THE PARISIAN KITCHEN FOR THE WORKING-CLASSES, OR FOURNEANT DE L’IMPERATRICE
The kitchens for the working-classes are sixty-eight in number, each capable of supplying from one thousand to twelve hundred mechanics with good food, for which each one pays about two-thirds of the value received, although nothing is given gratuitously. They are attended by Sisters of Charity, and kept extremely clean, while the deficit is, I believe, made up by her Majesty the Empress and the municipality of Paris, from whom these institutions derive their name of Fourneant de l’Impératrice. The provisions are supplied from the central market of Paris, the Halle au Blé, which is under the superintendence of the Comptroller-General, M. Durand, by whom I was treated with the greatest courtesy while drawing up the report I made to his Majesty by imperial command; and I much regret that want of space prevents my giving it at full length here, although the report had chiefly a local importance. Wagons take the different articles of food early in the morning to all the establishments. These are most useful institutions, and in case of a scarcity of food, provisions could always, at a trifling expense, be dressed here for the needy. Indeed, every metropolis, and all large mercantile towns, ought to follow this excellent example, which, I believe, owes its origin to England.
THE TRAVELLING GENTLEMEN OF THE CRIMEA.
I cannot pass without notice the following little anecdote, related to me by Colonel Carleton of the Coldstreams—the principal personage connected with it. The day after the battle of Inkermann (said the gallant colonel) the field was visited by many T. G.’s, some of them contorting their optics with eye-glasses, and taking a survey of the many dead on the field, near to the spot where he was busily engaged in paying the last duty to the remains of the defunct brave; whereupon he made inquiry of one of his men if the gentlemen were known who seemingly took such an interest in the awful spectacle. He then desired them to come to him, which request, with a kind smile, they soon obeyed; but much were they disappointed when, instead of addressing them in a friendly manner, the Colonel ordered them to take their coats off and shoulder a pick and dig graves, which disagreeable task they could not avoid, as discipline was the order of the day, though very disgusting the task to our curious and no doubt wealthy pleasure-hunters. They were, the Colonel afterwards ascertained, merchants from one of our great commercial cities. When trapped, it was morning; when they finished their task, it was night. Thus our amateur gravediggers had not only a hard day’s work, but a very unpleasant one in the bargain.
THE CONSUMPTION HOSPITAL, BROMPTON.
A Visit to the Kitchen, by Request.
While at the Reform Club, Captain Lyons, R.M., requested me to visit the kitchen of the above hospital, in the anticipation that I might be able to make some improvements in that department, if any should be requisite. The day following I went and found the place in the most perfect order, while all at once a stove of a very showy structure caught my eye, in which were placed eight or ten copper caldrons, well fixed in either iron or brick frames, each being labelled beef-tea, coffee, tea, &c. I could not but approve of the elegant appearance these utensils presented, but at the same time give my disapprobation of their having copper in use, while screwed down so tightly that but a small chance remained of their being properly tinned. In removing the lid, I remarked to the Captain that not the slightest particle of tin remained, and that therefore the cooking could not be done in any other but a highly dangerous manner. I then explained to the woman cook where the danger lay; when she quietly answered that there could be no danger, as she had each boiler cleansed two or three times a day; which of course was the root of the evil, having no doubt been the cause of the entire disappearance of the tin. In asking her how long it was since they were tinned, she replied,—“Not since she had been engaged there, nor, probably, since they had been fixed up;” when I explained to her the sad mistake in not having well tinned all such boilers, in large establishments such as this, where the utensils are in daily use, as they ought to be tinned at least once in every three months. I then made about a gallon of beef-tea with the hospital rations, in less than an hour, to which quick process she much objected, saying that she was certain the patients would not like it, as in that time it could not be thoroughly done, as she always stewed it for at least six or seven hours, by which time the meat was done to ribbons. I begged the Captain to allow several basins of my broth to be sent to the different wards to various patients, which was done, whom we afterwards visited. When the Captain inquired of one how he felt, he answered that he felt a great deal better that day, his taste having returned to him, which was a proof of the superiority of my plan over that of their cook’s—a system, I regret to say, practised in many large establishments. (For Beef-tea, see Hospital Diets.)
COPIES OF LETTERS
FROM THE MILITARY AUTHORITIES, ADDRESSED TO M. SOYER DURING HIS STAY IN TURKEY AND THE CRIMEA.
Head-Quarters, Scutari, August 3rd, 1855.
Dear Monsieur Soyer,—As you are about to leave the hospitals at Scutari for Balaklava, I think, in justice to your unremitting attention and zeal in your endeavours to improve the culinary department, it is incumbent on me, as the military commanding officer of the troops in the Bosphorus and Dardanelles, to express to you how much the sick and wounded of this army, as well as those who have their interest at heart, are indebted to you for the improvement you have made in the cooking of these establishments. Your alterations of the kitchens and stoves must add much to the economy of fuel, which is of the greatest consequence here; and your successful attempts, combined with simplicity of making such palatable beverages and soups out of so small a portion of ingredients, is highly advantageous.