=THE SERVICE PROBLEM=

People who live all the year in the country are not troubled with formal dinner giving, because (excepting on great estates) formality and the country do not go together.

For the one or two formal dinners which the average city dweller feels obliged to give every season, nothing is easier than to hire professionals; it is also economical, since nothing is wasted in experiment.  A cook equal to the Gildings’ chef can be had to come in and cook your dinner at about the price of two charwomen; skilled butlers or waitresses are to be had in all cities of any size at comparatively reasonable fees.

The real problem is in giving the innumerable casual and informal dinners for which professionals are not only expensive, but inappropriate.  The problem of limited equipment would not present great difficulty if the tendency of the age were toward a slower pace, but the opposite is the case; no one wants to be kept waiting a second at table, and the world of fashion is growing more impatient and critical instead of less.

The service of a dinner can however be much simplified and shortened by choosing dishes that do not require accessories.

=DISHES THAT HAVE ACCOMPANYING CONDIMENTS=

Nothing so delays the service of a dinner as dishes that must immediately be followed by necessary accessories.  If there is no one to help the butler or waitress, no dish must be included on the menu—­unless you are only one or two at table, or unless your guests are neither critical nor “modern”—­that is not complete in itself.

For instance, fish has nearly always an accompanying dish.  Broiled fish, or fish meuniere, has ice-cold cucumbers sliced as thin as Saratoga chips, with a very highly seasoned French dressing, or a mixture of cucumbers and tomatoes.  Boiled fish always has mousseline, Hollandaise, mushroom or egg sauce, and round scooped boiled potatoes sprinkled with parsley.  Fried fish must always be accompanied by tartar sauce and pieces of lemon, and a boiled fish even if covered with sauce when served, is usually followed by additional sauce.

Many meats have condiments.  Roast beef is never served at a dinner party—­it is a family dish and generally has Yorkshire pudding or roast potatoes on the platter with the roast itself, and is followed by pickles or spiced fruit.

Turkey likewise, with its chestnut stuffing and accompanying cranberry sauce, is not a “company” dish, though excellent for an informal dinner.  Saddle of mutton is a typical company dish—­all mutton has currant jelly.  Lamb has mint sauce—­or mint jelly.

Partridge or guinea hen must have two sauce boats—­presented on one tray—­browned bread-crumbs in one, and cream sauce in the other.

Apple sauce goes with barnyard duck.

The best accompaniment to wild duck is the precisely timed 18 minutes in a quick oven!  And celery salad, which goes with all game, need not be especially hurried.