322 Cookery « 
The French also appear to me better botanists and gardeners 
than the English, owing to the greater variety of vegetables em- 
ployed for culinary purposes : by the way, the Abbe Correa, in- 
forms me that the-purslain, phytolacca oleracea, a very good cu- 
linary vegetable, and commonly used in France, is to be found in 
all the streets of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the amaranthus 
viridis (or else blitum, Careless ) is common at Carlisle. The 
dandelion, the sow thistle, the lambs-quarters, the poke, the sorrel 
might also be used in places where gardens are scarce with us : 
that is every where in this state. I greatly regret the want of 
truffles, morills, and garden mushrooms in this country, where 
for the most part there is no taste but for tables so crowded as to 
sate the appetite by the very sight of the dinner ; and where the 
delicaces of an European entertainment are little known. But I 
do not feel inclined to speak favourably of the plateau ; it hides 
too much of the dinner, and is an obstacle to mutual assistance at 
the table, which forms in my opinion one of the pleasures of a 
feast instead of being a trouble : as it did among the Greeks and 
Romans. It is an interchange of civilities and good offices, and 
prolongs the repast. The drinking of healths at dinner, is an abo- 
mination : it is almost as* bad as segars after. People who have 
dismissed their plate, and are at leisure, may slightly bow to each 
other, but to disturb a man while he is eating, and compel him to 
quit the plate he is enjoying, to drink when he does not wish it, 
is very impolite, very troublesome, and very unpleasant. 
8thly, Why are the French the best bakers in Europe ? 
They eat more bread. The fork occupies exclusively the Eng- 
lishman’s left hand, the bread employs the left hand of the 
Frenchman, who is by no means gauche on this occasion. 
9thly. In what particular has a French army an advantage over 
an English one ? 
The French are all cooks: they are better cooks : they are 
more frugal and saving cooks : they can manufacture an excellent 
meal, out of what an Englishman would waste, or throw away. In 
French cookery, nothing need be lost : in English cookery a fourth 
of the food is wasted in the cooking, or thrown away afterward from 
bad cooking. 
lOthly. Why is coin always plenty in France, and not in Eng^ 
land ? 
Because their kitchens, and their sideboards require a much 
greater supply of the precious metals than the English. Hence 
the precious metals, silver especially, in use for every domestic* j 
