It will be a good day for the morals, health, and intellectual development of the English when every decent person shall on all hospitable occasions be able to produce a bottle of wine and discuss its flavor, instead of, as at present, glorying in the strength of his potations. One thing that would go with the greater use of Bordeaux wine would be the custom of drinking it in its proper place during dinner as a refreshing and appetizing draught, to entice the languid palate to demand an

additional slice of mutton.

Now for sherry, under which term are included, in popular language, all the white wines which come from Spain, and others like them. Monotony and base servile imitation are the curse of English life. . . . The fish, entrées, etc., must be accompanied with the inevitable sherry. All the fun, and the fragrance, the gratified sense of novelty, the curiosity as to the great political and social fortunes of our colonies, which would be excited by handing round a bottle of white Auldana; all the sympathy for our dear neighbors which would be excited by the taste of Meursault Blanc; all the respect for the Germans which would follow a sip of Hochheimer; all the hopes and fears felt for the Austrian empire, which would go round with the generous Vöslau, are smothered by the monotony of the banal sherry. When people are doing the serious act of dining, they should do it, and think about it, and talk about it; but to talk there must be novelty, not one dull perpetual round, and sherry gives rise to no ideas. England will never be merry again whilst it sticks to so sad a drink.

The best account of sherry is that given before the Committee of the House of Commons on the Import Duties on Wines in 1852, by Dr. Gorman, physician to the late British Factory at Cadiz, long a resident in Spain. He says that no natural sherry comes to this country; it is all mixed and brandied. The quantity of proof spirit which good pure sherry contains by nature is twenty-four per cent., possibly thirty. The less mature and less perfectly fermented the wine, the more brandy is there added to it to preserve it. Yet let it never be forgotten, Dr. Gorman added, " It is not necessary to infuse brandy into any well-made sherry wine; if the fermentation is perfect, it produces alcohol sufficient to preserve the wine for a century in any country."

All this and much more that Dr. Druitt has said is pleasing and trustworthy, because there is little appearance of a winemerchant's element in the background. We will add only one more extract in reference to the flavor and odor of wines :

The organs of taste and smell stand as sen

and to warn us whether our food and drink are fit to be admitted or not. There are some

articles respecting which these organs are not entirely to be relied upon; but certainly as regards wine, the effects of wine on the palate are known with exactitude, and the palate is able to distinguish wines which are wholesome from those that are not.

Taste is

Let us observe that touch is common to all parts of the body in greater or less degree, but is especially acute in the finger-tips, lips, and tongue. This takes cognisance of certain qualities, such as hot and cold, rough and smooth, hard and soft, and the like. a more delicate sense, and distinguishes properties such as sweet, sour, bitter, and salt, together with a thousand other varieties which have no name, though we well know them when presented to us.

There is a third sense which recognizes odors, and upon which they particularly operate, of course I mean the nose. Now everything that is tasted must affect the sense of touch, and the union of both touch and taste may be essential to perfect enjoyment; thus, the crispness or flabbiness of a biscuit may make a great difference. Just so the union of smell with taste is essential for the enjoyment of wine. And here let us say, that everything that is smelled can be tasted, though not everything that is tasted can be smelled. The body of wine affects both senses (pp. 28, 29).

To this we may add Brillat-Savarin's definition: "Without a sense of smell complete tasting cannot exist. Smell and taste are one sense where the mouth is the laboratory and the nose the chimney, or, to speak more exactly, one is good for tasting what can be touched, the other for tasting the gases." Now a strong stomach cannot appreciate the bad effect of a mixture of wines; and however fine the nasal sensibility of an individual, it is impossible to detect the value of a succession of different kinds of bouquet. Our own views are that Chablis or a low growth of Sauterne may be permitted with oysters; a good quality of Lower Burgundy or a grand ordinaire of Bordeaux to begin the repast; but the moment you get to a point in the feast where a higher quality of wine is permitted, you should, with any regard to the stomach or the palate, stick to the same class of wine.

Not the least important element in a should complete it. It is very easy but well-ordered repast is the coffee, which not altogether just to condemn the methods of making it practised in England, and impute to them the only cause for our finding it bad here. Opinions may differ as to whether we do or do not find the several varieties of the berry, Mocha, Bourbon,

crowned,

The berries crackle and the mill turns round.

Upon which Mr. Elwin adds the following note: "There was a sideboard of coffee,' says Pope, in his letter describing Swift's mode of life at Letcombe, in 1714, which the dean roasted with his own hands in an engine for that purpose.'

Until lately we were not aware that a roasting-machine for household use was on sale in England, but on passing down Oxford Street and Holborn we met with two kinds, similar in principle to one which we had ourselves suggested to a Parisian ironmonger before the war, i.e., the use of clockwork to turn the barrel, so that a cook's time may be saved and no berries burnt. Those we have seen do not appear quite suited for a kitchener, but a slight addition would easily adapt them to that kind of range.

One observation, not altogether known, may be added: coffee made with Schwalheim water is superior to that made with any other, due probably to the extracting power of the alkali held in solution therein, and it might be worth while testing Apollinaris or Taunus water in like manner. Also let us note that since the war, coffee, as served at the cafés in Paris, has much fallen off, in consequence, mainly, of the use of chicory. For our own part we never, during the Second Empire, considered it exceptionally fine and pure, save at the Café du Cardinal at the corner of the Rue Richelieu. It was only in private houses that one could be secure of the genuine flavor.

