For instance, had pepper represented the nearest article within reach, she had added pepper wholesale.

Had a cabbage chanced to be so encountered, she had pressed it also into the service.

And the same with milk, bacon, and peas.

In short, her rule seemed to have been "Make a hot dish of some sort, and some sort of taste will result." For the rest, Nozdrev drew heavily upon the wine.

Even before the soup had been served, he had poured out for each guest a bumper of port and another of "haut" sauterne.