Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-05-06

The Good. Cheap Food Of the Poor and
the Dainty Dishes of the Wealthy.
From the st. James Gazette.

From the st. James Gazette.
In every large town cook shops abound Sheep
are roasted whole in ovens and sold hot by the
slice The Sleeps heads and feet are boiled
separately, and their preparation and sale is a
trade in itself. But the edible most in favor
among all classes i'm Persia is the kabab. There
are two varieties of kabab. One is made from
minced mutton, which is chopped with a few
onions into paste fine as sausage meat care
fully moulded over a sbewer toasted over a
fierce charcoal fire, and sold and eaten hot.
This is the kabab of the bazaar the deIicacy of
the lower classes.
AT the dinner hour !sunsetl and ut the break
fast hour noon crowds surround the shops OF
the kabab sellers Each man carries his bread
which Is usually a flexible loaf two feet long, a
foot wide, and half an inch thick The Gus
TONER wraps his kaSab, hot from the fire. i'm
his bread and either sits downs and eats it then
and there or takes the meal home to- his family.
In any case. a hot dinner of roast meat can be
obtained for from one penny to threepence a
bead, for the price of single skewer of the
steilnIng delicacy Is but "a halfpenny. Jars
containing about half a pint of hot. strong. and
savory meat soup are sold Tor penny. These
form the invariable meal of the Persian soldier,
If he can afford it. The meat is pounded and
served with the soup or eaten afterward as IL
separate plat.
But in Persia, as in the rest of the east bread.
rice, or dates are the real foOd-the meat merely
the sauce or bonnie t0ucj,e. Persians of all ages
are very fond of confectionery, and are con-
stantly Gevouring sweets. These generally
pure and good: but there is little variety in
are favored with lemon Juice
The lOwer-class Persian Will eat several pounds
OF grapes, cucumbers, or apricots for a meal;
they eat onions as We eat apples. PomegranateS
and melons are in great demand as food, and
the melons, which run TO fourteen pounds in
weight, are very nutritious. Cucumbers are
looked on as fruit, and are eaten in large guam
titles by rich and poor. They are not indigesti-
bic. Seven pounds weight may be often had
for a halfpenny- Grapes in infinite variety and
of the most delicious kinds, from the huge long
grape, which measures two inches, to the tiny
suitana, sweet as honey to the taste.
The curis mast is simply made by adding
small portion of the rennet or else old curds
to warmed milk; in few hours il sets into a
mass, the cream on the top. If eaten the first
day ii is like junket; if allowed to remain it
becomes sour. and Will keep good any time In
this sour state il is preferred, and is eaten with
honey, sugar or grape sugar. Eggs boiled hard
and dyed gay color are much eaten; from
forty TO fifty can be had for cd. These things,
then, form the cheap and varied diet of the
working classes Beet, too, is eaten by them;
never by the weli-to-dO.
The townspeople and the wealthy among the
Persians devote much attention to good living.
breakfast generally is "A comparatively light
meal, out consists of several D{qts of VARYING
merit, but always served hot; il is taken about
noon. At about O'Clock at night dinner is
served. Persian cookery is extravagant-partIy
because the Persians are lavishy hospitable,
partly because all house servants are led from
the leavingS of the masters table. kababs OF
another kind to those we have described take
the palm among Persian dishes to the European
taste, probably because they are free from
grease Small pieces of lamb, the size of "a wal
nut, are skewered on a slender rod of iron: two
pieces of lean and piece of the delicate fat OF
the huge tail of the Oriental sheep are put on
alternately, a soupcon of garlic or onion is added
and the kabab Is toasted over fierce fire and
squeeze of lemon.
Piliaws are merely boiled meat venison, or
fowls smothered in mountains of rice. This
rice Is deiicately boiled, and little clarified
butter is added We fear TO say how much pill
Law Persian will consume. Tiny chickens,
quails, pigeons doves and young partridges are
handed hot on the spit itself TO each guest. Ex-
cept the partridge, game is not much appreci-
ated IN Persia. The hare is not eaten by the re-
ngIOuS, and there are no rabbits.
Fish Is seldom seen, the sea coast
Entrees of various kinds are served. They are
nearly always eaten with boiled rice, which is
served plain, without butter, and termed chill
ldtC. Among such entrees are the dzziajahn
which consists OF a chicken. partridge or lamb
meat boiled TO rags, served hot with sauce of
pounded walnuts pomengranate Juice and
Clarified butter. y similar entree is made upon
the same basis with unripe grapes and butter:
another with stewed apricots and butter or
stewed piums OF BOkhara and butter. All these
are eaten with large quantities of plain boiled
rice, seemingly very rich, yet in combination
with the rice they are TO the Persian taste de-
hcious, and Europeans residing III Persia soon
appreciate them.
Confectionery and pastry are consumed in
large quantities. Lambs a week old, and
weighing only few pounds, are roasted whole
and stuffed with dates, raiSins, cheStnuts.
pistachios. and almonds. Ducks, tame or wild,
are not much liked. Sherbet, in large china
bowls, is always served at dinner. 1t consists
Oi1ruit syrups or eau Stcree: 1t is usually iced,
and Is drunk from huge wooden spoons. These
are sometimes so thin as to be in parts trans
parent; they are of native manufacture and
deilcateiy carved. They are often of great value
and the wealth of a Persian is often shown in
the variety and value of his wooden sherbet
Q. OOns.
In its way, the Persian cuisine is as scientific
as that OF France. Everything is good and
pientlful; there are no authorizations; the only
fault Is on the side of profusion. The free use
OF clarified butter, it must be remembered is
TO enable the partaker to swallow the rice
which Is served with most dishes. Unlike the
Turk the Persian never serves a dish that is
nasty. We once saw Turkish dish which
consisted of aubergines stuffed with garlic,
stewed in oil. and eaten cold, 1t had the rather
appropriate name of 1.-THE Imam faintedr'
Persian dinners are always preceded by pipes
(hub5ie-bubbles), while tea and sweets are
handed around. Then servants bring in long
leathern sheet and place it on the ground; the
guests take their seats around it, squatting on
the ground. fiat loaf of bread, of the kind
We have described, is placed before each man.
Music plays. The dinner is brought in on trays
and placed on the ground on the Ieathern sheet:
the covers are removed; the host says, BIS
milah Gin the name of God, y and in silence
ali fall to with their fingers. There is no talk
ing at dinner, and when il is over all retire to
rest or return TO their homes at once.
A Practical Girl.