The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-06-27
.WHIMs
DISHES or FABULOUS COSY
.is QUESTIONABLE TASTE.
rhe vast sam. That We're Lavi ,.l'''e
Upon Fenats by the Luxurions
Rou,nns-soSer'. Hundred Guinea
Di.h-one Way OF Cooking nm Olive.

Is upon Fen.ts by the Luxurions
Romnn.-soSer'. Hundred Guinea
Di.h-one Way OF Cooking an Olive.
Whatever criticism the forms and
expense OF modern entertainment may
still invite. we haze at least escapeu
from the Objectionable fea ture OF, cosS-s
illness for It's own: sake which charac-
terized so many OF the banQuets OF
century ago. AS we all very Wei Know
there is cookery and cookery. and the
best must need be expensive But there
Ia an obvious distinction between the:
regardless Of expense" principle ana
the mere desire to stand sponsor TO the
costliest dish or dinner, as such. that
money can pay for nnd the perverted
Ingenuity Of cooks can achieve. The
first may be the legitimate ambition
of Croesus intent upon social ad-
yancement, but the second Is more
vulgar aim and one, indeed. that often
defeats its own ends.
According to Thackeray's philosophy.
"a man can only be hungry and eat
and be happy but there Is clearly
great deal more in it than that BE-
tween such primitive canon or gas
tronomy and the we'll founded tastes
| and preferences of the genuine coh'
noisseur there is a distinction as oroau
| us it is reasonable. Good, better. pest'
| apply as fully and inevitably to mat
| tiers of the table as to any other ue'
| parrnent of life. and 1T must always
be difficult for those who have Grauu'
ated in the higher schools OF the cult.
nary art not to accept the very cordial
| mnxi1ll The best of everything is Soou'
enough for the likes of u.s.
When the Count of Monte-Christo
showed his quests how easy it was to
spend a thousand pounds on dinner
for ten persons Ire gave them also an
insight into the rationale of the ex-
| nenditure. Among the dishes was 4
sterlet brought alive from the NolGa,
and tne count then replies to the COM
ncnts it provoked: Il am like Ncro-l
wish for the impossible. This fish,
which seems SO excellent to YOU IS
very likely no better than carp or s;ilnl-
ON. but it seemed impossible to procure
| II. and here it Isl There is not even
| originality in this. for it Is only an
adaptation of the old Roman idea, and
the cost OF Monte-Christo's dinner has
| often been exceeded by that Of n SIM
isgle dish
History is silent as to the sum eN-
pended upon the enormous entree call
ed by N-itellius the .tShield of Minerva,
but as it was composed of an incredi-
| BILE variety of the rarest and nicest
| kinds of meat its cost was certainly IN
| proportIon to its size Nor could
dish of nightingales' tongues have been
| made for ii trine, though it could nave
been worth very little when it was
made The vast sums lavlshed upon
the feasts of the luxurious Romans
must be accepted with some hesita-
ton. and the E4.c0O Sad to have been
the daily amount expended by Nitei-
Illus upon his supper seems almost Iab-
ulous.
But then he, too. was devoured by
desire TO attain the impossible" and
emplovcd a far reaching organization
in order to realize ii. According to
JoscphtlS, his food was of the most
rare and exquisite nature. ''the deserts
of Libva the shores Of Spain, the wa
tiers of the Carpatllinn sea, and even
the coasts and forests of Britain We're
diligently searched for dainties to sup
ply his table" But even this IS
eclipsed by the story of single dish
provided for :; banquet given by DC
IiogabaluS which is said to have cost
10 less q sum than $4,000 of English
money.
The waste and utter futiiity of such
lavish expenditure may be said, III
some sense, to have been counterbal-
aflcel by the idea OF =splcndor and Ink
urious oT1tlicnce which it was thought
to express But we find records of
dishes of quite lnordinntc cost much
nearer our own times for which no
such plea can be urged.
In his city Madam" aLassinGer
scourgcs the eXtravagant method Of
preparing. many dishes then in fashion,
and rldict.!es ''tllcir pics of carT1s'
tongues and their Dheasants drcnched
with an1bergris.'' And he is especially
sevprc-peruaps such an incident had
actually occurrcd-upon the carcaSse>
of three fat wethers bruised for gravy
to make sauce for u single turkey.
This. OF course. is Il simple barhartsEt'
for which rheTe can be no possible pal,
liation 4 nd. though il may be regard
ed as an exceptional instance OF prince
IL magnidcence, one instinctiveiF
shrinks Al the statement that al the
banquet given by Louis XIV. at NeI
sailles on the occasion OF the marriage
of Mile az Blois and the Prince de
Cont in 1868 the ortolaus alone COST
10000 francs.
Napoleon: himself is reported to havs
1aid that ..more fortunate treaties,