The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1882-10-19
The COlOred Cook.

AN dis beah am wat dey calls
spring chicken desc days"
There are quite a variety of colored
cooks infes,ing the kitchens of the south.
crn end of the United States of North
America at the present day. They vary
in color from the sombre shades of a
burnt stump in dark alley, at midnight,
to the mellow tint Of n ripe pumkin ting
ed with the rays of the rising sun. They
vary in other respects. The young one
is more imputent and lass respectful than
the old one. When she comes in search
of place." she is apt to say that "cul-
lud wash. lady" told her that the white
woman what lived here wanted to hire
cook !" but they all resemble each other
III ono particular-thei ignorance Of
cookery is 20 degrees above proof, and
their unconsciousness of their ignorance
may safely be said to register at least 145
degrees Fahrenheit in the shade.
We have no SPACE to describe all the
varieties of the colored cook, but will tell
what we know of the commoncst type,
the culinary artist. who is fat, black and
40 years of age or thercahous. She is
proud of having b'longed to de ole judge
'fo' de wah,' and she is fond Of compar-
ing the present with the past Her com.
present, for her surroundings are, to her,
rial things standing out against bril-
liant and golden tinted back. ground sob
dc gorgeolsncss OBJ de good ole days"
With the loyalty Of her race, she il
faithful to her old master and mistress to
the extent of calling on them for the loan
of nalf dollar whenever she is GuaiI-
ciH'ly embai raised.
Che seldom stays at any one place more
than three months at u time. When
hired, she promises to come on Thursday,
the day the old cook intends leaving, but
she does no: come until the following
Monday evening, when she arrives. ac-
companicd by small trunk, with wall
paper pasted over the outside of it, and
large bundle of cher things TIED up i'm a
patch. work bed spread. During the FIRST
few days she acts 80 that her mistress ab.
serbs the idea that the new cook is
treasure. But her satisfaction in and ad-
miration of, her treasure, receives sue
cessivo and severe shocks as the idosyn-
crasies OF the cooks character begins 10
develop.
She can cook chicken, but all the
colored people can do that. 1t is a tai
enl that is hereditary. Beyond that her
capacity is limited. She breathes ON the
plates, and polishes them OIL her sleeve
before putting them on the table. She
develops religious rroclivities which ne
cessitates Ter attendance at church three
times on Sunday, at prayer meeting on
Wednesday and choir practice on Satur.
day night. She is also member Of the
benevolent Order Of the Sisters of the
Mysterious Ten Wise Virgins" the week
ly meetings Of which require her at,cn-
tion on Tuesday nights. Thus her mis-
tress has only three evenings in the week
on which she feels at liberty TO entertain
her friends at her own house.
The fnvorite dissipation Of the co!ored
cook, besides religious obscrvauccs, con-
sists Of sitting down on the kitchen duor-
step to rest, and going to sleep there
while the biscuits burn to Il cinder, and
the coffee bOils over and mixes TIE cab
bnge and other fruits in the adjacent skill.
let.
She has days OH which she suffers with
II misery in her head, probably from
too much religious observance on the
previous evening, and on these days she
takes gloomy view of life, breaks dishes,
forgets to put Royal baking powder in
the buttercakes aud manufactures cUtiee
Of the kind that leaves successive circles
Of nn aiiuviaii dei50si: III the Inside nf
the cup. 1t in not we'll to demonstrate
with her on these occasions. If you do
she will talk to herself confidently i'll Il
low tone of voice during the next few
days about being overworked. In the
cotton picking season nothing short of
lessons on the piano. the use of the par
lor TO receive her company in, and seven
nights out of the week, will induce the
average colorcd cook to remain at her
post of duty and continue the destruc-
tion of expensive groceries. Cotton
picking with banjo accompaniments, and
the dance at night in the barn, have at
fractions that no pecuniary offer will out
weigh, and the cotton field is to the cook
what the fashienshle watering place is to
her young mistress.
When she cones to hire sE = tells her
employer that she is not married. After
aszsi:ia w::s-: :!:e latter r:a::-es H.. Sc
quent appearance Of "cullud g'emman"
about the kitchen and the cook 5 boudoir,
and brings her to task for having con-
cealed the fact that she Gas married, she
replies "Fo' de Lawd'm, we isn't mar
ricd wejes took up wid one anodder."
Honesty is her strong point; she can
be trusted with dollar to take to mar
ket in the morning, and she will invest
so cents Of it in provisions and cheerful
ly turn over Is cents of change to her
employer on her return. The appetite
Of the colored cook is something that the
columns of this paper are too limited
in extent to describe.- 7sras Sitings