DISHES
B1L
THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
THE GASTRONOMY COLLECTION OF
GEORGE HOLL
AGR1C.
LIBRARY
THE ART
OF
NAMING DISHES
on
BILLS OF FARE
By
L. SCHUMACHER
MO, 000
NEW YORK
CULINARY PUBLISHING CO.
1920
COPYRIGHT
1920
by
L SCHUMACHER
All Rights Reserved
TO
HENRY C. F. GOSSLEK
TXZ2?
AGRfC.
LIBRARY
Preface
This little work is written for the pro-
gressive element in the hotel and restaurant
profession because of the fact that the menus
and bills of fare are, to a great extent, neither
intelligible to the server nor the served. There-
fore, a method of naming dishes will be offered
in the following pages, which I hope will be
satisfactory to all concerned proprietors,
employees and guests. There is no doubt that
this way of naming dishes is the only effective
method of reforming and doing away with the
medly that now generally exists. It must be
understood that a plain and intelli-
gible me*nu and bill of fare is
exactly the same as an attrac-
tive advertisement and has the
same value of silent salesman-
ship. The author is sure that the system, if
carried out, will also avoid most of the food
waste which now occurs, because it eliminates
the sending back of dishes by guests and the
spoiling of goods in stock. This, on account of
the many patrons who order without knowledge
of what the names of dishes represent and in-
versely there are many dishes which have names
unintelligible to guests and therefore are not
ordered. In particular table d'hote dinners
would not have the immense waste, and many
millions which are now lost could be saved.
Next to these advantages, there are others which
should not be underestimated. Waiters, wait-
M369O79
resses, etc., will be relieved of the study regard-
ing names of dishes which, as at present, can
never be studied to perfection because the medly
is too great. The attendants will have to deal
with only such names as are plain and intelli-
gible to everybody. This will make them better
waiters, and in a shorter time. Translators
will have much easier work. Instead of going
through a thick volume, the necessary culinary
names in several languages can be given in a
booklet of a size that fits the waistcoat pocket,
because all style names (in style, a la
) which makes the culinary languages
so confusing and difficult, are considered as
secondary, and the waiter or waitress does not
need to bother with them, when the principle
ingredients and kinds of preparations are given.
This work also is a precursor of a series
of culinary cyclopeadical dictionaries which will
be published in six volumes :
English - French and French - English
English - Spanish and Spanish - English.
English - German and German - English.
French - Spanish and Spanish - French.
French. - German and German - French.
Spanish - German and German - Spanish.
That this little work may contribute to
greater clarity and simplicity is the main desire
of the writer, because in the naming of dishes
there is so much to be improved which would be
mutually beneficial.
THE AUTHOR
NEW YORK CITY
Contents
Preface _ 5
Key to the Signs - _ _ 8
Intelligible and Unintelligible Names of Dishes _ 9
Advantages of having Intelligible Names on
Bills of Fare 9
Instances 12
Short Names 16
Names that are too long 19
Rules for the Naming of Dishes 20
Foreign Names on English Menus and Bills of Fare 21
Are Foreign Names of Dishes easily understood? 29
Are all Domestic Names Understood? 32
Bills of Fare in more than one language _ 34
The Abbreviation of Names _ 62
The Meaning of the Personal Nouns, Geographical
Names, Titles, etc *... 69
Style Designations * 76
Concluding Words, Mainly for the
Compilers of the Bills of Fare '..... 106
Rules of Grammar of Four Languages 115
The Using of Adjectives . - 123
List of Adjectives 128
The Plural of the French and Spanish Words 132
Punctuation _ 133
Using Big and Small Capital Letters _ 135
The Singular and Plural on Table Cards _ 136
The Naming of Table Cards in Four Languages 137
French Words most commonly used with the
Preposition "with" _ _ 139
Key to the Signs
( ) A paranthesis at the end of a word in-
dicates the singular and plural:
Plum ( s ) Plum Plums
Potato (es) Potato Potatoes
Pomme ( s ) Ponune Pommes
de terre de torre de terre
Crevette(s) Crevette Crevettes
( ) One or more words in paranthesis at
the end or in the middle of a translation
means that such can be used for the fore-
going word: Yeal Cutlet (cut, collop) =
Veal cutlet, Veal cut, Veal collop ; Crates
conserves (en toite) = Crates conserves,
Crates en toite, etc.
