t judgment is required in blending the different spices or other
condiments, so that a fine flavour is produced without the undue
preponderance of either.

It is only in coarse cooking that the flavour of onions, pepper,
garlic, nutmeg, and eschalot is permitted to prevail. As a general
rule, salt should be used in moderation.

Sugar is an improvement in nearly all soups, sauces, and gravies; also
with stewed vegetables, but of course must be used with discretion.

Ketchups, Soy, Harvey's sauce, &c., are used too indiscrimately by
inferior cooks; it is better to leave them to be added at table by
those who approve of their flavour.

Any thing that is required to be warmed up a second time, should be
set in a basin placed in a _bain-marie_, or saucepan, filled with
boiling water, but which must not be allowed to boil; or the article
will become hardened and the sauce dried up.

To remove every particle of fat from the gravies of stews, &c., a
piece of white blotting-paper should be laid on the surface, and the
fat will adhere to it; this should be repeated two or three times.

It is important to keep saucepans well skimmed; the best prepared dish
will be spoiled by neglect on this point.

The difference between good and bad cookery is particularly
discernible in the preparation of forcemeats. A common cook is
satistified if she chops or minces the ingredients and moistens them
with an egg scarcely beaten, but this is a very crude and imperfect
method; they should be pounded together in a mortar until not a lump
or fibre is perceptible. Further directions will be given in the
proper place, but this is a rule which must be strictly attended to by
those who wish to attain any excellence in this branch of their art.

Eggs for forcemeats, and for every description of sweet dishes, should
be thoroughly beaten, and for the finer kinds should be passed through
a sieve.

A trustworthy zealous servant must keep in mind, that waste and
extravagance are no proofs of skill. On the contrary, GOOD COOKERY
is by no means expensive, as it makes the most of every thing, and
furnishes out of simple and economical materials, dishes which are at
once palatable and elegant.

CHAPTER I.

Soups.

STOCK OR CONSOMME.

This is the basis of all kinds of soup and sauces. Shin of beef or
ox-cheek make excellent stock, although good gravy-beef is sometimes
preferred; the bones should always be broken, and the meat cut up, as