Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-05-22
TOURING COOKING SCHOOLS.
An Experiment in Rural Germany in
Training Young Girls.


THE government of the Duchy of
Sake Meiningen, in this consular dis
| trict, has been for some time past ex-
perimenting with a plan for teaching
girls in small country villages the art
of cooking" Consul General Dilling
ham writes from Coburg. AT the
present time there are three female
teachers in the employ of the govern
ment, each one of whom has a pre-
scribed district. The course in cook
| ing in a village lasts six weeks, and
each teacher visits seven villages thus
| keeping her employed 42 weeks in the
year. the remaining ten weeks being
| her vacation. A teacher receives $50
marks (37.SD for each course. or LOO
marks t261 S0) a year. Each pupil
pays II marks esq for the six weeks
course. being equal to As cents week.
| and is allowed to eat what is cooked
| at the school No school is opened in
village unless at least twelve pupils
are guaranteed in advance. because
| less than that number would not war
rant the expense of starting it.
| Il visited one of these schools at
| Neilsdorf a short time ago. 1t was
| held in large room in wing Of the
local inn. the school hours being from
| s A. NJ to p. NJ. Every article in the
room was portable capable of being
easily transported to the next village
with very little trouble or expense. In
/ one corner of the room was a cooking
| stove. in which coal was burned. and
| at one side of the room was large
wide bench, on which the vegetables
etc. were prepared and above this
| bench hung the necessary cooking
| utensils. At one end of the room was
| a large cupboard filled with china and
necessities for the table. and at the
other end of the loom there was a.
| long table at which the pupils We're
| sitting. The teacher had just given
| them the list of dishes that they were
| to cook that day fer dinner, and was
| questioning them as to the market
| price of the articles needed for them.
| The cost of each ingredient used was
reckoned. assuming that enough was
| to be made for a family of four The
| dinner was to consist of soup. meat,
| rice and dessert, the cost of which was
reckoned at "a cents fer four people
| or cents for each person. Every
thing was taken into account when
reckoning the cost, including salt
| spices. etc, as we'll as the cost of fuel
used. The SAKE -Meiningen govern
| ment supplies everything except the
cups and plates. which the pupils like
to bring themselves. because each put
pill usually has her favorite china cup,
saucer and plate at home. In most of
the villages in Thuringia the only kind
of vegetable known is cabbage. or in
another form, sauerkraut.
This travelling cooking school sug-
gests and strongly encoui ages the
growing of all the various kinds of
vegetables. and as most of the houses
have small plots of ground, either at
the front or back, this suggestion has
been generally observed. Strange as
1t may seem to Americans. scrambled
eggs are an unknown dish in most of
the villages i'm Germany. In fact. tile
bill of fare of the average German
farmer is extremely meagre and va
ries very little 1t is said that the
German farmer will eat only what he
has from childhood. and great Difficult
ty is therefore experienced by the
teachers of the school in inducing their
pupils to partake OF any dish that ia
cooked for the first time The cook
iiiS VI the average housewife IN q
small village in Germany is so rudi-
mentary that the latest attempt of the
government of the Duchy of Sake
Meiningen to teach at least the rudi-
ments of cooking to young country
girls is considered worthy of common
dahon and support.
"a number of the principal citizens
in the duchy donate sums of money |,
toward defraying the incidental ex
penses of the school as a sort of up
keen. but any and every deficit is met |
by the government. AT the end of thu |
six weeks course large dinner Is |
given, to which the Mayor. parents OIL
the scholars and principal people of |
the village are invited A SMALL
charge is made for this. Moreover. |
r,..,ae. .,a1.,a.x .