Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1904-09-28

LiSHES OF FABULOUS COST ANo
QUESTIONABLE TASTE.

Whatever criticism the forms and
expense of modern entertainment may
| still invite, we have at least escaped
| from the Objectionable feature OF cost
illness for its own sake which charac
terized so many Of the banquets Of o
century ago. As we all very well know,
there is cookery and cookery, and the
best must need be expensive. But there
is an obvious distinction between the
regardless Of expense principle and
the mere desire to stand sponsor to the
costliest dish or dinner, as such, that
money can pay for and the perverted
ingenuity of cooks can achieve. The
first may be the legitimate ambition
of a Croesus intent upon social adj
vancement, but the second is a moro
vulgar aim and one, indeed, that often
defeats its own ends.
According to Thackeray's philosophy,
IA man can only be hungry and eat
and be happy but there Is clearly Z
great deal more in it than that. Be-
tween such primitive canon Of gas
trouomy and the well founded tastes
and preferences of the genuine con-
noisseur there is distinction as broad
as it is reasonable. Good, better, best
apply as fully and inevitably to mat
tiers OF tie table as 10 any other de
Of 70 L \
be diihcult for those who have gradu-
ated in the higher schools Of the cult
nary art not to accept the very cordial
maxim, 1.-The best of everything Is good
enough for the likes Of u.s."
When the Count of Monte Christie
showed his guests how easy 1t was to
spend thousand pounds on dinner
for ten persons he gave them also an
insight into the rationale OF the ex-
penditure. Among the dishes was
sterlet brought alive from the VOlga,
and the count then replies to the COM
ments it provoked: Il am like Nero-l
wish for the impossible. This fish.
which seems so excellent to you, Is
very likely 10 better than carp or sanf-
on. but it seemed impossible to procure
it. and here it is" There Is not even
originality III this. for II Is only an
adaptation OF the old Roman idea, and
the cost of Monte-C hristO's dinner has
often, heen exceeded by that Of sin
gle dish.
History is silent as to the sum ex-
pended upon the enormous entree call
ed by Vitellius the ''shield of Minerva"
but us it was composed Of an incredi-
bic variety Of the rarcSt and incest
kinds of meat Its cost was certainly in
to its size. Nor could
dish Of nighsngaleS' tongues have been
made for Il triac. though it could have
been worth very little when it was
made. The vast sums lavished upon |
the feasts Of the luxurious Romans
mast be accented with some hcsita-
ton. end the 800 said to have been |
the daily amount expended by Nitel- |
ius upon lila supper seems almost fab
ulous.
desire to attain the Impossible" and
employed ii IA: reaching organization
IN orle? Ia !rIli@2 ii. According to
!csepNus. rs food was Of the most
rare and exquisite nature. The deserts
)f Lhya. the shores Of Spain. the wa
ter5 %. lie CarDathian sea. and even |
the coasts and forests OF Britain were
searched for dainties to sup
ply his table" But even this II
,clpsed by the sorry Of single dish
provided for banquet given by He
logabalus which is said to have cost
10 less a SUN than $4,000 of English
money.
The waste and utter futilty Of such
avish expenditure may be said, In
some sense. 70 have been counterbal
,nccd by the idea cf spiculor and lux.
lriOus opulence which Ii was thought
o express. But We find records Of
fishes Of quite inordinatc cost much
nearer our own times for which no
such plea can be urged.
In his "City Madam" Massinger
'courgee the eytrsvagant method Of
many dishes then In fashion
,nd riGiriips their pes Of carps'
Orgues and their phcasants drenched
With ambc.gris." And tic is especially
Ievcre-pcrhaps such au incident had
actually occurrcd-upon "the carcasses
II three fat weihers bruised for gravy
% make sauce for single turkey"
This. Of course. is simple barbarsm
or which there can be no possible pal.
lation. And. though II may be regard
d as an exceptional instance OF prince
y magniliccIce. one instnctively
drinks at the statement that Mt the
banquet given by Louis XIV. at Yer
iaillcs on tie occasion Of the marriage
# Mile. &c Biols and the Prince de
Ionti IN 1908 the ortolans alone cost
5000 francs.
Napoleon himself Is reported to have
aid that "rlore fortunate treaties.
more happy arrangements and recon
liations were due to the cook OF his
chancellor Cambaccres than to the
rowds or diplomatic nOneDti1eS whe
bronged the antechambers Of the TUT
cries" That cook could scarcely COM
lain Of his raw material" for on
ertain occasion large trout arrived
rom Geneva. consigned 10 tho chan
ellOr's kitchen. the cost OF which was
erifiCd by the COur DIES Complies as
IA G. 0OO france
But as an instance OF cost Tor costs
axe no better example can We given
han that Of Soyers famous hundred
uinca dish" so much talked OF In the
Riddle Of the last century. This. OF
curse, was made dish" which re-
uired as mere preliminary the sum
( ga. the cost Of five turtles heads.
nth Il part OF the fins and green fat.
W. nn-t r1r,,srn,,cn4 u-oo ouar l0n