Under this general head we range our receipts for hashes, stews, fricasees, and ragouts *: of these there are a great multitude, affording the ingenious cook an inexhaustible store of very rich and pleasing variety: we have very few general observations to make, after what we have already said in the chapter of gravies, sauces, soups, etc, which apply to the present chapter, as they form the principal part of the accompaniment of most of these dishes. We have given receipts for the most easy and simple way to make hashes, etc.; for only those who are well skilled in culinary arts know how good things may be dressed up in this way, so as to be as agreeable and nutritious as they were the first time they were cooked; the main business of my booh being to increase the comforts of moderate families and moderate fortunes. I have also given directions for preparing the more composite and elaborate made dishes, still keeping constantly in mind, not to make either the stomach or the purse suffer for the pleasure of the palate; endeavouring to hold the balance even, between the agreeable and the wholesome, and the epicure and the economist. This is by no means so difficult a task as some gloomy philosophers (uninitiated in culinary science,) have tried to make the world believe, whose leading doctrines are, that every thing that is nice must be noxious, and every thing that is nasty must be wholesome. But as Shakspeare could never find a philosopher who could endure the tooth-ach patiently, so I have never met with a philosopher who did not love a feast.

* Gravy for ragouts, etc, should be thickened till it is of the consistence of good rich cream. When you have a large dinner to dress, always keep ready mixed some fine sifted flour and water well rubbed together till quite smooth and about as thick as batter.

I promise those who do me the honour to put my receipts into practice, they will find that the most agreeable and truly elegant dishes are not always the most difficult to dress, the most expensive, or the most indigestible: be it known to all whom it may concern, that in these compositions knowledge will go farther than expense; and if some of my receipts appear to differ a little from preceding or co-temporary cookery-book-makers, let it be remembered, 1 have advanced nothing in this work that I have not tried, and had frequent experience of its success.

While we are contriving to give every gratification in the utmost perfection to the lover of good eating, we have not put any temptations in the way of the valetudinarian that he may not occasionally partake of, not only with impunity, but with advantage: the infirm stomachs of invalids sometimes require a little indulgence, and like other bad instruments want oiling, and screwing, and winding up, and adjusting with the utmost care, to keep them in tolerable order; they will receive the most salutary stimulus from now and then making a full meal of a favourite dish. I believe this is not a singular notion of my own, (or a good word for my fellow spit-mates,) though it may not exactly agree with the present fastidious fancy of some of the faculty, that starvation is the sovereign remedy for all disorders. As abundance of eating and drinking is perhaps one of the most frequent causes of the disorders of the rich, so privation is the common source of complaints among the poor; and the cause of the one is the cure of the other: still 1 hold it lawful to excite the blunted palate, when enfeebled by age, or indisposition, luxurious living, or intemperance; and an healthful impetus may be given to the system by the help of a favourite soup or ragout*, at less expense to the machinery of life than by the use of those spirituous stimuli †, that merely fan a feverish fire by inflaming the circulation for a few minutes, without, at the same time, contributing any fuel to feed the lamp of life, which, if its construction be organically defective, or is impaired by the wear and tear of time or disease, will sometimes not burn brightly, unless it is supplied with the best oil, and trimmed in the most skilful manner. None but the most obstinately ignorant visionary would dream will agree with weak stomachs surprisingly well. This excellent soup is frequently ordered for dyspeptic patients by the senior physician to one of the largest hospitals in this metropolis: as a man of science and talent, certainly in as high estimation as any of his medical cotemporaries.

* Good Mock Turtle, (see No. 216, or 246*,)

† The following observations are extracted from Dr, "Reece's Gazette of Healths"

All wines naturally possess a proportion of alcohol (ardent spirit); but to the foreign wines a quantity is added, to prevent their running into the acetous fermentation during the voyage to this country, and this is proportioned to the quality of the wine. In order, therefore, to ascertain the quantity which the different wines contain on an average, the experiments have been made on wines from different vendors. Brandy and rum are sold at different degrees of strength; indeed, some termed white brandy and white rum, are highly rectified. The brandy and rum employed in the following experiments were obtained from a respectable wine merchant, who was desired to send samples of the articles as generally sold to the public.

A bottle of port wine, containing twenty-six ounces, which had been in bottle seven years, produced two ounces and seven drachms of alcohol (ardent spirit).

A bottle of port wine, containing twenty-five ounces and a half, (one year in bottle, and two years in wood,) two ounces and six drachms.

A bottle of pale sherry, three years old, containing twenty-five ounces, produced three ounces.

A bottle of Madeira, two years old, containing twenty-five ounces and a half, two ounces and five drachms.

A bottle of Cape Madeira, one year old, containing twenty-five ounces, two ounces and a half.