Caterer

“ If the tea is at a private house there is no awning unless it rains, but there is a chauffeur or coachman at the curb to open motor doors, and a butler, or caterer's man, to open the door of the house before any one has time to ring.
Guests as they arrive are announced either by the hostess' own butler or a caterer's "announcer." The hostess receives everyone as at a ball; if she and her daughter are for the moment standing alone, the new arrival, if a friend, stands talking with them until a newer arrival takes his or her place. ”

“ Widdifield's New Cook Book, in which the experience of that celebrated person in this line is given so clearly and with such precise details, that any housekeeper of sufficient capacity to undertake the management of household affairs, can make herself an accomplished caterer for the table without serving an apprenticeship to the business. ”

“ Mather," said the shrewd caterer, "if you have every confidence in Don Pedro, you can give me your guarantee that I shall be paid in full, and then I shall be happy to serve the guests the same as if the Don were here." ”

“ And if the criticisms on the modern English methods of preparing food should attract the attention of the home caterer, he may possibly be induced to give his steam-chest and his gas-range a rest, and put the roast beef of Old England on his table, occasionally ”

“ Now, there is a clamour of open detestation of all domestic concerns. It began with the caterer; in old times one's own establishment was competent to furnish the refreshments of every entertainment—to have cakes baked or ices frozen out of one's own house would be a confession of being beyond one's depth, and of seeking to entertain more elaborately and making more pretensions than one was entitled to sustain. A household valued its reputation for fine dinners, and elaborate refreshments at dancing parties ”

“ Moreover, the caterer's customers can have the satisfaction of knowing that the pretty things that they are buying are not made with the help of plaster of Paris or other ingredients of which the less there is said the better!
The caterer should take particular note of the illustration facing page 138. It will suggest many of the uses to which the new mediums can be put. The caterer, also, should read with particular care the chapter relating to decorative candy. ”

“ The ship's company is divided into messes, each man being assigned to a certain mess at the same time his billet number or ship's number is given to him. There are from fifteen to thirty men in a mess. Each has its own "berth-deck cook," who prepares the food for the galley; each, too, has a mess caterer, or striker, whose business it is to help the mess cook and see that all goes well. The caterer is a volunteer from the mess, and generally serves for a week, when another volunteer takes his place. ”

“ If a hot sauce and a salad are both served, she will provide an extra plate for the salad. She should learn the correct temperature for wines, as well as the glasses in which they belong, [Pg 83] and various other details necessary to be attended to during a full dinner.
Many things may be learned by cheerfully assisting the caterer who serves an occasional dinner in the household, or by taking a position where a part of the parlor maid’s duty is to assist an experienced butler; or, in many houses, the mistress herself will kindly give the necessary instruction. ”

“ One general principle may be laid down for the following of any woman who thinks of giving a large luncheon—don't undertake too much. If you cannot afford to engage the most difficult dishes from a caterer, be very sure that your cook is equal to preparing them in a satisfactory manner. Better have a few things, and have them well done, than a long menu of indifferently cooked viands. A large luncheon is no light undertaking at the best, except to those who have a practised chef and an expert butler, and a great deal of personal supervision is required to make it a success. ”

“ A business man writes: “Our family is happier than it ever dared hope to be under the sway of Green Erin. We purchase all baked articles and all cooked meats as far as possible. A caterer is employed on special occasions, and work that cannot be done by the parents, three children, and two aunts, who compose the family, is hired by the hour. ”

“ Women, to be sure, were never the greatest of the culinary artists, but they used to pay some attention to food and its preparation, whereas at present their chief thought is of the appearance of the dining-room and the table. The linen, the porcelain, the glassware, must be of the finest, the flowers of the costliest, but the food and wine are provided by a paid caterer, who seldom knows his business. As for eating in restaurants or hotels, that is no better. ”

“ Here’s a city caterer set up in that built-over block on Main Street, where Blink’s shoe-store used to be before the fire. There’s nothing he doesn’t offer to furnish to customers—bread, rolls, patty shells, ice-creams (French and American) , birthday cakes, weddin’ cakes, salads, cotillon favors, Jack Horner pies ”

“ One well-trained maid should be able to render all the assistance required at the table. Given the before-mentioned maid, a lady can, with previous management, give a dinner as elegantly, and perhaps with more perfect hospitality, than where the whole affair is relegated to the hands of an experienced caterer.
In laying the table the same manner of arrangement is to be observed as for dinner a la Russe, save that there are more dishes on the board and the decorations are placed with a view to leaving all the space possible. ”

“ I have seen a menu composed of turtle soup, salmon, venison and woodcocks, all excellent things in their way, but when brought together only leaving a sense of excessive oiliness and richness.
As an entree the roti should consist of game, and vice-versa. The salad served with poultry and game should be green salad with a simple dressing of oil and vinegar. No set rules can be laid down.
It is true the caterer is an important element in the modern art of dinner-giving—he "saves all the trouble;" but he is a stereotyped quantity. ”

“ Ice cream can be served as above, and ices in glass cups; after this the maids can gather up the dishes in baskets. A caterer may be called upon to furnish the feast, in which event all trouble will be spared the hostess. Do not use the best glass and china at these entertainments; the danger of breakage is too great.
At many gatherings a special table is supplied for the gentlemen, where soda-water, claret cup, and sometimes wines are served. The men help themselves, but a manservant is present to supply fresh glasses, etc. This table depends entirely upon the principles of the hostess. ”

“ The general sit-down breakfast—except in great houses like a few of those in Newport—is always furnished by a caterer, who brings all the food, tables, chairs, napery, china and glass, as well as the necessary waiters. ”

