Instead of prawn meat, you can use cold chicken, finely sliced or pounded, an atom of the divine truffle might then be added to each canape, and the thinnest slice of tongue might cover it. Instead of lettuce, a few sprigs of the flower or cold cauliflower can be introduced, or any cold vegetable of a delicate kind, asparagus points to wit.

Fish may be used in this fashion :- caviare, cod's roe, lobster, herring a la sardine, sardines, lax, preserved tunny, and anchovies. Fancy some neatly picked fillets of the last named fish, wiped free from oil, and the skin and bones removed, reposing on the green butter; over them a goodly sprinkling of sliced olives, then the lettuce leaf, etc., as previously described - "say, dost thou like the picture?"

In houses where the cook can really master an omelette properly, one with Parmesan laid upon a fricassee of cauliflower flowers, or upon a puree de topinambours, or com-posed aux points d'asperges, aux tomates, or aux truffes, may safely form an item of the choicest luncheon bill of fare.

Here is a pretty little recipe for a filet de boeuf a l'ltalienne which, to my mind, is worthy of attention, and well adapted for a mid-day festival. Take a tender fillet of beef (the undercut of the sirloin if possible) preserve it whole after trimming it into shape; make an incision in it lengthways, and insert therein a long strip of bacon, fat and lean in equal parts, previously rolled in a fines herbes mince composed of a table-spoonful each of finely chopped mushroom, and parsley, a dessert-spoonful of minced shallot, and some pepper: tie up the fillet now, carefully, with tape. Take a good slice of bacon, mince it very small with thyme, marjoram, lime peel, a clove of garlic, half a sweet onion and a carrot, shake this mixture in a little butter at the bottom of a stew-pan, and when it melts, place the fillet upon it, and turn it gently till it browns nicely. Now, pour in a pint of tomato puree diluted with beef gravy to the consistency of ordinary pea-soup : simmer your fillet in this till it is done, it ought to be kept at least a couple of hours at a gentle heat : when ready to serve, strain off the sauce, place the fillet upon a very hot dish, remove the tape, garnish with glazed onions, haricots verts, Brussels sprouts, or any nice vegetable, and pour a little of the sauce over it. Have ready some hot boiled, and drained maccaroni in a sauce-pan, empty all the sauce that remains amongst the maccaroni, shake into it a table-spoonful of finely grated cheese, toss the whole over the fire for a minute, and dish it separately in a very hot dish. Serve the two together immediately.

Maccaroni, in the usual Italian fashion, is infinitely superior to our perpetual method of serving it. It makes an excellent luncheon dish. Boil the maccaroni in boiling water in a sauce-pan (which may be rubbed with a clove of garlic) until it is tender; the moment it is tender, stop the boiling by adding a cup of cold water, if not, it will be sodden. Drain it carefully, as you do rice, and let it remain in the hot sauce-pan. Now, stir into it a table-spoonful of the best fresh, or preserved butter (the new Denmark brand is quite first-rate) and as you work this about over the fire, an assistant should add by degrees a breakfast-cupful of fresh tomato pulp, a little salt and black pepper, and lastly, a heaped up table-spoonful of either grated Parmesan from the bottle, or any mild thoroughly powdered dry cheese: serve steaming hot without delay. The cheese should form long threads when lifted from the dish with the maccaroni.

If you have any stock or consomme to spare, you can improve this dish by simmering the maccaroni therein after the draining stage. When the stock has been absorbed, add the tomato, etc.

I could, of course, go on suggesting dishes, and describing them ad infinitum, - for luncheons are little banquets which afford enthusiastic cooks a pleasant field for the exercise of their inventive faculties. I will, however, conclude my chat about luncheon parties with a receipt for a mayonnaise sauce which has been communicated to me by the artist W. H. H.:-

Put the yolks of three large, or four ordinary Indian eggs, (raw) in a flat joint dish with a tea-spoonful of salt, and the juice of two limes, and beat them well : tip the dish on end at an angle of about 35°, by slipping a thick book under the rim at one end. Open a fresh bottle of salad oil, and get an assistant to let the oil fall, in rapidly succeeding drops, upon the centre of the dish, whilst you continue beating the egg mixture upwards to make it pass under the stream of dripping oil. Half a pint of salad oil may be thus expended, and you will, by that time, have a sauce as thick as treacle, and of a golden yellow tint. Arrange your mayonnaise in its dish (W. H. H. recommends the juicy slices of a really well flavoured cold leg of mutton) shake a few drops of tarragon vinegar over it, with a dust of black pepper: arrange some well dried lettuce leaves, trimmed with a silver dessert knife, over the mayonnaise; garnish as you like, with broken aspic jelly, gherkins, turned olives, capers, fillets of anchovy, balls of green or yellow butter, plain hard-boiled yolks of egg whole, etc., ice the sauce, and pour it over all. W. H. H. suggests that "grace" should follow. He is right.

A few words must now be said regarding miscellaneous luncheons:- the office snacklet, the lunch in the train, or al fresco out shooting, the "tiffin" at home, a lady's morceau, and the mid-day meal of the convalescent.

