limiting the variety of food. The
reigns of Charles Y. and vi. gave a
new impetus to cookery, and when
Louis XIV. ascended the throne, the
science of the kitchen had assumed a
most extravagant character. AT that
time the charming petite sOupers came
in vogue, and COnde Orleans and the
other noble epicures of Paris, strOve
for supremacy in the character of
their suppers and the excellence of
their entertainments. Then the hour
was well chosen, when the opera and
ball were over, and men were too eX-
cited to sleep, how welcome the deli
cate meal, the sparkling wine, the an
ecdOte and refined wit of those petite
sOupeTs.
Cookery in Paris at the present day
has lost much of the extravaganza of
former times. Artists no longer die
of vexatiOn at their inability to pro-
duce a sauce, or cut their thrOats when
surpassed by brother cook, and have
their epitaphs writuea by witty au-
thoress. But Nine. Sevigne has pass
ed away and Vatel is no more. A
strange crOtchet of the cooks of the
past was the stufflng of animals, one
with the other, according to size, each
containing, moreover, an individual
stutfing of seasoned and minced meats.
But the modern French cook prides
himself rs much upon the economy
of his art as on retaining the juices of
the meat through the entire process of
preparation. So thatit is not the rich
alone who experience the beneficial
effects of his skill; but even the deni-
zen of the Quarter Latin can enjoy
his cheap, well-prepared dinner.
The house of Medici has done much
for French cookery; but still the lat
ter rejected more or less the use of oil,
and employed even butter very spar
ingly, Seasoning the meat with its
own gravy. AS the 6OlitO is cherished
by the Italians, so the rOtj is the pet
of the French, both, however, remain
ing constant in their attachment to
vegetables.
The English and Americans are OPP
posed to the overlooking of meat,
and from their hands the article comes
ON the table with its natural favor
The French believe this method to be
fatal to digestion, and accordingly so
prepare the meat that by the addition
and mixture of sauces they can give
it any desirable tone, changing alto
gether original taste. Simplicity is
the characteristic of the one. A COM
plicated system which is daily varied
and improved indicates that as the
other has been raised from the level OF
an art to a science, so its progress is
not inferior to the rapid strides of its
sisters. Beth have their adherents,
the English remaining steadfast to
the solids, the American, with the
freedom of a cosmopolitan nation, eX-
tending his patronage to all and the
italian and French, well grounded in
their culinary faith, regarding the
system of the former as relic of the
dark ages.