PART I.
THE ELGIN MARBLES.
"Goddess of wisdom! here thy temple was,
And is, despite of war and wasting fire,
And years that bade thy worship to expire."
The Elgin Marbles are the remains of the sculptures which once adorned the Temple of Minerva at Athens, known as the Parthenon, of world-wide fame. Brought from Athens to England at the beginning of the present century, they are now placed where they can be seen of all sightseers, and studied by all lovers of art, in a long, well-lighted room at the British Museum, popularly known as the Elgin Room.
As we take our stand in this room, and gaze round us at these grand fragments—for, alas! fragments only are they now—our mind strives to restore the mutilated forms of these marble "men and women of more than mortal mould," that seem to repose or move before us in their grand statuesque dignity. And, broken and damaged as they indeed have become by time and exposure, many without heads, or hands, or feet, yet we cannot gaze upon them and consider them attentively without feeling more and more impressed by their heroic proportions and stately attitudes. We may well feel that we are justified in this impression, when we learn that these sculptured fragments are the remains of what is universally considered to have been, when perfect, the finest work of the best masters at the time of the highest development of Greek art.
Let us turn for a moment from the large figures that occupy the centre of the Elgin Room, to the bas-relief of smaller figures that seem to follow each other with living and rapid movement round the whole length of the walls of the room; horsemen on prancing steeds, charioteers in their chariots, animals driven to sacrifice, maidens bearing vases, succeed each other in quick succession; and the conclusion dawns upon us that this must surely have been intended to represent some stately procession, held in honour of those central heroic figures.
We ask, Whence come these people of stone? Who were they meant for? What are they supposed to be doing or celebrating?
Let us first devote a few words as to the place whence they came.
They must carry us to Athens, and, with them to lead us, we must travel back through the long ages to the world's golden youth in Greece—Greece, whose poetry speaks to us from wood, and cave, and ocean—whose mythic heroes are associated with the stars themselves. Turn our thoughts, then, to Greece, and to Athens, its pearl of cities, of which our own Milton writes so lovingly—
"Behold
Where, on the Ægean shore, a city stands,
Built nobly; pure the air and light the soil—
Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts
And eloquence."
"What time the nightingale
Trills her thick warbled notes the summer long"
to Plato in the gardens of the Academe, and the bees murmured on the fragrant slopes of Mount Hymettus, as they gathered their sweet honey from its scented flowers, in times long past and gone.
We refer to the time of Plato and Socrates, when, under Pericles, "wisest of rulers," the arts of poetry and sculpture sprang into glorious perfection, and the great name of Pheidias rose.
This was the time of that great war when the Greeks, with Athens at their head, beat back the invading army of Persians, and preserved civilisation for Europe. In that war, Athens itself (with all its beautiful buildings, its theatres, its temples, even its very walls) was levelled to the ground by the invaders; and it was immediately after their glorious success, when the brave little nation had stemmed the tide of Asiatics under Xerxes with his
"ships by thousands,
And men in nations,"
that Pheidias, the architect and sculptor, was called upon, in commemoration of the victory, to build a temple to the patron goddess of Athens, and to adorn it with sculpture which should be worthy alike of the occasion and the divinity.
The Temple.—In the centre of the city of Athens rises the bold rocky eminence known as the Acropolis, in earliest prehistoric days the citadel and stronghold of her kings, but long since given up exclusively to her temples. From this commanding height might be seen the city stretched below, the fertile plain beyond, enclosed by the two winding streams, the Illissus and the Cyphissus, which spread verdure and abundance as they flowed on into the blue Ægean sea. The view was bounded on the south by the dark waters of that sea, while the distant mountains skirted the plain on the north, and varied the beauty of the scene.
