The record-union., 1898-01-30

religion, of the true cook to seize upon
these individual tastes and develop
them. This requires careful thought
as Well as skill in execution, for to
mingle refractory f1avors would lead 10
the same incongruous results as the
blending of unsuitable colors. Some.
times the most complicated causes conf
pine TO produce most simple effect.
axe, 1o. instance, a dish which | in
vented. called La poularde a la Mari
NauE, Which, when served, appears like
simplicity itself. But to produce sl.is
result carefully selected, tender aid
dellcately fattened pullet IS wrapped
IN the belly of young lamb and al
terward swathed in bacon. After alb
sorbins the desired amount of the fla
vors CT these cerements, the chicken is
cooked in the steam of a quart of port
wine and pint of old rye whisky The
'poularde a la Mariyaux' is keenly APP
preetateG by amateurs, but it required
indeeatiga bic investigation and exper;-
menfs CT over year, to say nothing
OF the sacrifice of a vast amount of
costly material, before l succeeded il.
blending these fiavors SO as not 10 de-
stroy, but. on the contrary. to strength
OF the chicken. This is an example of
simFilclte soignee, which is the true
motif of iGeal cooking"
Upon being questioned as to the infiu-
ence OF the prevailing lateness of the
dHnef hour on the consumption of
wines of the best quality, Joseph replied:
The dinner hour in Paris is now as late
as SID or $50 O'Clock instead of Z or
i:30 O'Clock, as was the case some
years ago. The result is that there is
somewhat more hurry and no one in a
hurry can dine properly or enjoy the
taste of good wine Burgundies and
Bordeaux of the highest grades are not
III such demand now as hitherto. but. on
the other hand, more champagne is
drunk than before. | notice that lately
many connoisseurs order a very SIM
pie dinner, consisting OF oyster, soup,
hsh-perhaps no fish, even, if oysters
nave been e2ten-a roast chicken or sad
Ole OF mutton, followed by a vegetable
and light dessert. With such a dinner
only one kind of wine as asked for-usu-
ally sound ciaret about the grade of
q good Pontet-Canet Of say twelve
years old, or else a bottle of dry cham
pagne."
Joseph continued by saying that very
few of his American customers really
appreciated good soups or good veget-
ables. They are fond of meat, poul-
try, game of all sorts and entrees Amer
leans are remarkably quick to discover
the real merits of good cooking. and
their palates are sensitive and apprecia-
tive. 1t is, however, very rare to see an
a y1,r.I
enjoy the bouquet of his wine as he sips
IT, l seldom find an American who can
tell a good claret when he tastes it, But
there are many exceptions, and the best
connoisseur of claret that ever saw is
Judge Truax of New York. AS a rule
F'renchmen are the best judges of claret.
Belgans of Burgundy and Englishmen
of champagne. The French know moth
inS of champagne and Englishmen know
nothing of Burgundy
Joseph strongly deprecated a custom
that was at one time in vogue in the
United States, and even found it's way
to Paris, and which thoroughly dis
heartened him. Woman" said he
would often take a chop and cup of tea
an hour or SO before going to dinner
party, simply to make it appear that
they had delicate appetites like little
| birds This is absolutely unnatural
Nothing is more pleasing to the eye than
tastefully dressed woman dining en-
joyably at a well-served table; the fork
in her hands has the same grace as
fan. Joseph concluded his remarks by
saying that 'the cooking of banquet
parade and show was now happily
thing of the past. A new era has set in
an era of conscientiously studied SIM
plicity, which promises to lead to cui-
nary excellence never before attained .
The Tour d'Argent is a famous old
fashioned restaurant, founded as long
ago as 1882, on the Quai de la Tournelle
on the left bank of the Seine, near the
great wine docks of Bercy The Tour
d'Argent is largely patronized by
wealthy wine merchants and solid pro-
vincials. whose presence is in itself
guarantee of wel-cooked food and good
wine. Many Americans and English
also dine a the Tour d'Argent Fred
eric, the proprietor and chef of this es-
tablshment, is a little man with an
enormous head, adorned with long brist-
ling whiskers and thick bushy, luxuri-
ant hair Of irrepressible growth Fred
cries chin and upper lip is shaven. He
wears large black-rimmed eyeglasses
and bears a most striking resemblance
to Ibsen. Frederic is an impressionist
in cooking, and many of his creations
bear the names of his American and
English customers. On Frederic's menu
may be noted ''poulet a la John w
Mackay," eggs "a la Rathbone,' 'poire
Wanamaker," sole Sears" and ''filet
de canard a la Macarthur
When Frederic was questioned by the
writer as to the tendency of modern
cookery his eyes glistened behind his
huge convex glasses and he exclaimed:
The made dishes and 'plats du jour
during the last twenty years have al
most ruined Partisan cookingl But
at last change has set in. 1t was
actually the practice in some restau-
rants to cook all the vegetables in the
morning and simply warm them over
when ordered for the table. This sacri-
lege was committed simply to save
time, because the customers were in
such a hurry to be served that they
could not wait. Then, again, the null
.itude of dishes asked for made it al
most impossible for the cook to devote
the proper attention to. each one of
them. Nowadays, however, custom
ers order their dinners with greater dis
cretion. Fewer and simpler dishes are
demanded. and this compels the cooks
to devote much greater care to each.
A marked improvement in the direction
of simplicity has begun, and the cuisine
in vogue this year is thoroughly artis-
tic in conception and execution. AS
to wines, l find that more champagne
is drunk now than ever before: espec-