Etiquette and Punctuality in Meals

The person whose business it is to lay the cloth must have it quite ready, with plenty of warm plates, a few minutes before time, and be at leisure to carry in the dinner the moment it is taken up. Masters and mistresses who expect to have their cooking properly done, should see that the cook is furnished with every convenience.

Punctuality in a cook is no mean virtue. Employers who expect a cook to be punctual should be so themselves. To secure punctuality, the cook should exercise thought and early rising. In case of company to dinner, the cook should be as early as possible apprized of it, that she may prepare soups, jellies, and other made dishes the day before, or at least early in the morning, before the bustle of roasting and boiling comes on, and before it is necessary to prepare the fire for those purposes.

There should be no after-thoughts in the arrangements for dinner, but let the cook have at once specific orders of all that will be required, that she may allow the exact time necessary for each article, and have each ready at hand to set forward in due succession. Pepper, salt, flour, mustard, etc… should be kept in regular supply for the daily business of cooking. 

Even in a small family, a quarter of an hour should be allowed for serving up dinners, and at least as long a time for unforseen delay and hindrances. The person whose business it is to lay the cloth must have it quite ready, with plenty of warm plates, a few minutes before time, and be at leisure to carry in the dinner the moment it is taken up. Masters and mistresses who expect to have their cooking properly done, should see that the cook is furnished with every convenience.– From “The Housekeeper's Guide: Or, A Plain & Practical System of Domestic Cookery,” by Esther Copley, 1838

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