At the time that the “School of Instructions” was written, the French and ourselves had both progressed very greatly in the Art of Cookery and in the development of the menu. DelaHay Street, Westminster, near Bird-Cage Walk, suggests a time when a hedge ran along the western side of it towards the Park, in lieu of brick or stone walls; but the fact is that we have here a curious association with the office, just quoted from Rose, of Master Confectioner. For of the plot of ground on which the street, or at any rate a portion of it stands, the old proprieter was Peter DelaHaye, master confectioner of Charles II. at the very period of the publication of Rose’s book. His name occurs in the title-deeds of one of the houses on the Park side, which since his day has had only five owners, and has been, since 1840, the freehold of an old and valued friend of the present writer.
It may be worth pointing out, that the Confectionery and Pastry1 were two distinct departments, each with its superintendent4 and staff. The fondness for confections had spread from Italy — which itself in turn borrowed the taste from the East — to France and England; and, as we perceive from the descriptions furnished in books, these were often of a very elaborate and costly5 character.
The volume is of the less interest for us, as it is a translation from the French, and consequently does not throw a direct light on our own kitchens at this period. But of course collaterally6 it presents many features of likeness7 and analogy, and may be compared with Braithwaite’s earlier view to which I shall presently advert8.
The following anecdote9 is given in the Epistle to Fox: “Many do believe the French way of working is cheapest; but let these examine this book, and then they may see (for their satisfaction) which is the best husbandry, to extract gold out of herbs, or to make a pottage of a stone, by the example of two soldiers, who in their quarters were minded to have a pottage; the first of them coming into a house and asking for all things necessary to the making of one, was as soon told that he could have none of these things there, whereupon he went away, and the other coming in with a stone in his knap-sack, asked only for a Pot to boil his stone in, that he might make a dish of broth10 of it for his supper, which was quickly granted him; and when the stone had boiled a little while, then he asked for a small bit of beef, then for a piece of mutton, and so for veal11, bacon, etc., till by little and little he got all things requisite12, and he made an excellent pottage of his stone, at as cheap a rate (it may be) as the cook extracted Gold from Herbs.”
The kitchen-staff of a noble establishment in the first quarter of the seventeenth century we glean13 from Braithwaite’s “Rules and Orders for the Government of the House of an Earl,” which, if the “M.L.” for whom the piece was composed was his future wife, Mistress Lawson, cannot have seen the light later than 1617, in which year they were married. He specifies14 —(1) a yeoman and groom15 for the cellar; (2) a yeoman and groom for the pantry; (3) a yeoman and groom for the buttery; (3a) a yeoman for the ewery; (4) a yeoman purveyor16; (5) a master-cook, under-cooks, and three pastry-men; (6) a yeoman and groom in the scullery, one to be in the larder17 and slaughter-house; (7) an achator or buyer; (8) three conducts [query, errand-boys] and three kitchen-boys.
The writer also admits us to a rather fuller acquaintance with the mode in which the marketing18 was done. He says that the officers, among other matters, “must be able to judge, not only of the prices, but also of the goodness of all kinds of corn, cattle, and household provisions; and the better to enable themselves thereto, are oftentimes to ride to fairs and great markets, and there to have conference with graziers and purveyors.” The higher officers were to see that the master was not deceived by purveyors and buyers, and that other men’s cattle did not feed on my lord’s pastures; they were to take care that the clerk of the kitchen kept his day-book “in that perfect and good order, that at the end of every week or month it be pied out,” and that a true docket of all kinds of provisions be set down. They were to see that the powdered and salted meats in the larder were properly kept; and vigilant19 supervision20 was to be exercised over the cellar, buttery, and other departments, even to the prevention of paring the tallow lights.
