WORST COOK IN WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1927, 9 December 1913, Page 2

WORST COOK IN WORLD.

11l the average English household there IS only onu thing to bo done with a Iwad of cabbago—that is, first t« tiuw liait of it into the dust-bin and then throw- the rest of it into some boding water, sprinkle washing soda over it, ''gallop'" it lor a few minutes, squeeze it into a mass, and then servo it at table (writes llary Mortimer -Maxwell, ill the l.omloii ''Daily Chronicle")/ All over Hie Continent and throughout the United States and Canada there aro all sorts of wonderful and delicious things dono with a cabbago head. Every cook except the Englisii cook is quite aware that tnere is mo necessity lor throwing any of the cabbage head away unless it is wiujered or rotten. Every cook except the English cook knows that cabbiige should bo simmered mid never "galloped"; that it should 1)0 coOiced for hours instead of ninuiico in this slow iashioii; that it should be cooked with a bit of bacon, pickled pork, dripping, or butter, to' give it a taste, unless it is to be turiied into what is known as "sour-cabbage." Every cook except the English cook knows that washing soda was never meant as an artielo of diet, and that no-tlier cabbage nor any other vegetable should have, when served 011 the table, that strange green. colour produced bv soda; which ii_ the pride of all the ball cooks of England.

The Cabbage as It Should 80. Every cook except tlio 'English cook knows that cabbage is delicious raw,' chopped 'or sliced finely in tlio American "cold-slaw" fashion ; that "the outer leaves and tiio stalk, to its very last fraction of an iiioh, make a delicious salad sueli as is sewed at the most expensive 'foreign restaurants. Eveiy cook except tho English cook knows all about tlieso possibilities of a three-ha'penny head of cabbage, arid takes advantage oi' them. The fact is that the average Englishwoman, whether she be a housewife, with her own cooking to do for her husband ami children, or .whether" she be the "plain" cook in tho middleclass family or tho "professed'' cook in tho house of tho wealthy, is the worst cook in the world.

Here is a pound of potatoes Iwnght at tlio corner greengrocer's for a ha'penny. There are more t'lian 30 different ways <)!' preparing those .potatoes / iu a tasty fashion How many does the.English cook know, and liow does she make tliein tasty, even in tile l'eiv ways she does know ? . , ' Now comes, a head of lettuce. It cost a penny. What will tho average; English cook do with it? She begins by throwing hall" of it away, when almost every leaf of it might bo washed, dried, and put in the frying pan with some bacon or bajrm fat, and turned into a dainty and appetising breakfast disli. For tho •rest of tho lettuce, how many English cooks know how to cut it and prepare a dressing that in any way 'computes with the 'dressing one cats abroad 'i Then with regard to tomatoes, grilled tomatoes and fried tomSitoes are never really conk?d iu England. They arc only warmed through, it takes 15 minutes of strict attention to business to grill or fry a tomato properly. The pan or the griller needs constant twisting and turning, the tomatoes must hi> tried with a iork thai, must go through them witlinut tne slightest omiositiun. They should be thoroughly browned on both ssws. A\ ho gets theni thus in England':'

j the Cucumber Transformer!. Wo all know vegetable nun now. I t | comos o fftho'laMi. quite water-soaked, with a tasteless white sauce. On the Continent and in America Iney know how to Brill it, fry it, roast it, prepare eook a little while a f , and 1 told her to fry some cucumbers or „ 1V breakfast.. She looked a «tha superior, pitying sinilo, ain said, 1 never hoard of tnatheloro!. "No, prohahly not,' 1 answered, l,ad sorni fried oicttinliors •I«A ,V«ir in New York. I'll ted you how <'> < >;; ' • I'eel the encumber, cut the sliceo 1( n„t.li vise and fry thoroughly after >ou\o done' tlio bacon—in % ?»•"« !«"'• •, of the whole....alter is "7 a! ' ! Tnnd sin' l:as got into anything. | Ml know by «ip >«»»"■ of