The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1883-07-19
A PORTUGUESE GHOST
And What Came of the Kings Fond
ness For the Cooks Pastry.
by Lizzie ". Ckampney.l

fBy Lizzie W. Champneyl
King John of Portugal was expected at his
home at Cintra, and there were hustle and
preparation at the palace. And nowhere was
the hustle greater than in the royal kitchen.
AS the traveller to-day approaches Cintra
from Lisbon the most remarkable architect
ural object which meets his eye are two enor-
nous chimneys. They might belong to found
cry or to the furnaces of chemical works, they
tower aloft so impo5ingly, and bulge at the
base into great white kilns but they are only
the kitchen chimneys of the ancient palace,
originally built by the Moors and Therefore
one Of the oldest landmarks in the kingdom.
The kitchen into which these capaclous
chimReys open is in itself remarkable. In the
first place, the chimneys, seen from the in
terror, are even more interesting than when
they appear as two obelisks on the distant
horizon. From the kitchen we peer wonder
ingly into the Threats Of the sooty cayerns, and
the odors of dead dinners seem to linger like
reluctant ghosts. One chimney was used for
roasting and boiling, and here hang great spits
that worked by clock-work, slowly turning
huge Joints of meat and whole kids, lambs, and
fowls before the blazing fire. Here, too, is an
enormous crane, with pot-hooks and chains for
hosting and lowering, which reminds one OF
derrick or complicated elevator apparatus.
| BY the side of this chimney ranged rows
| of cleaning brass and salmon-tinted copper
kettles shining as brightly as the plate armor
! in the principal hall of the palace. With the
other chimney a long row of ovens is connected,
and near by stands long handicapped table,
on which the cooks are busily employed rolling
out vast plains of pastry, which are bounded on
! the east by fioury snow mountains, and on the
west by ocean tanks of olive oil.
Ildefonso Soares de Silva, the head cook, was
noted for his pastry. He was pastry-cook at
! the convent of Alcobaca, the most princely re-
| ligious house in the world. How the monks
! dotted on his eel pie and his pate de foie gras
his guava tarts and his pates of fried bananas!
| He was so much priced by the superior of the
convent that it is doubtful whether he would
ever have willingly parted with him had not
King John dined at the convent shortly after
| the memorable battle of Aljubarrota.
The monks were all so glad that his Most
| Christian Majesty had succeeded in routing
| the combined forces of the French and the
| Spaniards that they babe Ildefonso do his
| best, and sixteen different kinds of pies were
served before the conqueror 1t is fortunate
that they did not speak English, for then the
| King might have complimented them upon
their piety; but as it was, they were saved any
poor puns of that kind. The King was SO de-
| lighted with his fare that he begged as favor
| that their pastry cook might be transferred to
| his own kitchen, and he granted the obliging
monks important privileges In return for the
| favor.
One reason why King John was so anxious
| to obtain this wonderful cook was that he ex-
| pected soon to marry an English lady, Philippe,
| Of Lancaster, and he feared that she mi ght find
| ordinary Portuguese cookery little to her taste.
The new Queen had been married and
crowned and had come to live in the palace at
! Cintra Her sister Catherine had come, too, to
pay her visit, and now, his warnings over for
/ the present, King John himself was expected.
lldefonso, in his paper cap and white apron,
brandished his rolling-pin and determined to
invent a pie that should carry his fame down
to the remotest generations. Queen Philippa
/ had been pleased to compliment him on his
| bell-shaped pastry flowers with hearts of mar
mslade. Such trifes as these might please the
ladies, but the king was as valiant soldier
with the knife and fork as with the sword, and
| it would be another matter to win his praise.
Iidefonso was not pleased with his promotion !;
| he would rather have remained at his dear con-
vent but, since he had been brought to the
! palace, he determined to please the King SO
well that he would allow him speedily TO re-
turn, never thinking that for the success of this
design it was quite as dangerous to please him
too well as to fail in his profession He re-
| membered that the King had expressed his
admiration of all of the sixteen different pies
| with which he had served him. but had men
toned one cause for regret. man could not
eat sixteen pies regularly at each dinner, and it
was a pity TO lose the exquisite flavor of any
one of them. Ildefonso determined to invent
one pie which should combine the qualities of
! the whole sixteen.
| Accordingly he lined an enormous saucepan
with futed pastry, and within this he cum
ningly commingled minced pigeons, meats,
suet, partridges quails, snipes, woodcoeks, with
sliced lemons, apples pears ounces, peaches,
apTicots, neetarines, melon, pine-apples. Gus
tard-apples. bananas, figs pomegranates, cher
ries, almonds, raisins plums, berries, currants,
candied citron, nlarInalade, jelly, preserves,
spices, red wine from 0porto and white wine
from Spain, with sugar plums of all favors.
1t was wonderful pie, and the odor which ii
difused while baking was SO delicious and SO
penetrating that the King and his retinue
when hardly in sight of the great chimneys,
put spurs to their horses and came charging
down the Lisbon road as though they heard
before them the challenging battle-cry OF
Santiago for Spaini"
The poor servants, who had hoped that
as the pie was so enormous, they might all
come in for share of the fragments, were
greatly disappointed. The King would make
his dinner of nothing else and indeed the pie
was 4 complete bill of fare in itself. The rest
Of the royal family were obliged to content
themselves with narrow slices, for the King ate
fully half of the pastry. The two court physi-
clans looked at one another knowingly, and
neither of them retired that night, expecting
every moment to be called to his Maesty's
couch. But, wonderful as it may seem. the
King slept soundly, aud remarked in the morn.
ing that he had enjoyed the most delightful OF
dreams.
He devoured another Of the pies at dinner
and demanded that the cook should be brought
in to hear, before the whole table, his masters
august approval. Udefonso stood with culver
ing lips trying in vain to summon courage tc
ask for his dismissal, while King John praised
his masterpiece, and swore that henceforward
+ so long as they both should live, no one bu
Ildefonso Soares de Silva should make pies fol
the royal table.
[ The heart-broken cook left the Kings pres
ence humbly, but as soon as he reached hi.
kitchen he gave way to frantic grief He
vowed that the King should rue his cruel self
ishness, and salted the pastry with bitter tears
The threats Of the poor cook seemed ridicuiou,
TO the other servants, and little notice wa
taken of them at the time for another topic O
conversation Interested every member of the
, household.
Two mobiles, lodged in different parts of The
palace, had been each disturbed by ghost in ;
7 long gown, holding in one hand lamp, and ii
3 the other drawn sword This occurrence
j formed the table-tall at breakfast for both no
bies and servants The affair would have beer
{ discarded as Q dream had not the two gentle
a men borne witness to it. The ladies became
l nervous with fear that robber had visited TIL,
J palace, ans the King commanded that the entir,