The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1903-02-27
in KITCHENS OF MoNARcHs.
Culinary Regime Below Stairs in Many
Royal Palaces.

SdtttdFJ nSStU BELOW 0IdiFS IN many
Royal Palaces.
Cassell's Journal: The German emperor
is disposed to be rather .officious in the
supervision of his kitchen. He has been
known to make a special tour of inspec-
ton, under the guidance of the marshal
OF the court, and to harangue the soul
lions, or to give them lessons in the art
of making coffee. AS a rule, he gets his
meals zen pension" there being a regu-
lar sum allotted per head for the board of
the imperial family, and within these linn
its the cooks have a free hand.
The chief cook is a German and under
him are a German and a Frenchman, al.
though the use of the French language
upon the menus is strictly forbidden. The
chef has to get through about fourhun-
dred weight of butchers meat on ordi-
nary days for the meals OF the court and
on great occasion he usually begins his
preparations a week beforehand and calls
In the services of the cooks at the other
palaces, beside utilizing the services of
the dainty confectioners in Inter den Lin
den. William II. believes in dishes en-
masse. The joints appear in the dining
saloon and the cakes are frequently fash
Toned into the shape of temples minarets
and castles.
The chef in the household Of the car
is an Alsatian. an ex-soldier, who Is paid
= 49, L 10 all uuepl III
the fabrication Of appetizing Russian
soups, which are much liked by Nicholas
H., and he has g regular dictionary of
recipes Tor the treatment of %caviare. He
has had to overcome the nuisance Of hav-
ing two or three Circassians always how
ering about the kitchen on the lookout
Tor suspicious underlings, although these
gentry apply themselves to the task of
tasting the imperial viands with greater
zeal than the occasion demands.
The empress often conveys to the kitch-
en- a wish for a dainty dish to be pre-
pared "a rAnglais," and apart from the
national dishes the composition of the i'm
perial menu zen familie' is as much Eng
fish as French. The Emperor Francis
Joseph is said to spend $4,000 per annum
upon his table, although he himself is one
OF the most abstemious monarchs in
Europe. The staff consists of 500 trained
cooks, equally divided as to sex, and a
committee of the heads of each depart
ment is held on the occasion of a state
banquet. All the carving is done in an
apartment reserved for Inc purpose, to
which the comestible are conveyed from
the kitchen. The custom Of perquisites is
probably more firmly established in the
Austrian imperial kitchen than
else in royal Europe.
At some of the smaller courts native
chefs are preferred, as, for example, in
Rome, MaQTlu ana StOCkhOlm. AT the
sublime porte, Abdul Hamid formerly
contented himself with French chefs, but
after the visit Of the German emperor
to C~onstantinople he engaged three Ger
man cooks, who assist him in dispensing
the enormous sum of $1,000 upon the pleas
ures Of the table for his vast establish
ment.
All the sultan's personal dishes are pre-
pared in silver vessels, and are sealed by
the grand vizier before they leave the
kitchen. The seal is broken in the pres
ence Of the monarch, and it is the duty
of the chamberlain to taste the first
mouthful If SO commanded. The decora-
ton of a chef by his royal master Is a
rere event; even the Royal Victorian Or
der was not considered by her late males
ty to be a suitable method Of acknowl-
edging the services of her culinary artists,
When a famous chef retired from the
service Of the imperial kitchen in Berlin
he was rewarded by the empress with the
Col. cross of Merit, but even In the IA
therland this distinction was unique. Per.
haps the most curious kitchen depart.
ment in any imperial palace in the world
Is hat of the emperor Of China. The
staff consists of no fewer than seventy.
six experts, whose duties require them tc
be acquainted with the daintiest method
Of serving up bears paws or antelope
tails, eels' eggs or monkeys lips, while
there is q special department which con
Germs itself with the serious task Of pro
ducing birds nest soup.