, 1875-02-27
Chinese DelicacieS.

A CORRESPONDENT of the Pittsburgh
ChrOHlcle writes of dinner in China
town, San Francisco, as follows: The
table presented an appearance at once
novel and attractive. At each place was
china plate, pair Of ivory chOpstlcks,
china spoon, a wine cup and knife
and fork (of course We scOrned 10 use the
laSt-namcd implements). OF the twenty
persons who sat down together no two
had plates, cups or saucers alike. Seat
| tered about were dishes of curious
shapes and various sizes. These were
filled with Chinese almonds, water
melon seeds (Ot which The CclestiRls are
very fOnd) water chestnuts and ChiReSe
! fruits of various sorts An antelope, a
| lion, a deviLfish and several other ami
mails, which it would have puzzled a
| z0ologist to name, kept guard over the
! dainlles These resembled the sugar
! creations of our cOnfectloners; hut were
made, we learned, of flour. There was
/ quite a variety of hueS displayed by
| these animals, every one Of the pTiSmatic
colOrs lending its aid TO enhance the
! DrillianCy and naturalnesS OF their ap-
! pearance. A number of bouquets con-
lIlDultu DtdulN anu hhNt ~ tilN
scene. At each end of the table stood
one in which was placed little rack,
made of wire covered with bright paper.
In these were cards announcing
each course as it was placed upon the
table. The first to which We directed
our eager gaze was 'Stewed Bird-neSts'
This is great luxury among the Chi
neSe. II is obtained in caves among the
islands of the Orient. \ species of
swallow collects the material from sea-
weed. maCcratcS il with her bill, and
then Of the gummy substance thus made
builds her nest against the walls of these
caves. This is collected at great peril
When prepared in a sort of soup it is
very tempting to the Celestial palate
We were somewhat prejudiCed against
the article; however, We found 1t not un-
pleasant, only little insipid. Then fol-
lowed dishes of all sorts; meats fried and
meats Stewed, fish, fowls, vegetables,
shark fins. bonbonS, and almost every
imaginable eating thing. The meats
were all nicely cooked, and had pecul
lar relish which made it possible to eat
more than We had supposed ourselves ca
pable of. One dish impressed US as
peculiar; it was mushrooms and duck
web -fOotS.' Our nearest neighbOr re-
marked, with a glance at the web-foOts,
We cook him; Mellican man throw him
away We repressed our inclina-
ton to act in accordance with the
custuE.s of our country and Smilingly
ate the mushrooms. Our hosts
drank to our health collectively, in
dividually and repeatedly, with the rose
wine without which it would be impOs-
Sible TO have a Chinese dinner. The
tiny china cups which held this beverage
would have had 20 be filed and emptied
many times, however, 10 have produced
an serious result. After the fourteenth
course we were invited to leave the ia
bic a few moments. We walked about,
admiring the pictures, eXaminingthe mu-
steal instruments which hung in one cor
ner; stood on the balcony, listening to
notes of melody from the theater next door
and some in order TO lose no time, sat in
the handsome chairs, drinking fragrant tea
from most tempting little cups. In
few moments We were invited back to
the table 10 partake of Chinese fruit and
pastry. The former is delicious, the lat
ter most curious. There were groups of
animals which deied description, cats
and dogs of every hue, birds and beasts
of indescribable forms and colOrs. 1t
was little surprising to find lemon
made of sponge cake, snd somewhat
startling, on biting a beautiful rose or
exduisitely tinted Sea-Shel, 10 find II full
of minCe-meat."