, 1874-08-23

Rambling Thoughts Of q Rambling
Feeder.

Rambling Thoughts of q Rambling
Feeder.
.. wheneyer 90 leave our 'snative heath." which
We coufess re do as often as we conveniently
to Us, and iills us with pleasant anticipations,
| namely, .What sc shall eat With some few
notable exceptions, which may be mentioned
hereafter, our experience has led us to the con-
ciusiou that foreigners Gre more bold, because
| less preiut!iced, than We English III the matter
| of iuyesteetip, what is good to be eaten, and
| more successful IN manipulating the same when
| discovered.
| FRANCE Has EVER TAKEN THE LEAD
| 10 the intelligent direction OF the cuisine, and
that not merely in the higher branches, but 10
| tho ordinary affairs OF everyday life. or thus
| latter assertion the Eug!isbInan linda ample
proof on his frat Iaading 1T Calais OF Boulosne.
As he leaves his steamboat lie passes into COM
Portable. well-warmed, weil,l'shted room; ana
finds little handicapped tables scattered nboat,
, while instead Of the eternal sandwich, the saw,
d,tst bun. OF tie leathery pork-pie. he will tlnd
| awaiting his choice two or three admirably
| cooked p!ats, With thcr appropriate Te9etao'es'
| hot aud appetlzing, which he may eat com
| fortably seated, aud wash down with half bot
| tie OF excellent petit Bordeaux, OF more e1pen-
| sye wine il lie choose. Should he have no ap-
petite here iu consequence it NAV be, OF TOO un,
kindly treatment on the. part OF Neptune, ne WILL
] In fac1 throughout France the budet5 are SUCH
! a. become highly civilized nation. and arc
very far indeed removed from tho Musby
| junction style. At Dlion. at Avlgnon. and many
| another station, we have dined like Princes for
| three fFaucs aud half; but perhaps our sunni
est memory r.sts upon the bufret at Morcen1. q
tinv little rlaca between bordeaux and Pau
| There, for the first time, did We taste that e1-
! Quasite fungus, tho Cape (boH{4s terot} large
| and succu1ent, aud, in our opinion, superior IN
favor to both the mushroom and the trutiie; yet
= compatriot at the Same table refused to touch
! them because
/ "rHEY LOOKED 60 QUEER"
As il that were reason for not risk,
| ing new experience. What indeed
| looks more queer than the now domestic Oyster:
| Surely around his breast vas ''ro5ur e{ tga if1p-
| hr" Who first conceived the idea OF cooking q
| lobster. and thus By his audaclty conferred
| lasting benefit upon mankind. So let anv man.
who travels IN this part Of France, aeek for the
Cepe till he tind it, aud, notwithstanding its
somewhat strange aspect, let him eat III perfect
| confidence ho will thank US for the hint.
] Although, Of course, in the best restaurants Of
Pans the gourmet may tnd everything he can
mend us to tho South of Franc g..
Draw 4 largo circle which will ILL
clude Perieuenx, Toulouse ana Av!Gnon, H,a,
| of the world of cookery. Then rs you dra"
concentric CIRCLES outside the first. you will have
| zones representing deterioration in gastronom-
ical science An almost constant rato caplta1s
| and groat res OF commerce, OF course, DelnB
| exec ted in this arrangement.
Still III most countries there is
| SOMETHING TO nE LEARNT:
some peculiar dAsh (not untrequently the queer
eet lookins) which c,,x vi" i,doa9 re"atd tda in- m
quirer will meet with q rebuff but
is not this tho case in all original re-
search? Never shall We forget our first and last
/ acquaintance with that northernest and nnstleHt
1 11.I nt<4 $.Af -AH H1f
q septc,'s hut far away in the Arc1io regions Of
Norway, huagry al starved wolves. and 10! one
set before Us what looked and felt like large
splinter Of piue wood. All we raised it to our
ups, hawever, we became fully aware Dv the per-
| tii.ne, which only be described IS uolsotne,
| that it consisted OF animal matter: STILL un-
Gaunted, wo managed to bite of q portion; IT
first it seemed tasteless, but it became slowly
reduced by actively wording jaws. such alcken,
| iur flavor untolded itself that in horror aud
| a1nazement NO hed from the food and tie hut
| that could harbor 1t.
Our feeling on first tasting the plum soup Of
Norway served At the commencement Of dinner,
| WAS one OF
| INDIGNANT BURPR1sE
not much inferior to that OF Inc bucoic gentle
man who bit into All olive under tile ltnpt esslon
that it was q preserved greeaRage; aud though
it il not in itself absolutely nauseons, we con-
fess ne could never abide it. There is. how-
ever, one excellent dish which the Norwegian
| traveller meets with at avery little inn. It u
called 81 ca1bonado," and consists OF minced
meat, eggs and tine herbs mode up into kind
| OF case and then fried OK baked. The meat
probably, it cooked in an ordinary WAY,
would defy mastication, but thus treated,
IL really dainty pat. Equally common a1
! the post stations il salmon, dried aud prepai ied
in some sublime manner, far superior 70 tho
| klppered salmon OF commerce, aud eaten 1aT IN
the li.innest possible slices.
Crossing tue North Sea, we meet With smother
! strange dish, which looks awfu! auA grewsonlo
to Soutlron eyes. sleeps head. True to our
principles, we tasted it, aud found 1t excellent
particularly luscious arc the portions ebout tho
I eyes, but We would that the odor attenuinY this
do!ioacy could be modified.
OF that other much Landed Scotch dish, has-
gis, we can only aay that. were it not for tue
Ambrosiann, which it has inspired. in our opn-
ion it would be better for tina world tnat
IT HAD NEVER HEES 1SrEsTEp.
In passing to happier fields let us Bay one
| word 10 favor OF that which at one time vas con-
coiyed to be the favorite, II not the universal,
| food OF Frenchu1en. How rarely in real life
froqs are actually met with, all travellers know
but when served they are well worthy Of atten-
| ton. They strongly resemble both in haror
and appearance the white meat Of b chicken. to
which, however, they are somewhat superior.
In no way are they calculated to excite The feel
ing which Bon Gau!tier facetiousy attributes to
Her Majesty after supping on frog-pies offered
| her by Louis Philippe:
| lue queen aue E9c0 uuttl HcE UtNs
/ And Prince Albert likewise,
And the last word that gay lady said
! Was, o thae puddoeE pies!
1t would, OF course, be far wids OF our ain to
discuss hero the delicious mysteries Of the
| French cuislue. Are they not written IN the
bucks OF the Chronicles Of Brillat Savarin,
I of Udc, Of Gout1e, and = Thousand
worthless But let us on to Rome,
tue native land Of some of the most e1traordl-
nary dishes IN Europe. Still ere leaving Mar
bellies, let Us not fail to remember that SO ata
in the home and birthplace, so to speak. OF
! BOu1LLABA1ssE,
that most perfect Of hsh-soups. which. though
sung By Thachcray, is, We fear. known to but
few out of Southern France. l. is noble
hotchpotch Of every sort Of fish that can DC %
nctted. nothing too large, nothing too small. to
be placed in tho bubbling cauldron, but the
larger fish must be cut IN piecss tnen crown y,
| tue mess with bay, sharpen it with lemon. stlm-
uiate It with tomatoes. fozl,fy it with white
wine, tickle it with garlic and behold boa1lls- i
When yon naua ,esA ~
But having arrived at Rome, let ns first WAN
der through the market in the early morning,
| o,a uaa unot nf 11npA these Romano