Evening star., 1936-06-20
Forks and Spoons Said
To Have Been Invented
In Renaissance Period
Foreign Cook Books in Collection of Mrs.
Elizabeth Robbins Pennell Prove
Fascinating.
Fascinating.

necks; castles of pastry with sweet
smelling fires issuing from the RAM
parts; beautiful garden all in paste
and sugar, with fountains playing,
statues on terraces, trees bearing
sugar -plums, a fish pond and for the
ladies, little nets to go fishing if they
wished-these are some of Cervio's
flights of fancy for great occasions,
such as the wedding of the Duke Of
Mantua. or a reception for the EN-
peror Charles V.
IN THE eighteenth century the palm
for cooking passed from Italy to
France, and the great French chefs
developed their profession until it be-
came an art. Not all of them took it
as seriously as Vatel, chef to the Prince
Of Conde, who killed himself because
some fish which he had ordered for a
state banquet failed to show up in time
to be cooked. But all of them did
something to put French cooking on
the high level which it has occupied
ever since. They developed the mod
ern order of courses, starting with
soup or appetizer and ending with
dessert; they cut down on the lavish
ness and overabundance at great din
ners, and introduced French balance
and good taste into their style Of serv-
ice. Royalty and nobility dabbled in
creating new dishes: for instance, the
Duke de Richelieu is credited with be-
ing the inventor of mayonnaise dress
ing.
A few examples of Mrs. Pennell's
French cook books should be men
toned. One is, The Gifts of Comus.
or the Art of the Cuisine" by the
noted chef, Marin. in the third edi-
ton, issued in the year 1883, with a
fine copper engraving for frontispiece.
showing Comus, god of pleasure, with
his attendants. The author Of this
little book scaled down many Of his
recipes and menus and made them
practical for middle-class people with
small households. 1t Immediately be-
came the standard French work on
cookery, and its plan Of making the
new ideas IN cooking available for
people OF small means was widely
copied as in the very popular "Cuis-
mere Bourgeolse," first issued in 1743,
which ran into 40 editions.
A MOTHER book worth noting is a
little volume which gives the
1f If tho
which Nine du Barry offered to King
Louis XIV. The principal dishes we're:
Pheasant soup. Dreaded chicken livers,
ragout of roast game, crayflsh cooked
in Sauterne wine. bisque of fish a Ia
Noyau, creamed calves brains. This
little dinner pleased the King so much
that he awarded the cook the Gordon
bleu"-the distinction reserved ever
since for the first rank Of French
chefs.
1t is easy to imagine how Mrs. Pen
nell must have enjoyed getting to-
gether this unrivaled collection. and to
picture the zeal with which she
tracked down rare editions, and her
pleasure afterward in turning over
their faded yellow rages, For here
are books that appeal not only to the
collector. but to any one who likes
good food or has a sense of humor.
The collection has not been catalogued
or placed on exhibition, and DR.. Hol-
land, chief of the Fine Arts Division
at the Library of Congress. emphasizes
the fact that the books are not yet
available to the public. When they
are, the book lovers and epicures Of
Washington will have a treat in store
for them.