The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1884-08-22

The Romans were epicures, not =
say gluttons, bus if q famous chef OF
their days could return to life, we doubt
If his skin would be appreciated by
modern taste. Porpoises, dog-fish and
star-fish do not sound like appetizing
food, although they figured at the ban
quets Of Apicius, who is said Ito have
poured 3 fortune into his stomach"
Pliny describes q kind of edible snail
| much esteemed in his day, and still en-
| loved in some countries, but his COM
mendation does not raise desire to
I taste the delicacy. Cookery was stud
| led in the Middle Ages, but we doubt If
the modern epicure would care to re-
turn to those days of the art Some
toothsome recipes have come down to
us; one of the city companies is said to
possess an ancient and very excellent
recipe for a game pie; but the profuse
use of strong favorings. saffron, amber
girls, and the like, must have spoiled
mediaval dishes for eaters who pos
sessed delicate palates. Kings have
dabbled in cookery; the Regent OF
Orleans was proficient IN the
art When the pretender Lambert
| Simnel was defeated and taken prls-
oner by Henry VII. he was thank
| full TO accept the position of scullion in
! the royal Kitchen. 1t is not recorded II
| he ever rose to the rank OF master cook.
or il he contributed to cookery-book
published in 149S, eleven years alter he
had entered Henry's service. The
earliest English cookery book is said to
be :. The Forme of Curry dated 1890.
Medieval cooks were great in the con-
struction of subtleties '-fanciful and
categorical devices of Jelly or pastry,
quaint to look at, but probably very
| nasty to taste. An elaborate descrip-
ton has come to US of practical Joke
contrived at one banquet, in which two
pies were fiiled-one with live birds,
the other with live frogs. One OF the
guests who was in the secret, first cut
the crust which imprisoned the birds,
that dashed about the room. extinguish-
ing some of the lights. This was the
time for letting loose the frogs, that
hopped away among the ladies, and
caused much screaming. The repast
ended by a mock battle among the
guests, some OF whom attacked and
others defended huge fortress OF
pastry, the weapons being egg-shells
filled with perfumed water. The Gu
linary profession can boast of at least
one martyr, Vatel. the famous chef of
of the Prince de Condo, who committed
suicide because there was not sufficient
fish at one of the banquets he prepared.
Many celebrated cooks claim 70 have
sacrificed. if not their lives, at least
their health, to the researches of their
art. Some black sheep have been num-
bered among their members at all times.
Public opinion accuses the profession OF
a tendency to three failings--a love Of
stronger beverage than water, fancy
for perauisites in various forms, and an
iraseibility of temper. That there are
. countless honorable exceptions to all
these weaknesses can not be denied, but
: these are looked upon as the peculiar
; temptations of cook, and it is curious
to see how ancient are the examples OF
them. Classic orders allude to the pill
! fering propensities of cooks. The
: Households Books of our ancestors
of Henry VIII. of the Earl of North
cumberland, of the celebrated '.Bess OF
] Hardwick' '--contain strict regulation;
] for the management of the kitchen ex
e penses, ''superflueitie and waste OF any
, thing being specially forbidden. King
0 Henry is very minute in his direction:
: regarding the conduct of the ''eooks ans
] scnllions." There is to be mo romp
ing with the maids on the staircase
I by which the dishes and other things an
3 often broken scullions are not to In
0 all night before the kitchen fire." His
: tory has preserved the account Of th'
D famous French cook who required fifty
C hams to '.garnish his Dishes" ane
] when demonstrated with by his master
e declared that he could concentrate then
!. all into a bottle the size of his thumb
4 Pepys has recorded his troubles with ;
: .sroguering cook maid," whom n
caught in the act of selling broken foot
: cutie in a modern fashion. Ballad lor
1 has terrible story of 4 wicked cool
4 who murdered fair young lady at TIL
: instigation of her step-mother, ant
T served up the victim in a pie; but II
e this case the credit of the kitchen i
i saved by the behavior of 8 virtuou
: scuIlion, who when the father inquiries
e after the missing girl, calls out:
), IN voice both loud and high,
g oh. if you would your daughter see,
My lord, cut up that pie.
O The whole story then comes out. ant
e the ballad concluded with the execution
i of the cook and the stepmother, an d tn
/, reward of the scullion. 1t is said tina
= the statute of 1881, which enacted tn
a horrible punishment of boiling to dealt
: for the crime of poisoning, was passes
e in consequence Of the Bishop OF Ro
cheslers cook having poisoned seven
a teen persons at banquet Cooks. o
J. all people. have the best opportunitie
a for thus freeing themselves OF their foes
d 1t is hardly fair to dwell so long on tn
a dark side of the profession when w
4 consider the debt mankind owes t
: cooks. What benefactors to thei
. specie. are the inventors of the count
;. less savory and wholesome dishes witt
q which generations of chefs hav
4 enriched our bills of fare! Imagin
4 society deprived of the services OF thes
!. valuable artists. and reduced to tn
!. sun-cooked horse-iesh of the Tai
= tars or the raw blubber of the Es9uimaS
!. Is it not an acknowledged fact that tn
n best time to ask favor of any one
n after he has partaken of q well-dresse
Il dinner2-and is not some credit due {
II the cook who devotes himself to thu
!. soothing the tempers of humanity. A
: Italian nobleman is said to have in
!. vented spit which turned musica
d box IS well as the meat, and indicate
the progress of the roasting by tn
;. tunes; q fowl being cooked by tn
y twelfth air. a leo of mutton by tn