You will, perhaps, say that, in large firms, where forty or fifty, or more young men dine every day, or even in public establishments still more numerous, many professed cooks would be required to dress the dinner, if my plan was adopted; not at all, if the kitchen is properly constructed: but in these establishments, joints, of necessity, must be the principal viand, and there is very little left; what there is, is consumed cold for supper; but even there an amelioration might take place, although only a plain joint, either boiled or roasted, roasted or boiled, which is generally the yearly bill of fare, and so simple, yet seldom well done, and often badly, which, in a large establishment, must create great waste, and make bad food out of good meat, and that for want of care or a little more knowledge, which may appear to you but a trifling matter, but not so to thousands of poor old people, with toothless gums and fatigued stomachs, made comfortable within walls erected by the good feelings of government, or by public charity. I have often thought, when visiting these establishments, that a professed cook ought to be appointed, as well as a medical man, to visit all such in the metropolis, not only to inspect the quality of the provisions, but superintend the arrangements of the dietary table, and see that the viands are properly cooked, and thus correct the lamentable ignorance which exists at the present day; I am confident that tons of meat are daily wasted in such institutions throughout the country, which, if well employed, would feed a great part of the starving poor of the United Kingdom. The same system ought to be adopted in all the provincial towns; and, if it was in existence, we should not have to deplore such lamentable scenes which we had latterly to witness at Tooting, where, no doubt, many were to blame; for, by the calculation I have made, the allowance, though rather limited, was amply large enough to allow for good provisions, and leave sufficient remuneration for any reasonable and not covetous man. Why should not these poor children be watched over, and made as comfortable in every respect as the wish of those who pay to support them require? besides, it has an effect upon after generations; for upon the food at the period of growth depends the nature of the mind at a more advanced age, as well as the stature of the man. Do we not evince our care to objects of the brute creation, and feed, with the greatest attention, the race-horse? compare him with others of his species not so humanely treated, and note the difference: so it is with the human race; and I might almost say the prosperity of a country depends upon the food of its youth. You will perhaps think that I am rather sharp in my remarks, and probably longer than is required, but still it will be gratifying to both of us, should we find that these remarks prove beneficial to such establishments as above-mentioned; and it is only by giving notoriety to these important details, and being positive in exposing the truth, that we can be believed and followed, and you must not mind displeasing the few, if you are to be useful to the many. Forever, &c.
HORTENSE.
[LETTER NO. IX]
MY DEAR HORTENSE,—After the receipt of your last observations, which, on first seeing, I thought too long, but after having read them over again, I am convinced that I shall not be able to shorten them; at all events, there is a great deal of truth in them, and, as you justly say, they are the observations of a person who has constantly studied domestic comfort and economy; I shall therefore copy them in the journal just as you send them to me. Truly yours,
ELOISE.
[LETTER NO. X]
MY DEAR ELOISE,—I am glad to hear that you will not alter any of my last copy sent, because I assure you I wrote with a full conviction that I was right, and from facts which experience alone can engrave on the memory; but, however, we will now proceed: but I think it will be necessary to alter our original intention, namely, in order to save any confusion, to class all the receipts for the dinner together, and thus form a large bill of fare, and follow, on a small plan, what M. Soyer, of the Reform Club, has done on a large scale, in his ‘Gastronomic Regenerator,’ by which the most inexperienced hands may easily provide a large or small dinner adapted for all classes, without committing a blunder, and thus make a selection from soups, different dishes of fish, and an innumerable number of removes; entrées, roasts, savory dishes, vegetables, sweets, dessert, &c., and having chosen one or two of each series, and, on referring to the receipt, an idea of their cost, within a few pence of the market-price, may be gained.
Let me know, dear, by return of post, if you approve of my new idea, as it is rather deviating from our original one; but observe, that having so very distinctly given the Breakfast Receipts, and also for Invalids, it will be more clearly understood than by repeating the same over and over again, which would be unavoidable if following our first proposition. Yours truly, in haste,
HORTENSE.