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A PERFECT DINNER
■■■■■:" .*■ -
By a Committe<
of England's
Most Eminent
Chefs
The Best Test of the
Perfection of a Din
ner Is in Its Digestion,
If, After a Hearty
Meal, You Feel No
Oppression, No Dul
ness of Spirits, You
Have at Least Dined
Well/ ,
Arthur Benington
EIGHT of the greatest rood experts'
JCi in England put their heads to
"gather and got 'up what they called a
"perfect dinner." Then they and the
members of the Universal Cookery
and Pood Association ate it at Prince's
Restaurant In February. ;
The men responsible for this "per
fect dinner" were:
H. Cedard, chef to King George V. I
of England.
J. Menager, who was chef to King
Edward VII.
A. F. Feltham, who was chef to
Queen Victoria.
Isidor Salmon. ,
C. Herman Senn, Secretary of the j
Universal Cookery and Food Associa- j
tion. I
J. Lindsey, chef of the Carlton!
Hotel. :;
V, Schreyeck, chef of the Piccadilly j
Hotel.
A. Judah, chef of the Cafe Royal.
The ultimate product of - their col
lective brains is . found in the menu i
printed herewith.
It may be as well, before going any
further, to explain : just what the j
dishes on this menu are, for many of!
them will be unfamiliar except to j
those who have travelled widely and !
Ijtayed in the best hotels in the several |
countries they have visited.
Delicatesses Finlandaises are a hors
d'oeuvre consisting of little fishes
found only in the cold waters of the;
Baltic and the northern parts of the !
North Sea.
Poule au pot Henri IV. is a soup j
made like the familiar petite marmite j
of i our menus, only ' h-aving stuffed p
HERE IS THE DINNER
Delicatesses Finlandaises.
Poule pot, Henri IV. *
P--' . Creme Lamballe. •
Supreme de Sole Marguery.
Ris de Veau a Iα Banquiere.
. Selle de Behague persillee.
Pommes nouvelles sablees.
Haricots verts au beurre.
Poulardine en casserole ckei soi.
Salade.
: Fonds d'artichaut Florentine.
Par/ait au chocolat praline.
Gourpiandises.
Cronies a VEcossais*
Dessert.
chickens in it, the meat of which :is
served floating in the clear soup.
h Cream Lamballe is a cream of green
peas with vermicelli in it. ,
. Supreme de Sole Marguery is a filet
of sole with a sauce made of wine, |
; mussels and shrimps. A dish called
j sole often ajppears on the bills of fare
of American restaurants, but it is very
rarely sole. It is almost always floun
der. For the sole does not swim ,in I
our waters, and the only way an \ Amer- j
ican chef ■ can . get sore is from the ice j
I box of an Atlantic liner that : has just
' arrived from Europe, and then•lt;is y at
I least a week old. Sole is a far
I daintier fish than I flounder and it must
ibe eaten very fresh to be any good. -
i ■ Ris de Veau a la Banquiere Is a dish
of sweetbreads. ■. v
! *3elle de Bchague persillee a sad-j
I die iof ; mutton from the town of Be
; hague in France, , ; which is famous , for
the superfine quality of its sheep. , It Is
breaded ', and sprinkled with <: chopped j
parsley before being roasted. "* * , j
Pommes nouvelles sablees; are new !
potatoes roasted. > . • •:
■ .IPoulardine en casserole chez soi Is i
a young pullet cooked in a casseroiej
with , bacon, potatoes and other vege-1
tables.; Every cook would blend the j
vegetables differently. V .;
Fonds d'artichaut Florentine t are !
hearts of artichokes placed upon a bed I
of * spinach, sprinkled : with . N grated I
cheese and browned. : /
■ Parfait \ au chocolat i praline is like i
the familiar chocolate sundae with ■ al- j
monds in it ' ; :
; Gourmandises are small cakes am
sweet fancy biscuits. :
Croutes a l'Ecossaise are slices ol
toast spread with anchovy or bloatei
paste. Such dishes as this, callec
savouries, are often ; served! In Eng
land between the iced dessert and th<
fruit, but here in America It la mor<
usual :to serve cheese, which answeri
the same purpose. : "■.''"-
The , dessert is, of course,. fruit. (
This menu was submitted to Nestoi
Lattard, who presided over the cull
nary department of the Hotel Flaw
and arranges all Its menus, Troix
those of the 5 o'clock tea to those o;
big banquets. He did the same at Del
monico's for .many' years.
