The times., 1899-08-06
THE QUEENS KITCHEN.
1t Is Presided Over by n Frencl
Chef.

Chef.
There is perhaps no kitchen in the world
so full of interest. old and new, as the royal
kitchen at Windsor Castle, which has his
tory bridging more than seven centuries,
and which is still modern enough TO keep
pace with the latest developments Of
science.
The meat screen which is in use today
with its metal lining and Tudor arms, was
as familiar to Henry VII and 10 Wolsey as
to men of today and must find strange
companionShip in the electric lights which
now rule where torches once held sway.
The great kitchen, with its ponderous and
ancient doors, its battery of shining uten-
sils, its mammoth ranges, its jacks and
spits, is only one of many There is the
confectionery room, with its six magieians.
the pastry room with four, and the bake
| house.
The French chef who is king Of these
royal kitchens, says the Boston Journal, -
has under him quite an army of assistants,
to whom his will is as absolute a5 that OF
the Queen herself. Immediately under him
are four master cooks, each of whom is al
! most unrivaled in his own department
There are two cooks for roasting, two as
sistant cooks and two yeomen of the
kitchen, with four apprentices. while OF
scourers and kitchen maids, storekeepers.
clerks and messengers there is quite an
army.
The most interesting member of all the
kitchen staff is perhaps the necessary
woman who has for SO long been imper-
sonated by Mrs. Mary Howe.
| The Prince Consort used to take an ac-
| tive interest in this royal kitchen, and
there is in it a memorial of him in the
| shape of q small range, of his designing,
| for the cooking OF game.
| The amount of work which must be got
through every day in this mammoth kitch-
| en- would appall the most Jealous house.
wife.
| No fewer than six separate sets of meals
are prepared in it daily, and precedence,
| in point of time. is given to the meal for
| the servants hall. Then comes the dinner
for the stewards ROOM and afterward, in
order, the dinners for the household, the
ladies in waiting. the nursery, and lastly
| the Queens table is replenished.
| All these meals are produced and served
with the regularity of clockwork. AS each
| course is prepared 1t is placed in Its
| proper position on the serving table, to
give place, when It is removed, to the sue
ceeding course and to succeeding meals.
The serving table, which Is a miracle OF
usefulness, is OF steel, with hollow body
and legs, and it is kept constantly hot by
| steam pipes.
| The larders from which these kitchens
are fed are Of enormous size and are cut
out of the solid rock, thus being both cool
and impr egnable.
| There is much less waste in this royal
kitchen, with its mountains OF costly 1000
and its army of employees, than in many OF
| the kitchens of the poor. In many or the
1 royal Continent kitchens the surplus food
is either sold to restaurant keepers or
wasted, while many of the costlier wines
and dishes are pilfered by the staff and
converted into a substantial addition to
| their wages.
The surplus food from the Windsor
| kitchens goes TO feed the poor. and at a
| fixed hour the kitchen door is besieged by
a small army of the very poor, armed with
| tickets. who carry away with them sub
stantiaI evidence of the Queens charity.