3 io FRENCH COOKERY OF VEGETABLES 



vince has a special mode of preparing vegetables ; 

 some with cream, some with wine, others with herbs, 

 others again with oil and garlic. In Paris, however, 

 where the cooking of vegetables is almost a fine art, 

 the latter ingredients are never used, and are only to 

 be met with in special restaurants frequented by natives 

 of Marseilles and Bordeaux. 



Most vegetables are prepared in a variety of 

 forms, and it is no uncommon thing in France to find 

 in one menu a vegetable soup, a vegetable served as 

 a course by itself, and a vegetable salad, in addition to 

 those used to garnish. Even in the matter of garnish- 

 ing the Peas, Beans, Cauliflowers, Artichokes, etc., 

 are not merely boiled and served without seasoning 

 as they are by the majority of English cooks but 

 each vegetable is turned in butter, and salted and 

 peppered before being placed around the dish. 



I remember being invited to the inauguration of 

 a celebrated restaurant in London not many years 

 ago. The manager, with pride, informed me that I 

 should taste as good a dinner there as in any of the 

 famous establishments in Paris. Certainly the table 

 was beautifully laid. Flowers and electric lights, 

 dainty glass and china, and all the accessories that 

 make an English dinner-table so attractive, indicated 

 excessive refinement. The menu was perfect on 

 paper. All the delicacies of the season were enumer- 

 ated. The soup was excellent, the fish good, and 

 when the entree of chicken was presented, tastefully 

 dressed with Mushrooms and Artichokes in fantastic 



