“Cookery is a difficult art; a generous host knows how to appreciate its grandeur and dignity.
“In the houses of the old nobility, the chef de cuisine became maître d’hôtel, the assistant-cook took the place of the cook, and the scullions became assistant-cooks. By these mutations, these ministers to the mouth (hommes de bouche) attached themselves more and more to these noble houses, and thus the masters at once preserved their health and secured the comfort of their servants.
“In the epoch in which we live the first culinary talents vegetate at Paris, and London is enriched with our renowned cooks.
“A cook is a gastronome both by taste and by profession.
“A cook who is clean in his person is clean also in his work.
“In ancient and modern times, the talents of cooks were honoured by kings, witness Marc Antoninus and the great Frederick.
“The French cook is esteemed by the great in distant lands; he is sought for and appreciated.
“The French cook is incited to his work by a point of honour inseparable from the culinary art; witness the death of the great Vatel.
“The French cook is happy in all the capitals of Europe, but he who does not wish to quit his country should have courage.
“At the Russian court the cook on duty (for there are four who take the work by turns every fortnight) always served his dinner en maître d’hôtel. This thoroughly gastronomical fashion should be generally adopted by amphitryons who love to make good cheer.