On this rocky height, and on the highest part thereof, was erected the new temple, built entirely of white marble. It was called the Parthenon, and was dedicated to Pallas-Athéné, the patron goddess of Athens. The same divinity was worshipped by the Romans under the name of Minerva. For, just as Ephesus is known to have worshipped especially the great goddess Diana, so Athens devoted herself to the worship of Pallas-Athéné, the goddess of wisdom, the virgin daughter of Jove. She was one of twelve chief gods who were worshipped throughout Greece, but was held as more peculiarly the protecting deity of ancient Athens. A temple to this goddess had stood on the self-same spot before the war, which the Persians had destroyed. The former one was called the Hecatompedon, referring to its size.[1] The new one, the Parthenon, was the house (or chamber) of the virgin.[2] It was to be used for festivities and ceremonies in honour of the goddess, rather than for worship. It was of the same size as its predecessor, and was for that reason occasionally, but very rarely, called by the older name. The building of this temple was commenced 445 B.C., soon after the happy termination of the Persian war, while peace and prosperity ruled in the land. It took ten years to complete, and was accordingly finished in 435 before the Christian era. The times were therefore pagan times; but a great wave of civilisation passed over the favoured land of Greece, to which all modern art and literature owes so much; and the worship of Athéné, the goddess of wisdom and activity, takes its place amongst the purest and most elevating of the heathen religions.
It is, then, with Athéné and her worship that we have now to do.
Athéné.—We must pause to devote a few words to the description of the qualities and attributes of this goddess who inspired these works of art, once so perfect. Athéné (or Pallas-Athéné, as she is frequently called) was the fair daughter of Zeus or Jupiter.[3] In her, "power and wisdom were harmoniously blended; she appears as the preserver of the State, and of everything which gives to the State strength and prosperity. She was the protectress of agriculture." With the Greeks, those most superstitious people, every fresh invention that led the way for the arts of civilisation was at once attributed to the inspiration of a god, thus "Athéné was said to have invented the plough and the rake, and to have created the olive tree"—that tree of so much importance in all Eastern countries, where the fruit is often an article of daily food, and the oil extracted from the olives is also serviceable for domestic purposes. As Apollo is associated with the sun, so Athéné is associated with the dawn, which wakes men from their slumbers when there is work to be done. She is therefore the goddess of industry and work, which daylight brings to all mortals. Athéné was thus the goddess of industry in every form. Besides agriculture, she was the patroness of arts and artificers, of embroidery and spinning, and all kinds of women's needlework. Also of intelligent and scientific warfare, as opposed to Ares (or Mars), the other Greek god of war, who was the god of "blind brute force," while she is called the "preventer of war," "the defender of towns." She protected the State from outward enemies, and, as the patron divinity, she maintained the authority of law and order in the courts of the assembly of the people. It was she who was believed to have instituted the Court of the Areopagus, the Court of Justice, at Athens. She was, moreover, good and pure, a virgin deity whose heart was inaccessible to the passion of love.
Such are the many attributes of this beneficent goddess—ever young and ever strong, but thoughtful and serious—the beautiful, blue-eyed Athéné. Sometimes she is represented by artists in her warlike character; she then wears a golden helmet adorned with sphinxes, a breastplate of armour over her woman's drapery, the terrible snake-wreathed Medusa head in the centre, which turned to stone all who looked on it; she grasps her long spear in one hand, and holds her shield with the other. But, as often, we meet with her in her character of goddess of the peaceful arts. Then, her hair waves in long curls over her shoulders from beneath her helmet, but her dreadful corslet is put off, and instead of the spear she carries the spindle, emblem of domestic work, or feeds the serpent of Æsculapius (god of medicine)—type of the kindly acts of peace.
We shall find that she appears in both these capacities among the sculptures on her beautiful temple, the Parthenon. The two chief incidents of her fabled story were represented in the two pediments—the long, triangular spaces at the east and west ends of the building. The grand broken fragments are all that now remain to the world of those majestic figures; while the chief ceremonies yearly performed in her honour by her worshippers, are depicted in the bas-relief of the procession, which ran continuously round the outer wall of the temple, under the colonnade. The delicate forms were here protected from inclement weather, and the work was seen in pleasant, subdued, reflected light. The effect was enhanced by delicate tinting, both of flesh and drapery, against a background of blue; also by points of judicious gilding here and there—for instance, on the spear of Athéné, the harness and trappings of the horses, the olive-branches borne by the farmers. Holes are plainly visible in the marble, where these gilt or bronze additions were made.
