Repast

“ The following is the style of living at the court of the Dauphin of France in the 14th century:—
As in all well-regulated houses, there were five repasts, viz.: the{349} morning (except on fast days) , the breakfast; the repast of ten o’clock,— (dix heures, or the décimheure; by abbreviation décimer, and by a second abbreviation, dîner) —the dinner; the second dinner, the supper (souper) , at which they eat no more soup than we do; and lastly, the night repast, which they called a collation. ”

“ There is seldom any change, and I will take upon myself to inform you. The repast, which is invariably the same except on fasting days, consists of soup, something boiled, a side dish, and some vegetables. ”

“ Is a stranger at table? Politeness demands that the host should heap up the rice in the dish before him, or, if it be meat, should tear it from the bones and hand it to him; which it would be an affront in the stranger to refuse. Does the repast consist (which is often the case) of bread and melted butter? he breaks the bread and works it up for his guest with the butter: all which operations are executed with the hands. ”

“ Where, however, a healthy person is obliged to labour at the desk, or in any other sedentary manner, during the greater part of the night, it will be advisable to take a slight repast, such as bread-pudding, water-gruel, or milk with biscuit, toasted bread, and the like, at least one or two hours previously to bed-time. ”

“ The dinner should always be more elaborate than the menu. One may have a simple menu and an elaborate dinner, but if the order be reversed and long pompous names given to simple inexpensive dishes, the repast may prove a disappointment to those who partake of it. ”

“ The dainty epicurean seldom conforms to any regulations for extra abstemiousness, while others, more superstitious, merely vary the hours of their repast—merging the substantial meal into those which have not the nomenclature, but yet become the reality of a good dinner. ”

“ Since my last fit of the Gout, I avoid the temptation without losing the pleasure of suppers, by confining myself to a mess of boiled milk, and in companies of twenty or thirty men and women, my frugal bason has often been placed on the tables: my dinners are moderate, and breakfast still continues to be my favourite repast. ”

“ I said, glancing at his place. The repast continued and when it was finished I screwed my chair round to leave the table. Mrs. Peck performed the same movement and we quitted the saloon together. ”

“ IN comparatively few American homes does the custom prevail of giving the children their meals apart from their parents. Domestic arrangements would be sadly complicated were it common in the ordinary household, as it is in England, to have a separate breakfast served for the little ones in their nursery while the seniors discuss their more elaborate morning repast in their own salle à manger. ”

“ We can now move wherever we please without [86] waiting the leisure of others. Our simple repasts require no tedious preparation, and do not imprison us in saloons and eating rooms. Yet we partake of them with a more genuine appetite, and rise from them more truly refreshed, than from the most sumptuous feast. ”

“ When there is a waiter to remove the dishes from the table, the guests should never assist in the work by piling small dishes, etc., upon their plate. Simply place knife and fork upon the plate.-225-
In passing the plate for a second helping, remove knife and fork and hold easily by the handles. Never ask for a second helping of soup, or of anything at a course dinner. At an informal repast, where there is but one principal dish, it is proper to pass the plate for more. A second helping of fish chowder is allowable, but not of soup.
Food should be masticated quietly, and with the lips closed. ”

“ Life was to him like the feast given by a queen of ancient time, where not only the dishes, but all their contents, were of gold, and the wondering guests rose unsatisfied and hungry from their magnificent repast! ”

“ A repast ensued, consisting of viands the most delicate, and wines as fragrant as they were fine, drunk out of jewelled cups; and, when it drew towards its conclusion, harps and lutes were heard in the distance, and one of the ladies said in the knight's ear: "This house and all that you see in it are yours; for you alone was it built, and the builder is a queen. Happy indeed must you think yourself, for she loves you, and she is the greatest beauty in the world! Her name is Angelica." ”

“ At midday the servants were to have their first meal, which was to be bountiful, but "only of one meat and not of several, or of any delicacies; and give them only one kind of drink, nourishing but not heady, whether wine or other; and admonish them to eat heartily, and to drink well and plentifully, for it is right that they should eat all at once, without sitting too long, and at one breath, without reposing on their meal or halting, or leaning with their elbows on the table; and as soon as they begin to talk or to rest on their elbows, make them rise and remove the table." ”

“ You need double the supply that the secular orders do when they fast, for your digestion is twice as active as theirs. Supper is now a sadly scanty meal; it consists simply of fish, bread, wine, and fruit. A miserable dish! not miserable as to quantity or quality, but because it is the solitary dish during the forty days of Lent, always excepting bread [Pg 387] and wine ad libitum. Fortunately, the friars are wise and provident; the slender supper is foreseen and provided against at dinner, which consists of four dishes. ”

“ That there be always both fresh and salt Meat for Dinner; and twice in the Week, as well as on Sunday in particular, that there be either Puddings or Pies besides; that there be always Plenty of Victuals; that Breakfast, Dinner, and Supper be serv’d up in the cleanest and neatest manner possible; and for this Reason the Society not only allow but desire you to get a Cook; that the Boys Suppers be not as usual made up of different Scraps, but that there be at each Table the same Sort: and when there is cold fresh Meat enough, that it be often hashed for them ”

“ By that hour, in spite of their plentiful dinner, they have regained their appetites; and their digestion is again most active. These courses are as substantial as those of the dinner, and are despatched with equal facility by these men of iron frame and tranquil conscience.... Lent is arrived! Well, you must fast, you must mortify the flesh, but you must not die of inanition. A good table is necessary, or you will suffer too much from contrast with the past few weeks. ”

