SOYER’S CULINARY INNOVATION.
MINIATURE KITCHEN FOR THE NAVY.
BY AN OBSERVER.
THE indefatigable Gastronomic Regenerator, Mons. Soyer, whose mind is always catering for the comfort and the taste of all classes of society, has not only given us a most useful work on Cookery, containing thousands of excellent receipts, but also various plans for the construction of kitchens, such as the matchless Kitchen of the Reform Club, the Kitchen of the Wealthy, his Kitchen at Home, the Bachelor’s, and the Cottage Kitchen.
But when the late famine took place in Ireland, his attention was quickly drawn to the shortest and most economical means of relieving a vast number of the destitute, and that, by the erection of a Model Kitchen on a plan entirely new, and which proved of the utmost importance in Dublin, both as regards superiority of wholesome food, and its immense saving in preparation, which can be tested daily by rich and poor in merely consulting that excellent sixpenny little book, the ‘Poor Man’s Regenerator,’ containing twenty-three invaluable receipts for the working class and the poor.
What leads us to the above introductory remarks is, that for a little while we find him abandon the inhabitants of terra firma for the wide ocean, to show us that he can devote also a portion of his time and exertion to the comfort of seafaring life in the fitting up of a commodious Miniature Kitchen on board every-sized vessel laying claim to real improvement.
Lately the beautiful and splendid steam-ship the Guadalquiver, built at Liverpool, left that wealthy mercantile town for the Spanish Main with a kitchen such as never was before attempted to be erected.
To give our readers an idea of the completeness of this Marine Miniature Kitchen, they will be surprised when we say that in a confined space of seventeen feet long and eight wide, a range with vertical bars, smoke-jack, screen, spits and dripping pan are erected, where roasting may be done in great perfection: next is a bain-marie, for keeping soups and sauces very hot, without the danger of burning or of being upset in rough weather: three charcoal stoves, hot plate, gridiron; and a steam boiler for dressing vegetables, and even meat or fish, is found to be a very great convenience. There is also a good oven for baking bread, pastry, and biscuits, and a hot closet above; a kitchen table, with drawers and sliding shelves, under which is a cupboard for preserves, a pestle and mortar, vegetable and washing boxes; under the stove and hot plate are two recesses for fuel; above the stoves are placed rows of shelves, upon which blocks of wood are fixed for each saucepan; on the edges of the shelves the sauté pans, covers, and ladles are suspended, and secured with bands of India rubber to prevent the rattling: in fact a complete ‘batterie de cuisine’ is at the disposal of the cook; and the last but not the least ingenious design is a moveable balance grating, with something new in its contrivance, as it prevents the upsetting of any saucepans used upon it in stormy weather. Two perpendicular pieces of iron of about fifteen inches are fixed into a circle, the size of the charcoal stove, at the extreme points of the square, where pins of iron are fixed to keep the circle in its place; between the two uprights is the grating, supported by two rods on each side, finishing in a point, and turning at the end like a hook, to go into the holes perforated at the top of the uprights, thus acting like the compass, the saucepans are thus always on a level; and by merely turning the circle to whatever point is required, this balance grating will support its burthen over the fire constantly on a level, despite the rolling of the vessel. Outside, leading to the deck, are rows of hooks covered over to hang up meat, game, and poultry. In fact, the whole of the fittings are so contrived that they have the appearance of fixture.
This kitchen is also well ventilated and fire-proof, and in it a recherché dinner can easily be dressed for one hundred persons, being the average number of passengers likely to be taken up by the Guadalquiver on the coast of Cuba, in connexion with the railroad constructed right through the Island.