■ 'There is nothing extraordinarj
about that V dinner," - said Mr. Lattard
"It strikes me ,as very ordinary. ?II
we;were;getting^uF;a; 'perfect dinner'
here in New York, regardless of price,
we would at least try :to serve some
thing out of the common. J That bill ol
fare ; has, -besides, several decidedly
weak spots. Why, for example, serve
chicken twice, as is done on this menu
—once in the soup and again iv the
casserole? That was utterly ) unneces
sary in England, where their markets
are full of game of the finest and most
varied kind. It is far easier to serv*
a variety of game in England than
here, as our game laws make many
of the choicest birds almost impossible
to get Having served chicken in the
soup, it would have been far better
to have served -ptarmigan, wild duck,
v**;;^i' ''■ i ' t -.'■?;':'' -s " ; ':'-' :: - ':-
pheasant, partridge or even guinea
hen as.the'game^course..
"Not Superior,"
'■•'■* .V.V," '.■'■ "-. ; ■
Says Lattard,
the Famous
New York
Maitre d'Hotel.
' :"A first class chef never repeats
himself. He would scorn to serve
even potatoes twice at the same dln
j ner. It shows lack of Imagination.
The same- flavor should never be re
peated.
'Then, again, I should question the
taste of serving so many courses at a
■ ' . .. .'
perfect dinner.' To my mind a 'per
.' ■■ v. •- -■•■ - - ,
feet dinner' should consist of only a
few courses, each of these perfect of
\ its kind—perfect in the quality *of the
I
materials, perfect in the cookery, per
fect in the service. Five, or at - the
' very most six, courses are enough for
; any dinner. The tendency In New
' York aaiong the real gourmets is » to<
have few course* at dinner, even at ■ a
great banquet, and this tendency is
growing.
"But the chef who takes a pride in
his , art ; tries ? always to do I something
far beyond arranging a well balanced
menu; he is racking his brains always
■■ to find something new. At a dinner of
..;■ ■.:■■ '~'■:■ ' " ; ■ ■' ■ •■•■■■■■■. ■:■■■■■■•
gourmets—a dinner that aspired to
live up to the name 'perfect'—he
; should serve something the diners had
never tasted before or at least some
thing cooked in a way they had never
; known * before. The j ability to /do this!
' sort of thing is what ; lifts a chef out
i of the cook class and makes him a
true artist. A 'perfect > dinner' should
contain at least one surprise—some
dish that ."■ would I make 4 the diners i talk
about it. The chef could scarcely
hope that all of them would pro
•] nounce it delicious, for there ;is such
...■-■
! an infinite ivarlety In men's . tastes: ? but
■ i- *
at least a majority of the diners
should be made enthusiastic by a new
I
[ revelation In cookery. At least that is
i the attitude I • should assume toward
j V ', " - •*
i an order for a 'perfect dinner. ,
i "Were I■to . receive such an : order
- "
' without limitations as to cost I should j ;
first all scour the markets to find j
-
out what was I obtainable that was the
very choicest of its kind. It might
take several days to do this. Then,
with my list of : perfect tbingv before
'• . -, *. : - - - ■"■;
me, I should arrange them into a menu I
of five or six courses, no food appear- j
ing more than once. The next step
would be to devise novel ways of pre
; paring them for the table—not, mindj
you, ways ;of ■[ disguising flavors, butj
ways of bringing out the special j
flavors of the various viands. . . |
"The best test'Of the perfection of i
a dinner is in its digestion. If, after
a hearty meal, you feel ;no ; oppression,
no dulness of spirits, you have at least
dined well."
~ . • - '.■■■.,.. • -■... : ■■■. ■■•-■ .-. . .-■ ' .
FUMIGATION DOWN AND OUT
,•■",; - .. '. . ':=v ,
DR. BRADY derides the old theory
that germs lurk in the bed-
Sγ**. *s^v " - v - t'f***?*^
: : : rooms of the sick and on the in
animate objects handled by them. Dr.
Chapin of Providence, R. 1., has j proved
that animal organisms only carry
most contagions. Anything ; alive may
spread disaster—from a f.y to a human
being. A far more rigid disinfection of
animals is needed, but the bedrooms of
the sick may be -. let alone safely. This
magazine £ assumes ;->■ no responsibility
*- ■
for Dr. Brady's statements, presenting
them merely as the opinions of an
expert.
