Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1891-03-07
SIRNNIiE IHINGS IAiEN.
Cur'ru. Things That Tic',Ie u Palate Of
People In Different Chimes.


Cur'ru. Things That Tic',Ie u Palate of
People In Different Chimes.
SeaNrrd, saws DIR. Crespi, is eaten on
TIL coast of Scotland and Ireland i'll vast
quantities, and though unpalatable and
fl vorless, is at times the chief food of
some of the poorest When dry it is
richer than oatmeal or Indian corn in
heterogeneous constituents, and takes rank
among the most nutritious of vegetable
foods Laven is an exception to the low
estimation in which seaweed is held, and
is favorite continent. We have
known it eaten in large quantities in
North Devon, and with much relish.
To prepare seaweed for the table it
should be stepped in water to get rid Of
the salt with which it is impregnated,
and little carbonate of soda removes
the bitter taste, which to some palates is
most disagreeable. 1t should then be
stewed in milk or water till mucilagi-
nous, and is best favored with vinegar
or pepper. Fungi are almost every
where largely eaten. though in England
less attention is paid to them than they
deserve and few kinds appear at table.
A curious error is to suppose that
fungi are eatable and toadstools poison
Gus; no such line of demarkation exists,
nor, strictly speaking, has the name
toadstool any precise meaning Very
many fungi are edible, and the common
agario usually eaten in England is not
the most palatable and wholesome. Few
foods are more savory and none are
greater favorites than well cooked fungi,
and the souls of vegetarians yearn for
them.
The most repulsive food which human
beings could eat is man. Fortunately,
cannibalism, although once very general,
is now mainly confined to the most de-
graded tribes of the South Sea Islands
and to some districts of Australia and
Central Africa. Lindsay, of Pinscotte,
relates that a man, his wife, and family,
were burned to death on the east coast
of Scotland for eating children whom
they had stolen. During the French
revolution the heart of the unfortunate
Princesse Lamballe was actually torn
out of the body by one Of the yelling
savages near, taken to restaurant, and
there cooked and eaten. Human flesh
is said not to be unpalatable, and this is
confirmed by thehorrible narrative given
by Lindsay. He mentions that as one
of the girls was being taken to the ex-
ecution she exclaimed: Wherefore
chide ye with me, as if l had committed
an unworthy act? Give me credence
and trow me, if We had experienced eat
ing men and women's flesh We would
think it so delicious that ye would never
forbear it again" The Tannese of our
own day distribute human flesh in little
bits to their friends as delicious morsels,
and say that the flesh of black man is
the latter tastes salt; other cannibals
hold the same.
The lion is eaten hy some African
races, although its flesh is in small
favor with them, while the Zulus find
carrion so much to their liking that, &C
cording to Dr. Colenso, they apply
to food teeming with large colonies
of grubs the comprehensive word
"uborni," which signifies, in their I'M
couth jargon, great happiness. David
Livingstone tells us that aboriginal Aus
intestines of animals and he adds that
lit is curious that this is the part which
wild animals always begin with, and
that it is the first choice of our men. ="
The hippopotamus is another favorite
meat with the Africans, when they
catch it Its flesh, when young, is
tender and palatable, but it becomes
coarse and unpleasant with advancing
years.
The Abyssinians find the rhinoceros
much to their liking; so they do the
elephant which is also eaten in Samatra.
Dr. Livingstone speaks of elephants
foot as excellent 1--WE had the foot
cooked for breakfast, and found it de-
licious 1t is whitish mass, slightly
gelatinous and sweet like marrow. A
long march to prevent biliousness is a
wise precaution after a feast on ele-
plants foot Elephants tongue and
trunk are also good, and after long SIM
mering much resemble the humps of a
buffalo and the tongue of an OK, but
all the other meat is tough, and from
its peculiar flavor only to be eaten by a
hungry man.. The elephants eaten
during the siege of Paris were said to be
great success, and the liver was pro-
nounced finer than that of any goose or
duck.
The people of Zanzibar should stand
high for the comprehensive character
of their cuisine. Among other delica-
cies are small monkey, and fruit
eating bat. Locusts are relished by the
Bedouin of Mesopotamia, and some
other Eastern tribes; they are placed on
strings, and eaten on journeys with Bit
ter and unleavened bread. The Jews,
who were prohibited eating many kinds
of food which our larger experience
teaches are palatable and wholesome,
as we'll as some that we do not venture
to touch, were permitted to have their
fill of locusts.
The locust is an article of diet to this
day, but only of the very poor; it is
thrown into boiling water and eaten with
salt. To live on locusts and wild honey
conveys more accurate picture of ex-
treme poverty and frugality to a trav-
eler in the East than to any one else.
Locusts, however, are not always cooked.
Sometimes they are eaten fresh. They
are said to have strong vegetable taste,
the flavor largely depending, as might
be expected, on the plants on which
they have been feeding. Dr. Living
stone, who showed his common sense
by not being fastidious, considered them
palatable when roasted.
Tn the West Indies a large caterpilIar