Let not the vanity of the cook induce you to forget the duty of a servant, which is, in the first place, to please his master: be particular, therefore, in enquiring what things please your employer.
Many capital cooks will be found for great feasts and festivals, but very few for every-day service, because this is not "eye-service," but the service of principle and duty. Few, indeed, there are who will take equal pains to make one delicate dish, one small exquisite dinner, for the three hundred and sixty-five days in the year; yet this is by far the most valuable attainment of the two.
The great secret of all cookery consists in making fine meat jellies; this is done at less expence than may be imagined by a careful, honest cook. For this purpose let all parings of meats of every kind, all bones, however dry they may appear, be carefully collected, and put over a very slow fire in a small quantity of water, always adding a little more as the water boils down.
Skim this juice when cool: and, having melted it a second time, pass it through a sieve till thoroughly pure: put no salt or pepper; use this fine jelly for any sauce, adding herbs, or whatever savoury condiments you think proper, at the time it is used. Be careful all summer long to dry vegetables and herbs. Almost every herb and vegetable may be dried and preserved for winter use; for on these must chiefly depend all the varied flavours of your dishes.
Mushrooms and artichokes strung on a string, with a bit of wood knotted in between each to prevent their touching, and hung in a dry place, will be excellent; and every species of culinary herb may be preserved either in bottles or paper bags.
