CULINARY REFLECTIONS. 237 



lengthened legal appropriation of sturgeon to royalty should be con- 

 tinued at all hazards : the great estimation it was once held in by the 

 merchants of London, existed during a sounder state of commerce 

 than at present prevails ; if revived and joined to the effective re- 

 storation of the provisions of the Navigation Act, it might tend greatly 

 to further the interests of Great Britain. Fish as an article of food 

 may, however, merit cautious examination with the real friends of 

 the constitution, from the suspicious predilection evinced by one of 

 the ministry to plaice the disposition to carp exhibited between my 

 Lord Palmerston and Mr. Hume and the no slight propensity to 

 flounder of many of the would-be supporters of the bill. 



Beef, the main stay of the country, has preserved the simple dignity 

 of its character, amidst all the changes of public opinion ; and so long 

 as the glorious sirloin preserves its pre-eminence on the board, we 

 have more than a hope of safety against the best efforts of the worst 

 faction in the land. Yet our predecessors so far differed in taste with 

 ourselves, that, a century ago, the Westminster boys, on days of public 

 rejoicing, had an ample allowance of vinegar to eat with the roast. 

 Rumps of beef were served up, well covered with virgin honey; 

 while at Bedlam there was a famous shop, to which citizens resorted 

 to eat stuffed beef in perfection. Mutton was then scarcely consi- 

 dered palatable without carrier's sauce, a composition of salt, onion, 

 and cold water ; while veal was ever presented garnished with but- 

 tered currants. Pickled turkies were also regarded as a high relish 

 at that day ; but an exquisite, although anomalous., dainty was turkey 

 poults fried in batter, while the more philosophic gourmands decreed 

 hen turkies to be " a most melancholy food." Stubble geese at 

 Michaelmas, and green geese in May, were then, as now, infinitely 

 correct; but it would have been truly vulgar to denominate the 

 carving of this bird otherwise than by the " breaking up the goose;" 

 and, in the Corinthian order of gastronomic society, it was ever usual 

 to demand of the person destined to anatomize a fowl, " frust that 

 chicken," " spoil that hen," " sauce the capon," or " mince a plover." 

 Pepper, oil, and lemon, were the constant associates of a partridge ; 

 and a peacock, plumed at the head and tail, was regarded as of prime 

 elegance at public repasts. Sauces for meat or poultry were ever 

 sweet ; and it was not until after the accession of George the Second 

 that rocombole, eschalot, and garlick, with other stimulants, were in- 

 troduced from Frrnce, as part and parcel of their confection. The 

 unlimited use of pork by our ancestors, even at their suppers, might 

 have justified the interdiction of the Roman law in its regard, and the 

 censure bestowed upon it by Cato. Larded hog's feet and bacon tart 

 were strange favourites, even with the softer sex ; the brawner's head 

 was particularly reserved for Christmas night, when it graced the 

 centre of the board, irrigated with mustard, and adorned with sweet 

 rosemary and bays, while an orange graced his fearful tusks. The 

 ancient Romans had the taste of eating honey with their pork ; their 

 descendants at this day look upon ham and ripe figs as the greatest 

 delicacy ; while the good people of Boston and Philadelphia do not 

 hesitate to accompany their pork with molasses. Luxuries which, 

 whatever may be their intrinsic merits, can scarcely be recommended 



M. M. No. 93. 2 X 



