New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-10-24
1t Is the Englishwoman, Says
Writer, Who Accuses
Her Of Ignorance.

In the average English household
there is only one thing to be done with
head of cabbage" says Mary Mortimer
Maxwell. that is. first TO throw half OF
1t into the dustbin and then throw the
rest Of II into some boiling water. sprinkle
washing soda over il. 'galiop' 1t for
few minutes. squeeze It into mass and
then serve it at table.
"All over the Continent and throughout
the United States and Canada there are
all sorts of wonderful and delicious
things done with cabbage head. Every
cook except the English cook is quite
aware that there is no necessity TOT
throwing any OF the cabbage head away
unless II Is withered or rotten. Every
cook except the English cook knows that
cabbage should be simmered and never
'galloped': that IL should be cooked for
hours instead of minutes in this slo"
fashion. that 1t should be cooked with
bit OF bacon. picked pork. dripping or
butter to give it taste, unless IL is u
be turned into what is known as sour
cabbage Every cook except the English
cook knows that washing soda was never
meant as an article of diet and that
neither cabbage nor any other NesetaD!e
should have, when served on the table
that strange green color produced BY SODA
which is the pride OF all the bad cooks oil
England
The fact is that the average English
~. hntr 70
her own cooking to do for her husband
and children. or whether she be the PLAIN
cook i'm the middle class family or the
professed cook in the home of the
wealthy. is the worst cook in the world.
Here is a pound of potatoes bought al
the corner greengrocers for ha penny
There are more than thirty different ways
of preparing those potatoes in tasty
fashion. How many does the English
cook know. and how does she make them
tasty even in the few ways she does
know?
Now comes a head of lettuce. II cost
a peurv. What will the average Engllsh
cook do with il? She begins by throwins
half of II away, when almost every ieai
of II might be washed, dried and put III
the irving pan with some bacon or bacon
fat end turned into a dainty and appetlz-
ing breakfast dish. For the rest or the
lettuce, how many English COOKS kno"
how to cut 1t and prepare a dressing tha'
I'm any way compares with the dressing
one eats abroad?
"I had a new cook a little while ago
and / told her to fry some cucumbers TOT
my breakfast She looked at me with
superior, plying smile and said; i never
heard OF that before!
mo. probably not answered, l
had some fried cucumber last year IN
New York I'll tell you how to do H.
Peel the cucumber, cut the slices length
wise and fry thoroughly after you've
done the bacon-in the same pan
Would she do It? No. She gave notice
becaTse she had never heard of fried
cucumber before, and fried cucumber
couldn't be right because she had never
heard OF II,
THAT is the crux OF the whole matter
of the Englishwoman and her bad cook
ing. She is not willing to learn. She does
not want to try experiments. She is
wrapped up In her own concert In the
matter OF cookery, and she has got into
the habit of calling anything she does
not know by the name of 'messes.'
81 have tried to teach dozen young
Englishwomen how to make a delicious
cake with one egg. explaining that the
secret OF the cake is the beating together
OF the various ingredients till one is tired
I ohn
them how to beat butter and sugar to-
gether till 1t has all the smoothness OF
cream. and the next time ! ask for pud-
ding sauce Of that sort they put the but
ter and sugar on the fire and melt It.