The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-05-17
THE Z N CUISINE.
II Il Not NJ Expensive as One Would b
Apt tn Imagine.

- ~ ~ kxPensiVe oo Ono Wou1o ne
Apt To Imagine.
The French as a nation have always
been credited with serving the most
delicious food, both as to variety and
perfection OF cooking, yet 1t is proven
bal that thei elaborate cuisine is
strangely economical. From a recent
article in What to Eat" one gets an
insight into their valuable methods.
many OF which are worthy examples
for American housewives. One does
not lose caste in that foreign country
by being economical. but is rather
hough more of for the wise care of
little things, for waste is considered
sinful. There IT is only the newly rich
who make a splurge with money.
france. however, is the home of lux
ury, yet. nevertheless. its people can
not be called an extravagant nation.
The French housewife" says the
article above referred to, lis by traui-
ton and training extremely careful
and s%crupulous about waste in any,
thing pertaining to the household. For
fuel in the kitchen charcoal or gas is
generally used. No big fires are al
lowed and when the charcoal has
served its purpose 1t is Immediately
put out by sprinkling water over II,
the emnant being preserved for the
next cooking. All fuel is very dear in
ny 6oo " COOhluk COSlS Il
cent per cubic foot.
The French never buy any provis-
ions thai are not actually needed at
the time being. No stores of coffee.
sugar.. flour n similar articles are
laid in, for the reason that there is no
place to keep such things in an apart
ment. and also because the price of
provisions is no higher in proportion
for an ounce than for a hundred
pounds. AS bread is never made in
the house and buildings seldom eaten.
very little -four is required. 1t can
be procured at the bakers by the
ounce. The laundry work is all sent
out. except kitchen cloths, and is ex-
tremely reasonable, the average price
being about rs cents per dozen.
Nearly all fruit and vegetables, as
well as eggs. are sold by weight, de-
cidedly the most just way. and the
decimal system of weights and meas
ures being universal in the Latin
countries, reckoning Is an easy mat
ter. If you wish a small piece of
cheese for lunch. you ask for a 'hecto,'
which is the tenth of a 'kilo,' or about
three and a half ounces. This costs
from 3 to 6 cents, according to the
kind. and is always graciously cut by
the French grocer. In England you
are expected to take at least a pound
of cheese. The same is true in buy
ing all other provisions on the conti-
nent. No one is ashamed to ask for a
cents worth of sugar or coffee. or for
a single mutton chop, and you can
even buy a lemon or a slice. of a melon.
Every one abroad is SO accustomed to
this small trading that the shopkeep-
ers and market women are quite as
polite over a small purchase as a big
one.
THE French are very temperate in
food and drink, a cup of coffee with a
piece of bread being considered quite
sufficient until noon. When the dejeuner
a la fourchette Is served. This consists
of a first course of eggs or macaroni.
a second of one chop each or a stew
and a third of fruit and cheese. Plen-
ty of bread always good in France) is
eaten during the meal, but butter rare
ly, and a glass or two or wine diluted
with water, but never iced or sweet
ened, is drunk by each member of the
family, including the children. Dinner,
usually at z o'clock, is a little more
elaborate meal. from which soup and
salad are seldom omitted, n black
coffee is often served with cognac at
the end. Owing to the fact that so
much chicory is used, French coffee is
not much to the taste of the Anglo
Saxons.
Coffee being very lear in France
go cents per pound for good quality
may account for the excessive use of
chicory.
In French cooking sauces are the
most important feature. They serve
to give distinct character and flavor
1 to one kind of meat or vegetable, and
consequently there Is little monotony
about a French menu"
One secret of this economy lies in the
skillful use of ~left-overs. combined
and served in such a way as not to
suggest the article served two or three
meals before.
If Americans would import the
French science of cooking there would
be fewer signs of waste in the garbage
pals and an appreciable lessening of
butchers and grocers' bills.