Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/1798

 CHAPTER LIX

Cookery in the cities of America and Canada differs very little if at all from cookery in England. If Caneton à l'Aylesbury were substituted for the Canvas-back Duck, which appears in the menu of a banquet recently given at the White House, in every other respect as regards materials employed and arrangement of service—it would correspond with similar functions at the Mansion House. Evidently the French cuisine is as much appreciated and as much sought after in America and Canada as in England: although, like every other nation, Americans and Canadians have several dishes prepared from fish, animals, and fruits which are common to the country.

Fish.—The employment of fish in America as a diet is exceptionally large, the immense extent of the American coasts, both Atlantic and the Pacific, being still further supplemented by the resources of the large rivers and great lakes, so that a constant supply is obtainable of not only most of the varieties esteemed in England, but of others unknown to us. Of these latter we may mention the blue fish (Temnodon saltator) a member of the family Scomberidae, is abundant on the east coast of North America. It is from 2 to 3 feet in length, and in appearance is silvery below and bluish above: hence its name. The Cusk, another variety unknown to us, is a cod-like fish found abundantly in the northern parts of the Atlantic Ocean. There is also the Taulog, a fish of blackish hue, irregularly barred with green, and found principally in the Atlantic Ocean, contiguous to the United States. The Pickerel we are familiar with under another name, for it corresponds exactly with the English Pike.

Sweet Dishes.—The Americans have a marked taste for sweet dishes, in which taste they show dietetic wisdom. The value of sugar as an article of food is sometimes overlooked by people who have accustomed themselves to a highly nitrogenous diet. Hot cakes at breakfast are quite a national institution. These are often made with soda or baking powder, and must be regarded as somewhat beyond the capacities of average digestive organs. 1614