ing so delightful.'"

Then came the salad, which Savarin recommends to all who place
confidence in him. It refreshes without exciting; and he has a theory
that it makes people younger.

Amidst pleasant converse the dessert arrived. It consisted of three
apples, cheese, and a plate of preserves; and then upon a little round
table was served the Mocha coffee, for which France has been, and is, so
justly famous.

"'I never,' said the Cure, 'take spirits; I always offer liqueurs to my
guests but reserve the use of them, myself, to my old age, if it should
please Providence to grant me that.'

"Finally, the charming Madame Recamier took her leave, and told all her
friends of the delicious omelet which she had seen and partaken of."

And Brillat Savarin, in his capacity as the Layard of the concealed
treasures of Gastronomia, has succeeded in withdrawing from obscurity
the details of the preparation of which so much had been said, and which
he imagines to be as wholesome as it was agreeable.

Here follows the recipe:--

OMELETTE AU THON.

1494. Take, for 6 persons, the roes of 2 carp; [Footnote: An American
writer says he has followed this recipe, substituting pike, shad, &c.,
in the place of carp, and can recommend all these also, with a quiet
conscience. Any fish, indeed, may be used with success.] bleach them, by
putting them, for 5 minutes, in boiling water slightly salted. Take a
piece of fresh tunny about the size of a hen's egg, to which add a small
shalot already chopped; hash up together the roe and the tunny, so as to
mix them well, and throw the whole into a saucepan, with a sufficient
quantity of very good butter: whip it up until the butter is melted!
This constitutes the specialty of the omelet. Take a second piece of
butter, _a discretion_, mix it with parsley and herbs, place it in a
long-shaped dish destined to receive the omelet; squeeze the juice of a
lemon over it, and place it on hot embers. Beat up 12 eggs (the fresher
the better); throw up the saute of roe and tunny, stirring it so as to
mix all well together; then make your omelet in the usual manner,
endeavouring to turn it out long, thick, and soft. Spread it carefully
on the dish prepared for it, and serve at once. This dish ought to be
reserved for recherche dejeuners, or for assemblies where amateurs meet
who know how to eat well; washed down with a good old wine, it will work
wonders.

_Note_.--The roe and the tunny must be beaten up (