# To Make Crumbobblious Cutlets explained — Nonsense Books

> Chapter companion for Nonsense Books by Edward Lear.

## What happens

A nonsensical recipe for preparing Crumbobblious Cutlets, involving absurdly fine mincing, brushing with a clothes-brush, stirring with a salt-spoon or soup-ladle, sunning on a roof, and adding bizarre ingredients like lavender, oil of almonds, herring-bones, and clarified Crumbobblious sauce before serving in a tablecloth or napkin.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nonsense and Absurdity

The entire recipe is a parody of cookery instructions, with impossible steps and ridiculous ingredients, epitomizing Lear's love of absurdity.

## Key lines

> Procure some strips of beef, and, having cut them into the smallest possible slices, proceed to cut them still smaller⁠—eight, or perhaps nine times.

Take beef strips and mince them repeatedly, far beyond any practical need.

_Highlights the absurd precision and excess of the recipe._

> Place the whole in a saucepan, and remove it to a sunny place⁠—say the roof of the house, if free from sparrows or other birds⁠—and leave it there for about a week.

Put the mixture in a saucepan and leave it on the roof for a week, provided birds won't disturb it.

_Emphasizes the impractical and whimsical cooking method._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/nonsense_books_se/chapters/to-make-crumbobblious-cutlets
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/nonsense_books_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/nonsense_books_se/chapters