26 MARCH 1887, Page 24

COOKERY BOOK8.—Breakfasts, Luncheons, and Ball Suppers. By Major L—. (Chapman

and Hall.)—The author is considerate enough to divide his bills of fare into classes, and to give what be considers fitting respectively for the sedentary and the active, ladies being classed with the former, bat respectfully informed that if they object, they may consult other portions of the book. Here is a " sedentary " breakfast :—" Fried trout, stewed kidneys, poached eggs h Is crème." Now, our idea of a sedentary breakfast is "tea and toast." Here is a "robust " breakfast :—" Fried sole, santE of kidneys, devilled chicken, broiled ham, poached eggs h la crème." It is interesting to trace the course of the sedentary eater through the day. For luncheon, he has, say, "civet of hare, mutton cutlets h la Soabise, Londonderry pudding." For his dinner, we must go to the author's previous work, "The Pytchley Cookery Book." After bills of fare come a number of recipes, the most useful part of the book, we are inclined to think.--The Ki,chen Oracle, by Samuel Hobbs (Dean and Son), claims to "contain an exhaustive sum- mary of modern cookery as at present served from our best kitchens," and is intended to give directions for economical as well as expensive fare. After the menu comes a "requisition Het" of articles required. It is interesting to analyse one of these, and see what amount of food is required for a dinner of eighteen persons. It seems to stand thus :—About 40 lb. of meat (241b. being soup meat), besides sweetbreads, eight fowls, two pheasants, eight snipe, salmon (weight not given, bat say 41b.), four whiting, three dozen oysters. For the smaller items we have not space, but we may mention 41b. of butter and two quarts of cream, twoand-a-half dozen of eggs, a bottle of sherry, and half-a-bottle of brandy among them. A very rough calculation gives the price of the materials at £9, or 10s. per head. The economical part of Mr. Hobbs's book is not easily dis- covered. But, of course, there is an economy for the rich as well as for the poor, and it is to this, doubtless, that he addresses himself. There is no doubt of the thoroughly practical character of his direc- tions, and we commend it to our readers with the reservation, non