This of course puzzled my culinary imagination still more; and I perceived, that if the word was translated to his meaning, it would sound most absurd and ridiculous; as, for example, on being at a festive board, and a polite young gentleman, or even your own husband, might gallantly offer to give you a blow-up cutlet, instead of a cotelette sauté, as they say in fashionable circles. I can easily conceive, that if the cotelette was blown up, it would stand a chance of coming down on the other side, thus saving the cook the trouble; but if Guy Fawkes had unfortunately succeeded, it would have produced quite another effect. Having failed in my literary researches, I tried to find it in practice. I therefore went to my kitchen, and put two spoonfuls of oil in a sauté pan; I took a nice spring chicken prepared for broiling, put it on the fire; and as the fire began to act upon it, the oil began to jump, and also slightly the chicken. I then perceived that the way my French friend used the word was right; and that, after all, there was not such a great difference in Guy Fawkes's plan of cooking the Parliament, and that of a cutlet or chicken; for both were doomed to destruction, the one by falling in awful ruins on the fire, and the other devoured by a ravenous stomach on the dinner-table. Now, dearest, having found no means of translating it to my satisfaction, I see no other plan but to adopt it amongst us, and give it letters of naturalization, not for the beauty of the word, but for its utility. The process of sautéing is at once quick, simple, and economical, and to be well done furnishes a pleasing article of food. The art of doing it well consists in doing it quickly, to keep the gravy and succulence in the meat, which a slow process would nullify; it is of course confined to small articles of every kind of food.

BROILING is, without doubt, the earliest and most primitive mode of cookery, it being that which would present itself to man in a state of nature. It is one of the easiest parts of cookery, and therefore should be done well; it entirely depends upon the fire, which must be exceedingly clear, and the best gridiron is that having round bars, which should be placed slanting over the fire, to prevent the fat going into it; the bars should be greased, and the gridiron should be placed on the fire to get hot before the object to be cooked is placed on it. I have heard that great difference of opinion exists in cookery books upon the proper broiling of a steak, whether it should be turned only once or often. My plan is to turn it often, and my reason is, that, if turned but once, the albumen and the fibrine of the meat get charred, and the heat throws out the osmazome or gravy on the upper side, which,

when turned over, goes into the fire; by turning it often, so as at first only to set the outside, the gravy goes into the centre, and it becomes evenly done throughout. (See "Soyer's Mutton Chop.") As regards the thickness of the meat to be broiled, that depends in a great measure on the intensity of the fire, but the quicker the better, and also the sooner it is eaten after taken from the fire the better it will be. I have latterly, in broiling rump-steaks, added that which, by a great many, is considered an improvement; it is, on turning them the last time, to dredge them out of a dredger with fine holes, in which has been placed four table-spoonfuls of fine biscuit or rusk-powder, one tablespoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of pepper, a saltspoonful of either eschalot-powder or mushroom-powder, or finely-pulverized salts of celery, well mixed together, and the steak to be placed in a very hot dish, with a little mushroom-catsup, and a small piece of butter, and served immediately.

ON CONDIMENTS.

THERE is one class of materials which are always in constant use in the kitchen-these are the condiments; without these, soups, sauces, and all made dishes, would be insipid; and the judicious application of them constitutes the good cook.

If all kinds of condiments were of the same quality—that is, if all salt, pepper and mustard, &c., were alike, receipts might be given as in a Pharmacopoeia, with distinct measures for each; but as nothing differs so much as these simple condiments, everything must be left to the palate of the cook, and on him or her alone depends the flavour of the alimentary substances partaken of.

Of all the condiments, that most general in use is SALT; in fact, nothing is perfect without it; the health of every individual depends upon it, being an ingredient in our blood; it is as much required to be partaken of as food or drink; by many it is supposed to be only required to excite the organs of taste if so, other condiments could be used, equally as exciting; but salt has a far higher destiny, and the great Author of all has bountifully provided the whole human race, in every clime and country, with it; even on those continents far away from the shores washed by the briny ocean, we find it in springs, and in crystal globules encrusting the earth. By all

species of the human race with which we are acquainted upon the face of the globe, it is partaken of one way or the other; and although its use is beneficial, yet, if partaken of too largely, it causes disease and death.

Its composition consists of two elementary principles, earth and water, and is chemically known as muriate of soda, being a combination of soda and muriatic acid. Its use as an antiseptic, and as a condiment, are too well known to be repeated here.,

Rock Salt is the unpurified salt, as dug from the mines. This is purified by boiling, &c., and is crystallized by heat.

Bay Salt is the coarse large crystal salt, taking its name from the salt that formerly used to be made in pits by the overflow or letting in of the sea at the head of Bays, and which was evaporated by the heat of the sun. Almost all the fish cured in France at the present day is by this kind of salt, the duty upon foreign salt being so high.

PEPPER, so extensively used at present in Europe, may be said to be but a modern custom. We find in ancient MS. receipts, still extant, that, previous to the introduction of pepper, many plants, natives of England, such as saffron, &c., were used, and which even continued down to modern times, until this West Indian fruit became more general and easy of attainment.* The plant itself is a climbing one (piper nigrum,) and exceedingly pretty when the fruit is upon it. The difference between the two peppers, black and white, is, that the berry is gathered with the skin or pulp around the stone, and that which is intended for black pepper is allowed to remain on, whilst that intended for white pepper is blanched and rubbed until the skin comes off. There is no doubt but that in the West, where hot dishes are so much in vogue, and where large quantities of this spice are employed, that there would be found some difference in the flavour-the black being more acrid than the white. In all dark sauces use the black pepper.

