The Gastronomic Regenerator: A Simplified and Entirely New System of Cookery With Nearly Two Thousand Practical Receipts Suited to the Income of All Classes

H. R. H. the Duke of Cambridge. Ernest reigning Duke of Saxe-Cobourg. H. R. H. the Duke of Sussex. H. R. H. the Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha. H. R. H. the Prince of Prussia. Archduke Frederic of Austria. Prince Biron de Courlande. Princess Clementine of France. The Duke of Leinster. The Duke of Bedford. The Duchess of Sutherland. La Duchesse d’Escars. La Duchesse de Lorges. La Duchesse de Valmy. The Countess of Essex. The Countess of Carlisle. The Dowager Marchioness of Downshire. The Countess of Clare. The Countess of Craven. The Baroness de Ludwigsdorff (Sweden.) Lady Eliza Phillips. Lady Flower. Lady Throgmorton. Lady Elibank. The Marquis of Ailsa. The Marquis of Normanby. The Marquis of Lansdowne. The Marquis of Clanricarde. The Marquis of Titchfield. The Marquis of Headfort. The Marquis of Salisbury. Marquieza das Minas. Marquieza das Furjel. The Earl Fortescue. The Earl of Pembroke. The Earl of Chesterfield. The Earl of Devon. The Earl of Yarborough. The Earl of Charlemont. The Count Hatzfeldt (Prussia). Count Woronzow. Countess Woronzow. The Earl Grosvenor. The Earl of Clarendon. The Earl of Sefton. Le Baron de Molartie (great Echanson to the King of Hanover). Le Baron Adolphe de Rothschild. La Baronne de Rothschild. La Baronne de Weiber (Baden). Le Comte de Rancher (France). Le Comte de Pradel (France). Lord Ebrington. Lord Dinorben. Lord Maidstone. Lord Marcus Hill, M.P. Le Vicomte de Noailles (France). Viscount Duncannon. Lord James Stuart. Lord Mostyn. Lord Jermyn. Lord Say and Sele. Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart. Lord Panmure. Lord F. Gordon. Lord Hastings. Lord Scarborough. Lord Nugent. Lord Lovat. Lord Templetown. Lord Clement. Lord Augustus Fitzclarence. Lord Vivian. Sir George Chetwynd. Sir Benjamin Hall, M.P. Sir Henry Webb. Sir Andrew Leith Hay, M.P. Sir D. Le Marchant. Sir John Guest, M.P. Sir Hesketh Fleetwood, M.P. Sir James Duke, M.P. Sir John Easthope, M.P. Sir. R. Musgrave. Le Chevalier A. Mongaldi (Venice). Sir John M’Neil. Sir Henry Pottinger. The Right Honorable Fox Maule, M.P. The Honorable H. R. Westenra. The Honorable J. O. Murray. Lieutenant-Colonel Westenra. Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon. Major-General Evans. Admiral Dundas, M.P. General Sir Alexander Duff, Bart. General Johnson. Le General Baron de Farincourt (France.) Colonel Sir William Robert Clayton. Colonel White. Colonel Beckwith. Major Richardson. Captain Noble Cæsar de Ladacio (Naples). Lieut. Gen. Baron de Warlington (Bavaria). Capitaine de Vaisseaux F. Gautier (France). Admiral Codrington. El Gen. Martin Joié de Triarte (Spain). Captain Robert Scherger (Cobourg). The Honorable General Mead. The Honorable Captain Vivian, M.P. Daniel O’Connell, Esq., M.P. Maurice O’Connell, Esq., M.P. John O’Connell, Esq., M.P. George Duncan, Esq., M.P. Edward Ellice, Esq., M.P. Robert Archbold, Esq., M.P. The Rev. Charles Turnor, D.D. Captain Wemyss. Alston, Rowland, Esq. Basevi, George, Esq. Bryane, W. C. Esq. (America). Bavin Christopher, Esq. Boyd, W. Esq. Buckland, James, Esq. Hawes, B. Esq. M. Dusillion, Architect, Paris. Barry, Charles, Esq. Bonverie, Edward Pleydell, Esq. Collins, William, M.D. Clumy, Thomas, Esq. Clayton, John, Lloyd, Esq. Diwett, Thomas, Esq. Dardel, Monsieur de. Dann, Henry, Esq. Faraday, Professor. Gully, John, Esq. Gunston, John, Esq. Gordon, Robert, Esq. Hoare, Charles, Esq. Harmer, James, Esq. Hope, ----, Esq. Hovenden, J. E. Esq. Humphrey, John, Alderman, M.P. Melik, A. Esq., (Turkey). Montefiore, N. Esq. Murphy, Mr. Sergeant. Oliviera, Benjamin, Esq. O’Brien, Stafford, Esq. Perkins, Frederic, Esq. Philips, Mark, Esq., M.P. Prescott, H. Esq. Rushton, E. A. Esq. Strutt, Edward, Esq., M.P. Sampayo, O. H. Esq. F. A. Sarg, Esq. Wolfe, J. L. Esq.