“ T. gets no relish for either tea or breakfast throughout the week, with the exception of his Sunday treat. His 6d. dinner cannot be of a heavy nature, and his share of the family breakfasts [117] and teas would in no way make up for a scanty dinner. He is not, therefore, too well fed. His wife and six children, who manage upon the dinners given in the menu, obviously do not get sufficient nourishment. This woman is an excellent cook, but her equipment is poor. She keeps her two rooms as clean as a new pin, and is punctual and methodical to a fault. ”

“ Each person got a clean napkin for himself. Laid out by the side from each person’s plate was a silver knife and fork and spoon and teaspoon. When we only sat ourselves down, girls with white starched aprons was passing around the eatings.
I soon forgot again all my troubles. For the first time in ten years I sat down to a meal what I did not have to cook or worry about. For the first time in ten years I sat down to the table like a somebody. Ah, how grand it feels, to have handed you over the eatings and everything you need. ”

“ A joint of meat, a fruit tart or stewed fruit, or a suet or milk pudding, constitute the luncheon of many who dine late, more especially when the household includes children who share the midday meal. Or the luncheon may consist of the cold remains of the previous night's dinner, in which case parts of birds, tarts, creams, jellies, etc., are usually made more presentable by being cut into portions suitable for serving, and neatly arranged on a dish. ”

“ As with breakfast dishes, those for supper are more a question of trouble and time than cost; but food that we can enjoy instead of food for which we have no relish has such a material difference of effect upon our system. We may conclude our observations on the last meal of the day by a word of advice to the housewife, to have it, as far as lies in her power, suited to the taste of all. ”

“ These receipts are all suitable to English constitutions and English palates, wholesome, toothsome, all practicable and easy to be performed. Here are those proper for a frugal, and also for a sumptuous table, and if rightly observed, will prevent the spoiling of many a good dish of meat, the waste of many good materials, the vexation that frequently attends such mismanagements, and the curses not unfrequently bestowed on cooks with the usual reflection, that whereas God sends good meat, the devil sends cooks. ”

“ And, really, when a person has been accustomed to see set before him every day, at his own hour, on his own platter, a supply of bread and meat nicely mixed, with perhaps some pudding to finish it, and no trouble required on his part but to eat it tidily, and say "Thank you" after his fashion, it is no small puzzle suddenly to be obliged to provide his own dinner from beginning to end—catching, cooking, and serving it up. ”

“ The appetite of the fifteenth century seems to have been uncommonly good, for we find our ancestors eating four meals a day, beginning with breakfast at seven, dinner at ten, supper at four, and a collation taken in bed—oh, the cormorants!—between eight and nine in the evening. The meal taken in bed may have consisted of a blanquette de veau, or perhaps now and then a bolster pudding, while the ladies may have indulged themselves with a côtelette en papillotes. ”

“ The remains of cold joints, nicely garnished, a few sweets, or a little hashed meat, poultry or game, are the usual articles placed on the table for luncheon, with bread and cheese, biscuits, butter, &c. If a substantial meal is desired, rump-steaks or mutton chops may he served, as also veal cutlets, kidneys, or any dish of that kind. In families where there is a nursery, the mistress of the house often partakes of the meal with the children, and makes it her luncheon. ”

“ I find, in settling accounts with the housekeeper, that a lunch, consisting of bread and cheese, has twice been served out to the girls during the past fortnight. How is this? I looked over the regulations, and I find no such meal as lunch mentioned. Who introduced this innovation? and by what authority?”
“I must be responsible for the circumstance, sir,” replied Miss Temple: “the breakfast was so ill prepared that the pupils could not possibly eat it; and I dared not allow them to remain fasting till dinner-time.” ”

“ While a course is being eaten, softly carry out any soiled dishes from the sideboard and fill the glasses. Watch to see what is needed, and offer it. Do not offer any one what is already on his plate; that is, if you are passing a dish all around and see that he has some of it left, skip him and go on to the next. Now [Pg 56] I hear Bridget coming in with the soup-tureen; run and put on your very best apron and announce dinner as though you were the finest waitress in the land!" [Pg 57]
CHAPTER IV WASHING DISHES
It was Margaret's grandmother who gave her the lesson on dish-washing. ”

“ On the men’s side similar preparations are made, and then in they rush; and when all are seated, a blessing is asked, and dinner commences: it does not last long. As soon as the patients have cut up their pudding, the knives and forks are carefully removed—and in a very few minutes a signal is made; they all rise—thanks are returned, and the meal is over—such as have not had enough generally managing to collar a bit of pudding as they march out. ”

“ Although every faculty need not be swamped in the gratification of the palate, our meals ought to give us pleasure. It is only when they are made of supreme importance that the satisfaction of a healthy appetite degenerates into mere greed, and what we call housekeeping means merely thinking of dinner. ”

“ Prepare your breakfast something like they do in England, bread and butter, a little cheese, a few eggs, food that is light and nutritious, and which does not require so much labor in cooking; and instead of tea, if you cannot drink cold water, make a bowl of water gruel or meal porridge and you will save dirtying three or four dishes, knives and forks, or spoons, to each individual that sits at the table. ”

“ Whatever you put before an invalid in the way of food must look appetising. We have seen great greasy chops, half cold, served up to an invalid—a meal which would disgust a labourer. You cannot be too careful about the appearance of food given to people whose appetites are not what they should be. Let the cloth be spotlessly white, let the glass be nicely cleaned with a glass cloth and no stray fluffs left upon it, let the plate be hot and the cover—never forget the cover from a dish given to an invalid—brightly polished, and let the dish smell nice and be tastefully arranged. ”

“ When you scour your plates and dishes, bend the brim inwards, so as to make them hold the more.
Always keep a large fire in the kitchen, when there is a small dinner, or the family dines abroad, that the neighbours, seeing the smoke, may commend your master’s house-keeping: but when much company is invited, then be as sparing as possible of your coals, because a great deal of the meat, being half raw, will be saved, and serve next day. ”