The Procession.—This sculptured procession represents the final act of the chief national festival, which lasted for twelve days. The festival was called the Pan-Athenæa; it was celebrated every year, but in its full splendour only every fourth year.
The word pan means all, and Athenæa, Athenians. It was so named because all free-born Athenian citizens were bound to appear in it, but none others were allowed that honour. Accordingly, in this bas-relief we see marshalled in procession all the various people in whose occupations "the blue-eyed goddess"[4] was supposed principally to interest herself. As we approach the temple from the western end, first appear in long array the horsemen, the knights of Athens, the flower of her young nobility, on their prancing and curvetting Thessalian steeds, the defenders of their country in times of peril. Most of these are dressed in light armour. We note both horses and men; how wonderfully instinct with life and movement they are, yet each one different! Next advance the warriors, in their light, open, two-wheeled chariots, every one with his attendant driver beside him.
Marshals at intervals turn to the advancing throng to regulate the order of march, spirited figures that seem greatly to add to the reality and movement of the scene.
Next come the aliens—that is, foreigners resident in Athens who, in acknowledgment of the great favour of being allowed to reside in that proud city, and as a return for her protection, had to carry the heavy pitchers of water and great vases of wine, to be used in the sacrifices. Their wives also walked in the procession, and carried sunshades, (I mean parasols), for the freeborn Athenian ladies, in order to remind them of their dependent position. These so-called aliens were probably well-to-do merchants, either from the Greek colonies or from some neighbouring state, they themselves and their wives in every way as much considered in their own city as the Athenians in theirs.
Next came the musicians, with flutes and lyres, instruments that the "fair goddess" was said to have herself invented.
Then came the farmers from the Attic plains, the worthy countrymen who cultivated the olive orchards that yielded the special harvest of the country; they bear boughs of the tree that Athéné herself was supposed to have planted, the growth of which had so largely conduced to the prosperity of the land. Lastly, come the colonists from all the Athenian colonies, who were obliged to contribute sheep, oxen, and goats for sacrifice; these are accompanied by their officiating priests.
At the head of the procession, with modest air and downcast eyes and slow and stately movement, walk the noble matrons and virgins of Athens, carrying small vases, and saucers called pateræ, for the libations which were to be used in the sacrifices. A marshal takes a roll from the foremost pair of maidens, probably the hymn which has been chanted on the way.
We now approach the climax. The people of Athens do not come empty-handed to their guardian patroness. They bring her a beautiful dress or shawl, called in Greek the peplos, which has been covered with richest embroidery by maidens selected from the noblest families. These Athenian girls have plied their needles daily for many months, in a room set apart within the precincts of the temple, where they have worked under the superintendence of the priestesses of Athéné. The gorgeous embroidery represented the fight with the giants, the brutal and lawless powers of fabulous times, in which the goddess of law and order had been victorious, and had destroyed the monsters. The colour of the dress was yellow, the colour of the sun; by which it was evidently intended to suggest the idea that the power of light, physical and moral, would conquer the evil powers of darkness.
It is the birthday of Athéné, the 28th day of the Greek month, called Hecatombæon, supposed to be our Midsummer Day, the day of the sun's summer solstice; and the beautiful crocus-coloured peplus is her birthday present from the city which she honours with her patronage and mild sway. A young boy bears it folded up in a large fringed square, and presents it to the priest of the temple, while the priestess beside him turns to receive the sacrificial cakes which a maiden carries on her head, on a tray covered with a cloth.
We have by this time come to the space immediately over the main entrance to the temple, at the east end; and here we see the twelve gods of Greece ranged, six on each side, over the doorway, the presentation of the peplus dividing the two groups of gods. Amongst them sits Athéné, as described in Homer's "Odyssey."
