Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1890-05-27
B1KDs, NESTS FOR DINNER.
Characteristics Scene In a Chinese Gro
eery store in New York.

Characteristic scene IN q ChaUSse Gro.
eery store in New York.
He was in Chinese grocery store; bat
such grocery storel The oddity and ware ty
Of Its wares were almost beyond eomprehen-
sion. The clerks in charge numbered exact
ly IA. Each wore a blouse, each had pig
tail. each breathed of opium and all IA. when
they had recovered from their amazement at
the entrance of Caucasian, rushed forward
and waited upon him in unintellieible Choir
us, says correspondent writing from New
York to the Philadelphia Inquirer. Thanks
to the instruction of the Chinese merchants
and owing to the aid of fat pass-book, in
which Eaglish equivalents were given for
Celestial hieroglyphics, order soon reigned
over this confusion. The array of articles
which the customer was informed he could
obtain was absolutely bewildering and few
of them known In American households, In
formation was sought first as to what Chinese
graudees would place before their guests In
reception room as appstizsrs for tbs banquet
to ensus. Two bottles were produced, one
swathed In wide bands of straw and the
other terra costa thing of stunted growth.
The FIRST contained sort of Chinese whiskey
distilled from rice, white In color and bear
ing a remarkable resemblance in taste to
crude coal oil, and rejoicing in the ponder
GUS title of Sam-Suey- -Bok-No-M Thaio,
which name upon oppressively convivial oc-
casion is abbreviated into Sam-Suey. The
second liquor is Chinese brandy called
Ung-Ka-Peh and really very palatable, re>
ssmbling curacao very much in taste.
With the aid of the IA clerks three bottles Of
each of these liquors were procured, and then
when 1t was suggested that Russian caviare
would be the proper appetite whetter to &C.
company these bibibles, 28 shoulders were
shrugged in unison, IA voices shrieked a
falsetto disapproval and 2S hands produced a
jar of Canton ginger, which the customer
was informed WAS the only proper thing to
| eat before meal.
Then came the selection of the table rel
| ishes-whieh the American bill of fare in
sists upon ealIing.nors d'suvres-to take
| the place of the radishes, olives and pickles
| which generally grace the banquet board in
| crystal vessels. The Chinaman offered 9
wonderful variety of these things, but only
| the rarest were selected, these including gum.
gwot, or preserved lines; gum-git, or pre-,
| served shrimps; laichee nuts and preserved
cocoanut cut in thin, curling etrips like Sara
toga chips, and slices of preserved water
| melon, the heathen equivalents of the las
tive being too twisting for my American
tongue.
| As it was not intended that the Glover
| club should give an entire Chinese dinner
but simply one with a Celestial flavor, it wal
| not necessary to purchase any substantial
Chinese dishes, but of course 1t was import.
ant that an organization possessing such 6
great eastronomic reputation should make
an American experiment with the mucf
written birds nest soup. 1 had been giyer
| to believe that the houses of which thu
feathered inhabitants of tho Celestial king
dom had been robbed we're sold to their en-
tirety at so much per dozen. The emissarJ
of the Glover club, however, soon found tina
this is a delusior, as only the animal CLUTTER
| which the swallows of the Chinese sea de
posit from their bills in forming their abode
is extracted therefrom, by tweezsrs wields'
by women and children, the product beinI
somewhat like mass of vermieelli, broker
into small pisces. But whatever 1t Is tn
customer soon found that ii is a rare pro
duct, for the fourteen clerks, after confess
ing that they sold 1t only on rare festal occs
sions in Chinatown. told with bated breat
that 1t would cost six dollars q pound, an
that each pound would furnish soup for fror
ten to twelve people. When they were OF
dered to produce eight pounds the fourtee
clerks disappeared under the counter, an
when they got to their feet again demande
to see the color of the customers money b,
fore they proceeded any further with such
reckless purchaser. This difficulty was 500
/. settled, and then when the information Wi
sought as to how the birds nest should /
! prepared each of the fourteen clerks fu
, nished different recipe. ALL agreed tn,
, chicken consomme would have to be used
J basis of making. The man who appeare
| to possess the greatest authority insiste
> that 1t ceuld only be successfully prepare
/ with the aid Of thin soup made from Oh