A cook-book cannot be used like a dictionary; a receipt is like a rule
of grammar: to comprehend it thoroughly, it is indispensable to
understand others. The author, therefore, earnestly recommends to his
readers to begin by perusing carefully the directions, etc., at the
beginning of the book, and also the explanations given on and heading
the different articles of food, before attempting the preparation of a
dish for the first time. They will thus soon be able to prepare any dish
by merely reading the receipt. If all the explanations necessary were
given at every receipt, this work would have filled more than ten
volumes like the present.
We are aware that the study of cookery is as uninviting and dry as the
study of grammar at first; so is the study of every science and even
art; but it becomes comparatively easy and interesting after a while.
Mere flourish in a receipt would have the same effect as in a rule of
grammar.