Chartreuse
The monks of the Grande Chartreuse are very proud of this liqueur, and jealous of their exclusive right to sell it a right which brings them in a gross return of 2,000,000 francs a year. It is curious to remember that the monastic order to which they belong was founded by Saint Bruno in order to surpass the Benedictine rule in austerity of life. The Benedictine friars chose pleasant places for their abode, in fertile valleys, amid lovely gardens, and by clear streams abounding in fish. Saint Bruno went into the desert and chose for the site of his monastery the most desolate and barren spot he could find in the mountains of Dauphiné. But these unhappy, selfdenying Carthusians, who live on vegetables and are strictly forbidden the flesh of bird or beast, have made up for the misery which they have accepted as their own lot in life by the delights which they have imagined for their fellow-men. They have invented the Chartreuse of Partridge for days of fasting. The wing of a partridge is disguised in an enve- Chartreuse lope of cabbage. We satisfy our consciences in apparently taking nothing but cabbage upon our plates, when-lo! a wonder-we find partridge in our mouths, the reward of merit. A still greater feat is the invention of the liqueur known as Chartreuse, the fame of which has spread to the ends of the world. It is made chiefly from a plant having the beatific name of Angelica Archangelica; gathered with an Ave, concocted nigh the fumes of burning censers, distilled amid spiritual songs, bottled by dedicated hands, corked with fervid ejaculations, labelled with the holy sign of the cross on the trade mark, packed in straw and hammered in cases to the tune of vesper-bells and matin-bells, and charged with a blessing for the entrails of the faithful, to help digestion, to spur the kidneys, and to make the soul happy after dinner. Benedicite.
It is the most precious of all the liqueurs made in France, and raises the Carthusians above every monastic order, for the benefits which in these modern times they have conferred upon Christendom. The yellow Chartreuse is the best. The green is fiery. There is a third kindwhite-the mildest of all. Chartreuse of Partridges has perhaps been sufficiently described in the foregoing paragraph. It is simply Perdrix aux choux-partridge and cabbage done up in a fanciful manner. The French think it so good a jest against the holy friars to conceal a carved partridge in cabbage, that they have constructed several elaborate ways of making the concealment, calling in the aid of carrots and turnips -not so much for their taste as for the contrast of colour which they afford, red against white, in fashioning ornamental vegetable moulds. CHÂTEAUBRIAND. - It is not necessary to add to the account of this given in the introduction, and I am not anxious to repeat the story. The peculiarity of the steak is in its thickness, and in the way of broiling it; but Cherry sometimes also it is served with a peculiar sauce, namely, Spanish sauce diluted with white wine, then considerably reduced and at the moment of serving enriched with a pat of maître d'hôtel butter.