The Lebanon express. (Lebanon, Linn County, Or.) 1887-1898, 1888-11-23
CHINESE COOKERY.
KITCHEN SUPPLIES OF a REsTAU-
RANT ON MOTT STREET.

4
ments-A Stock of Standard Foods.
Many of which, Are Not Familiar to
i Americans-Sauces.
Long before LucuIlus imrnoitalized him
self by RECALLING the jeunesse doree of Rome
| with his hundred thousand dollar dinners his
| prototypes were indu1ging in the same pleas
ures similar scale in Pekin and Fook-
| Chow, for gastronomy has been among the
fine arts in China almost from the beginning
Of Chinese history The Chinese chef has an
official status of at least forty centuries du-
1 ration Two thousand years before the Chris
| t;an era he wac -steeliied as Mighty ana paid
4 as literally as he is today, and now he is ex
ceedingly well paid
4 For example, the chef In restaurant in
| Mott street came 10 New York from San
| Francisco under contract By which he re-
4 ceives 500 month, besides his board and
| lodging. for his services An things consid-
cred, this salary is fully equivalent to the
4 5000 year paid to such chefs as preside in
4 the kitchens of the Hoffman house. Delmoni-
1 cos, the Union League club and the Wander
bilt mansion. The Mongolian chef, to Judge
I by Lee Ah, who IS the distinguished individual
4 mentioned, is clriously like his Caucasian
/ colleague in that he Is digiTifed egotisticaI
l pctulant and thoroughly independent I'm
| ike the Caucasian. however, the great raan
Of the Chinese kitchen believes in working
himself at the simplest tasks In order to keep
| himself in practice.
| In taking charge of the kitchen of a great
| restaurant his first work is 10 supply himself
/ with a great variety of spices aud coadi-
nents, and in this particular he is fully
1 qualified TO give points 70 the iaded sybsrites
| Of the Occident In his stores viii be black.
| white ard red pepper, as well as the pirnento
| Of the tropics; curry, chutney, mustard,
| ginger ttte favorite spice OF the east, green.
| dried, picked, sweetered and pulyerized;
4 see-yu, which is the father of soy and the
| grandfather of worcesterxhire sance; olive
oil, peanut oil. cotton seed OIL clarified butter
| tthe ghee of Indial; onions, shailots chives
| iecSs, garlic, fu-Qla and su-Cua highly cul-
| sivated bitter cucumbers}; natal, fer which
| there IS no English name; orange aud lemon
| peel, vinegar, lemon juice, powdered crab
and lobster shells, curious preparation con-
| saining iron, half a dozen forms of dried
| mushrooms, and not less than fifty powerful
| condiments and spices unknown to Americans
| and having no English names
Ia every kitchen is 4 stock OF standard
| foods, but teE Of which ere familiar TO the
| American eye. Among the more interesting
are smoked chicken, duck and pigeon, which,
| unlike our smoked meats, retain tine natural
1 color and appearance; Shrimps, prawns,
4
| some mysterious process, unknown to Us.
| until they are as hard and durable as woesd:
a fish that suggests sardiEes in GIL but which
| is a foot in length, from tzo to three pounds
| in weight, T<2cked in sarl;ine box 3 cubic
| foot IL sin; dried tsshes which range from a
| tiny sprat smaller than but similar TO the
| English whitcbsit. TO 4 monster eight feet
| long, two feet wide, and two inches thick;
| preserved cabbage, which is rolled up 50 rs 10
suggest a ball Of yarn: bean, pea and wheat
gluten in long candy like sticks, which are
made by crushing the cereal and renoying
the starch by often repeated weshiags. odd
saussges. Of which each one Is suspended by
brilliant colcTed cords. and IS stuffed. not
with an indistinguishahle hash or paste.
but with alternating dice OF fat ana
lean meat; huge cans filed with the
| famous e<iible bamboo tips. which lcok
| and smell like huge 2s-srascS, but taste
unlike anything in Christian markets;
v.ater lily leaves, which arc used both IS
| food and as colcring marerial, irnperting
beautiful green TO any white food with which
| they may be cooked: preserved eggs, CT
which each one is embalmed in a rough mass
| Of quick lime, charcoal and fish glue; sea
sprouts, which resemble string bean two
| feet in length.
Occasionally in the wealthiest establish
| nents may be seen the celebrated birds
nests, which look for all the world ike irreg-
Ular masses of coopers' glue; sharks fins,
which are Greenish white pieces of deSiccated
soft cartilage; beche-de-la-mer, a noIlrsk Of
| a high order, which is first cousin of Victor
Hugo's devil fish; and dried sea anemones,
| which bear the same culinary resemblance TO
birds nests that swapping turtles do TO the
diamond back terrapin. Some idea Of the
| luxuriousness of the Mongol is afforded by
| the prices he charges for these delieacieS-
| Dried CLAIMS cost 81 a pound; dried oysters,
80, sharks fms, g TO So, according to
| quality; beche-de-la-Tner, from 20 cents TO IS,
and birds nests, from $50 to $50 dozen.
In Chinese cooking sauces play as import
ant a part as in the cuisine at Les Frenes
Provenceau- For the preparation OF these,
as well as fer the thickenin5 OF soups and the
| concoction of ''nade dishes" there viii be
| bowlfuls of the finest wheat -four ard
starch, and of that finest of ali amylaceouS
| foods, rice -four. In this and in other re-
| Spects the stores of the kitchen contain the
same articles as first class American restau-
rant Kitchens Whatever is TO be found in
our larders finds a place there, and the
numerous articles mentioned add the variety
| which is the main distinguishing feature Of
| the Chinese cuisine.
The furniture of the kitchen presents a
curious instance of the invasion of the east
| by the west, for the cast iron stove or range
| is found beside the brick bench used in
| China, which greatly resembles the one rec
commended by Count Runlford in his famous
studies at the beginning Of the century. This
| bench is about four feet high, four feet wide
and from ten TO twenty feet in length. At
one end of it is a large fireplace cylindrical
| in shape, two or three feet III diameter and
three feet deep. This is used in roasting.
| The remainder of the top of the bench has
several circular openings of different sizes.
| In The sides and ends there are smaller fire.
places, seldom more than eight inches square.
| The fuel used in cooking is kiln dried wood,
hickory or some similar variety being pre-
/ ferred..-Harper's Bazaar.
Eutter Inspection in France.