^^mm:^-^^ \ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, # -^■^ i I :|tair./i±.:|ogBri8M|a | I /■ .-.j?^^.H-^ I # # ! UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.! ganc:^' ^^3: ^^^-S^€^ -S^ ro ^ NE^k^-YORK T^ I! 896 BROADWAY, N. Y. I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. # # ^^7^ I |l]MTED STATES OF AMEKICA.| CIRGUL^R OF THK NEW-YORK COOKING ACADEMY, COMPRISING A NOMENCLATURE OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OP FOOD, AND THE METHOD OF THEIR PREPARATION, BY PIEEEE BLOT, Prof, of Gastronomy, and Founder of the Academy. " If ye be good and obedient, ye shall eat the good o^ the earth." -Bible-, NEW- YORK: GEORGE F. NESBITT & CO., PRINTERS AND STATIONERS, Cor. Pearl and Piao Streets. 1863. J' Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18G5, by 3PIERRK BLOT, In tlie Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of Xew-York. do 4*< 110 it is^ Z ^^ IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. CIRCULAR Cookery is a chemical art. A potato is entirely unfit for reception into the stomach in its raw state, but, by proper cooking, it is rendered palatable, digestible and nutritious. Gastronomy does not mean gluttony. Gastronomical science does not teach us the use of that kind of food of which we can consume the most, but the kind that best suits each indivi- dual constitution and secures to it health. Food ought always to be prepared according to the constitu- tion, age and sex, and should be varied as much as possible. A stimulating, warm, animal food, with occasionally some vegetables, suits a phlegmatic constitution, while the sanguine needs the opposite. Fruits are refreshing and nourishing — containing acid, jelly, mucilage and sugar. They are wholesome, eaten in modera- tion, when fully ripe. Any one, male or female, young or old, having a good stomach, can keep healthy with a proper diet; it is only necessary to select the kind of food required by the constitu- tion, and prepare it properly. It is a fact beyond question, that good food, in proper quantities, is not only conducive to health, but to beauty of form, mind and disposition. " "Who go so near to touch our hearts As thou, my darling, daiuty dinner." The whole art of Cooking consists in Baking. Boiling, Broil- ing, Frying, Mixing, Roasting, Sauteing, Seasoning, Simmering and Stewing food. The most difficult operations are mixing and seasoning. To mix and season properly, science and taste are indispensa- ble, as in sauces and pastry. A cook who is not a Gastronomer can prepare good dishes, but the mixing and seasoning will always be the same; it is the province of the Gastronomer only, to mix and season 6 according to the constitution, age or sex ; so we respectfully, but earnestly beg our fair and intelligent housekeeping readers to give daily directions to their cooks, the education of the latter, generally, does not allow them to understand Gastronomy. FOOD. Our food is composed of only seven kinds, which might be reduced to two — animal and vegetable — and there are, besides mixing and seasoning, but eight ways of preparing it ; still, by cooking the same thing in different ways, by mixing two or more kinds together, and by the addition of sauces and spices, many thousand different dishes are prepared. The seven kinds of food are : Milk, Esculent Grains, Vegetables, Meat, Fish, Fruit, Eggs. There is only one kind of milk, but the quality and property differ according to the quality of food upon which the animal yielding it, is fed, and what animal yields it. Besides human milk, we use as food, the milk of Cows, Sheep, Goats, every species of Deer, Camel, Mare and she Ass. Milk partakes of the nature of Vegetable as well as animal food. Tlie princip:il esculent Grains are: Wheat, Corn, Eye, Barley, Buckwheat, Rice, Oats and Millet. Vegetables.— Potatoes, Carrots, Parsnips, Turnips, Beets, Onions, Radishes, Salsify, Beans, Peas, Lentils, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Rhubarb, Asparagus, Celery, Lettuce, Spinach, Mushrooms, etc. Meats. — Beef, Mutton, Veal, Lamb, Pork, Poultry, Game, Venison, Blood, Bones, etc. There are a great many species of Fish ; the principal ones are: Bass, Cod, Eels, Flounders, Halibut, Herring, Mackerel, Pike, Salmon, Shad, Sheepshead, Sturgeon, Trout, Tunny, Turbot, White Fish of the lakes, brooks and rivers. Lobsters, Oysters, Turtles, etc. We have in Fruits : Apples, Pears, Peaches, Strawberries, Currants, Tomatoes, Pumpkins, Pineapples, Cucumbers, Melons, Oranges, Lemons, Grapes, Chestnuts, Cocoa, Dates, Bananas, Figs, Nuts, Almonds, etc. The eggs of hens are most common, and most generally used ; tggs of some species of fish constitute the principal food of inhabitants of different islands and parts of certain countries. Eggs of reptiles, except those of the tortoise, are never used as food. Salt and spices are used as condiments and seasonings. To use spices judiciously, it is necessary to knov^r their dif- ferent properties ; as they might just as likely destroy the flavor of food as to improve it. Some are aromatic and warm- ing, but without irritation ; such as : Cinnamon, Bayleaf, Thyme; others are aromatic only; like Parsley, Chervil and Tarragon ; and there are some that are exciting and irritating — as Ginger, Curry, Pepper and Pimento. Some persons believe that French cookery is what is com- monly called highly seasoned ; there never was a greater mistake. It is true, that French cooks use more seasonings than any others, but they are not of the same nature. Instead of Cayenne pepper, curr}', catsups, variegated colored pickles made with pyroligneous acids, etc., they use thyme, parsley, bayleaf, chervil, etc. In drinks, we have Water, Coffee, Tea, Wine, Cider, Beer, etc. LECTUKES. The courses of illustrated lectures at the N. Y. Cooking Academy, comprise all the branches of the art of cooking, and 8 are so arranged and explained, that a person who knows nothing of cookery, can, in a short time, be able to superintend a kitchen or become a scientific cook. A regular and different dinner is prepared to illustrate each lecture; and occasionally dishes for Breakfast, Lunch or Supper are also prepared. The lecturer has no prejudice against any kind of cooking, as long as it is nutritious and wholesome, neither does he ride any hobby. Every dish is prepared in the best, most scientific, systematic, wholesome and economical way, and always has its proper place in the bill of fare, be it a Potage, Hors d'CEuvre, Releve, Entree, Rot (roast piece), Entremet or Dessert. Not a particle of food, however small it may be, is wasted or lost. There are lectures for ladies in the afternoon, and for pro- fessional cooks and others in the forenoon. As there are no reserved seats, ladies desiring to join the afternoon classes, after having given their names and addresses, receive tickets for the course, and the days and hours of meet- ing of the class to which they belong is given them. Each class meets twice a week. Although the Academy has been opened only a few mouths, we take the liberty to refer to the hundreds of ladies who have attended the lectures, for proofs of its popularity and success. MOTTO. The motto of the New-York Cooking Academy is : Since ICC must cat to live, let tis prepare oxir food in such a manner, that our physical, intellectual and moral capacities may be extended as far as is designed by our CREATOR. I 4 2>^ t^'>:>:M%j>s ^. k — »*' =a>^l:>..>i ^^ nil 2>^> ^>,:^:>: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS III. iiiiiiiii' mil Hill III! mil nil; mil III 014 184 643 7