“ When you are invited to tea, you find your place set at a table loaded with expensive flowers and accessories from the chic caterer. Footmen are in constant attendance and the charm of informality has entirely gone. ”

“ Before you go to market, look over your larder, and consider well what things are wanting, especially on a Saturday. No well-regulated family can suffer a disorderly caterer to be jumping in and out to the chandler’s shop on a Sunday morning. ”

“ Boiled beef and carrots have fallen into disuse, except among a few obstinate grey-haired clerks, who would sooner give up clerking than change their habits; tavern lunches are popular enough, among bucolic book-keepers; but the great man, the star luncher in the eye of the up-to-date caterer is the young man with the clean collar.
For him and his kin we have the tea-shop, the dining-rooms, the restaurant, the café, Lyons', the A.B.C., the Mecca, and others. Snacks of fish, vegetarian dinners, quick lunches; smart waitresses to serve him and smile upon him. ”

“ By previous arrangement, each company dines by itself, or it joins forces with some friendly company and hires the services of a caterer. The hotel of the village cannot begin to accommodate the public, whether martial or civilian, and temporary sheds cover long lines of tables on which the feast is spread. ”

“ The menu usually consists of "fruit, raw oysters, bouillon, fish or lobster in some fancy form, an entrée, birds and salad, ices, cakes, bonbons, and coffee," according to one recognized authority. Or it may be much simpler, and include only oysters or bouillon, sandwiches and salad, ices, cakes, and coffee.
Usually some punch is served in which to pledge the bride and bridegroom. If wine is used, champagne is customary for weddings.
The caterer usually supplies all the necessities for the wedding feast, even to china, linen, silver, candelabra, and flowers, should the bride's parents so wish. ”

“ He says:—There shall be two persons chosen annually, by a majority, to be called caterers, which shall on every Whit Monday go to Leicester, to what inn they shall think proper, where a calf’s head shall be provided for their breakfast; and when the bones are picked clean, they are to be put into a dish and served up with the [286] dinner. Likewise, the innkeeper is to provide two large rich pies, for the caterers to take home, that their families may partake of some of their festivity. ”

“ As a result, the girl or woman with a skill that is great, but a bank account that is small, may find vegetable candy the road to a profitable catering trade. If in a small town, she can—if she is sufficiently skillful—fashion decorations for food that will rival the products of the art of the city caterer. ”

“ I can remember when our girls wore pretty muslin gowns in summer, and sent them to wash; now they wear what they call lingerie gowns, dimity en princesse, with silk embroidery and real lace and ribbons, that cost a thousand dollars apiece and won’t wash. Years ago when I gave a dinner, I invited a dozen friends, and my own chef cooked it and my own servants served it. Now I have to pay my steward ten thousand a year, and nothing that I have is good enough. I have to ask forty or fifty people, and I call in a caterer, and he brings everything of his own, and my servants go off and get drunk. ”

“ She should have at least two maids with her, as they have to pour all cups of tea and bouillon and chocolate as well as to take away used cups and plates and see that the food on the table is replenished.
At a small tea where ladies perform the office of pouring, one man or maid in the dining-room is plenty, to bring in more hot water or fresh cups, or whatever the table hostesses have need of.
Formal Service Without Men Servants
Many, and very fastidious, people, who live in big houses and entertain constantly, have neither men servants nor employ a caterer, ever. ”

“ At a small wedding the duty of ushers is personally to take guests up to the bride and groom. But at a big reception where guests outnumber ushers fifty or a hundred to one, being personally conducted is an honor accorded only to the very old, the very celebrated or the usher's own best friends. All the other guests stand in a long congested line by themselves. The bride's mother takes her place somewhere near the entrance of the room, and it is for her benefit that her own butler or one furnished by the caterer, asks each guest his name and then repeats it aloud. ”

“ In large establishments, the housekeeper, the lady’s maid, and the men servants out of livery, usually take their meals by themselves, in the housekeeper’s or steward’s room; but when they take their dinner together, they preserve an order at table like the following:—The housekeeper usually takes her seat at the head, and the butler at the lower end of the table; the cook at the right of the housekeeper, and the lady’s maid on her left; the under butler on the right, and the coachman on the left of the butler; the house-maid next to the cook, and the kitchen-maid next to the lady’s-maid ”

“ Whatever be the cake you give to the ménage, the best part of it will be set aside to offer to the master and mistress and their family. If it be a bull, the head and horns will be kept; if a dragon, the head and tail; and on the evening after the servants’ party, when your dinner is over, the cook will hastily don a white apron and knot her best silk handkerchief round her head, and will march into the dining-room bearing the remains of the cake with all its inedible decorations carefully rearranged to hide what has gone. ”

“ Look at it on the score of the host’s convenience. Even with an abundant income, an ample supply of well-trained servants, every housekeeper knows that one is liable to have [Pg 144] on the table what may be sufficient for “the family,”—the last of the bread, and only enough meat. The new bread may be almost ready for the oven, but not for the table. The butcher may have been delayed, or forgotten your order, and you have no more supplies on hand. Who does not know the anxiety and annoyance of “improvising” a dinner for unexpected guests, when the larder is not well filled? ”

“ She hastened into the kitchen, to be confronted by a scene of spotless order, a brilliant fire in the range shedding a red glow over the hearth, and the white-aproned cook sitting in front of it with her hands folded and a stony glare in her eyes.
“How is the dinner getting on?” asked Mrs. Callender nervously.
“There ain’t no dinner,” said the cook.
“No dinner! What do you mean, Catherine?”
“Not the sign of a thing has come this whole blessed day, ma’am; and me a-waitin’ here with my ironin’ half done, in the middle of the week. Not an egg nor a potato is there in the house, even.” ”