The first day that Mrs. Johnson descended into our kitchen, she conjured
from the malicious disorder in which it had been left by the flitting
Irish kobold a dinner that revealed the inspirations of genius, and was
quite different from a dinner of mere routine and laborious talent.
Something original and authentic mingled with the accustomed flavors; and,
though vague reminiscences of canal-boat travel and woodland camps arose
from the relish of certain of the dishes, there was yet the assurance of
such power in the preparation of the whole, that we knew her to be merely
running over the chords of our appetite with preliminary savors, as a
musician acquaints his touch with the keys of an unfamiliar piano before
breaking into brilliant and triumphant execution. Within a week she had
mastered her instrument; and thereafter there was no faltering in her
performances, which she varied constantly, through inspiration or from
suggestion. She was so quick to receive new ideas in her art, that, when
the Roman statuary who stayed a few weeks with us explained the mystery of
various purely Latin dishes, she caught their principle at once; and
visions of the great white cathedral, the Coliseum, and the "dome of
Brunelleschi" floated before us in the exhalations of the Milanese
_risotto_, Roman _stufadino_, and Florentine _stracotto_ that smoked
upon our board. But, after all, it was in puddings that Mrs. Johnson
chiefly excelled. She was one of those cooks--rare as men of genius
in literature--who love their own dishes; and she had, in her personally
child-like simplicity of taste, and the inherited appetites of her
savage forefathers, a dominant passion for sweets. So far as we could
learn, she subsisted principally upon puddings and tea. Through the same
primitive instincts, no doubt, she loved praise. She openly exulted in our
artless flatteries of her skill; she waited jealously at the head of the
kitchen stairs to hear what was said of her work, especially if there were
guests; and she was never too weary to attempt emprises of cookery.