Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-06-08
STRANGE MEATS,
4 Catalogue of Curious Articles OF
Food.


4 Catalogue Of Curious Articles of
Food.
1t is difficult to say what man does or
will not eat through fashion, curiosity or
necessity, though probably articles of
food which are only consumed upon
compulslon do not merit mention in a
disquisition upon out-of-the-way viands.
Among the odd experiments in gastrono-
my that have been recorded in the pa
pers of late those with crocodile's flesh
should have the most interest for Ameri-
can readers. The eminent French scien-
tist, NJ. Paul Bert, regaled a select party
at the Sorbonne not long ago with croco-
die steaks, which were voted excellent,
with something of musky flavor, and on
the whole not unlike salmon. The tail is
the most dainty part Members OF the
Westphalian geological Society pro-
nounce crocodile soup the best of eating
and find the scent of the meat particular
ly appetizing. 1t should be boiled for
three hours. A less enthusiastic account
of crocodile meat is given by an English
traveller. who describes it as tough,
greasy and fshy, something like tough
pork that had been fattened on fish, and
Wand not likely to commend itself to
the eater unless lie was very hungry and
couldn't get anything else. A scientist
of Basle, who some thirty years ago had
an opportunity to taste crocodile flesh
when the specimen" now in the mu-
scum of that city was prepared, enjoyed
it SO much that what he could not eat at
that time lie saltcd down for future con-
sumption. He describes the flesh as the
connecting link between meat and fish.
&c. .,,f
after describing the honors paid to the
"sacred crocodile" by the Egyptians,
adds "But the people who live round
about Elephantine even eat them they
don't think them sacred" He does not
tell us if they found the meat good eating
DIR. Hermes, the director of the Berlin
Aquarium, made an interesting expert
ment in dracontoophagy when he served
up TO his family and some invited friends
dish of scrambled snakes eggs. A few
days before an Indian python, lately re-
ceived at the institution, had laid fifty
five eggs. From thirty of these DR..
Hermes had the singular dish prepared
pared in the presence of his guests. They
were broken up into frying-pan con-
tanning the requisite modicum OF melted
butter. The eggs have no yolk but are
filled with grayish-white liquid the
shells are neither hard nor brittle as in
birds eggs, and, after being emptied OF
their contents, resemble pieces of leather.
The taste of the savory plat was likened
10 that of mashed potatoes mixed with
rice. In his "Curiosites of Natural His.
tory" Frank Buckland tells an amusing
story Of his little girl appropriating some
snakes eggs and eating them under the
impression that they were big sugar plums
The same distinguished naturalist had
himself banqueted upon boa-constrictor
which he found to resemble veal some
what. 1t is well known that the Kafir
and Hottentots
Eat Snakes
OF all kinds, even the deadly puff-adder
while the Bushman not only regards thei
flesh as delicacy, but consumes withou
hesitation the animals which he bring
down with his arrows tipped with the I'D
der's venom. The Australian aborigine
are snake eaters, and in some rural dis
tricts in France a bowl of viper-broth
the popular prescription for govt an
scrofulous affections. The Westphalia
Society, of which mention has alread
been made, has made a more than toler;
BILE caviare out OF frog spawn. Its mem
bers approve bear-cutlets, and very pr,
perly. but the dish is more familiar
American readers than the roast badge
and badger-hash, which have also r.
ceived the commentator OF tine interpi
Westphalian gastronomers.
There is no particular reason for bein
surprised over the discovery that roa
crane stuffed with chestnuts and prunes
q bird by no means to be despised, and
moves one to astonshment to observe I'll
London daily 1etegraph recording
something OF novelty the experiment
of the Westphalians with roast bustar
The bustard, which is larger than IL
turkey and more delicate, used to be
famous dish at royal and civic feasts
London, and was for a long time IL
piece dc resistance OF the Christmas di
ner at the renowned Bush Inn, at Sail
bury. 1t has disappeared fIom EnglaI
and is but rarely seen in France, but
abundant in Hungary. The members
the Athenmum Club had roast busta
for dinner one day last year. In Sou
America the tapir, the sloth and cafyba
"a great amphibious Guinea pig-a
eaten by natives,
Roast armadillo, with lemon and spi
sauce, is a favorite dish, and its flavor
delicious, though the plat may be obje,
w " no 'op EiSpoy' Inv ot'Io'""' - -
held in high estimation, and the Sou
American practice is to bury it in t
earth until the flesh has lost its otfensi
odor. The monkey aud the parrot .
distinctly edible, though both may
oriticis ID as dry and insipid. The oc
pus OF devil fish of the Mediterranean
in great demand throughout certain d
tricts OF Italy and Austria as a lent
meat, and the Greek and italian fish
men at San Francisco are much addict
to the same unsightly delicacy.
Oeyiicd ''Devil,"
prepared as one would prepare devi
crab, is regarded as something celest
and even when cooked in the ordin,
fashion the octopus is looked upon as
perior to the clam, which in consisteI
and favor it somewhat resembles.
favorite size is ten to twelve inches fr