Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-05-07
DINING IN ASIA.
i.T.d
Yours truly,
j. W. DORSEY.

America. 1t will interest many not per-
sonally acquainted with Rev. and Mrs. j.
L. Barton, and is as follows:
81 believe we promised to tell you
about our first Turkish dinner at Malatia
city of $4,000 inhabitants, two days
journey from here. You will remember
this was the place where Mr.. Mrs. and
Miss Wheeler met us to escort us the rest
of the way to Harpoot. 1t is one OF the
stations of this mission.
1--WE arrived there at little past noon,
and soon afterward we were invited to
dine with Baron HOvhausen Etlendi, Il
Protestant and member Of the Malatia
church, the head man Of the city and of
the surrounding country and contrac-
tor for furnishing supplies to the army.
You can better imagine our trepidation
at the thought of partaking of an entirely
native meal than you can the disappoint-
ment to us in real enjoyment of our din
ner: for we both liked it very much.
"When the dinner hour arrived a SER
|
Mr.. and Mrs. Allen, Miss Daniels and
ourselves) that the feast was ready. 1t
is the custom to send for the guests when
the dinner is ready. We went with fear
and trembling. for | was extremely tired
and Mr.. B. was so hungry. When we
arrived at the house our host-for ladies
of the house do not appear at feasts of
state-welcomed us and we were at once
taken into the guest room. The ladies
of the company kept on their bOnnets
and head covering, as it would be consid-
cred very improper for them to do other
wise. For furniture there were. across
one end and two sides. divans. These
are hard cushions. eight inches thick and
three feet wide. with cushions at the back.
The end divan is little raised above the
rest. and here are the seats of honor.
The two corners are the most honOred of
all. These people are very particular
about these observations of honor and
rank. They will never sit till their guests
are all seated. After we were seated the
host came before each one and gave the
sautation. which consists in touching
the chin and forehead. accompanied with
low bow. We bowed in return. Each
of his children followed him. The host
took his seat at the lower end of the room.
all his guests sitting above him. and said
very little. As it is not polite for the host
to take much part in the conversation:
this is a privilege of his guests. The
ladies must say but little unless they
wish to seem bold. Up to this time we
had seen no signs of any preparations
for dinner. Now a servant comes with
Turkish coffee-no sugar in it and it is as
black as ink. This is passed first to the
ladies, but this is a custom only of the
Protestants; for the native method is to
wait upon the chords of creation" first
and then the ladies.
"There were present three Armenians,
besides our host, prominent men in the
church. These ceremonies. and CONVERSE
ton have taken nearly an hour. a large
tablecloth is now brought in by a male
servant and spread upon the floor near the
end of the room where the most honored
guests are. The table-an artistically-
made article about foot square and
highs placed in the center of the cloth
and upon it a very large round copper
server. Around the edge of the server,
in the place of each guest, is put loaf
of bread, very much like pancake and
by II inches in size, which served for a
plate and was both to be eaten and to
eat with, if the fork and spoon furnished
needed any assistance. We all draw up
around the festive tray or server, pull
the table-cloth up over our laps and
spread our napkins. Mr.. Wheeler asks "A
blessing and we are ready to begin. |
wish the courses were fresh in my mind
so could explain each to you as it came.
| have forgotten just what some of them
were. Perhaps it is enough to say that
there were fifteen, each served in a dish
placed in the center of the table, from
which each one helped himself with fork,
spoon, bread or fingers, or all four at
once as the conditions demanded. To
render special honor some of them help
ed us newcomers by taking their own
fork or spoOn-before they were used
dipping it into the dish and giving us
some of the contents. The dishes in
cluded mutton, fowl, fish, pelave, rice
prepared with cabbage, cabbage salad,
lentils, sweet and rich; custard, pastry,
sweets, cheese, etc. | cannot begin to
describe them all, but will say they We're
all very good and we enjoyed the most of
them. We were not obliged to eat any
that we did not relish. A glass of but
termilk was given me which was sweet
and good. After the table and cloth
were removed, coffee with sugar was
again served, followed by the hand-wash-
ing-as important factor of the feast as
the mutton or fowl. The servant ap-