The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1883-11-25
DUCKS AND OYSTERS.
Hos They Ar. Cooked by Their Admirsr.

How They Are Cooked by Their Admirers.
The ducks, after cleaning, are thor
oughly washed in salt water, and stuffed
with punches of fresh celery-celery is
used, and only celery, because the natural
flavor Of the bird has suggestion of col
cry. from its feed. which the stuffing on
ly slightly emphasizes, but which any
thing else would alter-wnich, IN my
opinion, would be as bad as a asign-painter
undertaking to alter the tints OF an old
masters canvas. Well, the birds are
placed IN an oven as hot rs II can be
made. and taken out III seventeen min
utes. During that time the oven door
must not be opened. whi II Is hard TO
make an uninitiated cook understand.
They want 10 'baste' the bird, or do some
yandal Gct; and another thing, they gen
orally want TO put salt on 1t before put
ting IN the oven, which must not be
done. One for each two diners, ara
brought on the table direct from the
oven. cut in two, and q half given 70
earh. These are eaten Just Es they are
served. Then chopped celery salad,
with wine and Jelly dressing, y made,
and another round of birds Is served, a
half for each, as before. and eaten with
! the salad. This makes another Dish OF
! il. YOU see, and gives variety 10 the meal.
| After that another round Of birds are
| brought on, divided and served. These
can be eaten to suit the taste OF each
diner. : popular dressing Is lime juice,
I caveun. end salt. Only the breast Of the
/ birds ale eaten, bat even then . bird and
| 2 half for each Is a satisfactory supply.
lis th.. all the dinner consists Off"
well. about all. s ca3vasback Is too
/ choice and delicious Ia be mixed up
with much else. We start IN with
/ light clear s)up-small plats-then have
small fish, or some tritie IL fish, plainly
! cooked, and then the canyasbacb. After
that cheese and black coffee.
How about other ducks! the report
er asked. when the bon rir0nf had sutii-
ciently recovered from a species of mild
| trance into which the mental contempla-
/ ton Of the canvasb3ck dinner had
! thrown him.
"Well, hardly like to mention any
other duck ON the same day l have talk
| ed about the canvasback, but the SIN /
hope will be forgiven me. The mallard
/ Is a Gne-lOoking duck, UncOoked or serv-
| ed. but the meat is rather too close grain
/ cd and dry. The teal, Of course, Is the
I duck for broiling; the widgeOn serves 10
make our lives endurable II It. the Wld-
geon, is roasted thoroughly and served
cold for breakfast the next day. Fol-
| low cold half of a roasted widgeon on
Sunday morning with an oyster Omlet, and
| existence will take on brighter hue-lf
1 the omlet is not Drowned. For an e,l-
tree dish the sprigtail duck was not born
/ in vain.
"AlI of these ducks are cheap In the
| season. This wear the ducks, especially
| the canTasback, are uncOnmonly fine,
owing to a favorable feeding season up
north. The canvasback feeds On the
roots of the so-called wild celery, and Is
the best diver for this kind of food, the
bulb of which alone il eats, after wrest-
ing it from the bottom by a long struggle
under water. The widgeon can't dive for
il where the water Is deep, but hangs
around on the surface and steals II from
the canvasback when il comes up with a
bulb in its bill. and before it recovers
| from its struggle under water. The can
vasback is a peaceful, patient and we'll
hammered bird, rs q bird Of such perfect
| flavor should be, and instead OF fighting
/ the rascally widgeon, dives for another
root. ] never eat widgeons out of respect
| to the canyasbacks.
TO change the subject, which see has
become painful 10 you owing - the men
ton of the misfortunes of the canvas
backs. isn't 1T pity We are not as well
of in the matter Of oysters as in ducks!
That is an old, old and much disputed
joint with people who know how to dine.
1 suppose yol know that there are no
such things as California oysters. The
only oysters native TO this coast, sold in
the markets of this city, come from
Shoalwater Bay, Washington Territory.
They are an excellent-havored oyster,
but too small for many dishes of which
oysters are the principal feature. For
dry stews, omelets and some other dishes
the little native oysters are superior 10
the transplanted article. Fish Commits
siOner Redding contends that the
oyster is fish, and l should like 10 see
him start a serious movement for the
purpose of stocking some Of our bays
with better and larger variety Of oys-
tiers. The large oyster We have here,
called the eastern" are brought here in
small barrels by the car loads and dump
ed in beds III the bay To grow. They at
tain q fair size, but seem TO lose most
of their flavor. The oysternen assert
that they don't propagate, bat i believe
under favorable conditions they do, and
in fact, have, for a bed was found few
years ago opposite Alillbrae where none
had been planted then. l think that
. | some OF llOSe plaDteu on EllS Slue SIliWn-
: cd and the spawn was carried by the tide
current 10 the other side, where il lodged
. and hatched. An eastern experimenter
has discovered means Of artificially
Matching oyster spawn and the subject Is
certainly of sufficient importance to en-
gage the attention of our fish commits
sioners. The Shoalwater bay oysters are
brought here by schooners in sacks and
are planted IN the bay for z week or SO 70
fatten before they are put IN the mar
, kets."
"What do You consider the most pals-
table style OF cooking oysters!"
'Well, that Is rather n difficult ques-
, tion to answer: but / will give you one
style which. If not the most palatable, is
at least calculated to make the consumer
, think better Of this world, and TO almost
forgive his creditors. / call the dish
toasted angels and the direction fol
preparing it Is as follows: Wrap large
{ oyster IN a very thin slice of bacon or fat
: pork, putting on the oyster a little cay
, enne and two drops of lime juice; fasten
} with q string or pin, the bacon with a
, wooden toothpick. Broil until the bacon
: is crisp, and serve very hot on squares OF
= buttered toast. IS. 4. Epicirre.
Best Custom Work. Roots and shoes,
5 Can be had at |. J. ArvOld's, next ia
City Book Store. Ladies and gentlemen