Los Angeles daily herald., 1886-12-02
A MATTER OF TASTE.
Strange Dishes That Are Eaten
by different People.


Nothing is more variable than national
diet, except it be national appetite. An
italian is content with q handful of
bread and grapes, while ad Englishman
can devour twenty pounds of flesh day,
and Tartar is mentioned by Captain
Cochrane in his travels who consumed in
four and twenty hours the hind quarters
of large OK, three of the same tribe
thinking nothing of polishing eff rein.
deer at meal.
But even more varied than amount is
kind. The New Brunswickers find a
spec ial charmfin the loose nose of the
moose deer. Sharks fius and fish maws,
unmatched ducks and chickens, sea
slugs and birds nests are all priced by
the omnivorous Chinese. The Psrisians
cat horsefesh; and at the exhibition Of
1851 M. Bpochchieri showed and sold
delicious cakes, patties and bonbons of
bullock's blood, rivaling the famous mar
rons glaces of the confis sceries of the
boulevards. This seems almost a tri-
umph of art. In Havana the shark is
openly sold in the market, and the Chi
nese ascribe special invigorating virtues
to it's fins and tail. The Gold Coast me-
QTOSS hT6 al IOuu VI SuaI DO tuCJ hLo
Of hippopotami and alligators, and the
Polynesia JAMS are also very fond of sharks
flesh, quite raw.
Other people besides the Gold Coast
negroes feed on and enjoy reptiles. We
ourselves eat one of the tribe when we
consume calipash and calipee. But
though we revel in turtle, we will have
nothing to do with the tortoise; yet half
the soup eaten in Italy and Sicily is
made of the land tortoise boiled down to
Its essence. In some of the West India
islands land tortoises are in much repute;
the eggs of the close tortoise Gesture
clause) are held a great delicacy in North
America, and Sir Walter Raleigh fed his
fainting men on "tortuggas eggs" while
sailing up the OrinOco.
In both North and South America the
salt water terrapin is fat and luscious
luxury, and its eggs are much priced.
The hideous, scaly iguana comes out bet
ter in the trial than its outside promises;
skillfully cooked it resembles chicken in
flesh and turtle in flavor. 1t is really ex.
cellent eating; like chicken or rabbit,
when stewed or curried; like turtle
when dressed as turtle should be, and
like hare when turned into soup, its
small soft.shelled eggs being equal to it.
self in purity and daintiness of flavor.
Indeed, the eggs of most reptiles are
wonderfully appetizing, but none more
so than these of the harmless, hideous,
yet delicious iguana, unless it be the
eggs of the despised land tortoise.
Caymans and crocodiles, lizards and
frogs are all eaten and enjoyed by GER
tain people. The typical crocodile is like
veal; but some species have strong
flavor of musk, and some are like young,
Juicy, pork, while others resemble lob.
ster. Others again have powerful fishy
taste, very disagreeable. On the whole,
therefore. crocodile is uncertain eating,
and not to be ventured on with rashness.
Alligator is supposed to be invigorating
and restorative, and at Manila is sold at
high prices, the Chinese clutching at the
dried skin, which they use in their awful
messes of gelatinous soup. Alligator is
likened to sucking pig, but its eggs have
a musty flavor.
The French are notoriously addicted
to frogs, which command high price in
New York also, where they sell the large
bull-frog, sometimes weighing half O
pound, as well as the tender little green
animal (rana esculenta), whose hind legs
taste 80 like delicious chicken when
served with white sauce in restaurants
and hotels of Paris and Vienna. OF
course frogs do not escape the Chinese,
who devour everything with blood and
fiber; and the negroes Of Surinam eat tn