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235
The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft
·
George Gissing
193
VII.
One
has
heard
much
condemnation
of
the
English
kitchen.
Our
typical
cook
is
spoken
of
as
a
gross,
unimaginative
creature,
capable
only
of
roasting
or
seething.
Our
table
is
said
to
be
such
as
would
weary
or
revolt
any
but
gobbet-bolting
carnivores.
We
are
told
that
our
bread
is
the
worst
in
Europe,
an
indigestible
paste;
that
our
vegetables
are
diet
rather
for
the
hungry
animal
than
for
discriminative
man;
that
our
warm
beverages,
called
coffee
and
tea,
are
so
carelessly
or
ignorantly
brewed
that
they
preserve
no
simple
virtue
of
the
drink
as
it
is
known
in
other
lands.
To
be
sure,
there
is
no
lack
of
evidence
to
explain
such
censure.
The
class
which
provides
our
servants
is
undeniably
coarse
and
stupid,
and
its
handiwork
of
every
kind
too
often
bears
the
native
stamp.
For
all
that,
English
victuals
are,
in
quality,
the
best
in
the
world,
and
English
cookery
is
the
wholesomest
and
the
most
appetizing
known
to
any
temperate
clime.
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