The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-07-03
THE POTATO IN FRANCE.
A Novel Centenary Celebration In the
Pretty Town Of Montdidier,

A Novel Centenary Celebration In the
Pretty Town Of M%ontdidier.
This is an era of centennial celebra-
tons, and Frenchmen have a natural
penchant for commemorating men or
events that they may deem worthy of
honor or remembrance. just now the
town of Montdidier Is preparing to
celebrate, with all the eclat possible,
what Is termed the Parmentier CEN
tenary, but which is in reality the CEN
tenary of the introduction of the
potato into France. All the most dis
tinguished men in France are invited
to the fete, which will last for about
ten days. NJ. Pasteur writes that he
could not think of abandoning his
''chers enrages" for such a length OF
time; M. de Lesseps expresses his re-
grets, but has induced the institute to
appoint Baron Larrey to represent
him on the occasion, and M. Chevreul,
the centenar;an scientist, laments his
inability to be present, and adds with
naive pathos: Though may not be
with you in person, my heart will be
there, as Montdidier is the natal spot
Of that dear girl, Mile. Sophie Dava-
lette, whom l married in 1878"
M. ~Parmentier, who was born 1897,
in Montdidier, and died in 1913, led a
checkered life and made a great sensa-
ton in his day. He was at one time
a chemist in the army of Hanover,
and subsequently a prisoner in the
seven years war. A disciple of MOL
let, Rouelle and Jussien, he finally
turned his attention to the study of the
potato. and obtained the authorization
of Louis XVI. to cultivate the tuber in
the plain of Sablons, neal Paris. The
potato was at that epoch held
in utter contempt in France, and
was considered only as food for
hogs. Parmentier struggled for years
against countless obstacles and difficult
ties in his effort to make the desDiscd
''apple of the earth an article of food,
but his ingenuity finally triumphed.
He prepared a banquet to which he in
vited the leading savants of France, in
order to prove to them the excellence
of the potato and the variety of ways
in which it could be rendered palata-
bic. The potato, to the great astonish-
ment of the ~sayantS, was served in
thirty-three different styles, and when
the banquet was finished it was declared
to be the most delicious of esculcnts,
and NJ. Parmentier was famous. 1t
may be of interest to know the first
course on the menu on that historic oc-
casion was styled pom1nes dc terre en-
chemiSe, commonly called in England
potatoes served up in their jackets"
and which on the other side of st.
Georges Channel is v%ernacularly
known as "pratics billed"
His Majesty Louis XVI. then took up
the cause of M. Parmentier and the
potato. NJ. Parmentier visited the
King at Versailles, holding a bunch of
potato flowers in his hand. Louis
offered him his right hand to shake;
Marie Antoinette permitted him to kiss
her on both cheeks, and in the evening
at a gala party given in the palace, his
Majesty appeared wearing a bunch of
flowers in the royal b%utton-hole.
The triumph of the potato, says the
chronicler of the day, was thus conse-
The thirty-three styles in
it was introduced by M. Parmen-
tier to the French cuisine have now
50 says Alexander Dumas-reachedt two
hundred and fifty, and the capabilities
of the humble tuber from Virginia
have not yet been exhausted in the
hands of the French cook. A statue
was erected to M. Parmentier in his
native city in 1913, in which he is rep
resented standing erect, holding in his
nand a huge potato-stalk. His body
in Pere la Chaise, Paris, in Il
handsome plot surrounded by an iron
and a beautiful monument
stands above it, erected by the chemists
If France. Every year the members of
he agricultural societies visit this spot
md plant the grave and its surround
ne parterre with potatoes.-Paris Cor.
Y, World,