PREFACE.

At the request of several persons of distinction, who have visited the Reform Club,--particularly the ladies, to whom I have always made it a rule never to refuse anything in my power, for indeed it must have been the fair sex who have had the majority in this domestic argument to gain this gastronomical election,--Why do you not write and publish a Cookery-book? was a question continually put to me. For a considerable time this scientific word caused a thrill of horror to pervade my frame, and brought back to my mind that one day, being in a most superb library in the midst of a splendid baronial hall, by chance I met with one of Milton’s allegorical works, the profound ideas of Locke, and several chefs-d’œuvre of one of the noblest champions of literature, Shakspeare; when all at once my attention was attracted by the nineteenth edition of a voluminous work: such an immense success of publication caused me to say, “Oh! you celebrated man, posterity counts every hour of fame upon your regretted ashes!” Opening this work with intense curiosity, to my great disappointment what did I see,--a receipt for Ox-tail Soup! The terrifying effect produced upon me by this succulent volume made me determine that my few ideas, whether culinary or domestic, should never encumber a sanctuary which should be entirely devoted to works worthy of a place in the Temple of the Muses.

But you must acknowledge, respected readers, how changeable and uncertain are our feeble ideas through life; to keep the promise above mentioned, I have been drawn into a thousand gastronomic reflections, which have involved me in the necessity of deviating entirely from my former opinion, and have induced me to bring before the public the present volume, under the title of ‘The Gastronomic Regenerator,’ throughout which I have closely followed the plain rules of simplicity, so that every receipt can not only clearly be understood, but easily executed.

I now sincerely hope, Ladies, that I have not only kept my promise, but to your satisfaction paid tribute to your wishes.

You have not forgotten, dear reader, the effect that monstrous volume, the said nineteenth edition, produced upon me, therefore I now sincerely beg of you to put my book in a place suited to its little merit, and not with Milton’s sublime Paradise, for there it certainly would be doubly lost.

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

The sale of three editions of the Gastronomic Regenerator in less than nine months, is so gratifying to my feelings, that I should be wanting in courtesy, were I not publicly to express, at this present moment, how grateful I am for the very flattering testimonials I have been honoured with by the press, through whom I have received such great encouragement from the public, who so handsomely repaid the laborious work which I have devoted to the gastronomic art.

In this the Fourth Edition, I have increased and improved the receipts, and corrected those errors which unavoidably occur in so voluminous a work.

The first improvement is a most essential one, being an abbreviated table of contents, referring from number to number or article to article, and giving in a few pages the translation of every comestible, which will much facilitate the making of bills of fare.

The second and still more important improvement is my new Tendon Separator, demonstrated by a scientific woodcut, with full explanations of its valuable use in preparing poultry and game for the table.

I have added several new receipts, communicated by amateurs, which are not deficient in good taste.

There will likewise be found a correct engraving of my Bouquet de Gibier, which met with so much success in London and Paris last Christmas, and offers to noblemen and gentlemen a new and pleasing mode of making presents of game.

