The morning times., 1896-09-13
ECONOMY OF 4 BIC HOTEL
b
How Purchases Are Made to.
Save Waste.
BUYING FOR ALL TASTES
-
It Has Been Reduced to a
Science by Those Whose
Business It Is.
BUYING FOR ALL TASTES

THAT old tradition which relieved Prov
idence OF all responsibility In the matter.
and invested the purveyor with the mirac-
ulous foresight OF being able to know to
an egg or outlet the exact amount OF
food to he used during the dag, no longer
obtains credit among people who know
the slightest thing about the internal econ
onmy of big hotel
So said q prominent hotel man when
asked by Times reporter how 1t was pos
sible to estimate the purchase OF pro-
visions when the number OF The guests and
their personal preferences must necessa-
rily he a matter Of uncertainty.
The average person who spends any
time at great hotel has some vague ideas
In regard To the comnissariat. while great
number OF people know nothing about it,
Yet 1t should be subject of great inter
est to all hOusekecpers. for it teaches
lesson in domesti economy which could
scarcely he learned elsewhere.
1t requires long experience to purchase
for hundreds of guests the varieties and
quantities Of provisions to tc used dur
ing the day. Long before the average
huusekecper has awakened from her sluni-
hers the hotel man is busy before the stalls.
and with an experienced eye scans the
provisions displa yed When huying
fish he can tell by its eye whether 1t is
fresh or not. II the eye Is bright he
knows the fish has not been many hours
out OF the water If 1t dull and dead look
ing he rejects it.
SELECTING PROVISIONS.
In purchasing poultry and game he Judges
by the skin. When IL is thick. the bird is
sure to be an ancient one And so on with
many other articles He is known to all
the dealers and they are eager for his Gus
tom. Aside from the extent or Lis pur-
chascs, it may lie readily seen that it is a
great advertisements for the dealer fur
nishing the supplies BY lcng experience
the buyer knows about what percentage OF
the guests will call for certain things. and
to this percentage lie adds = certain
amount The mistake of not having enough
would he a fatal one. The excuse, ITS
all out. Sir would he a stain upon the fair
name OF a frst-class hotel, from which 1t
would take time to recover
In regard TO the more perishable articles.
such as fish, fruit and vegetables. the pur-
yeycr must buy assclOseiy may be with
safety. But with respect to. meats he has
much greater latitude. for in tie cold stOr-
age room, with which all large hotels are
furnished, meats may he kept for weeks.
and even months. Indeed tie majority
of stewards consider that icef and mutton
are very much improved by being kept in
cold storage for several weeks. The
COOKS insist that cold storage roast beef
is much better in every respect when
eaten two DAYS after cooking
DeliCacies which are peculiar to certain
seasons must he brought in large quaint
ties. for tits known that Il large percentage
of tie guests will call for them. Duck,
quail, grouse. and rartridges a re invariably
in great demand.
UTILIZING THE SURPLUS.
1t will be seen that there will ncccs-
sariiy bea certain surplus. and the question
as to what becomes of this surplus is
naturally presented. No good housckceper
likes to see things wasted and the same rule
holds with a good hotelkeeper. OF course
certain amount of this surplus is Con
sumed by the servants and employees, but
it is in this particular connection that the
genius of the chef or head cook has op-
portuDity to display itself.
Ii he is master OF his art the poSSibili-
ties which are presented in the way of
utilizing the leftover material are almost
unlimited. Under his direction the most
exquisite dishes may be produced by the
skillful cOmbin ations of articles which many
an alleged cook would discard through
ignorance.
This is one of the principal reasons why
master-cooks are able to command such
high wages, and hotel proprietor is very