"Like a fair virgin in her beauty's bloom," a tall and simple maiden; her armour is cast off, she does not even wear her helmet; a golden spear formerly rested by her side, and the snake, type of the native soil, coils round her arm like a delicate bracelet.
The gay procession which this bas-relief represents actually took place every fourth year at Midsummer. The festival lasted, as I have mentioned, for twelve days, during which time various games, or rather trials of strength and skill, were performed, in which the bravest and noblest of the Athenian youths eagerly competed. Each day was held a different game or contest. The procession and prize-giving terminated the proceedings. None but free-born Athenian citizens, however noble they might be held elsewhere, were allowed to take part. None others might even walk in the procession, except, as we have seen, in a servile capacity. The games consisted of chariot races, races on horseback and on foot; and musical contests, in which the flute players, and the players on the cithæra (or lyre) contended for pre-eminence.
On the last day of the festival the citizens met in the Agora, or market-place, where the procession was formed in the early morning; they wound round the city and across the plain; and by noon they were streaming up the steep hill of the Acropolis, their shining armour of bronze flashing in the bright sunlight, and their white or yellow holiday garments brilliant against the blue sky of Greece, as they paced along on the hill-top towards their temple, chanting the praise and story of their goddess as they went.
Arrived at the temple, sacrifices were offered up to Athéné and her father, Zeus. This ceremony was performed in a manner somewhat similar to that used for burnt-offerings in the Jewish Ritual, and described in Leviticus. Certain portions of the victim were burnt, another portion was set aside for the priests, and the rest was afterwards eaten by the common people. The Greeks believed that their gods were actually nourished by the fumes of the burning food.
I give a description of a Greek sacrifice from Homer's "Iliad":—
"Their prayers performed, the chiefs the rite pursue,
The barley sprinkled, and the victim slew.
The limbs they sever from the inclosing hide,
The thighs, selected to the gods, divide.
On these, in double cauls involved with art,
The choicest morsels lie from every part.
From the cleft wood the crackling flames aspire,
While the fat victims feed the sacred fire.
The thighs thus sacrificed, and entrails dress'd,
The assistants part, transfix, and roast the rest;
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his seat and each receives his share."
While the priests offered up the victims on the altar in front of the temple, the people chanted hymns in honour of their goddess, while they moved round the altar with slow, rhythmic steps.
Immediately after the sacrifice of the burnt-offerings, the awards to the victors in the athletic games took place; the victors themselves and their immediate friends were alone admitted into the temple, where sat the judges, the priests, and the chief officers of state; the populace stood outside. There were no money prizes. The honour was the one thing they had striven for, and the crowns of fresh leaves of oak or parsley, olive or bay, were deemed an all-sufficient reward.
"'Tis but a crown of fading leaves
That the conqueror's hand receives."
But the prize esteemed before all others was a jar filled with the oil made from the fruit of the olive-tree which grew within the precincts of another and more ancient temple to Athéné on the Acropolis. This tree was very old, and was firmly believed by her worshippers to have been the same that Athéné had herself created, the first one known on Attic soil, from which all the fertile olive-woods had sprung that covered the plains. So highly did the victors in the games treasure these vases that they never parted with them during their lifetime, and when they died they were placed in their graves. From this custom of burying treasured objects, many curious relics have come down to us, and from it do we derive much of our knowledge of antiquity. The sketch given against our initial-letter is from a vase found in the tomb of a Greek colonist at Cyrene, on the north coast of Africa. Our colonist, who laid his bones on the parched and sandy soil of Africa, had evidently, in his youth, been the proud victor in one of the chariot-races in Athens, for we see depicted on one side of the vase a chariot-race, while a figure of Athéné, as the "warrior maid," appears on the other; the jar itself is inscribed with the words (in Greek), "I am one of the prizes from Athens," of such a year, giving the date. There are many of these interesting prize-vases from various parts of the Greek world now to be seen in the Vase Room in the British Museum—links with the dead past.
