Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-10-12
FOOD THAT COMES IN CANS.
Delicacies Brought to Washington from
Far Corners of the Earth.


Surely there is nothing 90 highly calculated
to make ones mouth water as tptoed inspec-
ton Of that portion Of big grocer's stock In
trade which is found seductively displayed In
cans and Theoretically sealed bottles upon rows
Of Shelves each receptacle advertising itself by
label to contain this or that rare delicacy,
usually imported from some distant part Of the
world and put up BY secret recipe.
STAR reporter. as he permitted himself TO
gloat over an assemblage of such mummifed
Injuries, took particular notice how many far
on corners Of the earth were drawn upon for
appetizing supplies Of the kind. For Instance,
there was preserved ginger from China-the
Small green tender shoots put up in lars with
sugar syrup TO keep them. Then there was
curry, Oh mysterious manufacture. from India.
ana russian Observation-Disclosures 10 the un-
educated palate and suggestive OF rancid fish
ou-oi surgeons roe. though not the fish
known here as the sturgeon Another lannon's
nsn. the funny OF the Mediterranean was rep
resented in little bottles tightly corked and
also the smoked sardine in oil from Stayanyer
Norway. Germany contributed Strawberries
and other fruits OF wondruu. beauty in syrun
as well as Frankfurter sausage in cans that is
ike our bologna sausage somewhat, but finer
oil the very best meat. carefully preparcd with
herbs and spice and everything nice. like the
Hllt giils III tue I'LL From scotland there
marmalade. so delicious for breakfast made of
oranges minced up with some of the peel aud
boiled down with sugar to the requisite point
of intensity as to flavor: most of this is nude in
Dundee. while Aberdeen produces the cele-
brated canned Digby chicks, or Newfoundland
behring's, known as Digby chicks on that coast.
broiled and sauced. By far the greater part of
these imported edibles. however,
BORE FRENCH LABELS.
To begin with. there was paste Of chestnuts
a new and most palatabla conserve. made by
powdering the big French marrons and mixing
in sugar and other ingredients: the paste is used
for f1avorng sauces and all other sorts Of things
Inen there were larks. one in a box. either
roasted or stuffed. or boned and fXed up with
truffes. Also anchovieS-little fishes of the
Mediterranean beloved by the epicure-in oil.
and olives stuffed with anchoyes, delicacy
within delcacy reminding one OF the old
gourmet recipe. First take an olive he said
ana put It in an ortolan. the ortoan in q quail
the quail in pheasant. the pleas
ant IN capon. and the capon In turkey.
Roast them all together. with frequent baptisins
OF gravy and incessalt turnings oft spit until
the whole Is thoroughly cooked; then remove
It from the fire. take the capon out of the tur-
Key, the pheasant out of the capon. the quail
out OF the pheaeant, the ortOlau out of the
quail, and the olive out of the ortOlan Now
eat the olive and you will find 1t sufficiently de-
llcious to warrant the trouble you have taken
in preparing it.
FRENCH MUSHROOMS AND TRUFFLEs.
France, too, sends mushrooms from her caves
and cellars, where they are artiicially produced
on beds of manure in vast quantities. though
never of quality equal to that Of the natu-
raj held-grown fungus. 1t is a mysterious. I'M
canny sort of thing. this champignon. No one
can tell exactly how or why il grows only that
1t springs up in the night from some sort Of
Web-like network that makes what might be
termed its roots beneath the surface and that
IL Is constituted more like meat than like
vegetable, with great percentage of nitro
gen, its manner of decay being in accord with
this fact. Another sort of fungus from France
IN bottles like the mushrooms is the trufie
Irufnes, you know, are dug from underneath
the ground, in masses as big as your head.
trained dogs being employed to smell them out.
Pigs. which are very fond Of trufilrs. used to
do this work, and the discovery of the deli
cacv is, in fact. due TO them. All sorts of vege-
tables are brought from France by the thous-
ands of bottles and cans. as well as figs and
other fruits, branded from Bordeaux.
PREPARING sARDNEs.
Sardnes of many sorts, from France, the STAR
man saw on the grocers shelves. Some were
Of the ordinary sort, in oil; Others were bone
less and others yet were in tomato sauce. or
with truffies. You have heard how sardines are
caught from the nets. cleaned and thrown into
great pots OF burning olive oil, to be taken out
with big swimmers when done to the right
point. But they are sadly dear nowadays. since
the fish took to steering off in their shoaling
seasons from the coast of France on their way
northward to goodness knows where. The
Maine herrings. which supply the market cheaply
with so many counterfeit sardiles in cotton-seed
oil, are very poor imitation of the luscious
originals. As another important French prod
do, fnf..
llvers of tortured geese should not be left out
of the list.
Nor should it be forgotten to mention Eng
lands contribution to the Trocers stock In the
shape of Yarmouth bloater shrimp paste. an
chovy paste. little trufleS and all sorts of ported
things too numerous to mention.
AMERICAN CONTRIBUTIONS.
And America was largely represented. too.
The natives here are beginning to do this sort
of thing themselves. you know. From New
York there was nearly every kind of game
pheasant. snipe, woodcock, wild duck, grouse.
plover and hare-in pate or truffied. Delaware's
exhibit was boned chicken and turkey of IN
equalled quality. and truffled chicken livers.
Chicago supplied homeless hams compressed
whole into tin cans. as well as canned meats of
all descriptions. and the ancient Mexican dish.
chili-con-carne, prepared with beef and red
peppers. Cincinnati offered bologna sausage in
cans instead of skins; Maryland deviled crab
meat, for Salads shells or SOUPS and Long
Island little neck clans. There were oysters
too. from New York. preserved in bottles like
natural history specimens in a museum; but
very good, especially when contemporaneous
oysters are not edible during the summer
months, and especially useful for picnic pur-
poses. Boston's contribution was of roast
turkey, chicken and beef broiled mackerel in
tomato sauce, behring's, brown bread. and, last
but not least-beans.
COOKED IN CANS
As rule, nowadays, the great canning con-
Germs make their own cans. Most of the things
canned, also, are cooked in the cans-as is the
case with fish, clans. brown bread and Holsters.
The filled cans are placed in huge iron retorts,
after being Theoretically sealed. where they are
subjected to the action of steam for the requisite
period. Then they are taken out and allowed
to cool. a little venthole being punched in each
and afterwards filed up with solder. This is to
let out any particle OF air that remains to cause
decay. Finally the labels are pasted on and the
provisions are ready for market. capable of last
ing fresh for years. But you must never buy a
can that shows any symptoms OF 5ulging; for
that is a sign OF gases developed by decomposi-
ton inside. owing to improper packing. III the
stuff to be canned has to be cooked before Ii is
packed in the cans, final touch OF the oven is
given to the cans after they are filed, and the
rest OF the process Is as In the other case. Much
of the filling of cens-as in the instance of
beans-is done with incredible rapidity by ma
chine and without the intervention of human