The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-08-04

gredient red ptmentoes. although there is romaine or a green pepper hoiowed out and then filled with chopped up cu- cumbers soaked in water for day. | Wonderful cold fowl Is also to be found on this table. Breast of chicken lies on a slice of Virginia ham. the | two resting on slice of cold broiled Irish potato with aspic enclosing the whole. Half a cold roast squab IS stuffed with cold asparagus tips en' closed in aspic and served with hearts of romaine salad about it. The breast of a spring turkey is also served on a slice of Virginia ham and green peas and in aspic. Naturally this branch of the chefs activity met with immediate success. The manager looked at the 1 checks after lunch and wondered why in the world the proprietor had been | so hidebound as not to introduce be- fore the cold dishes for which the pat rons were anxious.
 In the Tenderloin, however, the de- mand for these dishes did not already exist and had to be built up. That proved possible after a month, al- | though not without a certain amount of persuasion. Halibut salad la Re- naissance did not at first appeal. So | the steward bethought himself of Hal l ibut a la George Cohan." The next day the dish went like wildfire and now | the taste for the salad is so we'll es- | tablished that 1t appears on the menu l under it's real name. It would win out under any title, for 1t consists of cold slice of chicken. halibut served with cold string beans and spring peas and covered with mayonnaise dressing. Truites en aspic did not make much of hit the first few times 1t appeared on the list of cold things. Then the dish was put down as Brook Trout. la Marc Klaw and the guests tried 1t. Now its popularity is established. The fish lies cold in aspic flanked on one side by a long cucumber stuffed with alligator pears, while on the other sits fat tomato stuffed with ancho- vies and horseradish grated very fine. then boiled in cream and put on ice.
 If the name of Rich & Harris had not been annexed to what was first put out as homard froid Mont Blanc. that discovery might never have been so beloved as it is today. It is cold lob ster taken from the shells and laid on leaves of crisp romaine. Then comes layer of mayonnaise sauce. on top of which rest tender sheaves of the breast of turkey. Another thin layer of mayonnaise prepares for the top dressing of chopped celery and slices of hard boiled egg. It Is a veritable Mont Blanc of cold gastronomic de-
 
 names of two managers brought its wonders to the ken of the midday lunchers in the Tenderloin. Virginia Ham Belasco is served with salad of green peppers and beets and rests in Its aspic cover on a slice of Swiss cheese. There are few managerial dig nitaries who have not been honored in the attempt to acclimatize the cold dish in the Tenderloin. although there was some hesitation on the part of the chef in associatfng any of them with a preparation of ham.
 Now the guests at the new hotel revel in the cold dishes which are such an established feature at the Fifth Av- enue hotels and restaurants that the guests look at the centre table as soon as they enter the room to see what the novelty of the day may be. Then the hors de'oeuvre is every day made more important feature of the meal although in the opinion of experts there should be no hors d'oeuvre at dinner.
 Tt would almost reconcile me to losing the money for my chief French head waiter told a Sun report that 1t is a gastronomic crime to eat hors d'oeuvre before dinner. That of course presupposes that there is to be soup for dinner It is just as much a violation of the rules of gastronomy to have a dinner without soup. hors d'oeuvre is to supplant soup at meal. It Is therefore primarily intended to be eaten at luncheon and at no other time. Yet the rage for hors d'oeuvre is so great now that our patrons fairly take away their appetites eating them"
 It is to meet this rage for hors d'oeu- vre that the proprietors have got into the way of serving the guests every thing on the table for a fixed price. This varies from 25 to 40 cents. and by paying that sum the guest is able to help himself to a bit of everything. In most of the restaurants this in- cludes all sorts of salt fishes. shrimps, cold eggs, miniature salads and the many appetizing dishes which the chefs devise and the fine grocers inn port. Of course such expensive dishes as the imported caviar are not in cluded in the comprehensive lot.
 The growing taste for the hors d'oeuvre has led the dealers to inn port many dishes, and the demand from the European manufacturers are more active in inventing new combina- tions. In general. only the simplest are the best. Sometimes the little sardines and herring put tip in the can with tomatoes, bay leaves or onions are very good, although the most con- scientious of the dealers advise pur- chasers to use only those fishes that are preserved in the oil alone or in vinegar. One shop in side street near Fifth Avenue keeps only these expen- sive imported hors doeuvre, and the character of its patronage may be un- derstood from the fact that 1t is trans ferred every June to Newport.
 Two of the newer dishes brought from Europe are mackerel,' which are now considered better than sardines. They are about six inches long and are to be had in oil when they are put up in oil like sardines or in what is called by the dealers "au win blanc" This is a sour mixture, whereas there is scarcely a trace of vinegar in the mackerel that are put up len huille."