The writer has examined the recipes of Gouffee, the chief French cook of the Queen of England, set forth in the expensive Royal Cook-Book; also those of Soyer and Professor Blot. She and her friends also have tested many of their recipes.

The following are most of the flavors used by them in cooking soups, stews, hashes, etc. Combination of these is recommended by those authors in these proportions:

One fourth of an ounce of thyme.

One fourth of an ounce of bay leaf.

One eighth of an ounce of marjoram.

One eighth of an ounce of rosemary.

Dry the above when fresh, mix in a mortar, and keep them corked tight in glass bottle.

Also the following in these proportions:

Half an ounce of nutmeg.

Half an ounce of cloves.

One fourth of an ounce of black pepper.

One eighth of an ounce of Cayenne pepper.

Pound, mix, and keep corked tight in glass. In using these with salt, put one ounce of the last recipe to four ounces of salt. In making force-meat and hashes, use at the rate of one ounce of this spiced salt to three pounds of meat.

Soup Powder

Two ounces of parsley.

Two ounces of winter savory.

Two ounces of sweet marjoram.

Two ounces of lemon-thyme.

One ounce of lemon-peel.

One ounce of sweet basil.

Dry, pound, sift, and keep in a tight-corked bottle.

Let the housekeeper add these flavors so that they will not be strong, but quite delicate, and then make a rule for the cook.

The peculiar excellence of French cooking is the combination of flavors, so that no one is predominant, and all are delicate in force and quantity.