A guide to modern cookery

workman mindful of success, therefore, will naturally direct his attention to the faultless preparation of his stock, and, in order to achieve this result, he will find it necessary not merely to make use of the freshest and finest goods, but also to exercise the most scrupulous care in their preparation, for, in cooking, care is half the battle. Unfortunately, no theories, no formulæ, and no recipes, however well written, can take the place of practical experience in the acquisition of a full knowledge concerning this part of the work—the most important, the most essential, and certainly the most difficult part. In the matter of stock it is, above all, necessary to have a sufficient quantity of the finest materials at one’s disposal. The master or mistress of a house who stints in this respect thereby deliberately forfeits his or her right to make any remark whatsoever to the _chef_ concerning his work, for, let the talent or merits of the latter be what they may, they are crippled by insufficient or inferior material. It is just as absurd to exact excellent cooking from a _chef_ whom one provides with defective or scanty goods, as to hope to obtain wine from a bottled decoction of logwood. =The Principal Kinds of Fonds de Cuisine (Foundation Sauces and Stocks)= The principal kinds of fonds de cuisine are:— 1. Ordinary and clarified consommés. 2. The brown stock or “_estouffade_,” game stocks, the bases of thickened gravies and of brown sauces. 3. White stock, basis of white sauces. 4. Fish stock. 5. The various essences of poultry, game, fish, &c., the complements of small sauces. 6. The various glazes: meat, game, and poultry. 7. The basic sauces: Espagnole, Velouté, Béchamel, Tomato, and Hollandaise. 8. The savoury jellies or aspics of old-fashioned cooking. To these kinds of stock, which, in short, represent the buttresses of the culinary edifice, must now be added the following preparations, which are, in a measure, the auxiliaries of the above:— 1. The roux, the cohering element in sauces. 2. The “Mirepoix” and “Matignon” aromatic and flavouring elements. 3. The “_Court-Bouillon_”