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The Seventh Day: English

With regard to herbs, this could not always have been the rule, for I never go into an old English garden without finding there a border with all the good old-fashioned pot herbs growing lustily.

I do not say that the use of herbs is unknown, for of course the best cookery is impossible without them, but I fear that sage mixed with onion is about the only one which ever tickles the palate of the great English middle-class. And simultaneously with the use of herb flavouring in soup has arisen the practice of adding wine, which to me seems a very questionable one. If wine is put in soup at all, it must be used so sparingly as to render its presence imperceptible. Why then use it at all? In some sauces wine is necessary, but in all cases it is as difficult to regulate as garlic, and requires the utmost vigilance on the part of the cook." ،، My last cook, who was very stout and a little middle-aged, would always use flavouring sauces from the grocer's rather than walk up to the garden, where we have a most seductive herb bed," said Mrs. Wilding; "and then, again, the love of the English for pungent-made sauces is another reason for this makeshift practice. 'Oh, a table-spoonful of somebody's sauce will do for the flavouring,' and in goes the sauce, and the flavouring is supposed to be complete. People who eat their chops, and steaks, and fish, and game, after having smothered the natural flavour with the same harsh condiment, may be satisfied with a cuisine of this sort, but to an unvitiated palate the result is nauseous." "Yet as a Churchwoman, Mrs. Wilding, you ought to speak with respect of English sauces.

I think I have heard how a libation of one of them, which was poured over a certain cathedral, has made it look as good as new," said Miss Macdonnell, "and we have lately learned that one of the most distinguished of our party is ambitious to enter the same career." "I would suggest that Sir John should devote all that money he proposes to make by the aid of his familiar spirit-the ghost of Narcisse-to the building of a temple in honour of the tenth muse, the muse of cookery," said Mrs. Sinclair ; "and what do you think, Sir John, of a name I dreamt of last night for your sauce, 'The New Century Sauce'? How will that do?" "Admirably," said Sir John after a moment's pause; "admirably enough to allow me to offer you a royalty on every bottle sold. The New Century Sauce'-that's the name for me; and now to set to work to build the factory, and to order plans for the temple of the tenth muse."

Menu-LUNCH.

Maccheroni al pomidoro.

Macaroni with tomatoes.

Vitello al pellegrina.

Animelle al sapor di targone.

Veal cutlets alla pellegrina.

Sweetbread with tarragon sauce.

Menu-DINNER.

Zuppa alla Canavese.

Naselli con piselli.

Soup alla Canavese.

Whiting with peas.

Coscia di manzo al forno.

Braized ribs of beef.

Lingua alla Visconti.

Anitra selvatica.

Zabajone ghiacciato.

Crostatini alla capucina.

Tongue with grapes.

Iced syllabub.

Savoury of rice, truffles, &c.

Wild duck.