INTRODUCTORY 



7 



gather for themselves on sunny mornings in the 

 summer out of their own or their masters' gardens. 

 If the chance is given her, the Queen of the 

 Kitchen soon discovers the secret ! 



Since I have started a Herb-garden of any pre- 

 tension (not much pretension, either), it is amusing 

 to see the zest with which the cook or cooks will 

 go out into the sweet fragrant garden while the 

 Herbs are at their best, and wander around it, 

 gathering a sprig here, a spray there, and a leaf 

 somewhere else, to bring into the kitchen and put 

 into the soups or salads, according to the needs of 

 the day. Never do white soups, julienne soups, 

 potato soup, and many other soups and sauces, taste 

 so good as when freshly-gathered Herbs are put 

 into them. Bits of Thyme, sprigs of Chervil, 

 Borage, Burnet, Summer Savory, Sweet Basil, 

 Sweet Marjoram — all these Herbs have flavours 

 almost forgotten in England, yet our grandfathers 

 —at all events, our great-grandfathers and great- 

 grandmothers — knew all about them, and appre- 

 ciated them so much that they would amuse 

 themselves on summer evenings by gathering and 

 mixing just the right blends to flavour certain 

 dishes. This mixing of flavours was very important 

 sometimes, particularly so when the season for 