Words or part of words between two
vertical lines means that they are often
left out on bills of fare. For instance:
haricot for haricot \de mouton and cod
for cod | fish | . etc.
s,e,es. This and similar given letters indicate
the different endings of the adjectives,
etc.
frit, s, e, es. Faux, -, fausse, s.
fritjo, s, a, as. hollandais, -, e, es.
Singular - Masculine Plural - Masculine
frit frits
frito fritos
faux faux
hollandais hollandais
Singular - Feminine Plural - Feminine
frite frites
frita fritas
fausse fausses
hollandaise hollandaises
Intelligible and Unintelligible
Names of Dishes
Advantages of having Intelligible Names
on Bills of Fare
In almost any restaurant complaints re-
garding slow service are often heard. Some of
these complaints are undoubtedly unjust, as
there are certain dishes which cannot possibly
be as hastily prepared as the guests sometimes
wish; but there are many cases where delays
occur which could be easily avoided. Some of
the reasons may be due to the delay in forward-
ing the orders in the pantry or kitchen, incompe-
tence of a waiter, etc., but in most cases it is
caused by the unsatisfactory naming of dishes.
Much time is wasted when the waiters are ques-
tioned by guests as to what this or that is, and
what a certain name of dish means. And we
often find that waiters cannot give satisfactory
answers or that they have to inquire in the kit-
chen or of the headwaiter, captain, etc. Ex-
plaining the names of dishes to the guests
naturally takes up much time. The time lost
is not of so much consideration when there are
10 The Art of Naming Dishes
only a few guests in the dining room and the
guests as well as the waiters have time to spare,
but during certain hours of the day when the
dining rooms are filled with guests, every minute
is valuable and has to be used to the best ad-
vantage. Quick service is one of the main fac-
tors in the proper conducting of restaurants and
hotels, and can be much improved if the names
of dishes on bills of fare are given in clear con-
cise worlds so that a guest does not need to ask
their meaning. Easily understood bills of fare
have this advantage: that a guest can give an
immediate order, and the waiter can forward
dishes more quickly and thereby be at liberty
to attend to other guests that are waiting. This
will make it possible for the employees to take
care of more customers at the same time, the
guests will be better pleased, and the place will
be recommended more because good and quick
service are to a large extent the basis of a good
reputation - - a feature always sought by the
progressive hotel and restaurant manager.
In serving table d'hote the mistake of
offering menus which are not easily understood,
is just as great as when serving d la carte. A
party of guests taking their places at a table
will first reach for the menu and it is a fact that
most guests are disappointed and make un-
favorable remarks when they see dishes with
foreign names on the card. A member of the
party may ask his neighbor the meaning of
strange names, and the neighbor seldom knows,
while others, after a short study of the menu,
put back the card because it means very little
or nothing to them. A few may take menus in
a foreign language as self-evident because in
their estimation it shows a high class of estab-
Intelligible and Unintelligible Names of Dishes 11
lishment, and is fashionable, ~bon ton, though
they may not know the meaning. In fact the
majority of guests do not know what kind of
dishes are going to be served, but have to wait
until it is handed to them, and it often happens
that they do not even know what they are eating.
And when their favorite dish is served which
they did not recognize on the menu, they may
already have partaken so freely of other dishes
that they cannot enjoy it any more. There are
dishes, however, which cannot be named satis-
factorily for all guests but these are few and
we will give more attention to them later on.
We must also consider that there are guests who
only eat very digestible food and who dare not
eat certain dishes at all. By not knowing what
will be served the guests cannot select dishes
to their taste, but have to take what is offered
by the waiter. Therefore a clear menu is ab-
solutely necessary, as there are certain garnish-
ed dishes in which it is hard to specify the in-
gredients. Where the portions are served in-
dividually one may often notice that many
dishes are taken from the table untouched, or
perhaps have been merely tasted. As with a
la carte orders the waiter is told to exchange
them for other dishes. Not only is time lost
in this way but much food is also wasted. This
would rarely happen if the menus and bills of
fare were couched in a language which could
be easily understood by the guests. Fortified
with the knowledge of what the bills of fare
consisted, the guests would be more anxious to
obtain the delicacies suitable to their palate,
and take their meals with greater satisfaction.
A clear menu is like a good soup before a good
meal ; a fine indicator of what is to follow. The
giver of an entertainment who will lay stress
12 The Art of Naming Dishes
upon serving his guests with an elegant, tasty
meal, will also take pains to render the different
dishes in words which are intelligible to every-
body. If this is not the purpose of table-cards
then why have them? Are they only to be treat-
ed like Chinese newspapers?
