The gastronomic variety generally collected in this sanctuary of taste requires the utmost care and cleanliness, the joints prepared for the day arranged with symmetry and taste, so as to present to the eye the finest sides, the same respecting the dressed meat dishes and cold poultry, which should always be trimmed and garnished with fresh parsley, ready to be served up at a moment’s notice. A good ventilation, being of the utmost importance, should be particularly attended to. The following dimensions will greatly assist for the contrivance of a larder perfectly convenient if built with the same proportions.
The size is eighteen feet long and fifteen feet wide, having on the right side a dresser fourteen feet long, three wide, and two feet ten inches high, the top is of slate one inch thick, instead of wood, which is an excellent substitute, and always covered with a dresser cloth; there are eight ice drawers opening on castors, when large and deep as these, it is advisable to make them in a similar manner running on castors, as their weight would otherwise cause them to open with difficulty. The first four are two feet eight inches square and nine inches deep, lined with lead, and principally for jellies, ice creams, &c., the others beneath are deeper, for pickling-tubs; the temperature is from thirty-five to forty degrees, allowing comestibles of the most delicate kind to be kept a considerable time without deteriorating their qualities. The construction of those drawers is considered ingenious; the bottom being inclined on each side towards the middle, which forms a channel at the end of which there is a small drain to let the ice water escape without the assistance of hands, having at the back a pipe to receive the waste water running into other pipes outside.
On the left going in there is another sideboard of the same material, eight feet and a half long and two feet wide, there are six drawers all of them lined with lead, and (which might be called simply ice-preservers, being almost free from air, and only now and then refreshed with ice at a trifling expense) from five to six inches thick, covered with a zinc plate to fit the drawer, and a cloth over it for chops, steaks, aspics, entrées, and a variety of things always kept fresh and tender; the woodcut below gives the exact form of the drawers as described above. It will be worth consideration to adopt the plan in all larders, as they certainly have the several advantages of preserving ice for a long time, and keeping in readiness any sort of prepared dishes, and even the flavour of fruit to perfection.
ICE DRAWERS AND DRESSER.
At the end of this sideboard is a slate well, three feet six inches long, two feet wide, and one foot deep, supplied with hot and cold water; this well is used for soaking hams, tongues, and calf’s head; adjoining is a slab for opening oysters, under which is a well to keep them in.
In the middle of the larder is a dresser-table, ten feet long and two feet four inches wide, covered with a tablecloth, to depose fresh provisions ready for the day’s dressing.