14th Course.—Glaces: any thing iced; ice-creams, water ices, frozen puddings, biscuits glacés, etc.
15th Course.—Dessert: fruit, nuts and raisins, candied fruits, bonbons, cakes, etc.
16th Course.—Coffee, and little cakes, or biscuits (crackers).
TO PREPARE COMPANY DINNERS.
It is very simple to prepare a dinner served à la Russe, as it matters little how many courses there may be. If it were necessary to prepare many dishes, and to have them all hot, and in perfection at the same minute, and then be obliged to serve them nearly all together, the task might be considered rather formidable and confusing. But with one or two assistants, and with time between each course to prepare the succeeding one, after a very little practice it becomes a mere amusement.
The soup, or the stock for the soup, and the dessert, should be made the day before the dinner.
A bill of fare should be written, and pinned up in the kitchen. Every thing should be prepared that is possible in the early part of the day; then, after the fish, chickens, birds, etc., are dressed and larded (if necessary), they should be put aside, near the ice. If sweet-breads are to be served, they should be larded, parboiled, and put away also. The salad (if lettuce) should be sprinkled with water (not placed in water), and put in a cool, dark place in a basket, not to be touched until the last three minutes.
The plates and platters for each course should be counted, examined, and placed on a table by themselves. However, the arrangement of the dishes was explained in the chapter on setting the table.
After this, the kitchen should be put in order, and the tables cleared of all unnecessary things. Then every thing needed for the courses to be cooked should be placed in separate groups at the back of a large table, so that there may be no confusion or loss of any thing at the last minute. If there are sweet-breads, have them egged and bread-crumbed; if pease are to be served with them, place them in a basin at their side, properly seasoned. If there is macaroni with cheese, have the proper quantity desired already broken on a dish, with a plate of grated cheese and a tin cup, with the necessary amount of butter to be melted, side by side. If there is a fillet of beef to be baked and served with a mushroom-sauce, have the fillet in the baking-pan already larded, the mushrooms in the basin in which they are to be cooked, at the side; also the piece of lemon and the spoonful of flour ready. The stock will be in the kettle at the back of the stove. By-the-way, in giving a fine dinner, there should always be an extra stock-pot, separate from the soup, at the back of the stove, as it is excellent for boiling the sweet-breads or the macaroni, and making the sauces, etc.