In cookery, quite as much depends upon the order and manner of combining the materials as upon the ingredients themselves. The manipulation of the cook-stove has something in common with that of a musical instrument. It is possible to play by ear with little knowledge of scales and chords, or to cook without knowing the laws of heat or the chemical composition of food materials.

Or, by continual practice, a single composition may be committed to memory and be reproduced in a mechanical fashion either upon the piano or on the kitchen range. Only after much study and repetition of processes does one become able to interpret intelligently the works of great masters, and the fundamental laws of harmony must be known, before one can produce new creations either in music or more material things.

As music appeals to the sense of hearing, so does cookery to that of taste. The truest art in cookery-is not the ability to construct wondrous complications of food materials, or to carve roses from beets, or model faces in butter, but rather to develop the full flavor of a food by the simplest process, to make the "mouth water" - that is, to stimulate the flow of the digestive juices by savory odors and flavors.

Brillat Savarin well said that the invention of a new dish meant more happiness to the human race than the discovery of a constellation, but quite as important is the constant preparation of the simple, old foods in the very best way - the baked potato, the boiled egg, the broiled steak, etc., etc.

Before Baking. Fancy Cakes And Cookies

After Baking. How To Make Several Fancy Cakes From The Same Recipe