The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-08-10
The Foreign Cookery Wsr-Amerfca's
stomaehie Strong holds.

stomaehie strongholds.
To what extent the qualification Of mans
stomach should absorb his attention while in
this world is an indigestible problem which
has attracted philosophers in all ages. The
man who fares sumptuously every day, gloats
over the menu of yesterdays dinner before
breakfast to-day, and stimulates his cook after
lunch to fresh gastronomic triumphs for the
evening, may be an ideal gourmand, but he is
also likely to be dyspeptic. There is at
present culinary war in progress between
England and Germany which bids fair to shat
ter stewpans, spill blood sausages and scatter
calves brains oil over Europe. Some Caesar
of the frying pan may yet make our warmest
soups run cold over his commentaries
thereon. The contest began, as might be ex-
pected, by violent German aggression into
the English kitchen. The 'Battle Of Dork-
ing" has so fred the Teutonic heart that pre-
parations for the occupation Of Albion ex-
tended readily to the recesses where King
Sauerkraut holds his fat fef from the Kaiser.
The German cooks could not restrain them
selves from pushing into the enemy's terri
tory ahead Of the regular army. Why, indeed,
should they wait, when the thing was so sure,
and would not future generations Of
the islanders, when their power had been
broken like an eggshell, find the German
yolk less heavy when it was laid upon shout
ders whose bones were built by the dishes Of
Vaterland? Accordingly, chief cook pro-
ceeded to Germanize England afresh by land
ing with an army of one thousand one hun
drea and sixty GERMAN dishes in book form,
as the Uhlahs Of the culinary conqSsrors,
There is something finely Bismarckian in this
idea of capturing John Bull through his
powerful organs Of deglutition. The adj
vancing host was met by the London Spec
tator. who commenced to fire skewsrs of ridi-
Guile into the soups and sauerHaut. The
former it styled ''watery compounds, I" and the
second it advised to be thrown out of the win
dow. The fire was returned by the German
stoves with telling effect "Eat partridge
with sauerkraut," replied the irate Father
lander, 'instead Of that mswkish poultice
which accompanies your birds, and which
civilized nations only use externally" There
was sharpening of spits and mincemeat
knives; huge Bologna sausages from behind
sauerkraut intrenchments were trained on
bastions of English beef and cabbage, and
each was ready to pound his enemy to batter
and bury him in his own stewpans, when a
third party interviewed. France might have
lost her prestige on the field Of war, but her
chefs we're still arbiters of the destinies Of ali
ment in Europe, the kings Of the kitchen, the
marshals of the maynsites, the admirals of the
sauoeboats. In all his glory of white pan
cake cap, white apron and twinkling eyes,
q representative Partisan Chef worthy to be
one of Les Trois Neres-the Horati of the
Gallo gastroIatres stepped between the forces
of the British and German cooks. His
Titanic laughter shook down the opposing
fortresses, and he only laughed for the space
of three paragraphs in the Spectator. 1.-TWO
deaf men talking music; two blind men judy
ing picture" he cried, ''would be sensible
compared with this war. Chuckle, o English
men, over the egotistical in politics; MOON
o Germans, over metaphysics in the clouds,
but de grace, Messiessrs, leave questions of
gota to those OF home in the business" Had
Demosthenes been q French cook he could
never have delivered more singing rebuke.
There is something exquisite in this revenge
on the victors of Waterloo and Sedan. he
riots in sarcasm more piquant than his finest
sauces. when each condemns the other I
agree with both, but when either launches
into instruction, absurdity reaches its climax.
The German condemning peas with mint Tor
rather mint with peas) is admirable, but when
he vaunts peas with carrots he is simply
bufoon." With graceful wave Of the arm
that has mixed a million .fricassees, and look
wherein the vinegar Of contempt and the oil Of
pity are mixed with the subtlety of his salad
dressing he says in conclusion: -"Where
nation has not a culinary soul it should re-
nounoe eating and content itself with feeding"
This is crusher.
Turning away from the sublime spectacle of
the triumph of tho French chef over his ancient
German and British foes, we look nearer home.
At the last sentence, delivered amid blue blazes
of cafe noir d cognac bruk, tremor creeps
through our gastric juices as we ask ourselves
the awful question, Has the American nation
culinary soul? When English and German
cooks, with centuries of experience behind
them, are knocked into pot by the mere
bouchfes d rditre d'hotd of Frenchman, where
shall America find dishes to propitiate this
Jupiter c,llinariuss We have the German in
our midst, but sauerkraut, Bologna and Linn
burger cheese must be looked on as q national
weakness if the Frenchman' s fat can stretch
across the Atlantic. The Englishman, with
his mint and peas, is here too; but is not,
thank Heaven, likely to demoralize a whole
continent herewith Let us, then, look about
us, and see behind what mortal pabulum we
can fortify ourselves to save the nation from
being kneaded into French paste by the roll
inppin of Gallo cookery Come forth,