The judges who awarded the prizes to the victors in the games sat within the temple, in a row, on a raised platform at the foot of the great statue of Athéné, which was considered, for perfect beauty of proportion and grand dignity of expression, one of the finest works of art ever conceived. The expectant crowd, collected outside the temple, could see through the open doorway this gigantic figure towering high above the row of judges. It measured forty feet in height, and the golden figure of the Victory, which is held in its outstretched hand, alone measured six feet, the height of an extremely tall man.
The goddess thus appeared to the multitude to be presenting the prizes to the successful competitors.
The Greeks aimed at cultivating the physical powers up to the greatest possible pitch of perfection, and in later times they gave the same pains to cultivating the powers of the mind. "Mens sana in corpore sano" (a healthy mind in a healthy body) was one of their favourite maxims. Their games and feats of strength were to the Greeks, in their day, a good deal what our Oxford and Cambridge boat races, our Eton and Harrow cricket matches, our Volunteer training, are to us, which help to make our English lads such fine spirited young fellows. In the early days, before Pericles, the games consisted entirely of trials of physical skill—foot races, horse races, wrestling, boxing, throwing the discus or quoit. But in the more cultivated times of Pheidias, there were also trials of intellectual skill.
It is recorded that Herodotus, the earliest Greek historian (called the "father of history"), read aloud his history to the assembled Athenians at the Pan-Athenaic festival, 446 B.C. It was so greatly admired that the city with one voice voted him a reward of ten talents (a talent is worth about £240). While at other festivals dramas were produced, and the plays being acted in the great open-air theatre at the foot of the Acropolis, the author of the best play received a crown of laurel.
The plays then written, the subjects of which were the popular Greek legends, still rank, for grandeur of sentiment and nobility of feeling, with the finest poetry the world has ever produced. This proves to us that the Greeks were a highly refined and cultivated people. The Greek influence in art and literature has left its own mark in civilising and elevating mankind; but the belief in their legends was doomed to fade away and vanish utterly, "like an insubstantial pageant," when the truer light arose in Palestine which came in after years to bless and illumine the world.
(To be concluded.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Hecaton—Greek for hundred; pedon, feet.
[2] Parthenos—Greek for virgin.
[3] The Greek Zeus is the Jupiter of the Roman mythology.
[4] As Homer constantly calls her.
[EXPLANATION OF FRENCH AND OTHER TERMS USED IN MODERN COOKERY.]
PART II.
Hors d'œuvres (hot).—A species of very light entrées, such as small patties, ox-piths, brains, cock's combs, croquettes, etc.
Hors d'œuvres (cold).—Sardines, anchovies, prawns, tunny, prepared herrings, savoury butters, radishes, caviar, and many other things are served as hors d'œuvres. They should be eaten immediately after the soup and fish, as they are considered as appetisers.
Jardinière.—A mixed preparation of vegetables cut in dice or, more generally, fancy shapes—small balls, diamonds, etc.—and stewed in their own sauce, with a little butter, sugar, and salt.
Julienne.—Vegetables cut in very thin strips, and used for soup; also in some ways of cooking fish and meat.
Jus.—The gravy that runs from roast meat, or strong, good gravy made from meat.
Kilogramme is equal to two pounds and one-fifth of a pound avoirdupois. It contains 1,000 grammes, so one generally takes 500 grammes as equal to one pound.
Laitance.—Soft rows of fish.
Larder.—Larder is sometimes confounded with piquer. Larder is to stick pieces of ham, tongue, truffles, or bacon into meat or poultry, after making little holes in it to receive them, so that when it is cut it looks marbled, and the meat gains in flavour from the truffles or whatever it may be that is inserted.
Lit.—A bed or layer; articles in thin slices with seasoning or other things placed between them.
Liaison.—Thickening. By this word is understood a thickening made with one or more yolks of eggs. They are used for many sauces and some soups; sometimes a little cream or milk is added to them.
Litre.—A French measure, equal to a pint and a half English measure.
Luting.—A paste made of flour and water only, and used for fastening down the lids of fireproof pans and jars when preserving game, etc., in them, so as to prevent evaporation.
