The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-05-29

turned on in the ovens and displays the
meat or bread as it roasts or bakes.
2meets .h' OF prepared mica in the doors of
me ovens permit the food to be seen.
I Undoubtedly the only kitchen invention
comparable to this is an English oven for
bread making. This is fitted with a sys-
TEN OF bells that ring to announce the
increase of heat in the great baking
chamber, while a chime goes off to an.
nounce the perfection of the baking.
The wonders, economies and automatic
performances of the cooking stove and
the respective merits of the French over
the American or vice versa form a very
Silall part OF the true story why Paris
ian cookery is still paramount Among
the men that crowd the fair none is de-
serving OF more attention and interest
that the chefs. those artistic mixers of
dehcious foods. They make French cook
cry great by keeping up its traditions
ana guarding ITS honor and observing its
etiquette and handing all this down from
seheratlon to generation as Carefully as
crown Jewels. are passed on in a royal
iafniiy. AT the Paris Exposition in the
lne arts and scientific departments one
can see and fhear all about the art of
french cookery today and observe the
cneIs magnificent medals eand their ex-
hibiis. Since fhe day of Napoleon + the
Academic de Cuisine has regulated the
art or the kitchen just as the forty I'm
mortalS look after the language of the
French nation. The cookery academy
conducts classes, has it's big CORPS of an
, prentces, sits in solemn conclave, for in
Stdll't, OI "Hel1ST wax mowers be
iegitimately used IN the decoration of
banquet pieces, decorates its members
ana Destows medals and diplomas that
mean everything to the ambitious and
artistic French cook. One of the most
important retired chefs of the day is
president of the academy, and it is only
after years of proved superiority in the
kitchen that man can hope to be elect
ed as an associate or member of this
grave and powerful organization.
That IS one of the reasons why French
cookery is Kept up to it's present. lofty
Standard. and why II is taken so serious
! ~ ny Its pupils and master workmen. 1t
I is on the whole a very big thing to be a
firSt-claSs cook in Paris, and any woman
VINO wants to get genuine respect for
this art and acquire a true veneration
Tor its masters should take a course of
lectures in the French capital and then
visit some of the great kitchens.
out al the Exposition the officers of the
! Academy are going TO hold regular cours
de cuisine, presided over by five of the
greatest chefs in Paris, and their talks in
a way Will be as valuable and impressive
as any given by professors of the Sor-
! bonne. From London, Vienna, Berlin and
America there will arrive representatives
| to lecture on the Improvement on food
| stuffs and their preparation as well as
! scientific developments in stoves, the
values of foods prepared by the heat OF
! water, electricity and gas, 1t is in the
| hot water scheme that the Frenchrnen
/ expect to score heavily. and they are go
/ ing to demonstrate the superior advap-
| tages Of their little stoves.
/ What is sure to produce a deep impress
/ sion on the American mind is the APP
! pearance and the Importance of many OF
! these academy's officers. Some of them
are heads of kitchens, the savory odors
! of whose perfectly done game and eX-
/ quisitely mixed gravies have been waited
around the world and some of them, the
4 most important, are Independent ar
! tlStS, the eXponentS of a specially and
/ not officially connected with any restaur-
Ian fr.Nh Crrnh n1,.af fc n,lx-
duced in Paris, and in his own profession
/ he is object of extreme envy and ao-
miration. Having proved his genius he
| retires and lives and works in his own
! kitchen: an atelier is what he calls it, a
! really beautiful workshop, glass rooted
walled with tiles, decorated with framed
| diplomas, valuable autograph letters and
/ photographs. and furnished with the nee
| essary utensils in ancient pewter and the
/ sort of copper that artists prize. About
/ the room are strange little gas ovens that
+! look to American eyes wholly incOmpe-
| tent for the results demanded of them
| and then the range, apt as not to be gor-
| geously decorated with brass and nickel
! work.
| TO such a man as this come rising and
! gifted young cooks, who have already
/ got diplomas from the academy classes
| and well-known restaurant chefs, but
/ wish TO perfect themselves in some par
! ticular branch under a recognized genius
! of the day. To enter one of the great
! man s classes, it is essential to be al
! READY accomplished ana furthermore en-
Gowed with talent and ambition, for Ben
! jamin Constant. Gerome or Rodin would
! no more think of accepting a beginner
| in his studio than would one of these in
/ dependent chefs. Years of devoted labor
( and the consciousness of great gifts have
| placed him beyond the drudgery of teach
| ing and his income flows from his reputa-
! ton.
To him the heads of restaurants ap-
peal with liberal payments for designs
for new dishes. He composes and sells
exclusive receipts, he goes to cafes al
| certain hours during the day or night
| and in the kitchen over his own table or
! stove prepares just many portions OF
| his special dish and the patron of the res
| taurant pays him we'll for such services.
| Added to these sources of income he edits
| cookery books, occasionally contributes
| an essay to culinary magazine, and II
| one IS "A clever cock and composes salad
! he will. for consideration, taste, criti-
! else and give improving suggestions.
| There is one famous specialist in Paris,
! Gustav by name, who earns $4,000 year
! by merely going the ROUNDS OF few res
| taurants every evening and preparing a
! certain number of game disnes at each
| Days in advance a lover of good food
must leave his order with the head OF
! the restaurant for one of Gustavs IA
! Tuously good ducks. a date is then fixed
| when the gourmand can hope to enjoy
the services of the gifted cook and when
| the opportunity to profit by the great
| chefs art comes around an elaborate
supper is the fitting environment for the
| faultlcss duck.
| Down in the restaurant kitchen Gustav
! himself touches nothing. He merely di-
/ rects. standing, like Napoleon at Auster-
/ ltz,- impassively regarding the progress
of the great triumph of mind over mat
ter, and controlling the forces that trans
| Iurm cruue fowl mesh into dish of most
exquisite SAVIOR. Often enough tho even
| ing rounds of a man of Gustay's impor-
| tance include a call at a private house
or the purpose of preparing one of his
| great dishes at a side table in the dining
/ room right before the eyes of the inter
ested guests. OF late years, having
notable cook in TO do what Americans
would call stunts a grand dinner par
ty has been one of the most popular Pa
risian fashions. The chef, whether Gus
tav or another, is apt to charge abou
lO0 francs or as high as 200 francs, the
equivalent of $40. for his services in pre-
pairing n single course for table full
J Of people. He brings his own utensil!
, md possibly his own VVen, one OF thos'
strange, round, drurn-shaped French in
ventions. to set on g. range or a ga!
frame inside which everything can b,
| cooked from the most delicate littl
axes to the heaviest roasts.
| When a man is able to ask such
price as this it is easy to imagine tha
; his art is no more mere fad nor the Pa
'isian love of perfectly prepared food
| leeting fancy. What he is most proud o
the fact that he began his career as
egetable picker in a blo9lse and sabots
| ourting even at that age dreams 0