Demoine courier., 1855-07-19
MISCELLANY.
A Journey around the Tapioca
Pudding.

0
DR.. Buthwacker folded his napkin,
drew il through the silver ring, laid j,
on the table, folded his arms, and lean
ed back IN his chair, by which WI knew
there was something at work is his
knowledge-box. my dear madam"
said he, with a Metamora shake Of the
head. ".hers are a grea. many things TO
be said abou. that pudding"
Now, such a remark at q season OF
the year when eggs are Eve fora shilling
and not always fresh at thai, is enough
10 discomfort anybody. The Doctor
perceived il al once. and Instantly added,
I'm n geographical poin, Of view. there
ere many things 10 be said abou. the
pudding. my dear madam" he con-
,inucc, "tarioca itself, wba, is il, and
where does it come from :"
Our eldes, boy, just emerging from
chickenhood. ans wereG, 1875 Chambers
street. two doors below the Irving
House."
"True, my dear young friend" res
ponded the Doctor. with a friendly pat
on the head; "but Ina, = no, what I
meau. Where" he repeated, with q
questionable look through his spee,acles.
and q Bushwackian nod, "does tapioca
come from
"Rio de Janeiro and Paray"
Eyes, sir; from de Janeiro in the
southern. and Para in the northern par,
Of the Brazils, do we get our tapoca,
from the route called the Mandioga, DO
tanically, the Jatropha Manihot, or as
they say, the Cassava. The roots are
long and round, like a sweet. potato; gen.
orally q foot or so in length. Every
joint Of the plant will produce its roots
like the cuttings Of grape vine. The tu-
bers are dug up from the ground, peeled,
scraped. or grated, then put in long sacks
Of flexible rattan; sacks six feet long or
more, and at the bottom of the sack they
suspend . large stone, by which the
flexible sides are contracted, and then ou.
pours the cassava juice IN a pan placed
below 10 receive il. This juice is pois.
onous, and very volatile. Then, my
dear madam, il is macera,ed in water.
and the residuum. after the volatile part,
the poison is evapoiasen, Is the innoc.
uous farina, which !ookslik small crumbs
of bread, ami which We call ,apioca.-
The best kind of ,apioca comes from
Rio, which is, l believe, about Eve thous
and Ave hundred miles from New York;
90 we must put down that as a lille more
than one fifth of our voyage around ,ae
pudding"
This made our eldest open his eyes.
Eggs and milk" continued DR.. Bush
wacker. are home productions, but sugar
refined sugar. is made partly Of the moisl
and sweet yellow, sugar Of Louisiana,
partly Of the hard and dry sugar Of the
Yves, Indies; ! will not 60 into The pro
cess Of retiring sugar now, but ! may
observe here thar the sugar we &c. from
Louisians, is refined and made into O
LOAF, would be quite soft. with loose crys.
tails. while Havana sugar subjected TO the
same treatment, would make o white cone
almos, as compsc, and hard as granite
But we have made a trip to the Antilles
for our sugar, and SO you may add IF.
teen hundred miles more Tor the sac
charine."
"That 10 equal 10 nearly one.third Of
the circumference Of the pudding we
live upon, DOCTOR"
"Vanills." continued The Doctor, "wi,t
which this pudding il SO delightfully."- fla
vored, 10 the bean Of the vine that grow.
wild in the muftnrdinous FORESTS of Ven
ezuels. New Grensda. Guiana, and. in
fact, throughout. South America. The
long pod. which looks like the scabbard
Of . sword. suggested the name TO the
Spainards; cayna meaning scabbard
from which comes the diminutise vanAfs
or little scaabard-app:opriase enough al
every ons will allow. The beans, which
arc worth here from six to twenty dol
lars per pound, could be as easily cult
waited as hops in that climate; but the in
dolence Of tbs people is so great, tina.
not one Venezuelan has been found witt
sufficient enterprise to se. out an acre o
vanilla, which would yield him a small
fortune every year. No. sir. The poo
poems, OF peasants, raise their garabanzal
for daily use, but beyond they neveI
look. They plan. their crops in ,ht
footsteps of their ancestors. and is il had
not been for their ancestors, they would
probably have browsed on the wild gras.
Of the llanos or plains. All! there ar.