Macaroncini.—A small kind of macaroni, larger than vermicelli.
Macedoine.—Vegetables prepared and cooked as for jardinière, but with the addition of some white sauce to them.
Macedoine of fruit.—Mixed fruits in jelly.
Madeleine.—Very like queen cake.
Maigre.—Without meat; sauces, soups, or broths made with vegetables, etc., but without meat or meat stock.
Maitre d'hotel.—A sauce made with white sauce, parsley, and lemon juice, if to use hot; if cold, it is made by kneading butter, parsley, and lemon-juice together. Made thus, it is often put on fillet or rump steaks before they are sent to table.
Manier.—This word is applied to the preparation of butter or other fat used for making different kinds of paste. It consists in pressing the fat in a cloth until it is quite soft and all the moisture is removed from it.
Massepains.—Sweetmeats made from almond paste (similar to that put over wedding cakes), cut or moulded into shapes, and glazed on the outsides. They are easy to make, and very nice for dessert.
Matelotte.—A rich and expensive fish stew, made properly of mixed fresh-water fish, but sometimes of only one kind. Trout, eels, or carp are most used. Wine enters largely into the composition of this dish.
Marinades.—Cooked marinade is prepared with vinegar, water, vegetables, parsley, herbs, and bayleaves. If it is not cooked, it consists of chopped onions, parsley, herbs, oil, and lemon-juice, or vinegar. Marinade is a pickle.
Mayonnaise.—Yolks of eggs worked into a stiff cream by slowly dropping oil and vinegar into them as they are stirred.
Mazarines.—Ornamented entrées made of forcemeats, with either fillets of fish or pieces of chicken or game.
Menu.—A bill of fare.
Meringue.—A kind of sweetmeat or icing, made by beating whites of eggs and sugar to snow, and then baking in a slow oven.
Mignonette Pepper.—A preparation of either black or white peppercorns, which, after being broken in a mortar to about the size of mignonette-seed, is sifted to remove the dust from it.
Minestrone.—Clear stock, with peas, rice, carrots and tomato sauce in it, served with grated Parmesan cheese.
Mirepoix.—A compound used to impart flavour to braised meats.
Miroton.—Pieces of meat larger than collops, such as would be put in a stew.
Mitonner.—Same as mijoter; to simmer or cook very slowly.
Mouiller.—To add liquor to anything.
Nougats.—A mixture of baked almonds and boiled sugar.
Nouilles.—Paste made of yolks of eggs and flour, which is cut in fine strips like vermicelli.
Panada.—A preparation of sopped bread wrung in a cloth, then cooked with butter, or of flour, water, and butter. Panada of bread or of flour is needed in the preparation of many forcemeats.
Paner.—To cover meat or anything else with very fine breadcrumbs before broiling, frying, or baking it.
Panure.—Scollops, croquettes, cutlets, or any other entrée that is breadcrumbed or pané.
Papillottes (en).—Cooked in buttered papers.
Piping.—This is the name given to the sugar work used for ornamenting cakes, tartlets, etc. It is done by working white of egg and fine sugar together, and then pressing the sugar through a sort of funnel. An india-rubber implement is made for this purpose, which is much easier to use than a tin one.
Piquer.—To lard; that is to say, to put strips of bacon fat in a larding-needle and draw the needle through the surface of the meat or game, so that the two ends of each strip of bacon stick out.
Pluche.—The leaves of parsley, tarragon, chervil, lettuce, or sorrel broken or cut into small pieces—not chopped. They are mixed or used separately. The word is sometimes spelled with an "s," instead of a "c."
Poivrade.—A sauce made with pepper, vinegar, shalots, bunch of parsley, salt, and broth.
Poelée, or Poële.—A braise or stock used for boiling turkeys, fowls, sweetbreads, etc., to render them less insipid. It is made from suet, veal, vegetable, lemon-pulp, water, etc.
Poêle.—A pan, a frying-pan, or a stove.