Dr. William Brady
iTITvACKI inSthe ? dark <: oreltne
BACK in the dark ages, before the
r>l: days iof : bacteriology, * the doctors
*— * "•• ■ ' : - i »v"w^fe«!es»a«i|
had to do a great deal of guess
• • ■ ■ "- -
; ing about ~ the cause and nature of die*.
ease. It was but a step from evil
*• ■:' ■ - " ' ..-' : '-\
-. •
spells and witchcraft to miasma * aad
■* ■•• -. ■. i >f«w*»i
humors—a step in the dark. The medi
cal profession marched where necessity
led, and necessity sometimes led in
strange directions.
Not so many years ago, for instance,
I pretty much every disease in the medi
cal dictionary was directly or indirect
ly charged up to the weather—
I ing cold." Atmosphere .being plentl-
I fully distributed through the com-
I munlty, and changes -of temperature,
I pressure and humidity being every-day
1 occurrences, what more natural taan
Ito utilize the air also as a means of
-
explaining the v spread , of contagioui
disease?
It was long an accepted f . axiom ol
sanlUtloa thaL such maladies as
.diphtheria, scarlet fever, measles and
smallpox were air-borne infections,
I Quarantine regulations have always
isolated victims of - these diseases aa
far as possible from their relatives
and friends. The morbific ; matter has
been s supposed to travel : through • the
' air, for long distances sometimes, to
infect healthy ;persons. ' And .health of
- -
ficers have deemed :it imperatively
necessary to 4 fumigate and disinfect
---~*•. -"-.'., ". • ' ■ -. -■•"- ,--* *
the % rooms . occupied by the patients
after recovery or death. But it now
appears '■: that : all this quarantine
fumigation is love's labor lost.
The progressive city of Providence,
R. 1., has a health officer who for
<~ ■■ ■ ff&iam
■twenty;'years or ~ more Las been doing
'.--'"•■-,. - - <
a tall lot of thinking on this subject
of quarantine and disinfection. \ Be
tween thinks he has been an inde
fatigable student of sanitary statistics
ON WHOM IS THE JOKE?
A NOTED New York arti=t has oc
, ■■■- casionally "picked up" paintings
of ; value. at i east side sales, pawnshops,
and ■ warerooms. : A few ' months * ago he
waeirummaging in one of these small
shops and found a painting which he
believed to be of value, although he
could ~ find no X ' signature on it.
asked the price, was told it was part
of a lot containing a table oilcloth,
some —odds and ends of no value
—and the dealer would not break the
lot. The artist asked the pricefof
the lot, and the dealer finally con
cluded to let it go for $1.75. The
transaction completed, the artist re
moved the painting from the lot,
asking the dealer what he would give
for it that way. The dealer said:
"Twenty-five cents," and the artist
sold :it back to him minus the paint
in for that price. ". ' .-.
The s painting | had a : hole iin it, and 1
when the artist reached home he care
fully spread the painting out, fasten
ing it to a piece of canvas, and started
to paint in the torn place. Layer by
layer he , painted in the hole, until the
ai "* *-.'■-.. - -*^* r 4fe
canvas was the exact thickness of the
rest of the picture. Then he painted
in the picture as he thought it had
been —the I end *of* a > bench, half of i&j
**■ , . '•,"■■•-'.
pottery vase and part of a dog—and
a complete painting.
He framed the picture and hung it
in his home. Shortly afterward a
friend came to call, and in the course
of I the the artist showed I his
from all the health departments .of
-.-'-.-.': ■ - " ' ' • .•-■■"■■■•.;;,-.■.■:/«;■;;>;.;
America and the Continent. He is
a bacteriologist. this Providence
sanitarian, • not a laboratory dreamer,
but an .earnest, practical worker—
health officer since ISB4 and an einl
nently . useful health i officer, as ; the 4 of
ficial figures show. ;" '-
; His name is Chapin—Charles V.
