Note 207-6 — Chapter I

The one large kitchen naturally requires much less place, masonry, fuel, fewer utensils, etc., than 100 small ones. Think of the relatively large savings effected by the use of one oven kept always heated! Even the Lacedemonians called their meal associations φειδίτια,[TN 35] i. e., save-meals. Dainties proper can be consumed only in very small portions, but cannot well be prepared in such quantities. A guest at a first class Parisian restaurant has, at a moderate price, his choice of 12 potâges, 24 hors d'œuvres, 15-20 entrées de bœuf, 20 entrées de mouton, 30 entrées de volaille et gibier, 15-20 entrées de veau, 12 de pâtisserie, 24 de poisson, 15 de rôts, 50 entremets, 50 desserts; and, in addition, perhaps 60 kinds of French wine alone. What more can a princely table offer in this respect? Compare Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Goût, Médit., 28.