Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-27

must be very ceremonious; salad with the
rotie froide-that is to say, with pate,
ham, galantine, aspic, tongue or lobster; one
vegetable, seldom two (this is hard lines on
our American housewives), one entremets; an
ice cream, etc.
Then comes cheese-Brillat Savarin said
that dessert without fromage is like lady
with one eye," and 1 may add that the
cheese should be bought by some one that
knows something of that article-and after
it the fruits, glaces, nuts, raisins and
oranges. In some houses coffee is served at
table, and with coffee the liqueurs, but
coffee may properly be served in madam 3
boudoir, in the study of monsieur, or In the
parlor.
The general custom in the middle and
upper classes is to mix water with the "vIn
ordinaire," or table wine, while eating, but
the finer wines are never watered. 1t is
great error to warm wine, which, however
is the English custom, for that renders it
detestable. By bringing it up
from the cellar the evening be-
fore, the temperature of the dining
room is sufficient to take the chill off 1T.
Once the wine has been uncorked, the inside
of the mouth of the bottle should be wiped
so as to take away the taste of the cork, be-
fore pouring the wine into the crystal de-
canter. It is only very old and exception
ally delicate wines that lose their flavor by
being thus decantered.
THE WINES TO SERVE.
White wine, such as Graves, Barsac,
Chablis, ETC., are served with the oysters.
After soups come Marsala, sherry or Made
ria. With fish give the guests white Rhine
wine or Graves from Bordeaux. Bordeaux
wines 60 with the first service, of course, but
Sauternes 90 with the salad. These are the
sole wines that can support this perilous
mixture. Champagne is drunk with dessert
only, but I cannot bear it when presented at
the same time as sweetmeats, and only con-
sIder it the same as an ordinary drink.
Finally, serve your Hqueurs.
To give dinner without knowing how to
do the honors of the table is equivalent to
giving picture by Bougureau to a blind
man. Here are some rules as to the respect
i've obligations of amphytrions and guests
which people will do we'll to always bear in
mind: All dinner invitations should be
given in writing and those receiving them
should answer within the next "a
hours. If that time is allowed to
pass by you are supposed to have
accepted and it is then too late to send re-
grets. It is bad form to make your host
wait for you, but by social fiction when an
invitation is given to dine at z, the hour
really meant is 7:30; it is only when the
hour is followed ~ the words tires precis"
that you are required to be punctual.-
The host need only enter the salon where
the guests are waiting him five minutes be-
fore the meal and if he is in the habit of doing
so himself. he may ask his guests TO take an
aperitive, say vermouth, or glass of pit
ters. His first care should be to introduce
to each other those who are not already ac-
quainted, and when dinner is announced he
should lead the way to the dining room.
Guests place themselves at table as they are
told, either by their host or as may be indi-
Gated by cards at each plate.
Everybody knows that napkins should be
laid across the knees and not tucked under
the chin, that soup is not eaten with fork,
and that the spoon with which it is eaten
should be left in the empty plate and not
pocketed. You should break your bread
and not cut it, and it is the duty of the host
to be on the watch in order to supply the
wants of every one individually and to give
to each chance to shine, while they should
do their best to realize the mot OF Mont
maur, who said to his friends: Furnish
the meats and wines, I'll supply the season.
ing"
All topics likely to lead to noisy dis
cussions should be carefully avoided in
order to escape the rebuke given by the
same Montmaur who once exclaimed in the
midst of a quarrel at table: "a little silence,
gentlemen, if you please, we do not hear
what we are eating" If a guest has to
leave the table, he should do SO without say
ing a word, and thus avoid deranging any
body. A call, "visite de Digestion" is
obligatory, and should be paid in person
within ten days at most, and after the fifth
day from the dinner. CHEF.