The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-12-15
ORDERING A DINNER.
Few Americans Understand the Art,
q Waiter Says.
New York Sun.

Waiter Says.
New York Sun.
VERY few people really know how to or
der a dinner" said head waiter who has
become famous by the choice menus which
he selects for the patrons Of the fashion
able dining room over which he presides.
And, then, how many there are who, not
knowing what to choose, will neglect to get
the advice of the waiter, who knows exact
ly what the kitchen holds that is especially
good on that particular occasion.
1.-The gastronomic education of the Amer
lean is still sadly at fault in many particu-
lars But the man who orders without con.
sulting the head waiter is quite sure to
come to grief.
THE head waiter has to assimilate all
the perception of the gourmet with the con-
servatism of the artist. And as rule the
Americans who have become famous for
knowing what to eat have learned it from
their walters.
They have been chided gently at the
club for their overfondness for steak and
gradually they have ben rescued from the
blindness of steak eating TO a comprehen-
sion OF better things. Once you wean a
man from the hide-bound tradition that
steak is the one thing that man can live by
you can hope to get him out of the abysmal
error OF fancying turkey an epicurean dish
But the American knows his beefsteak
and he knows his turkey. He swears by II
and II you venture to suggest the superior
ity OF the wild turkey TO this other tame
monstrosity he looks at you with troubled
eyes.
He understands turkey as he has grown
to know and to love It, He never realizes
its absurdity-its absolute grotesqueness
1t never CRATES on him. 1t took the keen
perception of an Irishman to see the humor
OF the turkey as food when he declared
| hlIrrn for ana. Il
not enough for two
''Of course. L know 1t sounds like a sacri-
lege TO attack the turkey but it is over
rated, spectacular, rather than of real
epicurean value. Children like 1t, and as
they grow up it remains sort Of childhood
ideal, that they try to warm into life at
Christmas and Thanksgiving
The turkey is surrounded with a halo
OF attendant dishes on these occasions,
stuffed with oysters or chestnuts and you
worship it as though it were morsel rare
as pheasants' tongue, when in reality 1t is
the crudest bird in its tame state that ever
came to table too often.
when you consider how America has
advanced in art within the last ten or ff-
teen years does it not seem odd that more
advance is not made in sastronomic mat
ters? Take the furnishing and house dec
Grafton OF twenty years ago and contrast
the artistic drawing room OF the present
with the hideous parlor of the past with
its glaring wall paper, its stove, its bril-
liant carpet and plush furniture which was
that preceded it.
The country is also bound to advance
in the cuisine and 1t has progressed but
il is slow, and il would seem as though
some subtle influence would have to be
brought to bear TO get the great mass Of
people into the primrose ways of choosing
Alright and dining properly without being
aware OF the reform that Is taking place.
Take the time when oysters were con-
sidered dainty, the only proper accom-
paniment of champagne. Now they pre-
cede even the most ordinary dinner.
You never find oyster stews or oyster
fries at church baZars nowadays, when
in old times they were the feature. Oyster
houses were opened everywhere. oyster
saloons were at every corner. Now oysters
are common.
"Quails and small birds began to gain
favor about the time that oysters were at
their zenith of popularity. But the taste
for them came gradually Their price on
menus and in markets remained high.
Now they are plenty, they are under
stood and appreciated. They are not
cooked as they deserve to be here in the
North but they are served by the hundred
each day during their season.
Salads and sauces are the two items in
which the most progress has been made.
Salads were years in gaining recognition,
that is, the green salads.
you would be surprised to know the
number of American homes where a green
salad is never served. They are yet re-
Sarded as frivolity. The Frenchman and
the Italian know the value TO the dinner
and to the diner of salad dressed in OIL
There used TO be a prejudice against the
lobster. 1t was considered dangerous by
many old-fashioned people who had es-
sayed IL in combination with ice cream
Since that time the lobster has become
so immensely popular a food that it is
threatened with extinction.
The present time of year in city like
this offers a field for choice that is mar
velous Not in London, in Paris in Vienna
or even in st, Petersburg the paradise of
the epicure, Will you find any such array Of
things to be selected from and in such
superb condition and quantity.
The oyster has come TO be the usual
preface to every dinner. but the blue point
IS too generally ordered There are other
superior oysters on the market now, for
the truth is the so-called blue point is
really a small oyster chosen for its size.
1T is good enough, but there are excel
lent Cape Cod and Buzzards bay oysters,
and there are Lundhavens TO vary In the
inevitable mock blue point. Only at the
clubs and the very best restaurants are
there any real blue points to be had at all.
and not always at those places.
But the name of the blue point will
continue 10 carry 1T irrespective of its
flavor or lack Of 1t. You may not be able
20 detect the blue point that is bogus,
but you Will never mistake the real one
when you taste IL.
Soups we have improved in. and why?
Because a firm OF French soup makers
sent US a timed soup that was so far the
superior or all the soups served here that
we began 10 learn what soup really was.
This was the method in which education
crep In upon us In this line. Now you can
get good green turtle soup and excellent
bisques at hotels in place OF the old washy
Juliennes and the consOmmes made from
beef extract and hot water
las soup makers and appreciaters we
are still far back OF the French and
Italian. yes. even the English. but for all
that have learned and CRATE
full
AT this time OF the year in town. no one
should neglect TO have terrapin or the