Feedixg Fox-hunters. 491 



the piece de resistance, or, in plain English, the cut-and come-again joint. If the party is 

 small, a poulei a la Marengo is quickly cooked, and easy of digestion. Game, snipe, and 

 plover can all be cooked within the limited time allowed for the dinner, say an hour. There 

 is nothing' easier of digestion or more succulent than a steak of red deer venison broiled. 



It is not my object to write a cookery chapter, but to indicate the lines, by simmering, 

 -braising, frying, broiling, and sautcing, on which an intelligent cook may construct little 

 dinners, which will be prepared between the arrival of the guests and the time when the 

 sweets should be put on the table. 



A nobleman, now deceased, who used to fill his country house in the hunting season 

 with a fair proportion of hunters and non-hunters, never varied his dinner-hour ; but, in 

 settling every morning the menu with his clicf (one of the most serious of his occupations), 

 always decided on a series of dishes which would not be spoiled by delay. If we arrived at 

 anything like near the dinner-hour we silently slipped into places, and, by omitting a course 

 or so, by degrees got on good terms with the more punctual starters ; but if we were 

 absolutely late, a neat dinner, especially cooked for us, was laid out in the bachelors' 

 breakfast-room. 



Good cookery is not dearer than bad ; but to obtain it, some one in the house must 

 understand its first principles — if not the lady of the house, the housekeeper. 



Immediately on arriving — before undressing — fox-hunters require something, when the day 

 has been long and the weather inclement, as support during the time that must elapse be- 

 fore dinner is on the table. Some take tea; some brandy, rum, or gin-and-milk ; others 

 prefer a glass of dry sherry. I prefer a breakfast-cup of good clear soup. 



In France, after a ball, in the small hours of the morning, at all good houses, every lady 

 is offered a cup of appetising consoniuic, a clear soup, which is, they say, calniant et digestif, 

 and, in my opinion, much more refreshing than tea after hunting. 



Hunting breakfasts are proverbially substantial. For my own part I have never been 

 able to understand how a man could ride hard after a hot cutlet, a couple of eggs, a plateful 

 of cold meat, washed down with two cups of tea, a glass of curagoa, and, with some, a pint 

 of ale. Those who can digest all this before the hounds find their fox are very fortunate. 

 According to the maxims of training, drink is hostile to the condition of a running or a 

 rowing man. I think it the same with riding, and that a fox-hunter will go best through a 

 severe day who eats only nourishing compact food, and drinks only enough to wash it down. 

 A lean chump chop broiled, a hunch of stale bread, and a small cup of tea, or a tumbler of 

 claret-and-water, support without stupefying. But there are no fixed rules for the sustenance 

 of man — they vary with age, health, and dimensions. 



The men who cannot find appetite and digestion for a solid, substantial breakfast must 

 take care to furnish their sandwich-cases properly. Sandwiches are generally dry and thirst- 

 provoking ; very {&\\ cooks know how to cut them, even if they have the materials for making 

 them. Cold fowl or game, not over roasted, make the best provant for the hunting-field. 

 Here again the editors of cookery books might add a new chapter with advantage for the 

 benefit of sportsmen and travellers. 



The hunting-flask is presumed to be filled either for refreshment or for a " pick me up." 

 The latter ought only to be required after a heavy fall. According to modern practice, 

 instead of bleeding a patient who has been rolled over or otherwise knocked out of time, a 

 nip of brandy or whiskey is administered as soon as he has sense enough to swallow. As 

 no one expects to fall, although as a matter of fact every straight rider gets at least one fall 



