The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-01-28
Strange Food.

Travellers often come back and tell u5
of having eaten and Telished snakes
and other reptiles not appreciated when
placed on the home dinner table. Per-
SONS who have been confined within
The walls Of be5ieged cities tell us Of
horse-Iiesh and rats as eatable5. Won
dering how some of those articles were
prepared, a reporter dropped into ths
ST. James hotel recently to talk with
John Roth, the celebrated chef, and
learn from him some Of these mysteries
He was found III his kitchen studying
deeply the dishes that were being pre-
pared for that nights dinner.
Some people eat strange food, don't
they?" asked the scribe.
''Indeed they dc" said Roth. ''and [
like Ia Try any new edible myself, some-
times. \ little while ago l had nice
young dog. Somehow or other the dog
broke It's leg, and 50 l killed il 1t was
So nice and fat l thought 1 would see
how it tasted cooked 81 l prepared the
dog like any one would prepare a joint
of pork. roasted ii. and served it with
The same sort of dressing one would
put with pork. and 10 stranger
the joint had all the appearance of
pork. and il tasted delicious. 1t was
very sweet and tender
How .io the REGULAR dishes in this
country compare with the French
diShas2
There are many more varieties in
This country than in Franco and we can
make more varied menu here Green
turtle over there is u very expensive lux
ury and terrapin is very seldom heard
OF Many oil the fish eaten over here
are never seen there. and then game is
more plentiful here They have oniv
one kind of wild duel, and have not the
canvaS-back or mallard at all. Par
tridgcS and quail are much smaller there
than here
Did You ever cook snailss"
Very often. and they are kerry nice
when cooked properly. The French
people are very fond of them. The best
way know OF TO prepare them is TO let
them soak in salt water for about Il
couple OF days. so that all the Glue and
slime about them is removed. Then
take them ont of their shells and clean
them and remove the head You then
place them in Il red wine. claret or Bur-
gundv, with some aromatic herbs to
flavor them. and boil the whole. When
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 a little butter
on it and bake. Alter they are cooked
serve up with bread crumbs and melted
butter. They are very fine. You know
English people are fond of saltwater
snails. which they call periwinkles.
They simply boil these and eat with
vinegar and pepper.
did you ever cook any snakes?'
Il never did. but have met people
who have told NE that some kinds of
snakes are very good, and why should
they not be? Eels are only snakes. You
know, and they are eaten in all sorts of
STYLES"
Rats are spoken well Of by some peo-
pie; did you ever cook them
Rats are very nice when they are
young. During the French and Ger
man war. while the Germans We're sIlr-
rounding Paris, they were eaten by the
besieged in very large quantities. A
good way to prepare them is to skin
them and clean them. then cut them up
and put into wine with aromatic herbs
and then make fricasee of them Just
as YOU would of chicken. Horse-iesh
is now very popular in France, and
there are regular horse-butchers in Paris.
Horse-fesh is little coarse and strongly
Favored. 1t is cooked in the same way
that a joint of beef is. believe there is
law here prohibiting the sale of horse
beef. People used 10 be diSgusted ut
the idea OF eating frogs. but now frogs
legs are considered a great delicacy and
are in great demand everywhere. ~.
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