2 JUNE 1877, Page 24

Kettner's Book of the Table. (Dulau.)—This volume is described as

" a manual of cookery, practical, theoretical, historical." Of the theoretical part we may say without hesitation that it seems very reasonable, and of the historical, that it is amusing. Of the practi- cal part it is impossible to speak so confidently without experi- ment, and a consequent delay which would make our criticism very tardy indeed. But we would single out for special notice the remarks about cooking in fat. The author is very emphatic on this point, and gives reasons for recommending the method which seem to us to be of the utmost cogency. Sometimes we observe a prejudice, not well founded, against English things. It is not true that the English " have no notion, for example, in making strawberry-jam, of keeping the berries separate." The author is judging from the jam of the shops, which has to be over-boiled for precautionary reasons, though there are shops where the right thing is to be found, indeed the author mentions one. In households it is otherwise. Certainly the present writer would

not think strawberry-jam worth keeping which did not show the shape of the'fruit.