ABSTRACT
Fruit is the sweet envoy to the Ballade of Dinner. And of all winter's fruits, the fragrant, spicy little Tangerine orange is most delicious and suggestive. Imagine a dinner planned on the same pattern and the conventional banquet of the day soon will seem to you the monstrosity it is. The daintiest devices are but trifled with, and dinner is degraded into a torture fit for Tantalus. Creme Soubise is the soup to follow. Thick, creamy, onion-scented, the first spoonful enchants, and glamour is at once cast over dinner and diners. A good Sauterne, a sound Burgundy will answer well if "of the first quality". Cheap, or of a poor vintage, they will ruin the choicest dish. Upon coffee, too, much depends. It must be strong, it must be rich, and it must be hot. But strength and richness may not be had unless it be fresh roasted and ground.