LONG PEPPER, the fruit of the piper longum, a plant very similar to the former, and, if possible, it has a more aromatic flavour than the black pepper.

* It is a singular circumstance that this very small fruit should be the cause of England possessing one of the largest portions of her dominions. In the reign of Elizabeth, and during the war with Spain, pepper, which had then become an article of necessity, rose to an extravagant price, and to obtain it cheaper, the Queen granted Letters Patent to certain merchants to trade to the East Indies, which was the origin of the present East India Company.

I doubt if pepper was known to the Romans. If so, it would have been known in Egypt, where we find no trace of it, although some authors have considered it as the ammonium of the ancients.

ALLSPICE, or, as it was formerly called, Pimenta, is another of those productions of those climes near the Equator, which has come so much into use into the habits of Europeans. It is the fruit of the pimenta vulgaris. That which is the freshest is the best; as the aromatic oil which it contains is not dissipated by keeping. The essential oil which it contains can be used in very small quantities in cookery, but should not be subjected to long boiling, or it would lose its flavour.

GINGER is the root of a plant, a native of the East Indies and Brazils. It has also become naturalized in the West India Islands. The plant grows in moist places, and is of a reed-like form, bearing a yellow flower. The root, when fresh, should be of a light green, solid and heavy. A spongy or woolly root should be avoided. The virtues of ginger chiefly consist in a volatile oil which it possesses. This is best obtained by bruising the root, and making an infusion in spirits of wine or boiling water in a closed bottle; or, if thinly sliced and infused in vinegar, is pleasant in a salad. The way in which it is usually employed in cookery is by having the root desiccated by the heat of the sun until perfectly dry and hard, and then powdered till its aromatic oil is lost. It should be more often used in cookery than what it is. In 1845-6, those pioneers of colonial produce, Messrs. Keeling, had large importations of the fresh root, but not being appreciated, it has ceased. It should be used as a condiment as well as for dessert.

CLOVES are the buds of a flower, not arrived at maturity, of an East Indian tree, called caryophillus aromaticus. This, in common with many other buds of flowers of various kinds, contains a large quantity of essential oil. It has a very pungent, aromatic smell. Its nature is stimulating. It should not be boiled too long, or otherwise its flavour is lost in evaporation.

NUTMEG is the interior of a fruit belonging to a tree, a native of the Islands of the Eastern Archipelago, called Banda, and known in botany as the myristica moschata. It is strongly aromatic, and very volatile, and considered agreeable. It is used in powder, and not subjected to much heat, which would cause it to lose its qualities, which are heating and slightly irritating, and facilitate the digestion; but should be used moderately, particularly by those whose nerves are not over strong.

MACE. This is the skin which covers the shell containing the nutmeg. It is cut into small pieces and dried. This is more often used in cookery than the nutmeg, as its essential oil and aromatic flavour is not so soon evaporated, but penetrate into the substances with which it may be employed. Its qualities are somewhat similar to the nutmeg. The essence may be employed to advantage in cookery.

CAYENNE is the dried pod of the well-known plant, the capsicum, now so often reared in hot-houses. It is, however, a native of the East and

West Indies, and South America. It ought to be of a very pungent nature, and of a strongly acrid flavour. The best ought to be of an orange colour. There are several kinds of capsicums. Those known in this country are, the capsicum annum, or annual capsicum; the capsicum grossum, or hell pepper; and the capsicum cerasiforme, or cherry pepper. The pods of these are frequently pickled. The essence of cayenne, by infusing in spirit, is a very excellent plan of seasoning different kinds of dishes.

CINNAMON is the under-bark of a tree, the laurus cinnamomum, a species of bay, with leaves like laurel, found in many East India Islands, but chiefly in Ceylon. It possesses a very fine aromatic flavour and smell. When moderately used, is a very fine, elegant addition to our culinary art. The essential oil, when extracted, is better to use than the bark itself.

This tree bears a fruit similar in shape to the acorn, but smaller. It neither smells nor tastes; but, upon boiling in water, yields an oil which, on becoming cold, is as hard as tallow: it is used as an ointment, and also to burn. The outside of the root of this tree yields camphire and oil of camphire.

CASSIA is also a bark of a similar kind of tree to the cinnamon, the laurus cassia. It does not contain so much flavour as cinnamon; but the aromatic qualities are very similar. Its oil is often sold for that of cinnamon.

CASSIA BUDS are the pods of the seed of the cinnamon tree. They contain an oil equal in flavour and pungency to the cinnamon. They are not often used in cookery, their value not being generally known.

MUSTARD is the powder of the seed of the plant, the sinapis nigra. It grows wild in many places, and can be cultivated in almost any soil. It is of a strong pungent nature, and is difficult to concentrate. It should be mixed with cold water and salt. It derives its name from the French moutarde, who derive it from the Latin of multum ardet, which became corrupted into moult arde. In France they prepare it in a variety of ways; but it is not our province here to speak about them. That which is called