For Example:
To particularize and to show what is
understood by intelligible and uninmtelligible
names of dishes, we quote a few instances. Let
us consider the soups.
French:
Clear soups. Potages clairs.
Bouillon soups ;
Bouillon; Potages de bouillons;
Meat soups.
Consomme soups; Potages de consommes:
Consommes. Consommes.
Thickened soups. Potages lies.
Puree soups Potages passes ;
Strained soups. Potages tamis;
Potages a la puree.
Cream soups. Potages a la ereme.
Vegetable soups. Potages de legumes.
Fish soups. Potages de poissons.
Wine soups. Soupes au vin.
Fruit soups. Soupes de fruits.
Water soups. Soupes a Peau.
Milk soups. Soupes de (au) lait.
Beer soups. Soupes a la biere.
The foregoing names of the various class-
es of soups show that each one is entirely differ-
ent in form and contents. But the forms and
contents of the soups are not sufficient to in-
dicate their make up. In most cases the names
Intelligible and Unintelligible Names of Dishes 13
of- the principle ingredients (elements) which
are used must be mentioned to mark the differ-
ent tastes. A beef consomme with meat balls,
is different in taste from a chicken consomme
with vegetables, and so is a puree soup of peas
different from a puree soup of beans.
Now, on many bills of fare one will often
meet with names which cannot claim distinct-
ness. For instance :Soup in Italian
style or Italian soup. Most guests
will ask what kind of soup it is. Italian
or in Italian style does not give
any explanation at all. There are meat soups,
fish soups, thickened soups, rice soups, etc., and
each one can be prepared in Italian style. Ac-
cordingly the soup must be named more distinct-
ly, as, for instance, Chicken soup in
Italian style, Rice soup in
Italian style, etc. If abbreviated
names are used then the abbreviation must not
be done at the expense of distinctness. It
would be better to abbreviate in Italian
style to Italian style or simply
Italian. In this case a comma must take
the place of the omitted i n and the names
of the different soups would read as follows:
Consomme, Italian; Fish soup,
Italian; Eice soup, Italian;
Tomato cream soup, Italian; etc.
The same holds good with Danish
soup and hundreds of others. There are
several soups in Danish style and the bet
known one is a chicken cream soup. Therefore,
Chicken cream soup, Danish.
Che v re use sou p. The soup is
named after a person by name of Chevreuse.
14 The Art of Naming Dishes
As this name is written it leads to the
belief that the soup is composed of a foreign in-
gredient which is called "chevreuse", and it is
sometimes accepted as such. The name cannot
be found in a small dictionary or cyclopeadia,
but there is a similar word given namely cheo-
reuil* meaning roe. Some people may think
the personal name is a mistake in spelling, be-
cause we sometimes see Chevreuil soup given
for Chevreuse soup, although this has
nothing to do with r|oe-venison soup.
The correct way of writing would be : Soup
in Chevreuse style or Soup,
Chevreuse. But this name is not suffici-
ently clear for bills of fare, as it does not say
what kind of a soup it is. There are several
soups named after Chevreuse. One of them,
consists of fish-broth, sometimes combined with
a little meat broth, cream, slices of cucumber,
cheese and fish-balls. The fish-broth is the
principal element of the soup, and therefore it
can be called fish soup. That it contains a
little meat broth, a little cream and a few slices
of cucumber, matters but very little; just as
well as a little milk and a few roasted bread
cubes may be in pea soup. The former will
always remain a fish soup as the latter will
remain pea soup. The main contents of the
fish soup are the fish-balls. This can be men-
tioned (although it is not absolutely necessary)
as the name fish soup gives sufficient explana-
tion as far as the character is concerned, and
the name Chevreuse indicates the ingredients
of the soup. Therefore : F i s h soup, C h e v-
r e u s e.
As with soups so it is with all other
dishes. Chicken, Indian style. A
Intelligible and Unintelligible Names of Dishes 15
dish consisting of boiled chicken with curry
sauce and rice is often so called. That the curry
is a compound spice, which comes from India,
does not give us the right to call the whole meal
after the home of the curry, unless it is named
first with the principal ingredients and make
ups. All dishes which contain curry are just
as much liked as disliked, and therefore the
spice must be mentioned. A guest might send
back the dish not knowing that it contained
curry. The proper name for the dish would
be Chicken in curry with rice;
Curried chicken with rice;
Chicken in curry sauce with
r\ice, or Chicken with curry
sauce and Irice. Also Curry of
chicken with rice and Chicken
curry with * i c e is right because in the
culinary language the name does not mean the
spice alone but could be given to any dish cooked
in curry or served with curry sauce. So named,
the various styles can be indicated with style
designations.
