The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1886-01-22
strange Food.

Traveller. of,en come back and tell -
6: hav;nc s.ten and relished snakes
and other rentiles not appreciated when
placed on the home dinner table. Per-
ons who have been ~i.nia
the walls of besieged cue eea M .
horse-fesh and rats as eataDles. Won
dering how some Of those articies were
prepared, a reporter dropped inbo tne
ST. James hotel recently TO talk with
John Roth. the celebrated chef. and
learn from him some Of these mysteries.
He was found in his kitchen studying
deeply the dishes that were being pre-
pared for that nights dinner. =.
..Some people eat strange food. don't
theyp" asked the scribe. =,
'iIndeed they do" said Roth. "and ]
like to trv any new edible myself. some
times. A little while ago l had . nice
young dog. Somehow or other the dog
broke its leg, and so killed 1t. It was
SO nice and fat ] thought l would see
how it tasted cooked. SO / prepared the
dog like any one would prepare . joint
of pork, roasted II, and served 1t with
The same sort of dressing one would
put with pork, and to . stranger
the joint had all the appearance OF
pork, and it tasted delicious. II wa
very sweet and tender" -.
How do the regular dishes In this
country compare with the French
dishesp"
There are many more varieties N
this country than in France and we can
make q more varied menu here. Green
turtle wei there is a very expensive lux.
ury and terrapin is very seldom heard
of. Many Of the fish eaten over here
are never seen there, and then game is
more plentiful here. They have only
one kind of wild duck and have not the
canvas-back or mallard at oil. Par.
tridges and quail are much smaller there
than here,"
did you ever cook snailse"
"Very often. and thoy arc very nice
when cooked properly. The French
people are very fond of them. The best
way I know Of to prepare them is to lie,
them soak in salt water for about Q
couple of days. SO that all the glue and
slime aboHt them is removed. Then
take them out OF their shells and clean
them and remove the head. You then
place them in a red wine, claret or Bur
gundy, with some aromatic herbs tC
flavor them, and boil the whole. Wher
they have become cold take some shall
lots, garlic, shedwell. cloves, chopped
fine and mix the snails in with butter
and red wine. Then place the snail
back in its shell and put q little butter
on it and bake. After they are cooked
serve up with bread crumbs and melte(
butter. They are very fine. You know
English people are fond Of salt-wateI
snails, which they call periwinkles
They simply boil these and eat will
vinegar and pepper"
odd you eyer cook any snakesF"
II never did, but / have met people
who have told me that some kinds O
snakes are very good, and why shout,
they not bcp Eels are only snakes, 20,
know, and they are eaten IN all sorts 0
styles"
RATS are spoken well Of by some pee
pie; did you ever cook them?"
RATS are very nice when they ar
young. During the French and Ger
man war, while the Germans were SUI
rounding Paris, they were eaten BY tn
besieged in very large quantities. !
good way to prepare them is : ski
them and clean them. then cut them u
and put into wine with aromatic hert
and then make a fricasee of them ju:
as you would of a chicken. Horse.hss
is now very popular in Francs. an
+ there are regular horse-butchers in Paril
!, Horse-fesh is a little coarse and strongl
favored. 1t is cooked in the same wa
that a joint of beef is. l believe there is
law here prohibiting the sale of hors
= beef. People used to be disguised
the idea Of eating frogs, but now frog
legs are considered Il great delicacy On
: are in great demand everywhere: -
. Y. Mail and Express.