Braithwaite dedicates a section to each officer; but I have only space to transcribe21, by way of sample, the opening portion of his account of “The Officer of the Kitchen:” “The Master-Cook should be a man of years; well-experienced, whereby the younger cooks will be drawn22 the better to obey his directions. In ancient times noblemen contented23 themselves to be served with such as had been bred in their own houses, but of late times none could please some but Italians and Frenchmen, or at best brought up in the Court, or under London cooks: nor would the old manner of baking, boiling, and roasting please them, but the boiled meats must be after the French fashion, the dishes garnished24 about with sugar and preserved plums, the meat covered over with orangeade, preserved lemons, and with divers25 other preserved and conserved26 stuff fetched from the confectioner’s: more lemons and sugar spent in boiling fish to serve at one meal than might well serve the whole expense of the house in a day.” He goes on to describe and ridicule27 the new fashion of placing arms and crests28 on the dishes. It seems that all the refuse was the perquisite29 of the cook and his subordinates in a regulated proportion, and the same in the bakery and other branches; but, as may be supposed, in these matters gross abuses were committed.
In the “Leisure Hour” for 1884 was printed a series of papers on “English Homes in the Olden Times.” The eleventh deals with service and wages, and is noticed here because it affords a recital30 of the orders made for his household by John Harington the elder in 1566, and renewed by John Harington the younger, his son and High Sheriff of Somersetshire, in 1592.
This code of domestic discipline for an Elizabethan establishment comprises the observance of decorum and duty at table, and is at least as valuable and curious as those metrical canons and precepts31 which form the volume (Babees’ Book) edited for the Early English Text Society, etc.
There is rather too general a dislike on the part of antiquaries to take cognisance of matter inserted in popular periodicals upon subjects of an archaeological character; but of course the loose and flimsy treatment which this class of topics as a rule receives in the light literature of the day makes it perilous32 to use information so forthcoming in evidence or quotation33. Articles must be rendered palatable34 to the general reader, and thus become worthless for all readers alike.
Most of the early descriptions and handbooks of instruction turn, naturally enough, on the demands and enjoyments35 of the great. There is in the treatise36 of Walter de Bibblesworth (14th century) a very interesting and edifying37 account of the arrangement of courses for some important banquet. The boar’s head holds the place of honour in the list, and venison follows, and various dishes of roast. Among the birds to be served up we see cranes, peacocks, swans, and wild geese; and of the smaller varieties, fieldfares, plovers38, and larks39. There were wines; but the writer only particularises them as white and red. The haunch of venison was then an ordinary dish, as well as kid. They seem to have sometimes roasted and sometimes boiled them. Not only the pheasant and partridge appear, but the quail40 — which is at present scarcer in this country, though so plentiful41 abroad — the duck, and the mallard.
In connection with venison, it is worth while to draw attention to a passage in the “Privy Purse Expenses of Henry VII” where, under date of August 8, 1505, a woman receives 3s. d. for clarifying deer suet for the King. This was not for culinary but for medicinal purposes, as it was then, and much later, employed as an ointment42.
Both William I. and his son the Red King maintained, as Warner shews us, a splendid table; and we have particulars of the princely scale on which an Abbot of Canterbury celebrated43 his installation in 1309. The archbishops of those times, if they exercised inordinate45 authority, at any rate dispensed46 in a magnificent manner among the poor and infirm a large portion of their revenues. They stood in the place of corporations and Poor Law Guardians47. Their very vices48 were not without a certain fascinating grandeur49; and the pleasures of the table in which our Plantagenet rulers outstripped50 even their precursors51, the earlier sovereigns of that line, were enhanced and multiplied by the Crusades, by the commencing spirit of discovery, and by the foreign intermarriages, which became so frequent.
A far more thorough conquest than that which the day of Hastings signalised was accomplished52 by an army of a more pacific kind, which crossed the Channel piecemeal53, bringing in their hands, not bows and swords, but new dishes and new wines. These invaders54 of our soil were doubtless welcomed as benefactors55 by the proud nobles of the Courts of Edward II. and Richard II., as well as by Royalty56 itself; and the descriptions which have been preserved of the banquets held on special occasions in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and even of the ordinary style of living of some, make our City feasts of to-day shrink into insignificance57. But we must always remember that the extravagant58 luxury and hospitality of the old time were germane59 and proper to it, component60 parts of the social framework.