Veal, Marengo is another one
of the thousands of difficult names which appear
on bills of fare. Some guests who have eaten
the dish and who know what this name means
will be satisfied with it, but others will undoubt-
edly ask what kind of a dish it is and what it
is like. They want to have an explanation as
to how the veal is prepared. The veal may be
fried, boiled, or stewed, etc., but to the guest it
is a riddle. Veal, iMarengo is made
of cubed veal, chopped onions, charlottes, herbs,
etc., and the whole is stewed over a fire. This
means that it is a kind of a stew, or better per-
haps, a ragout. Therefore, Veal ragout,
16 The Art of Naming Dishes
M a r e n g o Is the proper name. The simple
worid ragout clears up the whole mystery
surrounding the name Veal, M a r e n g o,
and every guest would be satisfied when reading
it, as everybody understands the word ragout.
Short Names
When abbreviating the names on the
bills of fare, it has been customary to omit many
words that have a necessary and direct bearing
on the meaning of the term. Consomme
with shredded vegetables is seen
to read Julienne soup whereas it
should read as above or Consomme, Jul-
ienne. Breaded veal cutlet (cut,
collop) , Y i e n n a is seen to read Wiener
Schnitzel and Chicken cream
soup, Soubise is Soubise soup,
etc. By such abbreviations or wrong transla-
tions the items naturally lose much of their
value when presented to the guest on the bills
of fare. There are indeed some dishes with
"unintelligible" names that have long been
known and with which the guests are familiar,
but these are comparatively very few. Proper
names are but sorry indications of the make up
of dishes, and a guess along these lines as to the
composition of same dishes would bring sad
dissapointment. It is not at all a difficult
matter to so arrange the wording of a bill of
fare that the guest may easily understand the
same, without unduly lengthening the descrip-
tion of the particular items recorded. For in-
stance, would not the guest look with more favor
'on the second names of dishes than the first
Intelligible and Unintelligible Names of Dishes 17
shown here though the same dishes are quoted
in each case. (The first given menu is a copy
of an original which should not be taken as an
example of a perfect set up, but is simply given
here as an instance as to the naming).
Soup Royal
Salmon a la Maryland
Roastbeef Flamish
Veal Fricandeau a la Jardiniere
Chicken Pie American
Crabs Varennes
Poularde English
Salad Compot
Celery Royal
Ice Alhambra Fruits
Assorted Cheese
Coffee
2.
Chicken Consomme, Royal
Boiled Salmon, Butter Maryland
Roast Beef
White Cabbage Bacon
Larded, braised Veal w. various Vegetables
Warm Chicken Pie, American
Crabs with Jelly, Remoulade Sauce
Stuffed, roast Caponized Chicken
Lettuce Salad Preserved Pears
Baked Celery with Madeira Sauce
Alhambra Ice Bomb.
Pastry
Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Gouda Cheese
Fruits Coffee
Intelligible and Unintelligible Names of Dishes 19
Names that are too long
That menus and bills of fare sometimes
bear names which are too elaborate and detailed
can often be noticed. There is really nothing
to say against this practise, but it quite fre-
quently happens that secondary things are men-
tioned and the principal thing is left out Take
for instance:
r.
Beef with green Olive Sauce
Cauliflower in French Style
Potatoes a la Serpentin
It would be better to say:
Eoast Beef, Olive Sauce
Creamed Cauliflower, French
Fried Spiral Potatoes
Pork with white Puree of Onions
Consomme with cubes of Carrots
An Improvement would be:
Koast Pork w. Onion Puree (Mashed Onions)
Consomme with Carrots
The secondary designations, "with green/'
with white, cubes of, etc., are not necessary at
all. It is just the same to a guest whether he
receives green olive sauce or any other, white
puree of onions or colored, cubes of carrots,
sliced or whole.
