antities intended by such obscure expressions as have been usually
employed for this purpose in former works:--

For instance: a bit of this--a handful of that--a pinch of t'other--do
'em over with an egg--and a sprinkle of salt--a dust of flour--a shake
of pepper--a squeeze of lemon,--or a dash of vinegar, &c. are the
constant phrases. Season it to your palate, (meaning the cook's,) is
another form of speech: now, if she has any, (it is very unlikely that
it is in unison with that of her employers,) by continually sipping
_piquante_ relishes, it becomes blunted and insensible, and loses the
faculty of appreciating delicate flavours, so that every thing is done
at random.

These culinary technicals are so very differently understood by the
learned who write them, and the unlearned who read them, and their
"_rule of thumb_" is so extremely indefinite, that if the same dish be
dressed by different persons, it will generally be so different, that
nobody would imagine they had worked from the same directions, which
will assist a person who has not served a regular apprenticeship in the
kitchen, no more than reading "Robinson Crusoe" would enable a sailor to
steer safely from England to India.[32-*]

It is astonishing how cheap _cookery books_ are held by practical cooks:
when I applied to an experienced artist to recommend me some books that
would give me a notion of the rudiments of cookery, he replied, with a
smile, "You may read _Don Quixote_, or _Peregrine Pickle_, they are both
very good books."

Careless expressions in cookery are the more surprising, as the
confectioner is regularly attentive, in the description of his
preparations, to give the exact quantities, though his business,
compared to cookery, is as unimportant as the ornamental is inferior to
the useful.

The maker of blanc-mange, custards, &c. and the endless and useless
collection of puerile playthings for the palate (of first and second
childhood, for the vigour of manhood seeketh not to be sucking sugar, or
sipping turtle), is scrupulously exact, even to a grain, in his
ingredients; while cooks are unintelligibly indefinite, although they
are intrusted with the administration of our FOOD, upon the proper
quality and preparation of which, all our powers of body and mind
depend; their energy being invariably in the ratio of the performance of
the restorative process, i. e. the quantity, quality, and perfect
digestion of what we eat and drink.

Un