One of the English condiments greatly in favour formerly seems to have fallen into disuse except in certain counties, this is saffron, which at one time was used in many sauces and cakes, and appears very frequently in old recipes, but is now seldom used except in Cornwall, where it still forms the flavouring and colouring matter of almost all the cakes.

In modern Greece, mastich is used in the same way to give a pleasant flavour to bread; and in Germany, carraways, aniseed, and pimento are freely used for the same purpose, whilst almost all sweet sauces are flavoured with rum, which is rejected among ourselves in favour of brandy or ratafia. A more recent flavouring, vanilla, the product of a Mexican orchid, has become the prime favourite among French and English cooks.

There are two or three important condiments which come to us from the West Indies. One of these is molasses or treacle, beloved of children, and another, the pimento or allspice; but there is another which is very little known, but which is supposed to form the basis of most modern sauces. This is casareep, a dark fluid prepared from bitter cassava, which gives both colour and piquancy to the sauce to which it is added. Tamarinds, too, are much used by modern cooks in curries and sauces, and the very hot West Indian pickles are highly esteemed.

Curry-powder, mulligatawny, chutney, and various pickles and preserves from India are now so common, that it is unnecessary to do more than name them, but the following South African condiments may, perhaps, be new to most of our readers.

For blachang - to eat with fish or meat - one table-spoonful of powdered chili, one teaspoonful coriander seed pounded, twenty pounded almonds, one baked onion, two cloves of garlic, enough vinegar for proper consistency, and a little salt. For samball - peel a cucumber and cut it into pieces two inches long, slice each piece round and round till you get to the seedy part, which throw away. Roll the sliced part into a small roll, and then slice it again very fine into cold water with a little salt. Let it stand two hours. Pour boiling water over two onions sliced as thin as possible; which also let stand two hours, then strain off the water from both and squeeze as dry as possible. Take a teaspoonful of vinegar, a dessertspoonful of anchovy sauce, cayenne pepper, and a little mustard, mix together and pour over the onion and cucumber.

To these we may add an old English recipe for making walnut soy: - Take 120 green walnuts, cut them into slices ; shalots skinned and sliced, one pound; salt, a quarter of a pound. Pound all together in a stone mortar, then put the mixture into an earthen pan with a pint of vinegar. Cover it over for a week or ten days, and stir it three or four times a day. Strain the liquor through a thick flannel bag. By means of a press, pass it a second time through the bag; then put it into a stewpan with a quarter of a pound of the best anchovies, half an ounce of whole pepper, and a little sliced ginger. Boil the whole as long as any scum arises, which must be carefully taken off: then bottle it, and add of cloves, mace, and nutmeg, each a quarter of an ounce. Cork, and keep it in a cool, dry place, till fit for use, which will be in about six months.

Mayonnaise, which is now so much used for salads, fish, etc., is rather a difficult sauce to manipulate, so that the following may be useful to amateur cooks: - Beat the yolks of six eggs with six table spoonfuls of broth, six tablespoon-fuls of best salad oil, one tablespoonful and a half of vinegar, and a good pinch of salt, in a narrow bowl, until all is well mixed and smooth. Place the bowl into a pan with boiling water over a slow fire, beating the mixture briskly with an egg whisk until it becomes stiffened, so that it can be easily spread over the salad, taking care that it does not get hard, and that no water boils into it. If more acidity is desired, add some lemon juice.

It would be impossible even to name the innumerable sauces and condiments deemed necessary in the kitchens of the present day to add flavour and piquancy to modern dishes. Instead of the pints of wine and brandy, the ambergris, saffron, and rose water of the last century, we get delicate sauces compounded of a soupcon of a score of different ingredients carefully mixed. There are, however, certain old sauces which have never been superseded, such as mushroom and walnut catsups; and it may be safely asserted that a good housewife, anxious to tickle the palate of her lord and master, and her guests, both male and female, will see that her store-closet is well supplied not only with such universal condiments as salt, pepper whole and ground, vinegar, and mustard, but also with cayenne, ginger, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, garlic, shalots, a large variety of potherbs, especially mint, thyme, sage, marjoram, celery seed and celery salt, chili and tarragon vinegar, curry-powder, chutneys, anchovies and anchovy sauce, tomato, mushroom, and walnut catsups, Worcester sauce, soy, Harvey sauce, almonds, pistachio nuts, and various essences and flavourings such as lemon, ratafia, and vanilla, as well as all kinds of pickles, preserves, and jellies. A tolerably long list, but far from exhaustive; whilst the gardener must be called upon to supply fresh vegetables and salads, and the fishmonger to provide lobsters, shrimps, and oysters for sauces, as, although all three may be kept stored in tins, they are infinitely better fresh.