Wichita eagle., 1888-06-02
HIGH PRICED COOKS.
CHEFS DO NOT EXERT THEMSELVES
UNLESS COMPLiMENTED.


UNLESS COMPLiMENTED.
They Refuse to Gator to Any but Highly
Cultivated Tastes-Fond of Apprecia-
tion-A Cabinet Meeting in the Kitchen.
Sam Ward.
No modern establishment, well appointed
and equipped in all its branches, either in
New York or in Newport, is now considered
complete unless the kitchen is presided over
by chef who is skilled in all the mysteries
OF Nineteenth century cuisine, and is
erudite in the history Of cooks and cooking
from the time Of the Roman emperors to ths
middle ages down to the present epoch. 1t is
difficult to say how many of these skilled
manipulators of the stewing pan and the
gridiron there are in New York at present,
but there must be over 100 of them.
The question, Of course, is asked at once,
how many of this hundred or more are really
expertsl And the answer is that more of
them are entitled to that designation than the
visiting stranger would at first suppose In
| great many cases the cooks in New York
houses, SO it Is said, are away beyond the in
teligence or appreciation of the people who
employ them, and it is the habit among these
gentry not to exert themselves where their
efforts are not thoroughly appreciated. If
their employers are not possessed of a nicely
cultivated taste the probability Is that they
will get very few good dinners. A modern
chef will not serve up his compositions and
his poems for the dedication of an unedu-
Gated palate any moro than musician would
think of playing the sonatas Of Beethoven if
he should be asked to discourse music for a
Chinese audience, who are accustomed to the
sweet sounds emanating from happy min
Cling of tomtoms and badly punished GYM
balls
sENSITIvENESS OF CHEF.
Good cooks are said to be almost as senSi-
tive as good actors. Without proper appre-
citation and applause they will not show their
finer qualities. However conscientious they
may be, they require this stimulus for any
brilliant or effective exertion. On the other
hand, if the employer is man who is learned
in the secrets Of their calling and is able to
recognize their best achievements and criti-
cises them with intelligence and subtle APP
probation, the ordinary chef viii do every
thing possible to extort admiration from his
patron. He will stand behind curtains, watch
the walters bring his dishes on the table and
listen with greedy ear for the ordinations
Of surprise and pleasure which they elicit
from his cultivated master. Then he Will re-
turn to the kitchen in the happiest possible
frame of mind and anticipate with beating
heart the time when the gratified employer
will descend to the kitchen and compliment
him in enthusiastic phrases on the latest de-
velopment of his skill 1t is a common re-
]
tan and Union clubs that Mr. Belmont is able
to give good dinners because he knows how to
order them, knows how to estimate them when
they are served and insists OH having a good
dinner every day of his life.
Probably the best dinners given in this
country are given at Newport during the
summer season. Here the cooks come to-
gether, and enjoy more intimate converse
than they are able to do during the win
ter season in New York The enthusiastic
chefs spend hours composing menus, and
tables are arranged for the reception of their
poems and compositions so that the table and
the service blend together like the voice and
the orchestra. 1t is matter which is inter
esting to note that there is no rivalry between
cooks at all They always stand ready to
develop the discoveries of their brothers in
the art and to do everything possible in the
way of suggestion or actual experiment. 70
bring new ideas into final and effective and
artistic shape.
COOKS CABINET MEETING
On the occasion of a notable dinner in a
Newport house the kitchen of the establish
ment Immediately becomes convention ball
for all the leading chefs in town. There is q
cabinet meeting of cooks. Dishes are dis
cussed, as the cabinet in WASHINGTON dis
cusses bills and measures When the formula
for a new dish has been decided upon its pro
gress is watched by dozen pairs of eager
and critical eyes from the time that the in
gradients are first mingled until the final re-
suit is triumphantly attained AL kinds of
experiments are tried, and the result of their
earnest deliberations, if deemed successful, is
finally sent upstairs for the consideration of
a second cabinet gathered around the dinner
table. And here again, the exacting chefs
are always deyising schemes for the test
ing Of the intelligence and keenness
of appreciation of the patrons of
their art At large dinner given
in Newport last summer one of the
chefs prepared leg Of mutton in an entirely
novel manner, 80 as to give 1t the appear
venison. 1t was piqued and larted out OF all
likeness to its original condition, and was
sent up stairs labeled, or rather announced,
as venison, and with divers small waSers
among tho chefs below that the deception
would not be discovered, notwithstanding
the fact that it was to be submitted to a
company of exceedingly experienced diners
And the confidence Of the chef in bis work
al 49, IA
of twenty people only one Of them discovered
what had been done, and said to the COM
pany that he was not eating venison, but
very e1Quisitely and artistically prepared
mutton.
The reason why Sam Ward secured so wide
a reputation Of giving good dinners was not
30 much that he had sldllful chefs at his COM
mand as it was because he knew how to get
up the most attractive menus himself, knew
how to order the cooking Of the various
dishes and knew how to pass upon tie dishes
when they were finally brought to the table
Old members of the Manhattan club still de-
scribe Ward as he appeared on the eve of
giving one of his famous spreads He would
come into the club rooms, sit down at q table,
draw the pen and ink and paper toward him,
and burying his face in his hands would re-
main in a condition Of studious elaboration
for half an hour before be put the pen to the
paper At that time be had outlined IN his
mind the general character Of the dinner be
was going TO give, and some Of its leading
features. Having gotten this down, in black
and white, he f1lled in details, arranged and
resrrsnged the succession Of attractions, ad-
justed their relations to each other, and prob
ably at the end of an hour or an hour and a
half he was ready to talk with the cook,
whom he immediately summoned to his side