The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-10-25
A DISH OF FRUIT.
rrrom all the Year Round-l

,Ic;tv ~ he ssr,;est ages We consume en-
tremets and our fricaesees. our soups ana our
made diehes, and then our host, as II the roper.
tore of delicacies had been exhausted, steps out
into his orchard and his garden, and brings as In
q simple handful OF fruit; 9 punch OF gooea
cranes. some apples painted red and yellow by |
the soft pencil of the summer sunbeam ousy
is doing what King Alcinous may have done TO
JIlvsses and the storm beaten Greeks 1t IL pstri.
srchaI IL smacks of the golden age and the old
mythooec time yet II cusso% .as1 soss ao%
things alter! The salad. once all that the hermit
! had to live upon, has become relish for the
oourmand; cheese, once the shepherds only food,
% nov an eptremet after many courses fruit,
once the only food of the early denizens OF |
world. is now the mere GROWING pleasure OF
| dinner. Fhrl
STATIONARY fire has cooked 1t to q turn. IL has |
been bssted with dews; the soft bslmy summer |
rain has been its sauce. Its favor has been
mixed by the ministering spirits OF garden aud
|, orchard; its color and shape are OF Iasung
fashion il contains essences never discovered,
and wines as yet undreamed OF; ~ Is oider tnan
the outlet, and anterior to the fricandeau; us
seed blew to us from Eden, or 1t fell to Us from
the .famantSns s,denss iu rsross moral and
psychological influence over the world; but they
| are earthly, their component parts are known;
| there is not the mystery about them that apper-
| tains to fruit.
| The finest orchard in the world is Covent Gar.
| den Market. A gorgeous sight in the season, u
| conveys vast sense Of the greatness of England
and . the ieesthsr.coated chestnuts are from the
| mountainous woods of Spain those gray nat
| tened figs are from the hills behind Smyrna
pOms. srsw a the foot Of the Blue
| those pale green fiashy grapes came rom portu-
| gal: those scorched. looking bananas from the
| Bermudss those enormous pears, ike psnto.
mime pears (only fifteen guineas the dozen!) are
from Provence; those nuts from the hentisn
| copses jostle their browner and oilier brethren
from Barcelona and the sunny shores OF Spain.
Pomona and vertumnus NOV In the fruit business,
and talking with strong Hebraic accentl nave
| summoned them from every quarter OF the globe.
Look at Pomona, she is trying to induce young
guardsmsn to give two guineas for q ballroom
bouquet for lady, while vertumnus' reIresaea
with q light luncheon of fried fish, is arranging
some tilberts in heap, to give beauty and
tenderness by contrast to basket OF peaches
| next them. Artful shidrach Vertumnus. One
ought to be charged for walking down that cen.
tral avenue the flowers are 30 beautiful, the smell
| of the fruit is so delicious. As boy, we some.
times thought of living for day on fruit, and
spending the whole twelve waking hours here un-
| der cover. A watermelon for breakfast, with some
dates to wind up plums, apples and nuts for din
ner; tea of bananas and hlberts; supper OF
grapes and Normandy pppins.
But really, to enjoy fruit. one should pick ones
own and eat it in appropriate scenery under the
tree from which 1t is gathered, or beside the bush
wherein it has grown. The pear reached down
from the plant bough, where it has long swung
, like golden weight for Mammons scales, tastes
as much better than the same fruit coldly cut by
silver knife at formal dessert, as damson does
than its humble rustic cousin. the sloe the straw
berry has its finest fragrance only when discovered
! under It's own triple leaves. When is the rasp,
| berry 90 delicious as when plucked from the
u struggling canes? The apple should be twisted
from its fostering twig; the grape-b bunch nipped
from the ragged brown branch bound to the green
y house roof. The best things refuse TO De trans
| hat pah
healthy life In England, What English custom
really thrives 10 France? But let us ransack The
i Cornucopia of Pomona, and tumble out the fruI
y dishful by dishful.
