The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-10-09

nurses. The training of the young cook
was a severe one; she was under the iron
| discipline of the old aunty already in pos
session, and was Initiated into the mys-
tefles OF every part of the pantry, and the
cellar and the garden. Ii must be confessed
, however tempting the products of the
kitchen were, that domain was in itself
not always in the most orderly condition.
| Mrs. Stoves picture of the confusion in St.
| Clare's kitchen was verified, no doubt, in
| thousands of Southern homes, in that part
| of the establishment where the black
| cook reigned. Dried herbs of various kinds
hung from the rafters; numerous dogs
and cats lay about on the floor, and little
! darkies were everywhere.
| The young cook under training, inherit
| ed the recipes of the older generation,
| and by degrees ventured upon experiments
of her own, so the dishes, new and old,
/ assembled to the table of the white peo-
! pie. II is also certain that many of the
| favorite dishes that were prepared origin
| ally only for the colOred people, and which
/ We're enjoyed by them in the quarters OF
| in the kitchen when the white folks had
been cared for, came after awhile to be
| adopted permanently for the tables of the
masters.
| The colored cook was absolute sovereign
of the kitchen; even the mistress was for
/ hidden that domain, or had to bow as
| subject when she entered it, ordinarily
/
at most was willing to receive only gen.
eral hints as to what kind of materials
were to be used for special occasions,
rather than suggestions as to the manner
! of preparation.
| There, In those Southern kitchens, the
negresses, with their abundant supplies OF
ali manner of provisions, vegetables from
! the gardens, fruits from the orchards, ce-
| reals from the fields home-produced
meats, wild game, fish, oysters, CLANS, tur-
! ties and ducks, used her old recipes, ex-
perimented with new ones, modified this
and changed that, and thus in course Of
| time gave to the world a new cookery.
! Their product was always tempting but
with their rich materials and high spicings
was not always friendly to continued
strength of digestion. Their hot breads,
TO the use of which they trained all the
Southern people, may reasonably be
thought not to have been favorable to
, blooming compleXions
The Southern way of cooking a wild
| duck, of dealing with terrapins, crabs,
oysters and fish has become accepted by
the civilized world; with the exception that
there is dispute between Philadelphia
! and Maryland clubs as TO the manner of
! serving terrapins The genius of forgotten
negresses for many generations has gone
into all this; their pones and hoe-cakes,
/ Maryland biscuits, corn mullins waffles,
and half a dozen other products of their
manipulation OF the cereals have become
generally accepted. Hominy, which came,
indeed, from the Indians, was improved
and perpetuated by the negro cook, and
| to-day Southern hominy is very superior to
| all other kinds in use
Amid the plenty of a Southern planta-
ton it is not to be wondered at that
the Southern cooks were not careful Cf
| the food supplies and that extravaganza
reigned in their kitchens. Their waste
! fulness has probably never been surpass-
ed; so that until this time the colored cook
requires for the purposes of your kitchen
a third or a half more of provisions than
any one else, This habit, however, prob
ably runs even further back than the
Southern plantation, even into the bar
barism of Africa, as it is notorious that
the barbarians have little forethought in
regard to tomorrow Stanley tells US
that in his last march across Africa when
his men would be starved for days, and
would come into a place of plenty and
load themselves with a new stock of pro-
visions for a further journey, he had the
/ greatest difficulty to prevent their throw
ing away their burden, although starva-
ton would be before them within forty
eight hours more. Thus, improvident bar
barians, amid the plenty of Southern plan
tations, We're reckless as to wastefulness
of the coed things at hand; and the influ-
ence of that manner of life is yet felt in
all our homes in which colored service Is
employed.