1935 Old Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book

CONSTITUTIVE AND DERIVATIVE 19 a cocktail, look for bouquets or aromas, to a French gour– met among the most potent charms of wines and brandies. Lots of Americans these days seem to like cocktails made of two or more kinds of liqueurs. Such mixtures would tend to shock the sophisticated foreigner, who has been taught that anything of the nature of a liqueur should fol– low rather than precede a meal. Most American women who acquired the cocktail habit while John Barleycorn was doing time, judging from what one has seen in foreign parts, prefer cocktails that are sweet, even if they are strong. Indeed, during that now happily ended chapter of American history, cocktail parties, which grew into great vogue; .were seldom intended to quicken the appetite for dinner. They became occasions when intensive drink– ing was done and a provident host or hostess, aware that hunger was bound to ensue, prided himself or herself upon furnishing an abundant supply of hors d'ceuvres, or, as these came themselves to be known, "appetizers;" the re– sult often being that persons who attended cocktail parties preceding dinners· so gorged themselves with these "deli– cate" but nevertheless substantial offerings, that by the time they reached the dinner table they seldom had any appetite left. Moderation is• the secret of enjoyment of anything, if one wishes to retain the faculty for enjoyment. That rule most certainly applies to cocktails and the whole category of drink of any kind. And, according to very respectable doctors, just• as many digestive troubles originate from over-eating as from too much drinking.