The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-17
LITERA1URE or COOKING.
This Century Preein,nent for II. II Not for
Satisfactory Results.

This Century Preeminent for II. II Not for
Satisfactory Results.
The theory that cooks are born not made.
~ supported by the apparently small effect pro-
duccd by the Hood of culinary literature which,
within the last ilfty years, has been disseminated
among tho civilized nations uf the world The
pricc at which many cook books arc sold places
them within the reach Of all. That they havo
great sale IL shown in the Statement, that ono
single publication II this character has attained
circulation Of 1000. 900 copies. Yet notwith.
standing the wide distribution OF culinary man
uas, IL IL doubtful outside OF the larger towns Of
the United States, II in one family out Of twenty.
Ave there is knowledge II the palatable prcpara-
ton of single dish of meat W fowl This In
true not only Of tho Anglo Saxon, but also II
| the Germanic and Scandinavian races Yet the
earliest cook book of which there Is record out.
side 81 ancient Rome. is The Form u curry" q
manuscript, roll that existed in England in 1890.
The one treatise on cookery Of the ancents Of
which We have common knowledge is the "Dc re
Culinnria." This is attributed to Apicius sur
named Marcus Gabius. Apicius was reputed
| Ia possess SiO,OoO.OOO. Four hfths Of this he
expended in epicurean indulgence When he
discovered that the remaining one hfih was not
sufficient for the support Of his table he repaired
| 10 his bath. opened tho veins II his wrists and
| time, but without success cndcavorcd 10 reduce
| the culinary formulas Of Apicius to practice
| The use Of asafoeuda which was universal in
| Roman cookery, was beyond their control. Cato
| Of tuca and Athenscus have also left formulas
! for certain dishes fashionable in their time.
From the time Of the Romans until the Italian
Renaissance there is no knowledge Of any trca uss
on cookery with the exception of the English
manuscript already noted The first Italian
cook book was that Of Bnrthoomnus Plahna,
! which was written in Latin and printed at Venice
in l475, only two or three years after the intro
| ducuon of printing into that city. Plauna was
| no; a professional cook. lie WAS originally
a soldier and ended his days as superintendent
! cookery In order to demonstrate that there was
one epicurran pleasure which could be enjoyed
with perfect honesty and virtue; A German
| Translation 81 this work WAS printed in Aug sbuTg
in 1912. The FIRST popular treause on cookery
that circulated generally among the Italian people
was an anonymous book called the -Epcuaruni.
| IL was printed in Venice in 1918. This was sue.
cecded BY the work Of Christoforo dc Messisburgo,
who was chef 70 the Cardinal 81 FerIata This
d Italians The author gives a gIea, variety
Of recipes and Is by no means modest In laudnuon
and suppcrs that attained great celebrity at the
time This book was printed al Feuara In l649
The only other Italian culinary manuals Of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that have
survived are those II BaTiolomeo Scapp Vim
cenlio Cervio and Dominica Romoli and Rosetn.
Scapp WAS, privy cook to Pope Plus V. Ccryio
to CARDINAL Fsrnese' All were picn Of sTea, dis,
S dSd app pea To this lis, Should be
added the works 81 NiitonO l.ancclptu and An
tonic FsOn The ns .v EsS ss ,S S%P9ss
OF the clergy Of ihe ume-the seventeenth century.
Frugon adapted this treatise 10 both "grea, and
There Is record Of bu, one Spanish cook book
during the hitccnh and siNtsen!h centuries
Of Naples. !, wos printed in Gothic ,yrc 2, ~
grono in 1873 French and German culinary
authors were numerous In tie sane period Ih'
be &nans he more important vas s I,S Rum
lolt,, cook to the Eiect.r Il Mainz, who prin,ct
was NINA weoker. wife II physician a, Rosie
She Published cook book AZ Al,dord IT, 1890
These two treatiscs have hccn reprinted seycra
same rpiod WIS that Of Pierre PdouS tic Join
an sr9sg ~ Of the hob best Ispss TSS
the kitchens u all nations This work was printe'
at Paris in i6t3 Tsilerapt was another write
on cookery His uos Use related 10 the tr'atInen
WIS published a, Paris about i5'"
| la the seventeenth century none Of the Cont
output Of cook boks Germany, France AM
:y sSSsa" S s:s ess SS
cry. the FIRST the subject Il was nanun
from which SUCCESSORS in this branch Of the Gull
foundation upon which are bull, the Tiuraph
81 modern oDucoctors Oi sweets Germany pro
duced dictionary 81 the kitchen aud cellar b.
a oook look by KIDDING Sv eden one 10 the Torn
/ England one by John Murrcil giving instrucroi,
5 how u prepare AT extraordinary aud an urdinar.
FEAST s'SsT n sumner mn, o. ~n d also bills
!. The eighteenth century witnessed the culmina
C ton Of cookery ~ fine art France secured a
I'll tie kitchen, and also esta hlshc the rcpuirtio
u Collie COOKS ms the forem"st PRACTITIONERS 9
9 books published in the las! century were, "lh
Modern Cook" by Vincent IL chapeilc, shei CT, :
II Combs Sa o G &C. f%a 1 Reduced sdS
!. in his The, perIec, Baker" what La chale!l
! game and meat In Germany the most celebrate
a culinary tren'i,c q The eighteenth century wa
during that period, no cook book of imp1I,anc
!. WAS, produced. The same Is True Of Italy an
I i hat umc the fashion d composing nanuscriI
family Iscire nook. was I'M IN y nSc,, Inose Prob.
sy ssG EsSsfs ecu ns oil 'n'
' The present pr century n" decline in the cul
nary ART from the level "a which ii attained in II
preceding ono, ~ pssibly compensated for b
l., The high chGraCicr Of the cook books i9r which
Is DISTINGUISHED I've !" RsyIps,e WIN his his ~
y phitIyons" leads in France In the first decad'
5 lIc is followed by N,sId; BcHuviiliers i'rill,
Dumas Da"aS md hos. q others Gsimany has pr
: duccd valuable irentisT by, K9nig,, Anthnr
{ , MOlCSchau and ltcrgns. In England I'd
9 | Francate Mrs Bcctpn Kitchener, Sir IIcnr
, Thompson and Dr Thudchum have mad c leuTnc
l. and philosophical contributions to the theory an
Il practice Ui cookery
d Within the past twenty years the ntei Stat,
/ | have been delugcd with culinary literature
y has appeared In every form, TINT of n Uamph
a containing recipes for the connection In varint
= ways II single edible, To pondcrpus quarters
J. encyclopaedia range, II would bc inyidious
;. mention any particular treatise aS having spec
}: merit above It's fellows These cook books nj
ably supplemented by cooker schools that ri
Il In operation In almost every large town. II
d somewhat surprising that bctwcrn the th"orcIic
Il information impaired b. the one and lis practice
y application learned At the other, poor cooker
e should bc the rule rather than the exception.
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