s. The raspberry is almost the earliest fruit of thu
wear in France and lasts the French table frou
! the end of April to the end of September. Herr
q nature is less generous with the fine favored
L dark crimson berry. How pleasant IL is to pcl
Is the pulpy raspberres that often come on TN
q stems IS you touchthem, and leave white, bali
,, and pithy stalks, like hat pegs from which thu
hats have fallen! What fragrance there Is In IN
IS seed how refreshing the smell as you oruise th'
y berries, and their nectareous blood reddens yoa
le hapdsl The raspberry is balsamic, refreshing
10 and eminently wholesome, though delicate peopi
es call II cold and consider that 1t requires suga
ee and wine to correct its effect on the stomach;
;" IL ia shame that Milton and Shakespeare shout
be associated with the WEAKNESS OF school tasks
so it is q thousand pities that the mature ma
4 should have his mind poisoned against that ira
or grant, fne.favored and delicious preserve. rasp
in cruel alliance, hideous smbuscade lurking wics
re edly under beguiing sweets
"a II is curious fact, and one that does not re
70 dound TO the credit of French confectioners tina
"a even as late as 1905 raspberry jam was unknow
ne in France cookery book OF that date say
he dstipcty-and no commentator, however muc
se q special plesder. can explain away the ma
IN ter: They have tried to make compott
- and continues of rsspberries, but hdher1
az words. gentlemen Of the jury) hitherto vithO
. success. The fire carries OF almost al .ne pc
nd fume." Carries of, quoths Why, no presers
We in the world has such bouquet!
ts Cherries look very well as q dessert, arrange
We in ouadrangular pyramids-pyramids OF ruoI
m and corneans-piled like cannon shot on the tie
We race of Chatham battery. , ssanaas sSo W.
and shimmering In the sunshine. Is sight to
"a member. So must the jewels lhave grown
tu- Allsddin's trees in the subterranean garden. ~
g. little dark Kentish cherry with its b ack juice,
We a mere wild fruit compared with that rusty beau
Ne the red and white May duke, or the lordly big
Try room. The best cherries In Paris come from u
IS. pleasant valley of Montmorency. The "guigne'
he and the "short tailed gobsts," are also good al
by estimable kinds. The invalids, crosking agai
be declare bgaroons to be indigestibe, and guigo
in. heating; but this is nonsense. The French d
nat cherries In the oven, make dragees OF them.
us | preserve them in vinegar. In brandy we all knc
ich them They give the spirit delicious flavor. D
Die the tawny fruit so generous that 1t gives aw'
all everything, becomes itself mere bro wn tastele
nd sop.
ley The apricot is delicious fruit; not orimml
Of with scented cool juice, like the peach. but mo
EN- like fruit that has done its best to turn into
for preserve. The nutmeg apricots, freckled a.
md small are of fine flavor, but not so refreshing
the a peach nor SO nectareous as a nectarne, b
sill very pre-eminent. The French excel
our apricot msrmaade, and at Clermont and
vel. yergne they make an apricot paste, cheese
the should call it, which is quite grand article
de, commerce. -
ret The standard apricot, which has the sun and
can all round it. and grows in natural way, bel
ub- little orangy fruit preferred by great connosse
to to that of espsIiers, though they run smaller
we skin should not be removed from apricot preser'
the il is full of flavor gives variety, and serves to
ave bed the white amondy kernels which contr
as with the luscious golden fruit. The espalier fl
ace is seldom ripe all the way round. The apri
makes delicious ice, and, when dried and ste
to (this is the famous Mlsmish of the Egyptiansl
iy forms fine change for convaescents. as it is
ping from scidty, and is nourshing and emollient.
the Gooseberries las scheol.boys we always cal
your them, with sffscronate familiarity, gooz gogs.
wby we never knew are the same as what
Scotch call honey. blobs." So we read in