It is to be remarked that some of the most disturbed and disastrous61 epochs in our annals are those to which we have to go for records of the greatest exploits in gastronomy62 and lavish63 expenditure64 of public money on comparatively unprofitable objects. During the period from the accession of Rufus to the death of Henry III., and again under the rule of Richard II., the taste for magnificent parade and sumptuous65 entertainments almost reached its climax66. The notion of improving the condition of the poor had not yet dawned on the mind of the governing class; to make the artizan and the operative self-supporting and self-respectful was a movement not merely unformulated, but a conception beyond the parturient faculty67 of a member of the Jacquerie. The king, prince, bishop44, noble, of unawakened England met their constituents68 at dinner in a fashion once or twice in a lifetime, and when the guests below the salt had seen the ways of greatness, they departed to fulfil their several callings. These were political demonstrations69 with a clear and (for the age) not irrational70 object; but for the modern public dinner, over which I should be happy to preach the funeral sermon, there is not often this or any other plea.
The redistribution of wealth and its diversion into more fruitful channels has already done something for the people; and in the future that lies before some of us they will do vastly more. All Augaea will be flushed out.
In some of these superb feasts, such as that at the marriage of Henry IV. in 1403, there were two series of courses, three of meat, and three of fish and sweets; in which we see our present fashion to a certain extent reversed. But at the coronation of Henry V. in 1421, only three courses were served, and those mixed. The taste for what were termed “subtleties,” had come in, and among the dishes at this latter entertainment occur, “A pelican71 sitting on her nest with her young,” and “an image of St. Catherine holding a book and disputing with the doctors.” These vagaries72 became so common, that few dinners of importance were accounted complete without one or more.
One of the minor73 “subtleties” was a peacock in full panoply74. The bird was first skinned, and the feathers, tail, head and neck having been laid on a table, and sprinkled with cummin, the body was roasted, glazed75 with raw egg-yolk, and after being left to cool, was sewn back again into the skin and so brought to table as the last course. In 1466, at the enthronement of Archbishop Nevile, no fewer than 104 peacocks were dressed.
The most extraordinary display of fish at table on a single occasion took place at the enthronement feast of Archbishop Warham in 1504; it occurred on a fast day; and consequently no meat, poultry76 or game was included in the menu, but ample compensation was found in the lavish assortment77 of confectionery, spices, beer and wine. Of wine of various vintages there were upwards78 of 12 pipes, and of ale and beer, thirty tuns, including four of London and six of Kentish ale.
The narratives79 which have descended80 to us of the prodigious81 banquets given on special occasions by our early kings, prelates and nobles, are apt to inspire the general reader with an admiration82 of the splendid hospitality of bygone times. But, as I have already suggested, these festivities were occasional and at long intervals83, and during the intervening space the great ones and the small ones of mediaeval and early England did not indulge in this riotous84 sort of living, but “kept secret house,” as it was called, both after their own fashion. The extremes of prodigality85 and squalor were more strongly marked among the poorer classes while this country was in a semi-barbarous condition, and even the aristocracy by no means maintained the same domestic state throughout the year as their modern representatives. There are not those ostentatious displays of wealth and generosity86, which used to signalise certain political events, such as the coronation of a monarch87 or the enthronement of a primate88; the mode of living has grown more uniform and consistent, since between the vilain and his lord has interposed himself the middle-class Englishman, with a hand held out to either.
