The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1898-06-25
THE ART OF COOKERY.
Al Is OF lore Value to Young
Woman Than Many Other
AccompIis hmehts.

We are too apt to consider an expert
knowledge of cooking as matter of
small account and something that can
be easily acquired by the merest tyro.
The young lady who can perform in
very Indifferent manner on the piano
or paint a very poor picture is looked
upon as accomplished, but the girl who
can cook well is too often thought of as
person of plebeian tastes, with no am
bition beyond the kitchen. A girl who
aims at literature and produces very
Indifferent article is considered as a
person of aspiration, and her gifts are
apt to be overrated by her indulgent
parents. There are only n few who
sound the praises Of the girl who cooks
well and whose interests are In house
hold matters, however successful she
may be. She is good girl in village
parlance, and that often implies dull
girl. No one thinks of her work with
special pride as showing intellect and
! intelligence, unless it be an indulgent
father or tried brother who has been
cheered by the care and comfort of her
| domestic ways. No one thinks of it as
showing a superior intelligence to cook
| correctly, to flavor and serve food with
eXactness, yet that is what intelligent
cooking means. 1t is an art that has
| occupied the attention of some of the
! greatest men of literature and science,
and even craftsmanship. A famous
French writer has gone SO far as to call
it 1.-THE pet science of distinguished
men," 1t requires a superior intelli-
gence far greater than anything else
displayed in any ofthe accomplishments
of the modern boarding school to broil
and serve a perfect beefsteak. 1t re-
quires & knowledge of the meat, of the
animal from which it was taken and of
the various parts as cut by the butcher.
1t requires a delicate discrimination to
ascertain the condition of meat which
has not been perfectly hung and that
which is in exactly the right condition
for the gridiron. Can a schoolgirl
despise such knowledge when the great
Chateaubriand, one of the greatest
literary names in France, was proud Of
| his knowledge in this matter? There is
/
something exceedingly amusing in a
schoolgirls considering cooking be-
meath her attention when the great
Richelieu did not consider it beneath
his attention. and was accustomed to
devote considerable time from affairs of
state to the compromising of delicious
dishes for the table. 1t must be dis
tinctly impressed on young women that
| she who eXcels as a cook is following a
vocation that has never been despised
| by anyone but the frivolous minded.
The girl who attempts something quite
| beyond her powers, which can be of no
value to herself or anyone else, simply
TO deceive the ignorant into the belief
that she is gifted" is doing a foolish,
vulgar thing, and one that has been
done so repeatedly that the vulgarity
of it is monotonous. The girl that cooks
well is doing something that she may
well be proud of. A good, modest, we'll
| bred girl, however, is never arrogant
over her achievements, even. in a do
nestle way, and the girl who cooks well
is quite sure to be a gentle, womanly
girl who enjoys ministering to those
| about her-N Y Tribune