In the simplicity of tea-making it is only necessary to insist on water boiling at the moment it is poured on the tea: but we came upon some remarks in a modern cookery-book against which we would beg to protest. The writer begins by saying that a silver or metal teapot draws out the

Elwin's "Pope," vol. ii., p. 163.

such a view; and the said ishvoshniks are great connoisseurs in that beverage. The writer of the said cookery-book goes on to say that you may half fill the pot with boiling water, and if the tea be of very fine quality, you may let it stand ten minutes (!) before filling up. Now there was one Ellis, who had some reputation in the neighborhood of Richmond Hill in the matter of food and drink to be plain, for the information of the youngest generation, he owned the Star and Garter there and his view about tea was that you lost the aroma and gained less valuable properties for all the time beyond one minute that you let it stand. We can quote no higher authority for our own most persistent view on this question.

The hours at which repasts are taken are too much at the caprice of fashion in England to admit of any hope that reason will be heard on the subject. Some day fashion will permit us to have our mid-day breakfast or luncheon, and fall to our dinner with no jaded appetite at six or seven o'clock. On sanitary grounds nothing will ever surpass the Frenchman's regulation of his meals - a light breakfast in his bedroom at eight A.M., a serious breakfast from eleven to noon, and a dinner from six to eight, according to his occupations for the evening. To insist any more on this would be to attempt the codification of laws that will never be codified or if codified never carried out, save subserviently to the reigning fashion.

We will close these remarks by refer ring once more to two of the works at the head of this article. Gouffé's is eminently practical, and adapted to the use of man or woman who likes to go sometimes into the kitchen and converse courteously with the artist. Dubois' "Cosmopolitan Cookery" has some admirable recipes, e.g., salmon cutlets, sauce des gourmets, page eighty-three of the English edition, and his list of menus are worth attention. Gouffé, by the way, expressly declines to give a list, for reasons stated (p. 336). Among Dubois' menus may be noted one (p. xvii.) for ten guests, served at Nauheim (1867) by Cogery, who now keeps a restaurant at Nice; p. xxi., one for forty guests, served by the same artist at Hel

singfors, where good judgment is united to simplicity; p. xxvi., one for fifty guests, served by Ripé (1867) to Prince (then Count) Bismarck, a menu where we observe the Bohemian pheasant, already referred to; and p. xxii., a very good menu for twelve persons, served by Blanchet at the Yorkshire Club, no date given. But, even after thus referring to them as deserving attention, we are bound to say that they are generally overloaded, and we opine there are few diners-out who would not be thankful to see on their plate less elabo

rate menus.

It proves the fallibility of cooks, even so great as one who has been chef to the king of Prussia, when we find M. Urbain Dubois in his recipe for plum-pudding omit the essential ingredient of breadcrumbs! Gouffé does not commit this grave error.

In the matter of English cookery-books adapted to private families, few surpass that excellent work by Mrs. Rundell, of which, with some little revision and the addition of truly colored plates, Mr. Murray might surely give us another edition. Its excellence consists in that it is a manual for the household as well as a guide in the kitchen, but we are bound to say it is lamentably deficient where it attempts to instruct us in French cookery.

We ought not to conclude this review, devoted to simplicity in cooking, eating, and drinking, without a reference to condiments under various names of this and that sauce, many of which are admirable when used in their right places. We take it that the dernier mot as between French and English gourmets, neither of them addicted to the dishes of a City alderman, would be, on the part of the second," Are not our manufactured sauces admirable?" On the part of the firstAre they not too pungent, and do you not ask them to do the work of flavor which ought to be the business of the cook?"

Simple salt, and vegetable combinations that have been made with it, is worth some further comment. Salt is used at once too much and too little in English kitchens; too much, when by orders of the landlord (like the bad brandy in the sauces at suburban hotels of reputation) it is to excite a desire for drink on the part of the guest; too little when in the case of a grilled beefsteak the cook forgets that salt combines during the process of cooking more effectively in its coarse kitchen form.*

The combination of salt with herbs has notably succeeded in two instances, and it is reserved for the future to borrow from what is known, and combine more delicate, and yet more delicate, forms. We allude to known combinations in speaking of that composed of the Chili bean rubbed up with salt, to which the maker has given the name of Oriental salt, a condiment that has the flavor without the extreme pungency of cayenne, and would be an admirable substitute for it in that much-ill-used incentive to drink called devilled whitebait. Another useful combination is that of celery-seed and salt, sold by a well-known Italian warehouseman. On the table each must stand on its own merits in reference to the guest's taste; neither to be insisted on indiscriminately, but each in turn especially adapted to soup, fish, roast, and relevé, cheese, or a salad.

This, to conclude, is the sum of gastronomical observation which appear to us as most worthy of reflection by those who would see the English cuisine raised to a higher level, and who desire that the younger generation may at least have a palate.

1. Herbal flavor is to be desired in soups, and increased knowledge on the part of cooks of the various kinds and qualities of herbs and roots.

3. The use of more butter and less lard should be encouraged.

4. The market-gardener should learn that he has duties to fulfil.

5. Red wines should be the rule and not the exception at dinner, and champagne, if served at all, should be served with the sweets and not with the mutton.

* Poulet au gros sel is too little known in England.