20 The Art of Naming Dishes
Rules for the Naming of Dihess
In naming dishes two main factors are
recommended: to mention their main ingredi-
ents and the way they are prepared. Secondary
designations , such as geographical or personal
names can then follow. Let us consider the
soups. Before giving them a second designation,
the main elements, such as meats, vegetables,
etc., should be taken into consideration, as there
are meat soup, vegetable soup, fruit soup, etc.
When soups are prepared mainly or entirely
out of a certain kind of meat, vegetable, etc. r
they have to be named as chicken soup, pea
soup, tomato soup, cherry soup, etc. When
soups are prepared in a particular way they
must be called pea puree soup (strained pea
soup), chicken cream soup, thick tomato soup,
beef consomme, clear turtle soup, etc. All in-
gredients with few exceptions are considered as
substitute designations and are seldom mention-
ed, but expressed by style names as Choiseul
style, Eoyal style, Manhattan style, etc.
Simple soups which contain mainly one ingredi-
ent like dumplings, semola, etc., can be named
with their contents as cherry soup w. dumplings,
Avine soup w. semola, etc. That it is absolutely
necessary to name soups, as other dishes with
their main ingredients and their manner of pre-
paration is shown by different soups which have
the same style of designation as for instance :
Clear chicken soup, Choiseul;
Chicken cream soup, Choiseul;
Chicken consomme, Choiseul. If
they were all called simply Soup, Choi-
Intelligible and Unintelligible Names of Dishes 21
s e ti 1, one could not tell which kind was meant,
and there is certainly a big difference between
each one.
It is the same with all other dishes. First
mention the main ingredients (elements) and
then the manner of preparation as boiled, baked,
roasted, braised, stewed, rolled, mixed, filled,
stuffed, jarded, etc., before any mi* or title is
given. An exception to this are dishes which
have names that already include a certain style
of preparation such as fricassee, stew, ragout,
etc., but the principal element (ingredient)
should be given as chicken fricassee, veal fricas-
see, veal ragout, beef ragout, etc. Also other
dishes such as peas, carrots, spinach, etc., when
prepared plain, do not need any special desig-
nation as everybody knows they are prepared in
the plain customary way. If they are prepared
in a special way, then it is to the advantage of
every restaurateur to mention it, as for in-
stance : Creamed carrots, Spinach
with egg, Puree of peas, etc. If
the preparation is a complicated one so that a
short name cannot be given besides that of the
main contents of a dish, then the proper names
should be quoted as: Carrots, English:
Spinach, Monroe; etc.
Foreign Names on English Menus
and Bills of Fare
The names on menus and bills of fare
have often called forth sarcastic comment and
indeed, much of this criticism has been justified.
Several reasons for applying foreign names have
22 The Art of Naming Dishes
been given. It lias been said that many names
cannot be translated in a concise form and fur-
thermore that translations do not properly ex-
press the meaning of the foreign names. (One
must admit that a translated term is always
better understood by the average guest than a
foreign term even if the translation does not ex-
actly express the meaning.) The real reason
is that many foreign names, especially French
names, have been familiar to all professionals
for a long time and the translations of such
words make a strange impression on them and
are therefore not used. If translated names
were introduced by the leading hotels and res-
taurants, after a time nobody would find any-
thing unusual in them. It depends on one's will
to see or not to see the meaning in a sensible
translation. People recognise in Liberty
cabbage the well known German "S a u e r-
k r a u t". This proves that not only transla-
tions but even new names can be introduced if
the will is there. The application S o u r -
c r <o u t would be the correct one, and if used
there would be 110 trouble hi recogrjsiiig the
German word "S a u e r k r a u t". It is foolish
to introduce new names for foreign terms when
a translation is easily found, but it is wise toi
tise translated names if the translation is a
sensible one.
But nevertheless there are names which
should not be translated, as these are
given to entirely new and classified dishes, just
as new names are given to newly discovered
chemical compounds or other inventions, for
instance as in fricassee, ragout, mayonnaise,
etc. Since no names can be taken in the vocab-
ulary of the English language, proper accents
Intelligible and Unintelligible Names of Dishes 23
(eeen), they have to be omitted. In the Ger-
man and Spanish language they do not omit
accents entirely but write the words according
to their pronunciation, which latter feature
would, of course, not be necessary for the most
of foreign words to be used in the English langu-
age.
Also style expressions should not be
translated, such as for instance : Potatoes,
liberty fried Jf or Fried pota-
toes, German (German fried
potatoes). It is great to be patriotic but
patriotism must not lead to extremities. Hun-