Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1855-03-30
MIS- G ELL A y Y
T,om th, Wine Prc,s.
Journey arolnd the Tapioca Pudding,

Journey aroinu the laploca FuuuihS'
Dr. Bushwhacker foldrl hi. napkin,
drew It through the silver ring, laid it on
the table. folded hi. arms. and leaned hack
in hi. chair. by which W. knew there was
.,mcihin. az work IN hi knowlylrc-h"I.
" Nv dear madam" " .aid he, with Meta
mora shake or the heal, ."therr are . great
many thing. to b. said about that pud-
ding"
Now, such y remark at a snson of the
wear when 49,. ar five f,r u shilling, and
not alway. fresh At that, &. enough - lis
comfort ANYBODY The Doctor perceived II
at ouc,. anI instantly ailrl, "Tn rso-
gropi,,1, rnint of view thero nr' many thing
to be aid about the pudding My dear
madam. " he continued, "akc nriou it.
.clr what /. Il, and where d,o- It come
rr1m'"
Our eldest hoy iu-, emerging from chick
cuho,l, answered, ass Chambers Street,
,ru d,sir- l-.,uw the irving IIousc.''
"Truc. my dear Young friend, respond
cd the doctor. with friendly pa, on the
head: "hut that /. not what | mean.
whcrc." he repeated, with a questioning
look through hi. .roctaclc-, and a Bush
whacknu mol, "whrro doc. ,api,ca come
frpm'"
"Ri, dc ,Ianciro and Para"
"Yc.. .ir: from Rio dr Jnu"irp in the
southern. and Far, in The northern part n
the Hr,il.. IN W. .rt our tapi,ci; fr1m the
rot. called The Mandiocn. lotanirallv, the
Jg,ropia Maul"i, or, %, they Az the CAS-
,au. The root. arr long and round, like
swy't potato; generally a ont or more in
length. Every ioint.,f the plant will pro-
ducc II. roots like the cuttings of rrap'-
vine. The tuhers arr dug up from the
ground, peeled. -rrur~l aud grated, then
nut in long sacks of h"Vihlc rattan; sacks
-ix f,,, long or more, and NJ the bottom of
the sack they suspend a larger stone, hy
which the flexible sides ar contracted, and
then out pour. the cas-ava.juicr in q pan
placed below to receive II. This juice is
poisonous. and very volatile. Then, my
dear madam. II Is macntci in water, and
the rc-iaum, after the volatile part, the
poison, Is cnporatcl, i the innocuon' fa-
rina. which looks like small crumh, ofbr'od
and which We call tapioca. The brst kind
of tapioca comes FROM Rio, which is, hc-
licvc. about five thousand five hundred miles
from New York; :, we must put down that
as a little more than one fifth Of our voyage
around the pudding"
This made our eldest open his ewes.
Eggs and milk" continued Dr. Bush
whackcr, "arr home productions; hut 81.
CUR, refined sugar, is made partly Of the
moist and sweet ycllsw sugar Of Louisiana,
partly NJ the hard and dry sugar oC the West
Indies. I will not ~ into the process ofrr-
fninc sugar now, hut may observe here
that the sugar We get from Louisiana, IL r.
fncd and made into Loaf, would be quite
.oft. with large loose crystals, while tn,
Havana sugar, subjected to the same trcat-
mcnt. would make white cone almost as
compact aud hard rs granite. Butwe have
made trip to the Antilles for our sugar,
and ~ you may add fifteen hundred miles
more for the saccharine." ="
&" That !. equal to nearly one third Of the
circumference Of the pudding we live upon,
Doctor"
Vanilla" continued the Doctor, with
which this pudding is so delightfully."- fla
yorcd, il the bean Of a vine that grows wild
in the multitudinous forests Of Venezuela,
New Granada, Guiana, and, in fact through
out South America. The long pod, which
looks like the scabbarl Of a sword, suggest
ed the the name 10 the Spaniards; rdynd,
meaning scabbard, from which comes the
diminutiye vanilla, or little scsbbard-ap-
propriate enough, as every one will allow.
These beans, which are worth here from six
TO twenty dollars pound, could IL as easi-
" cultivated as hops in that climate; but
the Incidence Of the people is so great, that
not one Venezuelan has been found with
sufficient enterprise TO set out one acre Of
vanilla, which would yield him small for