Cold Dishes

The cold service is the most elegant and artistic one of the culinary art. It requires taste, skill and much study in order to learn the necessary moldings, modelings and requisite cookery. Ornaments render the socles and the pieces beautiful and coquettish; their appearance should be neat and precise; the pieces must be well defined and designed before beginning; prepare all the needed materials beforehand so that when the work has once begun there will be nothing to delay the progress. Wax flowers and leaves are very useful, therefore a good workman must learn to make them in great variety. Any ordinary cook can attain renown by studying the complicated ways of preparing cold dishes, but he must give his sole attention to this special part which helps to increase his reputation and develop his ideas, for by it he elevates his trade to a positive art. The manner of properly preparing sauces, side dishes, roasts and pastries should of course be executed with as much care as the cold. Jellies should be tasty, limpid and transparent; if they be defective, then the handsomest pieces are open to criticism. Hatelets and jelly garnishings greatly enhance the appearance of the pieces, therefore care should be used that they are most beautiful and all croutons cut with precision and symmetry. Cold pieces should be prepared beforehand, for they must not be hurried nor left to be finished at the last moment.