Pot-au-feu.—Soup with boiled meat.
Potiron.—Pumpkin soup.
Profitrolles.—Pastry of a very light kind, filled with custard, whipped cream, or prepared chocolate, etc.
Purée.—Meat or vegetables that have been sufficiently cooked and then rubbed through a sieve. A purée retains its name when sufficient stock is added to it to form a thick sauce or soup.
Quenelles.—A delicate kind of forcemeat used in the preparation of various entrées. It is made usually of poultry, game, or fish, with panada, rich sauces, or yolks of eggs, etc.
Ragoût.—A stew; sometimes a very rich dish, sometimes little more than a hash.
Ravioles.—Kind of rissoles made in nouilles paste, served with Parmesan cheese over them, or in soup.
Ravigotte.—Mayonnaise with chopped cress, parsley, tarragon, chervil, and chives added to it.
Relevés, or Removes.—The dishes that, when put on table, would take the places of the soup and fish.
Rêmoulade.—A salad dressing made with parsley, tarragon, chervil, chives, capers, anchovies, mustard, oil, and vinegar.
Rissoles.—Light puff pastry filled with meat, fish, or sweets, and boiled in fat of some kind.
Roux.—Brown roux (used for thickening) is made by frying butter and flour together until of a nice brown colour. White roux is made in the same way, but the flour must be cooked well without being allowed to colour. It is best made in a saucepan, and should be stirred all the time over a moderate fire. Sometimes flour is baked, then mixed with butter, for roux.
Salpicon.—Poultry, fish, or other things prepared with truffles, etc., for croustades, timbales, croquettes, etc.
Salmi.—A highly-finished hash of cooked game or wild-fowl, cut up and prepared with rich sauce or made gravy.
Sauté.—To fry cutlets, scollops of game, poultry, or fish, etc., lightly in butter.
Sautoir.—A very shallow stewpan used for sautés.
Soufflé.—The word means something puffed up. Soufflés are very light puddings. They may be made with any kind of farinaceous substance, with the addition of well-beaten eggs flavoured with fruits, liqueurs, or essences. They must be served the moment they are ready. They can also be made with fruit. Iced soufflés are made in various ways; but the mixture is iced, instead of baked.
Sparghetti.—Naples vermicelli.
Stock.—Unthickened broth or gravy, with which soups or sauces can be made.
Tartare.—Mayonnaise, with the addition of chopped shalots, gherkins, tarragon, chervil, and a little chili vinegar and mustard.
Tamis, or Tammy.—A cloth made for straining through. It should be of goat's hair, but is frequently only woollen canvas.
Timbale is a sort of pie made in a mould and turned out before it is sent to table.
Tourner is used for stir; but it also means to turn—that is to say, to shape, as cutting vegetables into the form of olives, balls, pears, etc.
Tourte.—A delicate sort of tart, baked usually in a shallow tin. It may contain fish, meat, or fruit.
Trousser.—To truss.
Truffer.—To stuff with truffles. This is generally for pheasants, turkeys, or capons.
Turbans.—Ornamental entrées made of game, poultry, or fish, and forcemeats.
Velouté.—The white sauce used as a basis for so many others. It is rich double stock, made with veal, poultry, ham, vegetables, etc., and thickened with flour and butter. It must always be white.
Vol-au-vent.—Puff paste of the lightest kind, filled with a delicate ragoût or fricassée. Fruit may also be enclosed in a vol-au-vent crust.
Vinaigrette.—Oil, vinegar, pepper, and salt together.
Water-souchet.—A simple way of dressing fish by boiling it with parsley roots and leaves, and pepper and salt, and serving it in its own broth, with plates of brown bread-and-butter.
Zeste.—Lemon rind. Sometimes orange and Seville orange rind are called "zeste."
Zita.—Naples macaroni.
[THE BUILDERS OF THE BRIDGE.]
By Mrs. G. LINNÆUS BANKS, Authoress of "God's Providence House," "The Manchester Man," "More than Coronets," etc.