The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-22
ON THE ART OF DINING
AN ANTI-sTEAK LECTURE BY A
 HEAD WAITER
Few People Know How to Order a Dinner, He lComplains-Wilf Eat Turkey, Neglecting Deli
 cacies of Season.

fashionsble dining room over which he prE sides. And then, now many Lhee are who, not knowing what 70 enoose' will neglect to get the advice or the Wait CT who knows exactly what the kitchen | holds that Is especially good on that par ticular occasion.
 For kitchens have their secrets, a ana one of the oldest chefs in New York used to have a telephone at his desk connect ing him with the dining room, throngh which he imparted valuable lntoImauon to the waiter order for some speciai paf-
 .'It is when entertaining guests that the average man is most In doupL. ne knows what he wishes himself: put ne naturally prefers to consult the tastes oi
 Invariably he founders; the hold back their preferences and frequently one VII see a whole party, gratefully comins %o the culminating choice of steak, stean, always steak. with all the ffnest fish ana game to choose from. It IS pitiini!
 Of course, the man who knows does not do this He has learned that she safest plan Is to consult with the head
 If he has been busy with his stocks or his bonds or his office anairs an aay he has not had much time to dwell on the dainty foods that are in market. The American man who has not l1yed anrosa rather disdains this nicety or cunnary knowledee. But even when eh ne ,atter. hn'T if he in the lasder in its perfection.
 Beefsteak's Popularity.
 ."rhe love of the American man TOT beefsteak has grown to be the despair ot those who have gradually watcneu 1't nnv DrGgresSS tSe or one s thing need to thousands of American oiheIs 0" nights in the year. "And ten to one they have IL TOT oreak. N fast also. Yes, 1t is a fact. We ges t% os know the peculiarities of the appetites et paople and not, in a place like this, ot the working class. but of the man "no can afford to pay TOT wnat ta r1scss ns S famed for their game, their French ana itsnan dishes that have been praised py hnss and after going carefully over the cara o nice steak and see. that 1t Is not too rare! And few of our thoroughly accompiished French chefs are at their best In oroH- i"s ait ia this lack of, culinary knowledge as to selection that makes our loreikn tahles d' hote so popular that most or tne head walters in town are anticipating Eo1 ing into the business when they haSe :Every night these restaurants are crowded to the doors with groups or ain- CTS who have the troublesome qussuoni o.i them by a biil or fare already chosen: And they go through it manfuily from | start to finish, sighting nothing, otten unaware of what the dish may A oe, c"t- ,t cealed beneath the sauce which covers 1t, '"rhe gastronomic education or tne American is still sadly at fault m Insny | particulars. But the man Who oIue! | without consulting the heaa "a''er 'S l quite sure to come to grter. ,,
 'The head waiter has to assimliate sll | the perception, of the gourmet Witn the | conservatism of the artist: And as Il famous for knowing what to eat have l learned if from their walters.
 They have been chided gently at the
 club for their over-fondness for steak
 SSyduass tasy of haTs comprehension of better things. once
 you can wear a man from the nideDouna
 tradition that steak Is the one thin& Saa. S. out of the abysmal error of fancying tur- l key an epicurean dish. l "I3ut the Amerlcau knows his beetsteak
 and he knows his turkey. lie swears ny l it and if you venture to suggest the su' periority of the wild turkey to this other tame monstrosity he looks at you wisa | troubled eyes.
 | Loves Turkey.
 'TIe understands turkey as he has grown to Anow and to love 1t. He never
 realizes its absurdity-its absolute gro
 1t never grates on him. It took the l keen perception of an lrishman 10 Se' the hunor of the turkey as food when he declared 1t Is @ quare burrd. TOO
 much for one and not enough for two.
 'Of course know it sounds like sac
 rtlege to attack the turkey, but 1t Is over
 rated. spectacular, rather than Of req epicurean value Children like 1t and as they grow up 1t means a sort of child l hood ideal that they try to warm Int life at Christmas and Thankssiving
 "The turkey Is surrounded with halo
 of attendant dishes on these occasions stuffed with oysters or chestnuts and you
 worship it as though it were a morsei
 rare as pheasants' tongue, when m req real ity it is the crudest bird in It's tame state that ever came to table too often:
 When you consider how America has
 advanced in art within the last ten or fifteen years does it not seem odd tha'
 more advance is not made in gastronomiC
 matters? Take the furpishing and house
 decoration of twenty years ago ana con
 trast the artistic dining room or the pres
 ent with the hideous parlor of the past
 with it's glaring wall paper, It's stove; its
 brilliant carpet and plush furniture Whlci
 was worse than the horeshair chairs ano
 sofas that preceded it.
 in the cuisine and it has progressed, buI
 1t is slow and 1t would seem as thougf
 some subtitle influence would nave 10 p
 brought to bear to get the great mass ol
 people into the primrose ways Of choos
 ing aright and dining properly wthou
 being aware of the reform that is taking
 :sTake the time when oysters were con sidered a dainty the only proper accom- . nsninent of champagne. Now they pre-
 cede even the most ordinary dinner. v You never find oyster stews or oyster , fries at church baZaars nowadays, wher
 in old times they were the feature Oys ter houses were opened everywhere, oys-
 ter saloons were at every corhr' NO"
 oysters are common.
 "Quails and small birds began to gam favor about the time that oysters were
 at their zenith of popularity. But th'
 taste for them came gradually. TheiI price on menus and in markets remained
 high. .,..., ,,,aor stood and appreciated They are not
 cooked as they deserve to be here in th'
 North, but they are served by the hun
 ired each day during their season.
 Salads and Sauces. Salads and sauces are the two item' in which the most progress has beer . made Salads were years in gaining rec ognition. that Is, the green salads.
 f'You would be surprised to know thl number of American homes where greer
 salad is never served. They are yet re garded as a frivolity. The FrenchmaI and the Italian know the value to th' dinner and to the diner of a salad dress d in oil.
 There used to be prejudice against thu . tobster It was considered dangerous b. nany old fashioned people who had es ,aved 1t in combination with ice cream Since that time the lobster has becom ;0 immensely popular as a fooS that i is threatened with extinction ,.,- The present time of year in city lik this offers a field for choice that is mar yeIous Not In London. in Paris, in Wien } na or even in St. Petersburg, the para disc of the epicure, will ySu find an such array of things to be selected fror