524 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



But marked by a special character are some dinners, Avhich may be 

 either small or large, in relation to the number of guests, but which 

 are necessarily limited as regards the variety of aliments served. I 

 refer to dinners at which either turtle or fish predominates. In accord- 

 ance with a principle already enunciated, a bowl of substantial stock, 

 containing four or five broad flakes of the gelatinous product, often 

 miscalled " fat," which alone represents the turtle in the compound, is 

 not a judicious prelude to a dinner ai-ranged according to the orthodox 

 programme, and offering the usual variety. A lover of turtle indulges 

 freely in the soup, both thick and clear, making it in fact an important 

 installment of his repast ; and he desires, with or without some slight 

 interlude, to meet the favorite food again in the form of an entree. 

 After so substantial a commencement, the dinner should be completed 

 chiefly by poultry, and game if in season, and for the most part by 

 dishes which are grilled or roast, in contrast to the succulent morsels 

 which have preceded. 



The fish dinner, also an occasional departure from daily routine, is 

 acceptable, and gratifies the taste for that delicate and pleasant food 

 in considerable variety. But, if so indulged, very few dishes ought to 

 appear subsequently. It is a curious fact that the traditional bacon 

 and beans, which appear toward the close of a Greenwich whitebait 

 dinner, should afford another illustration of undesigned compliance 

 with the natural law referred to at the outset, the bacon furnishing 

 complementary fat to supply its notable absence in fish. 



The enjoyment of a curry and when skillfully made it is almost 

 universally admitted to be one of the most attractive combinations 

 which can be offered to the senses of taste and smell is only possible 

 at a limited repast. When freely eaten, very little is acceptable to 

 the palate afterward, exhausted as it is by the pervading fragrance of 

 the spice and other adjuncts. Hence a curry should form the climax 

 of a short series of dishes leading up to it : when presented, as it 

 sometimes is, among the entrees of a first course, it is wholly out of 

 place. 



Here we may appropriately take a rapid glance at the characteris- 

 tics of the feast where the guests are few in number. 



The small dinner-party should be seated at a round or oval table, 

 large enough for personal comfort, small enough to admit of conversa- 

 tion in any direction without effort. The table should of course be 

 furnished with taste, but is not to be encumbered with ornaments, 

 floral or other, capable of obstructing sight and sound. A perfect 

 consomme, a choice of two fish, a filet or a Chateaubriand, a gigot or a 

 fricandeau ; followed by a chaudfroid, a crhne de volatile garni, a 

 roast and salad, a choice vegetable, and an iced sovfjie or charlotte ; 

 and in summer a mac'edoine of fresh fruits in an old china family 

 bowl, if there is one ; and, lastly, a savory biscuit, accompanying 

 vegetables and appropriate wines, may be regarded as furnishing a 



