The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1875-04-10
Our Olio.
Chinese Customs.

HNests, the number Of courses, and theii
Htneral order and arrangement. We shall
endcavor to give detailed and accurate
count Of such banquet as might be
oIIered to half dozen friends by native
III easy circumstances. In the first place
% ladies would be present, but men only
Nould occupy seats at the square, four
hgged "eight fair" table. Before each
khere will be found a pair Of chopsticks, a
Nine-cup, small saucer for soy, two
Hronged fork, spoon, a tiny plate, divided
INTO separate compartments for melon seeds
md almonds, and pile of small pieces Of
PAPER for cleaning these various articles as
required. Arranged upon the table, IN
bur equi-distant rows, are sixteen small
dishes, or saucers, whiclr contain foul
kinds of fresh fruits, four kinds of dried
fruits, four kinds Of candied fruits, and
four miscellaneous, such as preserved eggs,
tliees Of ham, a sort of sardine, picked
cabbage, etc These four are in the mid
Gle, the other twelve being arranged
alternately around them. Wine is pro
duced the first thing, and poured into the
small porcelain cups by the giver Of the
feast himself 1t is polite to make a bow
and place one hand at the side Of the cup
while this operation is being performed
The host then gives the signal to drink
and the cups are emptied instantaneously
being often turned bottom upward as a
proof that there are no hecl-taps. Many
Chinamen, however, cannot stand even a
small quantity Of wine; and it is no uncom.
mon thing when the feast is given at an
eating house, to hire one Of the theatrical
singing boys TO perform yicariously such
heavy drinking as may be required by
custom or exacted by forfeit The sixteen
4 small dishes above mentioned remain there
during the whole dinner, and my be eaten
of promiscuously between courses Now
we come to the dinner, which may consist
Of eight large and eight small courses, six
large and six small, eight large and four
small, or six large and four small, accord.
ing to the means or fancy Of the giver,
each bowl Of food constituting course
being placed in the middle of the table,
and dipped into by the guests with chop
sticks or spoon, as circumstances may re-
quiro. The first is the commonest, and
we append bill Of fare of an ordinary
Chinese dinner on that scale, each course
coming in its proper place.
|. Sharks fins with crab sauce; %
Pigeons eggs stewed with mushrooms; (2)
sliced sea-slugs in chicken broth with ham.
ii. Wild duck and Shantung cabbage; (3)
fried fish; (4) Jumps of pork fat, fried in
rice four III. stewed lily roots; (5)
chicken mashed to pulp, with ham; (6)
stewed bamboo shoots. Iv. Stewed shell
fish; ~ fried slices Of pheasant; (s) mush-
room broth. Re,aore-Two dishes of
fried pudding, one sweet and the other
salt, with two dishes Of steamed puddings,
also one sweet and one salt. [These four
are put on the table together, and with
them is served a cup Of almond tea v.
Sweetened duck. vi. Strips of boned
chicken, fried in oil, VII. Boiled fish
(of any *ind) with soy VIII. Lumps of
parboiled mutton, fried in pork fat. These
last four large courses are put on the table,
one by one, and are not taken away. Sub
sequently fifth, a bowl of soup, is added i,
and small basins Of rice are served round,
over which some Of the soup is poured.
The meal is then at an end. A riace-
bouche is handed TO each guest, and a
towel, dipped in boiling water, but we'll
wrung out. With the last he mops his
face all over, and the effect Is much the
same as half noggin of Exshaw, quail
fed with bottle of Schwcppe. Pipes
aud tea are now handed round, though
this is not the first appearance of tobacco
on the scene Many Cinnamon take .
Whit or two at their hubble-bubbles be-
tween almost every course. Opium is
provided when dinner is over for such as
are addicted to the fatal luxury; aud,
after few minutes, spent perhaps in ar
ranging the preliminaries Of some future