The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-02-25
COOKERY AND CIVILIZATIONS CHINESE
BANQUET

COOKERY AND CIVILIZATIONS CHINESE !
BANQUET.
And now we sat down to the serious business of
the day. Each guest was supplied with saucer
and porcelain spoon-they had brought their own
chopsticks. folded towel, Just saturated with hot
water, was placed beside each saucer-this is the
Chinese napkin-and two tiny metal cups. not so
large as eggeups, We're allotted to every guest. At
my side to share our feast, and that the rites
were properly performed, sat the graves of China
men. He wore his mandarin summer cap. for he
was the interpreter at one of the consulates.
BIRDS NEST SOUP.
The first dish was. in accordance with all proper
precedent, the birds nest soup. | believe some of
US were rather surprised not to see birds nests bub
bling about in the bowl, and to detect no flavor of
sticks, or feathers What these birds nests
are in their natural state, do not know for have
no book ORTHODOXY, and have never been birds
nesting in the Straits Their existence at table is
apparent in thick mucilage at the surface of the
soup. Below this you come to white liquid and
chickens flesh. 1t was objected that this was fade
and tasteless delicacy. But remark that these two
basins only the of little systems The same
hands that brought them in scattered also an entou-
rage of still smaller basins. These are sauces of
every flavor and strength, from crushed fresh chill
lies to simple soy. Watch the chinaman How
cunningy he compounds. ''But, sir, YOU do not
mean to say that you ate this "mucilage," with
'
with saucers and ate it with our porcelain
spoons"
The next course expected with very ner-
yous excitement. 1t was stew of sea slugs As [
have seen them at Macao they are white but as
served at Ningpo they green. | credit the i'm
perial academician's the orthodox dish They
slippery, and very difficult to be handled bv in
experienced chopsticks but they are most succulent
and pleasant food, not at all unlike in flavor to the
green fat of the turtle. If man cannot eat any
thing OF kind whereof he has not seen his father
and grandfather eat before, we must leave him to
his oysters, and his periwinkles, and his crawfish
and not expect him to swallow themuch more come
ly sea slug. But surely Briton who has eaten
himself into poisonous plethora upon mussels, has
no right to hold up his hands and eyes at China
man enjoying his honest well-cooked stew of beches
de mer.
STURGEON sKULL-CAP AND SHARK STEW.
! The next dish was sturgeon shakespeare and
gelatinous, but think not peculiar in its flavor
to excuse the death of several royal fish, This dish
being taken from its brazen, ampheated stand, was
succeeded by stew of shark fins and pork. The
shark fins were boiled to soft consistency that
| they might have been turbot fins. The Chnamar
must have smiled at the unreasonable preiudices Of
| the occdentals when he some of us tasting the
! pork but fighting shy of the shark He probably
! however, did not know that the same occidenta
would eat with relish of fish which they themselve
enticed to their angle by worm maggot. Mex
in order came soup composed of balls of crab.
| have tasted this better prepared at Macao 1t as
sumes there the form of very capital salad mad
of crab and cooked vegetables. Meanwhile thu
ministerng boys few and 1uttered round the table
forever filling the little wne-glasses with hot win
! from the metal pots There were three kinds: tn
strong samshu, for every occasional 'spike;" tn
medicated wine, for those who, having once expe
rienced its many favors chose to attempt it
second time: and the ordinary wine, which is so ik
sherry negus that any one who can drink that pre-
paration may be very well satisfied with its Chin
substitute.
The Chinaman had drunk with each of his con
uiues almost in English fashion, but in strict obed
fence to the Chinese rites, and very ungallantl,
challenging the male part of the company first
And now we became clamorous for bread or rice
After success of not by any means gross but Ger
tanly nutritious and mucaginous dishes, the palat
and the stomach craved some farinaceous food
Nothing was easier to procure. The bows, our owl
boys, accustomed to wait at our English dinners
brought in loaves at the lghtest intimation; bu
our orbiter edendi interposed Bread at Chimes
feast is contrary to the Critics" We consoled our
selves by throwing at him decisive and unani
nous opinion that this was the weak point of Chi
nese gastronomy.
FISH AND MEAT ENTREES.
The porcelain bowls in their courses, like tn
stars in their courses, continued in unpausing sue
cesson. The next named was ''The Rice of tn
Genii, meaning, suppose, the food of the gent
for there was no rice in the composition. 1t was
stew of uldms and preserved fruits, whose sweet
and acids were agreeable counterpoise to tn
fish and meat dishes already taken. Then we ha
dish OF boiled hairy vegetable, very like tina
stringy endive which they call in France sBorJ
de Cdpuchin, then stewed mushrooms from Man
churia. Then we relapsed into another series
fish and meat entrees, wherein vegetables of the VEG
etable marrow species and a root somewhat betwee
horseradish and turnip were largely used
There was a bowl of ducks tongues which ar
esteemed an exquisite Chinese dainty. We wer
plckingsth little morceaux out with our chor
sticks (at which we had now become adopts, for til
knack is easily acquired) when we were startled b
a loud Chinese ''EY YAH
This imprudent exclamation drew our attentio
to the open front of our apartment The opposit
house. distant perhaps across the street about egh
feet from us, presented the spectacle of sma
crowded playhouse, from the stage 1t wa
densely crowded with half naked Cinnamon The
were packed in mass upon the gallery, and the
were squatted upon the roof. | believe they ha
paid for their places. They had sat orderly and s
lent all this time, to see the barbarians dining w
might have dropped the grass blinds but it woul
have been ill natured; the Chinese did us no harm
and the blinds would have kept out the air, so W
went on eating like Greenwich pensioners or Blue
coat boys in public.
DUCKS TONGUES AND DEERS' TENDoNs
SO we continued our attentions to the ducks ton
CUES and passed on to deers' tendons-a royal dish
These deers tendons come from, or ought to come
from Tartary. The emperors make presents of ther
to their favourcd Subjects Yeh's father at Canto
recently received some from his sovereign, an
gave feast in honour of the present. These mus
have been boiled for a week to bring them down
tne state Oh soitness IN winch they came up to IL!
Exhausted, rather repleted, nature could no NOR,
When stew of what the Chinese call the ear she
fish was placed upon the table no one could carr
his experiments further An untouched dish is SIGN,
for the close of the feast. The maitre d'hote prt
tested that he had 20 courses of excellent rartv
, but our Chinese master of the ceremonies was in
perative, and so were we. Plain boiled rice tt
rice of Szeehuen, brought round in little bowl
and of this we all ate plentifully. Confectionar
and candied fruits, and acanthus berries steeped
spirits, followed, and TIM tea. No uncooked frui
is allowed at a Chinese dinner. They have proven
that fruit is feathers in the morning, silk at moo
f and lead at night l was assured by competent a
thority that nothing had been placed upon the tab
, which was not in the highest degree whoesom
nutritious, and light of digestion We certain
so fonnd it for adiourning to the house of one