Chapin, M. D., Sc. D., and, take it from
me, s the germs :* haven't got anything on
Dr. Chapin. He declares there is no
use ;in fumigating furniture and allow
ing s the '-4 human germ : carriers :to •- run
s wild , through the community. . And,
- -"-■-■ . :
what is ■■ more ;to the . point, >he ; cites
overwhelming, ; scientific =1 and clinical j
evidence to prove that diphtheria
germs, : for instance, cannot live lon z
enough out of the body to infect sub
sequent occupants of the room, and
on the strength of Dr. Chapin's belief
the f? Providence Board .o! Health has
abandoned disinfection of the premises
after diphtheria. . ,
What has been the result of this ap
, parent foolhardiness? Fearful epi
j demies? „ Not noticeably. 'v The doctor
didn't do all that thinking and study-j
ing for nothing. From the time terml-1
; nal : disinfection was abandoned
1905) up to the present Providence has!
had but one outbreak of diphtheria,
and that was not nearly- so severe as
one the nearby city of Worcester had
about the same time. In August, 1905,
there wae not a single case of diph
theria in the city; in August, 1908, thej
number of cases reached the astound- j
ing, total of one! While the returns
i show that Providence has its share
of diphtheria, still the number ;of
I cases v per; thousand > inhabitants does
I aot exceed '. that of >■■ ■> Boston,-, where
terminal f fumigation Is still carried
out. * * :-.■■■■■".■■ ■''■:■':.. '■' ;- ',
The fumigation ?of rooms after scar
let fever cases has likewise been dis
continued in Providence * with similar
surprising Tesuits. ;
v "Both theory and ■ the facts, as far
as any data ar& available," says : Dr.
Chapin, "indicate that terminal disin
fection after diphtheria and scarlet
fever is of no apprecla-ble value. Much
of the disinfection' after tuberculosis i
also is useless. The feebleness of the
germs of influenza, . meningitis and
pneumonia outside of the body indi
cates that fc-mites (clothing, sick-room
utensils, toys, books, Ac.) can have no
part in the ■■ extension of these .diseases;
and that disinfection ;is quite unneces
sary." :.:• . ; .' --. ; "','; ~ '
|4 Persons, not things, ; carry disease.
Out of 1,400 bacteriological examina
tions 'of articles in the rooms :of diph
theria patients' diphtheria germs = were
found only a dozen times, and only on
such objects ;as handkerohiefs, spoons
and drinking glasses. But even sacn
evidence does not * prove that contami
nated articles could convey diphtheria,
because the germs Just curl up and
die soon after leaving" their natural
medium of existence —the nose or
throat. .
The detection of -human germ car
riers is so recent that sanitary science
has 5 not ; - yet •. found * a , way ito cope ■ with
them. "Typhoid , Marys" probably ex
i mend . the picture. After - studying it
for a while the friend asked if the
artist t would sell it He answered, "Yes
—for five ; hundred ; dollars." The friend
I nodded quickly and the artist took the
i painting off the wall at once, removed
it ( from • the ; frame, rolled ■up the can
vas and put it in his friend's hands,
1 requesting the • purchase price right
; away and promising the frame next
day. The bargain was concluded.
Some days later this friend was chat
ting at a club with another member
snd said: "Blank is a fool. He sold
me a David Tenlers the other night
for $500," and told of his purchase,
adding that he could ~- make out the
signature under one - end of the bench
in the picture. " . '. -..
Now the artist Iβ chuckling, for his
comment is: w "That is the end of the
bench I painted in."
-"■""■^" ■"■■' ■■•■■■
•--.;■■■.-. ..-/.--■.-■ --.-.''■ ' ■> >- v, ■*■-•;, --. ■" „':. -V-.'--"- ■■ I
! AFTER OUR GOOD DOLLARS.
TF there :Iβ v any .Industry in Europe!
•I ~■■■,■■;■:"''"> : - •-'.-;'■> v■■: ■ ■-> '--
-"T/.* which lures .j more"good American!
dollars ■ across'the Atlantic—and keeps!
them there —then the International
Association of ; Hotel Proprietors would
-.
like ;to be shown. This worthy insti
tution Ila banded together to wring the
tail t feathers ii of the eagle on the last
American penny if it can.
In this business of lying in wait for
Un-cle Sam there are some 1,700 hostei-j
j ries Joined together for a common pur
pose. They are located in all the coun-j
. - -■-.■■■ . ■'■■'■ _ '■ ■ _ ■-.-■
San Francisco Sunday Call.
ist in every city, but few of tnem are
nnr""TTT~TiTrr"~ i 1 1 mm i Itaii ißumh "' ••-■ ■»■--■■-- ■■':...-•.-.-,■'
apprehended even when they have ! oar
rled typhoid to dozens iof people, as
the original "Typhoid Mary" did.
Diphtheria carriers >« are , frequently
discovered •In schoolrooms when rou«
tine cultures of all the pupils art
taken by medical; inspectors.
