Pineapples, melons, cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, all sorts of plums, morella cherries, filberts and other nuts, currants, raspberries, late gooseberries, figs, early grapes, mulberries, and ripe codlings.
_Roots and Vegetables._
Carrots, parsnips, turnips, potatoes, onions, horseradish, beet-root, shalots, garlic, cauliflower, French beans, later peas, cuc.u.mbers, cabbages, sprouts, coss lettuce, endive, celery, parsley, sweet herbs, artichokes, artichoke suckers, chardoons, mushrooms, and all sorts of small salads.
SEPTEMBER.
_Fish._
Cod, codlings, skate, thornback, haddocks, soles, whitings, herrings come in full season, salmon, smelts, flounders, pike, perch, carp, tench, eels, lampreys, oysters, c.o.c.kles, muscles, crawfish, prawns, and shrimps.
_Game and Poultry._
Hares, leverets, partridges, quails, young turkeys, geese, ducks, capons, pullets, fowls, chickens, pigeons, wild and tame rabbits, wild ducks, widgeon, teal, plover, larks, and pippets.
_Fruit._
Pineapples, melons, grapes, peaches, plums, nectarines, pears, apples, quinces, medlars, filberts, hazel nuts, walnuts, morella cherries, damsons, white and black bullace.
_Roots and Vegetables._
Carrots, parsnips, potatoes, turnips, leeks, horseradish, beet-root, onions, shalots, garlic, celery, endive, coss and cabbage lettuces, artichokes, French beans, latter peas, mushrooms, cuc.u.mbers, red and other cabbages, cabbage plants, Jerusalem artichokes, parsley, sorrel, chervil, thyme, all sorts of sweet herbs, mint, balm, all sorts of small salad.
OCTOBER.
_Fish._
Cod, codlings, brill, haddocks, whiting, soles, herrings, cole-fish, halibut, smelts, eels, flounders, perch, pike, carp, tench, oysters, c.o.c.kles, muscles, lobsters, crabs, crawfish, prawns, and shrimps.
_Game and Poultry._
Hares, leverets, pheasants, partridges, moor-game, grouse, turkeys, geese, ducks, capons, pullets, fowls, chickens, pigeons, wild and tame rabbits, all sorts of wild-fowl, larks, plovers, woodc.o.c.ks, snipes, wood-pigeons, pippets.
_Fruit._
Pineapples, peaches, grapes, figs, medlars, all sorts of fine apples and pears, white plums, damsons, white and black bullace, quinces, filberts, walnuts, and chesnuts.
_Roots and Vegetables._
Carrots, parsnips, potatoes, turnips, leeks, horseradish, onions, shalots, garlic, beet-root, artichokes, latter cauliflowers, red and white cabbages, savoys, cabbage plants, green and white brocoli, chardoons, green and brown cole, celery, endive, spinach, sorrel, chervil, parsley, purslain, all sorts of sweet herbs, coss and cabbage lettuces, rocambole, and all sorts of small salads.
NOVEMBER.
_Fish._
Cod, salmon, herrings, barbel, halibut, smelts, flounders, whiting, haddock, pipers, gurnets, pike, perch, carp, tench, eels, lobsters, crabs, oysters, muscles, c.o.c.kles, crawfish, prawns, and shrimps.
_Game and Poultry._
The same as last month.
_Fruit._
Pineapples, all sorts of winter pears, golden pippins, nonpareils, all sorts of winter apples, medlars, white and black bullace, and walnuts kept in sand.
_Roots and Vegetables._
Turnips, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets, chardoons, onions, shalots, garlic, rocambole, cauliflowers in the greenhouse, red and other cabbages, savoys, cabbage plants, winter spinach, forced asparagus, late cuc.u.mbers, forced mushrooms, parsley, sorrel, chervil, thyme, all sorts of sweet herbs, celery, endive, cabbage lettuces, brown and green cole, and all sorts of small salads under gla.s.ses.
DECEMBER.
_Fish._
Cod, codlings, halibut, skate, sturgeon, soles, salmon, gurnets, haddock, whiting, sometimes turbots come with the soles, herrings, perch, pike, carp, tench, eels, lobsters, crabs, crawfish, muscles, c.o.c.kles, prawns, shrimps, Thames flounders, and smelts.
_Game and Poultry._
Hares, pheasants, partridges, moor or heath game, grouse, turkeys, geese, capons, pullets, fowls, chickens, all sorts of wild-fowl, wood c.o.c.ks, snipes, larks, wild and tame rabbits, dottrels, wood-pigeons, blackbirds, thrushes, plover both green and grey.
_Fruit._
All sorts of winter pears and apples, medlars, chesnuts, Portugal grapes and grapes hung in the room, and walnuts kept in sand.
_Roots and Vegetables._
Same as the last month.
Beef, mutton, and veal, are in season all the year; house lamb in January, February, March, April, May, October, November, and December.
Gra.s.s lamb comes in at Easter and lasts till April or May; pork from September till April or May; roasting pigs all the year; buck venison in June, July, August, and September; doe and heifer venison in October, November, December, and January.
GENERAL RULES FOR A GOOD DINNER.
There should be always two soups, white and brown, two fish, dressed and undressed; a bouilli and pet.i.ts-pates; and on the sideboard a plain roast joint, besides many savoury articles, such as hung beef, Bologna sausages, pickles, cold ham, cold pie, &c. some or all of these according to the number of guests, the names of which the head-servant ought to whisper about to the company, occasionally offering them. He should likewise carry about all the side-dishes or _entrees_, after the soups are taken away in rotation. A silver lamp should be kept burning, to put any dish upon that may grow cold.
It is indispensable to have candles, or plateau, or epergne, in the middle of the table.
Beware of letting the table appear loaded; neither should it be too bare. The soups and fish should be dispatched before the rest of the dinner is set on; but, lest any of the guests eat of neither, two small dishes of pates should be on the table. Of course, the meats and vegetables and fruits which compose these dinners must be varied according to the season, the number of guests, and the tastes of the host and hostess. It is also needless to add that without iced champagne and Roman punch a dinner is not called a dinner.
These observations and the following directions for dinners are suitable to persons who chuse to live _fashionably_; but the receipts contained in this book will suit any mode of living, and the persons consulting it will find matter for all tastes and all establishments. There is many an excellent dish not considered adapted to a fashionable table, which, nevertheless, is given in these pages.