The one I presented to His Majesty Louis Philippe, with a copy of this work, met with the highest approbation from the court of France, and was most handsomely acknowledged by his Majesty.

I now most humbly return thanks to the public for their kind encouragement, and trust that the success I have hitherto had may still be continued.

ALEXIS SOYER.

DUBLIN; St. Patrick’s Day, 1847.

IMPORTANT.

DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPOSITION OF THIS WORK.

To sustain and deserve the title of “Gastronomic Regenerator,” nothing but an entire change from the system of any other publication on the art of Cookery would be admissible, it is now in the hands of my readers to judge for themselves, and to stamp its character according to its merits, either as an original or a copy; to avoid the last, however, I have closely studied to introduce the greatest novelty in every department, and have entirely omitted all unnecessary confusion, which, in many previous works, have rendered them unintelligible to the uninitiated, and almost impracticable to the initiated; however, many old and useful receipts, too good to be omitted, will be found much simplified--to reduce them to a practical point.

I have also minutely studied the disposing and arranging of the building of all sized kitchens, from the one of the Reform Club and the Kitchen of the Wealthy to the humble one of the cottage, which cannot fail to prove useful when closely followed, as six years of experience in the kitchen of the Reform Club[1] has fully proved to me that those useful departments have not only previously been much neglected, but in many instances at a very great expense still worse arranged for want of practical knowledge, and considering that the pleasures of the table are an every-day enjoyment which reflects good and evil on all classes, my readers I am sure will agree with me that the proper disposing of such an important department deserves some little attention, for food uncomfortably prepared is almost always unsightly, unwholesome, and consequently indigestible, not being cleanly prepared.

I have likewise omitted in this work the placing of a long series of bills of fare, which has been done in every previous publication; although they might have proved useful in some few circumstances, they are seldom referred to, and often create confusion in the composition of a dinner by the difficulty of procuring perhaps the identical comestibles required in the receipts which the bills of fare refer to; and more I would venture to say, that in no circumstances have those bills of fare been correctly followed; the only three I have introduced being one to arrange my pagodatique service to grace the Table of the Wealthy, the other the Lucullusian dinner, and the dinner of my Table at Home, which will give a general idea of the manner in which I usually compose my bills of fare, which of course may be increased or decreased to any size. To avoid the old-fashioned method of giving ten or twelve for every season in the year, I have made the whole contents of my book one regular bill of fare, which will enable the most inexperienced cook, or young lady just commencing housekeeping, to compose a recherché or economical bill of fare at will, being so distributed, that after a short series of sauces the bill of fare commences, being first the soups, then the fish, then the hors-d’œuvres, or flying dishes, to be handed round the table during the time the removes and entrées are placing upon it; this is the usual manner I serve a dinner, which cannot fail to be very hot; and to prevent confusion, which too often occurs, I place a number on a piece of paper between the cover and the dish, with a corresponding number to the name of the dish upon the bill of fare, which is then forwarded to the steward, who by this means not only understands the better placing it upon the table, but is able to answer to any questions respecting the dinner, thus saving time and confusion; and, above all, the dinner will be very hot and inviting, which would not be the case in the regular system of laying out the whole of the first course first upon the kitchen table, having to uncover every dish unnecessarily, then upon another table in a room adjoining the dining-room, and third and last, upon the dining-table, adding to which the chance of confusion and innumerable delays, in which your dinner is getting quite cold. In a plate service of sixteen entrées, which I was directed by the committee of the Reform Club to order, I introduced silver sand concealed in the heaters; thus by placing them two hours in a hot closet previous to serving, they will retain their heat nearly a couple of hours longer upon the table, but for further details, see Pagodatique Dish at the end of the book. But to return to the arrangement of my book: after the hors-d’œuvres come the removes, flancs, entrées, in succession in the first course, and for the second the roasts, savoury dishes, vegetables, entremets, and removes second course; thus my readers will have but to turn from one series to another in succession to arrange their bills of fare.