A few may not spend so much, but as a people we spend more on our table. A good dinner to a shepherd or a porter was formerly89 more than a nine days’ wonder; it was like a beacon90 seen through a mist. But now he is better fed, clothed and housed than the bold baron91, whose serf he would have been in the good old days; and the bold baron, on his part, no longer keeps secret house unless he chooses, and observes, if a more monotonous92, a more secure and comfortable tenor93 of life. This change is of course due to a cause which lies very near the surface — to the gradual effacement94 of the deeply-cut separating lines between the orders of society, and the stealthy uprise of the class, which is fast gathering95 all power into its own hands.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
pastry
|
|
| n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
misery
|
|
| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
superintendent
|
|
| n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
costly
|
|
| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
collaterally
|
|
| 担保物； 旁系亲属 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
likeness
|
|
| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
advert
|
|
| vi.注意，留意，言及；n.广告 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
anecdote
|
|
| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
broth
|
|
| n.原(汁)汤(鱼汤、肉汤、菜汤等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
veal
|
|
| n.小牛肉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
requisite
|
|
| adj.需要的，必不可少的；n.必需品 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
glean
|
|
| v.收集(消息、资料、情报等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
specifies
|
|
| v.指定( specify的第三人称单数 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
groom
|
|
| vt.给（马、狗等）梳毛，照料，使...整洁 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
purveyor
|
|
| n.承办商，伙食承办商 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
larder
|
|
| n.食物贮藏室，食品橱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
marketing
|
|
| n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
vigilant
|
|
| adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
supervision
|
|
| n.监督，管理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
transcribe
|
|
| v.抄写，誉写；改编(乐曲)；复制，转录 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
contented
|
|
| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
garnished
|
|
| v.给（上餐桌的食物）加装饰( garnish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
divers
|
|
| adj.不同的；种种的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
conserved
|
|
| v.保护，保藏，保存( conserve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
ridicule
|
|
| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
crests
|
|
| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
perquisite
|
|
| n.固定津贴，福利 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
recital
|
|
| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
precepts
|
|
| n.规诫，戒律，箴言( precept的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
perilous
|
|
| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
quotation
|
|
| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
palatable
|
|
| adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
enjoyments
|
|
| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
treatise
|
|
| n.专著；(专题)论文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
edifying
|
|
| adj.有教训意味的，教训性的，有益的v.开导，启发( edify的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
plovers
|
|
| n.珩，珩科鸟（如凤头麦鸡）( plover的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
larks
|
|
| n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
quail
|
|
| n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
plentiful
|
|
| adj.富裕的，丰富的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
ointment
|
|
| n.药膏，油膏，软膏 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
celebrated
|
|
| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
bishop
|
|
| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
inordinate
|
|
| adj.无节制的；过度的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
dispensed
|
|
| v.分配( dispense的过去式和过去分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
guardians
|
|
| 监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
vices
|
|
| 缺陷( vice的名词复数 )； 恶习； 不道德行为； 台钳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
grandeur
|
|
| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
outstripped
|
|
| v.做得比…更好，（在赛跑等中）超过( outstrip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
precursors
|
|
| n.先驱( precursor的名词复数 )；先行者；先兆；初期形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
accomplished
|
|
| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
piecemeal
|
|
| adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
invaders
|
|
| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
benefactors
|
|
| n.捐助者，施主( benefactor的名词复数 )；恩人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
royalty
|
|
| n.皇家，皇族 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
insignificance
|
|
| n.不重要；无价值；无意义 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
extravagant
|
|
| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
germane
|
|
| adj.关系密切的，恰当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
component
|
|
| n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
disastrous
|
|
| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
gastronomy
|
|
| n.美食法；美食学 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
lavish
|
|
| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
expenditure
|
|
| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
sumptuous
|
|
| adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
climax
|
|
| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
faculty
|
|
| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
constituents
|
|
| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
demonstrations
|
|
| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
irrational
|
|
| adj.无理性的，失去理性的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
pelican
|
|
| n.鹈鹕，伽蓝鸟 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
vagaries
|
|
| n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 )；异想天开；异常行为；难以预测的情况 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
minor
|
|
| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
panoply
|
|
| n.全副甲胄，礼服 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
glazed
|
|
| adj.光滑的，像玻璃的；上过釉的；呆滞无神的v.装玻璃( glaze的过去式)；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
poultry
|
|
| n.家禽，禽肉 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
assortment
|
|
| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
upwards
|
|
| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
narratives
|
|
| 记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
descended
|
|
| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
prodigious
|
|
| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
admiration
|
|
| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
intervals
|
|
| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
riotous
|
|
| adj.骚乱的；狂欢的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
prodigality
|
|
| n.浪费，挥霍 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
generosity
|
|
| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
monarch
|
|
| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
primate
|
|
| n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
formerly
|
|
| adv.从前，以前 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
beacon
|
|
| n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
baron
|
|
| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
monotonous
|
|
| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
tenor
|
|
| n.男高音（歌手），次中音（乐器），要旨，大意 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
effacement
|
|
| n.抹消，抹杀 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
gathering
|
|
| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |