Waterbury evening Democrat., 1888-10-05
CHINESE COOKERY.
KITCHEN SUPPLIES OF < RESTAU-
 RANT ON MOTT STREET.

A Great Variety of Spices and Condi-
 ments-A Stock of Standard Foods,
 Many of Which Are Not Familiar to
 Americans-Sauces.
 Long before Lucullus immortalized him. self by regaling the jeunesse doree of Rome with his hundred thousand dollar dinners his prototypes were indulging in the same pleas ures on a similar scale in Pekin and Took Chow, for gastronomy has been among the fine arts in China almost from tine beginning of Chinese history. The Chinese chef has an official status of at least forty centuries du- ration, Two thousand years before the Chris tian era he was esteemed as highly and paid as literally as he is today, and now he is ex- ceedingly well paid.
 For example, the chef in restaurant in Mott street came to New York from San Francisco under contract by which he re- celveS SlOO a month, besides his board and lodging, for his services. All things consid- cred, this salary is fully equivalent to the $6OOO year paid to such chefs as preside ill the kitchens of the Hoffman house, Delmoni- co.'s, the Union League club and the Wander bilt mansion. The Mongolian chef, to judge by Lee-Ah, who IS the distinguished individual mentioned, is curiously like his Caucasian SoIledS III IiltG ue IS eSOClSClCal, petulant and thoroughly independent. Un- like the Caucasian, however the great man 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 q great restaurant his first work is to supply himself with great variety of spices and condi- ments, and in this particular he is fully qualified to give points to the iaded sybarites of the Occident In his stores will be black, white and red pepper, as we'll as the pimento of the tropics; curry, chutney, mustard, 1 ginger (he favorite spice of the east, green, i dried, pickled, sweetened and pulverized; |; see-yu, which is the father of soy and the 1 grandfather of Worcestershire sauce; olive oil, peanut oil cotton seed oil, clarified butter | Che Gheo of lndla); onions, shallots, chives, l leekS, garlic, fu-Qua and su-Qua (highly cul- | tivated bitter cucumbers); ma-tai, for which | there IS no English name; orange and lemon ! peel, vinegar, lemon juice, powdered crab
 and lobster shells, a curious preparation con- ! taining 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.
 In every kitchen IS a stock of standard ! foods, but few of which are familiar to the
 American eye. Among the more interesting
 arc smoked chicken, duck and pigeon, which i unlike our smoked meats, retain the natural
 color and appearances; ShrimpS, praWns
 oysters and clans which have been dried by
 some mysterious process, unknown to us,
 until they are as hard and durable as wood ::
 q fish that suggests SardineS in oil, but which
 is a foot in length, from two to three pounds
 ip weight, packed ill ,ardine box q cubic
 foot ill size; dried tisAeS which range from q tiny slrat smaller than but similar to the l.:
 long, two feet widc and two inches thick preserved cabbage, which is rolled up so as to
 suggest a ball of yarn: bean, pea and wheat
 gluten ill long candy like sticks, which are
 made by crushing the cereal and removing
 the starch by often repeated washings; odd sausages, of which each one is suspended by
 brilliant colored cords, and is stuffed, not
 with an indistinguishable hash or paste,
 but with alternating dico of fat and
 lean meat; huge cans filled with the
 famous edible bamboo tips. which look
 and smell like huge asparagus, but taste
 unlike anything in Christian markets;
 water lily leaves, which are used both as a
 food and as coloring material, iInparting a
 beautiful green to any white food with which they may be cooked; preserved eggs, of which each one is embalmed in a rough mass
 of quick lime, charcoal and fish glue; sea |, sprouts which resemble a string bean two
 feet in length.
 , Occasionally in the wealthiest establish mentS may be seen the celebrated birds
 nests, which look for all the world like irreg-
 ular masses of coopers' glue; sharks fins, which are greenish white pieces of desiccated soft cartilage; beche-de-la-mer, a mollusk of high order, which is first cousin of Victor
 Hugos devil fish; and dried sea anemones, which bear the same culinary resemblance to birds nests that snapping turtles do to the
 diamond back terrapin. Some idea of the , luxuriousness of the Mongol is afforded by the prices he charges for these delicacies. s Dried clans cost S1 a pound; dried oysters, ) S1.50; sharks fins, 8 to s. according to
 quality; beche-de-la-mer from 40 cents to $3 l and birds nests, from S20 to $50 a dozen.
 In Chinese cooking sauces play as import
 ant Q part as in the cuisine at Les Freres 6 Provenceau. For the preparation of these $ as well as for tho thickening of soups and the l connection of made dishes," there will be \ bowlfulS of the finest wheat flour and } starch, and of that finest of all amylaceous . foods, rice flour. In this and in other re spects the stores of the kitchen contain the same articles as first class American restau d rant kitchens. Whatever is to be found ir r our larders finds a place there, and the V numerous articles mentioned add the variety i which is the main distinguishing feature o1
 the Chinese cuisine
 d The furniture of the kitchen presents ( r. curious instance of the invasion of the east ;. by the west, for the cast iron stove or range b is found beside the brick bench used 1T ), China, which greatly resembles the one rec
 commended by Count Rumford in his famou: t studies at the beginning of the century. Thi! ( bench is about four feet high, four feet wide
 and from ten to twenty feet in length. A IS one end of it is large fireplace cylndrica e in shape, two or three feet in diameter anc
 three feet deep. This is used in roasting
 The remand of the top of the bench ha- ). several circular openings of different sizes e In the sides and ends there are smaller fire
 places, seldom more than eight inches square ,s The fuel used in cooking is kiln dried wood
 hickory or some similar variety being pre- k ferred.-Harper,s Bazar.
 l. Butter Inspection in France.
 Q Among the receny decrees made in Franc is is one relating to the inspection of butter fo