BOUND THE TABLE

nish,” may be defined as all that is added to the chief material which constitutes the dish. Thus tomato sauce, in a dish of cutlets, or fried potatoes round a steak are garnishes.

These things fall naturally under two great heads. The hot garnishes, which accompany every savoury dish, and the cold garnishes, which go with cold meats, salads, mayonnaises, &c.

Vegetables are the chief materials of hot garnishes. By judicious combinations they will produce very pretty effects of colour. To instance only a few : turnips, pota- toes, Jei'usalem artichokes, cauliflowers, celery, and vege- table marrows will give whites ; carrots, tomatoes, beetroot, supply the reds; truffles and mushrooms the blacks; and then there are the endless shades of green given by French beans, peas, Brassels sprouts, cucumbers, asparagus, &c. To be so used, all such vegetables as will admit of it must be cut into uniform shapes with what are called vegetable-cutters, the successful use of which re- quires some practice. They may also be cut, with a knife, into the shape of a “ quarter” of an orange, or again, into little oblong slabs a quarter of an inch thick, and one inch by three-quarters, with all the edges slightly chamfered. This way is very good for carrots, when the middle part begins to harden, and is not fit to eat. Some vegetables can be sliced, and pieces can then be stamped out of them. French beans should be cut into lozenges, or they may be cut in the shape of peas with a stamp. Cauliflowers should be picked out into little bunches the size of a penny at the top. Vegetables are usually cut before cooking, and each kind should be cooked separately. Great care is necessary to ensure that, when sent up to table, they are all “ cuits a point1’ and hot.

Here is a simple example of purely vegetable garnish.

GARNISHING.

Suppose that a piece of beef be stewed according to art, and put in a dish on a tasteful and velvety gravy. Having all your vegetables ready cooked at hand, you proceed to place four little heaps of cauliflowers at equal distances from each other ; then you flank each with carrot cut in slabs on one side, and French beans cut into lozenges on the other ; and lastly you fill in the remaining spaces, i.e., between the beans and the carrots, with potatoes cut to the shape and size of Spanish olives, and fried a very light colour in butter. I should here observe that, once cooked, these things should not be touched with the hand, but put into position by means of a larding needle and a teaspoon, or some other instrument. I may also state, for the benefit of those who look to economy before all things, that all this cutting and stamping out of vegetables need not cause the slightest waste. The trimmings of carrots, tur- nips, &c., should go into the stock pot, those of potatoes make mashed potatoes, and purees can be made with most, if not all, of the remnants. In fact, a puree composed of a combination of vegetables is no bad thing, either as a soup or as a garnish for cutlets, &c. For purposes of gar- nishing, potatoes are also mashed, and then shaped into various forms, and they are likewise made into cro- quets, and fried a golden colour, in which latter case eggs and spices should enter into their composition.

Bread sippets — which are used to garnish many dishes — should be invariably fried in butter. They ought to be cut out of stale bread, and should be of the same thickness and of uniform shape, which, with the help of paste cutters, can be varied ad infinitum.

Forcemeat, quenelles, tongue, eggs (hard boiled), olives, &c., are used in garnishing. Parsley should only be used in a fried form : a hot dish garnished with raw sprigs of