Practically every indoor dweller har
bors living pneumonia germs in mouth
or throat—germs capable of inducing
pneumonia and many other serious dis
eases in susceptible persons. But it
would never do to quarantine the
whole population!
The experts tell us that there is no
danger in living with a careful 5 con
•umptive, one who conscientiously dis
poses of his sputum at all times—in
fact, they declare that a tuberculosis
sanitorium fs the safest place in which
an Invalid can reside.
On the other hand, the family of a
r careless consumptive will gain no *•
curity by the rite of fumigation after
his ; demise, because I the chance of in
fection, while great during his life
time, is practically negiigib after his
death, since tuberculosis germs cannot
live outside of the body.
At the Pasteur Hospital In Paris
2,000 contagious cases were treated
during the two and a half years.after
I its opening in 1900. Over 500 small
pox cases, over #00 diphtheria cases
and about 100 each of measles, scarlet
fever and erysipelas; cases were in
cluded in the list. Each patient 'occu-
pies a separate room ; opening into a *
! common corridor, the doors being open '
much of' the time. Yet ': the only " eVI-•
dence of infection in the hospitar was
the development of two * cases of ery
sipelas and four of smallpox.
At the children's hospital Id Paris
K(Haspital dcs Enfants Malades) all
! sorts of contagious cases are treated ; (
j 'n the open wards, the beds being sep
arated only by partitions. Yet but six ;
cases of messles and one of diphtheria
developed; among 5,000 treated!
The secret of ■ the«e startling figures?;
is RIGID MEDICAL ASEPSrS—that
is, absolute personal cleanliness. Tb«
! infection is not air-borne, but carried
; from case to case by careless friends,
j relatives,^nurses; or physicians,' or by
i pets or insects. t
j Dr. Cbapin describes an interesting
j example of the way in which infectioa
travels. He was called one day to see ,
a child with scarlet fever In a well
to-do family. He found the door of the
sickroom carefully ; hung with, a sheet'
wet with an antiseptic to prevent
germs from flying through the halL
After examining -■ the throat with a
spatula he handed the latter to the
mother, who took it into , the hall and
laid it on an upholstered sofa, then
opened the door of an adjoining room
with her saliva-infected hands! Mean
while the attending physician sat on
! the edge of the bed and handled the
! patient, an entirely unnecessary pro
ceeding at the time, and, except for the
example set him, would have departed,
perhaps to visit another child, with
out stopping to wash his hands!
v Even in - a fine hospital that imitates
the French in'■: the " treatment of con-
tag!one cases Dr. Chapln observes ' un
pardonable sins of omission. Doctors
and nurses, "■'] gowned and ; capp cd } and
rubber-gloved, thoughtlessly passing
from v partition kto partition feeling
pulses and smoothing tie bed cover
ings without ever ; pausing to rinse
their hands! And, worse etui, the
medical superintendent freely handling
contagious cases and th«n_ going direct
ly to the public '■ office without wastinir
any time washing his hands!
Such thoughtless offenders labor un-
der the old ' fetich of air-borne i a fee
tion and are apparently quite incapa
ble of grasping the meaning of , the
new sanitation-—medical * asepsis.
trleaVon the Continent which appeal
to Americans. Some $451,000,000 in
"capital is invested in them, and ': this
doeslnot; include the myriads of "pen
sions," small family hotels and board*
ing houses. \
These allied hotels work hand Iα
§;ove together, al ways - passing along
a good thing, if possible. They buy Iα
|Vast quantities so that ■ they can set
their supplies more cheaply than rivals
outside the association. But they don't
reduce the high cost of living to their
I>atrons because of this advantage. On
the contrary, they are always alert to
any opportunity for boosting their
tariffs:
:These hotels average,9s rooms each,
with a total number of 162,000,
containing '-\ 200,000 beds. Last year
they spent $61,000,000 for food
products. This was by x 14,
--0?,0,000 persons, who between them
spent 25.700.000 nights in the .1.700
hotels. ■ ~-, t .
When business is good i v the United
States- the European hotels make a!f
kinds of money. When times are hird
here, all Europe feeb ;it through ? the
pulse of the great hotels, whose most
->«*••*& pan . • • ' ■
lavish patrons are Americans, nine
times out of ten. Many of the great
caravansaries of the large capitals de-
almost wholly for . their annual
profits upon •; the i summer travel from
the United States. During the rest of
the year they are content to make both >
