The Dickinson press., 1888-12-22
CHINESE COOKERY.
KITCHEN SUPPLIES OF A REsTAu.
RANT ON MOTT STREET.

RANT ON MOTT STREET.
Great Variety Of Spices and Con<li-
ments-A Stock of Standard Foods,
Many of Which Are Not Familiar to
.imericans-Sauces.
Lon. before Lucullus immortalized him.
>"f hy regaling the jcunesse doree of Rome
with his hundred thousand dollar dinners his
prototypes were indulging in the same pleas
ures on a similar scale in Pekin aud Fook.
how, for gastronomy has been among the
iinc arts in China almost from the beginning
of Chinese history. The Chinese chef has IN
official status of ut least forty centuries du
ration Two thousand years before the Chris.
tan era he was esteemed as highly and paid
rs literally rs ho is today, and now lie is ex.
ceedingly we'll paid
For example, the chef in restaurant in
Mott street came to New York from San
francisco under contract by which he re-
ceives 500 a month, besides his board and
lodging, for his services. All things consid
cred. this salary is fully equivalent to the
$1,000 a year paid to such chefs as preside in
the kitchens of the Hoffman house, belmont
CO.'S the Union League club and the Wander
blt mansion. Tho Mongolian chef, to Judge
by Lee All, who IS the distinguished individual
mentioned is curiously like his Caucasian
colleague i'll that he is dignified, cgotistical,
pe'ulant and thoroughly independent. Un.
like the Caucasian, however, tho great man
o! the Chinese kitchen believes in working
himself at the simplest tasks in order to keep
himself i'll practice.
In taking charge of the kitchen Of a great
restaurant his first work is to supply himself
with great variety of spices md condi-
ments and in this particular he is fully
qualified to give points to tho jaded syburites
10; the Occitlent In his stores will be black.
white and red pepper, as we'll as the pimento
ot the tropics; curry, chutney, mustard,
ginger thc favorite spice of the cast, green,
dried, picked, sweetcned and pulverizctl;
sN'-yu, which is the father of SOY aud tho
grandfather of Worcestershire sauce; olive
"i, peanut oil, cotton seed oil, clarified butter
ga" s;'i"t' OF lndial, onions, Shullots, chivcs,
lerlis garlic, fn-qua and su-qua lhighly cul-
tlNatra bitter cucumbers); natal, for which
there is no English name; orange and lemon
peel, vinegar, lemon juice, powdered crab
amt lobster shells, curious preparation, coll
taiiing iron, half dozen forms of dried
mushrooms, aud not less than fifty powerful
condiments and spices unknown to Americans
and having no English names
In every kitchen is Il stock of standard
''d>, hut Il few of which are familiar to the
American eye Among tho more interesting
are smoked chicken, duck and pigeon, which,
II u!like our smoked meats, retain the natural
color and appearance; shrmps, prawns,
oysters and clans which have been dried by
se'!Me !nyStcriouS process, unknown to us.
until they are as hard and durable as wood;
fish that suggests sardincs in oil, but whirl,
Is II foot i'll length from two to three pounds
IN weight, packed i'll Sardinc box cubic
foot IN size; dried fishes which range from u
Tiny spr;lt smaller than but similar to the
fn9ilsll whltebalt, to II monster eight feet
l":!t, two feet wide, and two inches thick:
preserved cabbage, which is rolled up SO as to
suggest u ball of yarn: bean, pea and wheat
aiutcn in long candy like sticks, which arc
made by crushing the cereal and removing
ile starch by often repeated washings; odd
aaiSagrs, OF which each one is suspended by
brilliant colorcd cords. and is stuffed not
"!th an indistnguishable hash or paste,
bat with alternating dice of fut and
can meat, huge cans filled with tho
famous edible bamboo tips, which look
a!d smell like hugo asparagus, but taste
unlike anything i'll Christian markets;
a;cr lily leaves, which are used both as "a
!o"'i and rs coloring material, mparting n
y autlful green to any white food with which
SArE inay lac cooked; preserved eggs, of
which each one is emballncd in n rough mass
Of quick lime, charcoal and fish glue; sea
s,,routS, which resemble string bean two
icet iii length
Occasionally in tho wcalthicst establish
ments may DO seen the celebrated birds
nests, which look for all the world like irrey
ular masses of coopcrs' glue, sharks fins,
which are greenish white pieces of dcsiccatcd
soft cartilage; beche-dc-la-mer, II mollusk of
Il high order, which is a first cousin of Victor
liusos devil fish; and dried sea unenoncs,
..,..ch bear the same culinary resemblance t.
!l9la nests that swapping turtles do to tho
diamond back terrapin. So,ne idea of the
iu3urio'isncss of the Mongol is afforded by
the prices, he charges for these dclcacics
Dried clans cost 81 pound; dried oysters,
$50; sharks fins, So to 50, according to
quality; bcche-dc-la-mcr from ~ cents to So,
and birds nests, from $50 to $50 Dozen
In Chinese cooking sauces play us import
ant II part as in the cuisine at Les Freres
Prorcnccau, For the preparation of these
as we'll as for the thickening of soups and the
correction of "madc dishes.' there will DO
bo"ituls of the finest wheat flour and
starch and of that finest Of all amylacco,ls
foods, rice flour. In this and in other re-
spcrts the stores of the Kitchen contain the
same articles rs first class American restau-
rant Kitchens Whatever is to be found in
our urdcrs finds n 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 tho east
b.; ta,. west, for the cast iron stove or range
is fo,.nl beside the brick bench used in
{. ina, which greatly resembles the one la.c-
commended by Count Rumford in his famous
stu!!es at the beginning Of the century. This
be:.c 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
i. shape, two or three feet i'll diameter and
three feet deep. This is used in roasting.
The rcmainler of the top of the bench has
several circular openings of different sizes.
In tie sides and ends there are smaller fire
places, seldom more than eight inches square.
The .uel used i'll cooking is kiln dried wood,
hi .kory or some similar variety being pre-
f,,...J -Hary,ar:S Ea2,r