The following menu is that of a dinner given in Paris by Prince Léon Galitzine, and deserves to be placed on record as an example of a real diner fin, elaborate, but not too elaborate, cleverly designed, and thoroughly well executed.
MENU
Bisque d’écrevisse et Exly frais à la Russe.
Melon glacé. Crevettes de Dieppe.
Hareng frais de Hollande.
Soles à la Maréchale.
Noisettes d’agneau avec crème d’Argenteuil.
Foie gras à la Rossini.
Quenelles d’esturgeon à la Joinville.
Sorbets au Porto blanc.
Granite grande fine Champagne.
Canetons de Rouen flanqués d’ortolans en brochettes.
Chaudfroid de Paons en Bellevue.
Flageolets nouveaux au beurre.
Pois à la Française.
Ecrevisses de la Meuse au vin de Saumur.
Bombe Galitzine.
Poires Cressanes.
Dessert.
This is really a rather noble dinner. Observe the dignity of the sturgeon and the peacock. There is very good precedent for the serving of the hors d’œuvre after the soup. It is done at many of the best French tables.
There are two or three interesting points about the following Savoy Hotel menu which are worth consideration.
MENU DU DINER
Hors d’Œuvres.
Melon Cantaloup Rafraîchi.
Poule-au-Pot Henri IV.
Crême Santé.
Truite d’Ecosse à la Nantua.
Filets de sole en Goujon.
Cailles en Terrines aux petits pois.
Selle de Pré-Salé à la Favorite.
Haricots verts au Beurre.
Mousse de Volaille en Bellevue.
Caneton de Rouen à la Rouennaise.
Salade Victoria. Aubergines Parisiennes.
Bombe Pralinée. Pêches Cardinal.
Canapés Pompadour.
The poule-au-pot Henri IV recalls, of course, one of the most charming kings in history, who wished that every one of his subjects might have a fowl in his pot every Sunday all the year round. The fillets of sole en goujon are a clever variation of the same thing en blanchailles to which one is somewhat accustomed. They are rather larger, but equally crisp and succulent. The cailles en terrines are very seasonable, and contrast remarkably well with the following saddle of mutton.
There has been much discussion lately in France as to the healthiness or otherwise of the hitherto justly esteemed and much-eaten Canard à la Rouennaise. Certain it is that some little while ago a few people became very ill after eating it; but, on the other hand, the preparation of the bird is so simple that there hardly seems room for anything deleterious.
Anyhow, the matter has been set at rest once and for all by the appointment under the auspices of La Société Scientifique d’Hygiène Alimentaire et de l’Alimentation Rationnelle de l’Homme (heavens, what a name!) of a committee which thoroughly tested and examined the question of the delinquent duck. This committee consisted of M. A. Dastre, membre de l’Institut; M. Lapicque, maître de Conférences à la Sorbonne, M. S. de Raczkowski, chémiste principal au Laboratoire Municipal, and M. E. Kohn-Abrest, du Laboratoire de Toxicologie. These eminent authorities were well able to give a definite and reassuring reply.
Those who are interested in the duck question may remember a delightful little sketch by the brilliant Alfred Capus, entitled “Emile,” in which a Canard à la Rouennaise and a solemn maître d’hôtel played prominent parts.
The following menu of a ball supper which was served quite recently at a London dance is all that a self-respecting ball supper need be. It seems to me to be excellently designed and thought out, for it provides for all tastes and palates, and appeals to the débutante as well as the sapient middle-aged supper eater.