On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1115
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CondimentsAccordingtoan18th-century
bonmotattributedtoDomenicoCaracciolli,
withimplicitcontrasttoFrance:“Englandhas
sixtyreligionsandonesauce”—thatone
saucebeingmeltedbutter!AndthesharptoothedAlbertoDentidiPirajnobeginsthe
chapteronsaucesinhisEducatedGastronome
(Venice,1950)withthesepointedsentences:
DoctorJohnsondefinedasauceas
somethingwhichiseatenwithfoodin
ordertoimproveitsflavor.Itwouldbe
difficulttobelievethatamanofthe
intelligenceandcultureofDr.Johnson…
hadexpressedhimselfintheseterms,ifwe
didnotknowthatDr.JohnsonwasEnglish.
Eventodayhiscompatriots,incapableof
givinganyflavortotheirfood,callon
saucestofurnishtheirdishesthatwhich
theirdishesdonothave.Thisexplainsthe
sauces,thejelliesandpreparedextracts,
thebottledsauces,thechutneys,the
ketchupswhichpopulatethetablesofthis
unfortunatepeople.
England’s culinary standards were not
formed at the Court or in the noble houses;
they remained grounded in the domestic
habits and economies of the countryside.
EnglishcooksridiculedFrenchcooksfortheir
essences and quintessences. The French
gastronome Brillat-Savarin (1755–1826) tells
the story of the prince of Soubise being
presentedwitharequestfromhischeffor50
hams,tobeusedatonesupperparty.Accused
of thievery, the chef responds that all this
meat is essential for the sauces to be made:
“Commandme,andIcanputthesefiftyhams
which seem to bother you into a glass bottle
no bigger than your thumb!” The prince is
astonished,andwonover,bythisassertionof
the cook’s power to concentrate flavor. By
contrast, in her popular 18th-century
cookbook, the English writer Hannah Glasse
