This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.

PREFACE. What -the reader may exclaim- Another book on cookery Have me not Carhme and Francatelli, Vatel and Soyer, Ude and Gouffd, Dliss Acton and Nrs. Beeton, Meg Dodds and Mrs. Hale, and scores of other authorities on the same subject Must every cook be an author, and we be asked to read his book, as well as to eat of the dishes he prepares Gentle reader, it is to anticipate this possible state of mind, and to answer these probable questions, that this explanatory preface is submitted. Many a dish is cooked that is not worth the time and trouble, even by an ordinarily educated palate, given to its discussion, and many a book writtenespecially on the subject of Cookery-the reading of which is worse than time wasted. There have been innumerable Cook Boolrs for popular use published, I grant yon but if you aslr nine out of ten persons who consult them, they will tell you they become more, and more perplexed as they attempt to follow their guidance. The housekeeper will confess she has been led into errors by their vague recipes, iujurious to the family health, and, at the same time, expensive to tlie family purse. It is to dissipate this fog enveloping the literature of the kitchen tliat the publication of the BOOK OF ANERICAN P RACTIC C A OO L K ERiYs undeitaken. The author claims that the work is the result of a lifetime of study, constant observation, and practical experience in the best culinary establishments of both Continents. He, therefore, brings to his task a tllorongh lrnowledge of the subject, and asserts, fearless of successful contradiction, that the result of his labors will be the only competent. treatise-applying culinary science especially to the material conditions ofthis country-ever written. He intends it for a trustworthy guide to a1l. mhat to eat and drink, and what to avoid In pursuance of the plan laid clown, he proposes to enlbmce the whole list of food articles, their selection, treatment, and best method of preparing them for the table, sho ving how the utmost - value can be obtai leclf. r om every edible designed by the Almighty for the comfort ancl nourisllment of mankind. It is due to the intelligence of the present age that there should no longer be room for the old sneer of the dyspeptic cynic God sends tIie material, . but the Devil sends cooks. To accomplish this important object will requirq at least six volumes. Narie Aiitoine CarAme, the great Frei clcl oolr, who livecl between the years 1784 and 1833, and who was called the regenerator of coolrery, took twelve volumes to give Europe of his day the information mhicli the author of the present series proposes to give America of the present, in six. Each volume of the AJIERICAN PRACTIC C A O L O KERsYer ies will be clevoted to a leading food staple. This, the first volume, deals with vegetables and all alimentary I plants, roots, and seeds grown on...

This book is a facsimile reprint and may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages.