“At four o'clock, his accustomed dinner hour, he entered Dolly's chop-house, and took his seat at a table always reserved for him, on which were instantly placed a silver tankard full of strong ale, a bottle of port-wine, and a measure containing a quarter of a pint of brandy. The moment the waiter announced him, the cook put a pound-and-a-half of rump-steak on the gridiron; and on the table some delicate trifle, as a _bonne bouche_, to serve until the steak was ready. This delicacy was sometimes half a broiled chicken, sometimes a plate of fish; when he had eaten this, he took a glass of his brandy, and then proceeded to devour his steak. We say devour, because he always ate as rapidly as if eating for a wager. When he had finished his meat, he took the remainder of his brandy, having, during his dinner, drunk the tankard of ale, and afterwards the bottle of port.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
¼ cup butter 2½ tablespoons flour 2 cups milk Yolks 4 “hard-boiled” eggs 1 teaspoon Anchovy essence 2 cups cold boiled flaked fish Make a sauce of butter, flour, and milk. Mash yolks of eggs and mix with Anchovy essence, add to sauce, then add fish. Serve as soon as heated. Serve on pieces of toasted Graham bread.
Sources: The passage is from John Timbs, English Eccentrics and Eccentricities, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Farmer, The Boston cooking-school cook book of 1896, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — forest cloth, pudding stamp.