Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-04-10
A Cooking-Lesson.

A Cooking ng-Lesson.
In this manner a cooking lesson Is
given in New York: When the cook
appears, exactly at two o'clock, the gen.
erality of ladies present prepare with
pencil and paper to take down her.
words, and make note of her actions,
and an accidental glance l get at the
notes of a lady who sits next ~ makes'
me smile at this amateur reporting.
Every casual remark of the cook Is
hastily scrawled down, and matters Of
import and no import Jostle each other
so confusingly that one cannot but
wonder whether the hurried scribble-
men:s can ever after be deciphered.
The cook is an honest-looking English
woman, middle-aged, wearing a COM
Portable, dark merino dress, entirely
without trimming, large, white apron
with bib, white sleeve-covers extending
over her elbows and held there by
elastic bands, and neat lace cap. Al
though she occasionally drops an "h"
and makes lapse in grammar, she sx-
pounds her proceedings clearly and
with very little superfluous lOquacity.
She is "quite explicit" too, for when
an ounce of butter ID required she says,
"You take an ounce of butter" and
then she herself proceeds to take it and
weigh it in her brightly-scoured scales.
She has also cans of varying sizes in
which she measures of the exact guam
tity of milk, broth, or water, required.
One of her convenient implements is
ssfrying- g-basket''-a sort of saucepan OF
wire in which she places things that
are to be fried and Drowned, then plum
ges the frying-basket in an iron sauce
pan containing boiling lard. OF in
valuable service, also, were three or
four large porcelain basins, which stood
near her, marked with the monogram
of the school. In these she washed care
fully her various vegetables before
cooking them; in one, she peeled her
potatoes and cut off waste portions of
the cauliflower, etc. one of them stood
quite apart, and herein she rinsed her
hands frequently-the scullery-mald
changing the water for her more than
once in the course of the lesson. n
clean towel lay by this basin; no soap
was used. As the lesson progressed,
questions were asked her by different
ladies i'm the audience, and her expla-
nations in response furnish much valu-
able information. not only in regard to
the particular article in hand, but upon
the whole matter of cooking. At the
completion of each dish it was sent
around among the audience to be tast-
ed, and l can truthfully say that every
vegetable treated was fit TO issue from
the kitchen of the most celebrated Pa
risian restaurant, and culinary praise
can go no higher.
At precisely four o'clock the lesson
terminated, and every vegetable mem
toned in the list on the blackboard was
standing in battle-array, as pretty as
picture, on the long counter In front OF
lllt COOh. ~ Dt SURE. bAi' fNeo
toes were rather hOrs de combat, for l
believe everybody in the audience had
tasted of them-and luscious, indeed,
thev were. But the cauliflower and
the sea-kale were respected; the rib
bons and chips "a sort of Saratoga
| fried potatoes, the ribbons being
long peelings like an apple-paring or
shaving, and the chips the remaining
core, thinly sliced) were presentable,
what was left of them. The broken
into dishes were left on the counter for
the scullery-maids to dispose of, but
the dishes which were intact were car
ried into a room across a wide hallway
and placed upon great, long table, al
ready bountifully supplied with like
good things. Into this room the audi
snce followed, and, to my surprise, L
found there was great crowd of ele-
giant personages, male and female, who
were purchasing the eatables as fast as
they could draw the money from their
pockets: and then, entering the carria-
ges which stood so thickly as to almost
block the roadway outside. they glee-
fully made of with their booty. i cast
a longing eve on the potatoe croquetts,
those being so temptingly Drowned and
so convenient to transport in a paper
bag; but, alas a venerable lady, with
silvery curls and seal cloak which
reached to the ground, was too quick
for me, and had bought the lot and
handed them TO her footman before
could say "Croquette ~