Place aux dames. This is the time when a lady may indulge in mulligatunny, or her favorite curry, with its chutneys, and relishes of which I treat later on.

A chicken neatly cut up as for a curry, then dipped in bread-crumbs, fried a golden brown, and served with mac-carom, and tomato, or with good bread-sauce and fried parsley.

Perdrix au chou, or two partridges, boiled, and smothered in onions as rabbits are cooked in England.

The undercut of the saddle, cut out entire, grilled over a brisk fire, and sent up with a potato duchesse : or a juicy neck chop similarly served, with a pat of maitre d'hotel butter melting over either of them.

Braise a neck of mutton, or a breast, in gravy, with vegetables and some chopped bacon: slip a slice of bacon under the flap of either, and tie it in shape before you commence operations : when almost done, lift the little joint up; strain off the gravy, skim it, and make a nice sauce with it such as piquante, poivrade, or Italienne. Put the joint in the oven after bread-crumbing it, to brown and finish cooking; when ready, dish it surrounded by boiled maccaroni over which the sauce should be poured at the last minute. Tomato pulp may be used for this purpose with marked effect, and some glazed turnips or carrots may garnish the dish, in which case the sauce should be served separately in a boat.

A nicely roasted snipe, or pigeon barde, with potato chips.

A single canape of prawn, or a little patty of puff-pastry filled with any tasty mixture.

A savoury omelette, spinach on toast with "buttered-Ggg,", or served with short-bread biscuits.

A little plate of peas, tossed in butter with dice of fried ham or bacon.

Coquilles of fish en rechauffe, or of any delicate vegetable.

Indian corn, boiled, stripped with a fork from the cob, tossed in melted butter, peppered, and salted, is generally liked; see that the cob is quite a young one.

A cheese fondue en caisse.

From these dishes the luncheon of a lady or an invalid ought to be easily selected.

Savoury toasts of all kinds, from the homely Welsh rarebit upwards, are welcome on the luncheon table. I treat of them, you will find, in extenso in a separate chapter.

The office snacklet is, as a rule, a sandwich followed by a slice of cake. The former is susceptible of infinite variety : here are a few good ones :-

Spread the bread with green or any fancy butter, and fill the sandwich with chopped sardines, and some bits of pickle here and there; or with mixed chicken and tongue, a lettuce leaf and some mayonnaise sauce.

Any potted meat worked up with butter, pepper, a touch of mustard, and a little chutney.

Ham and beef sandwiches should make your nose tingle with mustard : be easy with the butter if you can dot in some nice pieces of fat.

Pound a slice of cheese well, with a little fresh butter, a tea-spoonful of made mustard, a little black pepper, and salt, add an anchovy, well wiped free from oil, and passed through the sieve with a little butter if too thick, mix thoroughly, give it a dust of Nepaul pepper, spread it on your bread, and complete the sandwich. This is for one large, or two small ones remember, so cut your cheese accordingly.

Hard-boiled eggs work up well for sandwiches, and may be either used plainly pounded with butter with a seasoning of pepper and salt, or added to other ingredients like chopped tongue, ham, or corned beef.

Fillets of anchovy with slices of olive, embedded in pounded hard-boiled egg and butter, and lightly dusted with Nepaul pepper, compose a very eatable sandwich.

I am especially fond of a lunch-let composed of one home-made roll, a small piece of Grayere, and two ripe plantains, but the taste of eating cheese with fruit is, I fear, un-English.

The traveller's luncheon basket, and that of the sportsman are analogous. A friend of mine with whom I used to walk the paddy fields, adopted the plan of taking out a digester pot, previously filled with stewed steak and oysters, or some equally toothsome stew. This he trusted to his syce, who lit a fire somewhere or other, in the marvellous way the natives of this country do, and, as sure as there are fish in the sea, had the contents of the pot steaming hot, at the exact spot, and at the very moment we required it. He was a bow-legged veteran, this syce, and a most trusty varlet. I almost think though, that our shooting became a little erratic after our stew, which was bountiful in quantity, rich in quality, and provocative of beer, of whisky and water, or brandy and soda, according to our supply thereof.

A good cold lunch is the best for the open air, when work must follow. When I was going through the course of Garrison instruction, and accustomed to long days out surveying, I was partial to a galantine made of a small fowl, boned and rolled, with a block of tongue and some forcemeat introduced in the centre of it. A home-made brawn of tongue, a part of an ox head, and sheep's trotters, well seasoned, and slightly spiced, was another specialite.

A nice piece of the brisket of beef salted and spiced, boiled, placed under a weight, and then trimmed into a neat shape (the trimmings come in for sandwiches, potted-meat, or "bubble and squeak") is a very handy thing for the tiffin basket; and a much respected patron of mine recommends for travelling, a really good cold plum pudding in which a glass of brandy has been included.

Cake is acceptable at every kind of luncheon; in fact, cakes were invented for that meal, for 5 o'clock tea, weddings, and for school-boys only.