Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1886-03-11
. Peonle Without Rrend.
rappenheIm,s NLneIler. zeItnn !

fappenhem's Mueller'Leitun &.
BY this title we do not mean people
who are starving, but people who
satisfy their hunger without bread.
This may appear wonderful to us and
TO the cltz ems of other centres of
civilization, and it may seem that we
! refer TO the food of some half or
| wholly savage race, but not So
These "people without bread are our
nearest neighbors, the South Austri.
ans, the Italians and the RoumanianS.
OF course this term without bread
applies only to the great mass OF the
rusticS, the secluded peasants of those
countries, and not to the betier-situated
even among. them and certainly it is
not applicable 10 the large towns and
cites. Only few miles from Vienna,
in the moutaius of the Obeisteiermark,
but little bread is eaten, and in many
> rural household it is entirely un-
known. The chief daily dish of these
people, which well supplies tine place
| OF bread, is sO-called "stefz (which is
made OF buckwheat flour. Buck
wheat, called heather" in Austria,
| thrlves remarkably in the alpine
valleys Of Steiermark, Krains and also
in a portion of the Tyrols. The
''steIZ' is prepared by putting buck
wheat fourth deep stew pan over
| fire and stirring it with a wooden
spoon until it becomes warm. Then,
while stirring it continually, the cook
pours in boiling sailed water until
the heated -four unites with the water
and forms mass Of crumbling flakes.
! When the whole mass in the stew pan
steams strongly, it is the sign that ii
! is sufficiently cooked. In the houses
of the rural population of Steielmark
Krains and Kaernt the ''steIz' for
breakfast is in summer mixed with
sweet milk and in winter with sour
milk, while for dinner il is eaten
with meat broth or gravy or with
roasted pork, and for supper IL is again
eaten with milk. With so strong
food in common use the inhabitants
of those alpine countries seldom or
never desire bread. Even in the more
fashionable city households the
"sterz' is popular dish, and il may
be called the national food of a large
part OF South Austria,
In the neighboring land OF Italy
among the rural population very little
bread is eaten, and its place is taken
by "polenta." The preparation of
this dish very is similar to 'steIz," the
difference being the substitution Of
corn meal for buckwheat. Lombardy
meal being the most highly priced
for the making of the 'tpolenta. Be
sides this, in making the "polentan
the mixture is so stirred into crum-
bling flakes, as in the case of the for
mer, but the entire mass is formed in
one large cake, which is cut into
smaller portions by "a wire or cord
The ordinary Italian eats his "polenta"
cold in the place of bread, while upon
the tables of the prosperous classes the
dish appears in somewhat refined con
dition.
Finally the Romanians, who are
either the remnants OF great Roman
colony or Romanized Slavs, have a
national dish, very similar to the
Italian "polenta,n which is also
made of corn meal and is called
"mamaligan This fact is q very no
table one TO the students OF the history
of civilization. The Roumanians
make the 'mamaliga," not dry and
firm as the Italians make their
"polenta, but in a soft, pap-like form.
Each one Of these three foods allows
bread TO be entirely dispensed with,
as each of them is much stronger and
more nourishing. For instance, the
average Italian can work hard all day
with no other nourishment than a
loaf of ''polenta" and pint OF wine.
In connection with the history of
civilization it may with certainty be
asserted that the three national dishes,
sterz. polenta and mamaliga, reach far
back into ante christian times