The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1885-07-02
TALK WITH A GROCER.
WHAT AMERICANS EAT AND DRINK
SOURCES OF SUPPLY.
Drawing upon the World for Its Finest
Products Foreign Fruits Superior
to the Native-Some Items
Concerning Coffee.
IChicago News Interview

necessarily very limited, said retail
dealer. who claims to keep on hand the
finest groceries the world affords. They
are very expensive for besides being sub
iect to duty they are put up in the best
manner known and are all the best Sc
lected fruit American fruits crowd them
pretty close, however and the method Of
preserving for the market shows improve
ment yearly. The fruits from the south
of France, and particularly from the
south Of Germany. are of finer flavor than
the American product. Whether this IS
due partially to climate or entirely to a
superior system of cultivation L cannot
saw. | am inclined to the opinion that
American soil, cultivated as highly as
the European, would produce just as
good an article The German small
fruits are peculiarly rich in flavor and
fine in grain.
The best prunes are imported from
France They come packed in boxes and
in glass jars. The latter are peculiarly
large and fine and used for desert un.
cooked. the same as raisins. The Turkish
prune is much inferior, but a far more
prolific crop. The best table raisins are
the bunch Dehese The brands used
mostly for cooking purposes are allen
Cias, Sultanas, Ondaras, and loose MuScat-
els The best currants are the NostizZa
The cheaper grades come from Zantee
Dry preserved lemon, citron, and orange
peel is prepared mostly in this country,
very little being imported The very
finest citron is grown in Spain, and it has
the same quality of superiority over
American CitrOnS that the Spanish melons
pUsSess, being thicker and of finer grain
Nearly all fruit glaces are imported from
France Prunellas are brought from
Italy to some extent, but most of those
used here are grown and dried in Cali
fornia.
There is considerable demand for
foreign cheese. OF course the SwitZer-
kase leads 1t is astonishing how many
people eat Switzerkase. The other Swiss
cheese sold here is NeufchateL 1t is all
supposed to be made among the pic,
turesque mountains of Switzerland OF
genuine goats milk, but lots of the article
is manufactured in this country from
cows milk, and some right here in Chi
cagO. A popular dessert cheese IS the
edam, which is made in Amsterdam. The
French goods are the frontage de Brio
frontage de Menauta and frontage dc
iSigna, all very nearly alike, and
each taking its name from the
locality where it is manufactured. An
other French cheese is the Societe Rogue
fort. Grated Parmesan is a hard, dry
cheese brought from Italy and used IN
macaroni. There is pretty steady call
for English cheese, which is better than
have as good mich stock and as rich pas
turage as they possess in Great Britain.
The leading kinds are old GlOster, Ched-
dar, and Stilton. The two latter are
small cheese, fiat at ca h end.
Where are most of the olives grown?"
In Spain and Italy, although some are
grown in the south Of France. They are
prepared for shipping, however, mostly in
France. Large houses send buyers
yearly throughout Spain and Italy to con
tract for the crop The most of the olive
oil is made in Italy, mills for the purpose
being common. l knew young Italian
in Chicago who last year purchased ar
olive mil in his native land with his saw
ings for the SIX years he had been in this
country. The millers do not buy the
olives Of the growers, but grind or press
them on shares, after the plan of the old
time -four makers.
Are any mushrooms put up in this
country?"
"Ch, they are all brought from France
English meadows produce good mush-
rooms, and this fungi is highly priced
there. TruG es are seldom called for.
They are used only to give piquancy to
fowl or game studing. mails are asked
for but by a few epicures with foreign
acquired tastes. Sardiues are shipped
from / rance when not from the coast Of
Maine, although no genuine Sardines are
caught along the Amer can coasts, and
the Maine fish dubbed with the name are
rank and coarse Teas are more largely
Chinese than Japanese
Where are CaperS groWn?"
In France. but they might just as well
be grown and bottled in this country, for
they are nothing more nor less than the
nasturtium seed. There are few country
housewives who do not pick green nastur-
tium seeds and throw them into a weak
L. -
mixed pickle and mango making They
are picked at different stages of growth,
the smaller and most tender being the
highest priced and bringing the most
money. Nonpareils are the first pi,.,ing,
superfines the second, and Capotes the
third "
What do you consider the most i'm
portant commodity Of the American
grocery trader"
Coffee by all odds People could bet
ter do without sugar than without coffee
You Way think that a strong statement,
but it is indisputable The Americans
are nation of cofTee-drinkers. America
consumes over one-third of the entire
product of the world. No breakfast
table whether in the abode of the rich or
of the poor, is considered complete with
out it To many persons it is more nee
essary in the morning than food
But where is it cultivated noW?" in
terrupted the reporter
lover almost all the tropical belt. There
are between twenty-five and thirty ditfer
ent kinds of coffee. Brazil is merely in
its infancy now, and it produces one-half
of the entire coffee crop. The strong
cOffees, kio and Santos are mostly grown
there The west and south are the prin-
cipal consumers of hio The water here
and south is so largely filled with lime
that it destroys the fine, delicate proper
ties of the mild coffees so priced in New
England You know coffee is divided
commercially into two classes, mild and
strong. A very small amount of Mocha
is brought into this country, that sold I'M
der the name not being Mocha at all
"The most prominent of all mild coffees
is Java 1t is raised on the islands of
Java and Sumatra and ranks first in the
estimation of the coffee-drinkers in the
United States. Ceylon is the rival of
Java, but we seldom get any plantation
Ceylon coffee here, as it is sent to Eng
land. Mexico raises some coffee, and
4hara hoe haen q wonderful imDrOvement