The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1886-02-20
25..
EpICUREAN TID-BITS.
A MODERN "DlET OF WORMs'' DOWN
IN MEXICO.
Cakes afado of Crushed Flies and The
Eggs Of Musquitoes - Systematic
Method of Collecting . Peculiarly
Mexican Product-A Dan4OA

the scene we were called next morning to
witness A sound Of weeping and wailing
hastily summoned the family from the casa
to the cottage of ono OF the tenantry, whera
the grim reaper came in the twilight OF the
morning and had smitten the first born
The victim was lusty, handsome young
fellow, who had been amongst the most In
defatigable dancers the previous evening;
and now, invested with the strange dignity
Of death, he looked like an Apollo in bronze
Gazing into Ills calm face l thought Goods
finger touched him, and he slept" but later
investigation proved that death resulted
from q moro pro,aic cause, viz, from eating
too many musqnitos eggs
THR GREATEST OF DELICACIRA
4 kind Of griddle cakes called torMllas,
made from the eggs Of marsht1y, are cor
silerei tn, greatest Of delicacies by these
defendants of the Montezumas. No doubt
it is an inherited taste-a relic Of the days
when their vagrant ancestors prowled
tt: ound the margins OF the salt lakes that
ono. Tiled the valley OF Mexico, subsisting
On flies, grasshoppers, frogs, tadpoles and
salamanders Spanish history speaks OF
bread made by the early Me1icans from the
eggs Of the axaycatl tAhuatic Mexicans,,
the same that Is sold today, In
monk, who visited this country In
"The Indians gathered much of these eggs
and kept them in besps, and made thereof
cakes, like unto brickbats. And
they did eat this meal with as good stomach
as we eat cheese; yea, and they hold opinion
that the scum of fatness of the waters Il the
cause that such number Of fowl eometh to
tho Lake, which in the wintes s.ason u
infinite"
TIE Indians have systematic method Of
collecting this peculiarly Mexican product,
which IS found in greatest profusion upon
the five more shallow lakes near the city Of
Moxico They pant bundles Of reeds few
feet apart with their tops sticking ou. Of
the water. Here the insects deposit their
eggs In incredible quantities, so that tbs
rushes are soon loaded with them. cling1ng
hog cts1er in great balls, heaped one above an
other. Then the bunches Of reeds arc care
fully removed from the water, shaken over
Il shset and dep. s:ed as before to collect .
fresh supply. The eggs are compressed into
paste, sonetimes ri ed with q little com
meal or the eggs OF fowls, and form q staple
article Of Indian diet, particularly during
Lent We are told that the conquistadorcs
found them exceedingly palatable, but were
obliged TO partake sparingly because Of their
Swelling" prcperties--a danger not discov-
cred until several doughty crusaders had
turned up their toes to the daisies from this
ignoble Cause ..-s........z
VARIOUS TEMPTING rrp-B1rs.
Yellowish worms, called paxi, the larvae
Of the axyacatl, are also eagerly sought 20
id-bits and prepared for the table in vari-
GUS wayA The insects are about tho sire o1
horse-fy AMI their eggs resemble dne
fsh-roe. Frequently the flies Themselves
are pounded into paste and boiled in corn
husks, and thus eaten. Both this mixture
and the cakes find ready sale, and look a.
tempting as many of the messes one en-
counters here, but as to their favor can
not testify from experimental knowledge.
The word axayacatl signifies water-face and
Is the name and symbo. OF the sixth king
OF Mexico, who reigned here exactly ~
years ago.
A hideous water lizard abounds In tho
fishless salt lake Te1coco, and Is still az
eagerly sought for food as in the days when
Cortez was obliged to subsist his army upon
it 1t is called a1olot], pronounced ah-ho-
lotl, and is a batrachian Of tho amblystoma
type OF salaraander, resembling fish with
webbed fet ami fat tail. It is about ton
inches long, spotted black anl white in color,
with broad eartehn2enous tongue and
singular gills t:,at resemble feathers, three
on each side Of tho ilcad. IT. hesh /. white,
like that o; an e<l, and Is said to be savory
am wholesome Tho indians boil them In
corn kusks-of courso without taking the
trouble to wash Or clean them-and arc
forever offering them for sale On the streets
or thrusting them between the bars Of your
window. Many times have Betsy and
bought them, being determined while In
Rome to do as the Romans; but when 10
came to eating them, ono look has always
been sufficient to unscrew our courage from
@the sticking point Fannie H. Ward In
Kansas City Journal