Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1891-01-04
An ITALIAN KITCHEN.
TROUBLES OF AN AMERICAN LADY
RESIDING IN FLORENCE.
Looking for Boston Baked Beans and
Brown Bread and Dish of
Stewed Goldfish.

An Italian kitchen Who would imag-
inc what one is like? OF all strange sights
| In this foreign land the kitchen bears of
the palm. They are of all shapes and
| sizes, fom feet by 9, tucked into little
| dark corners opening only into small wells,
to large, well lighted and airy rooms
Should you go into one, am sure you
| would say, "a kitchen Where do they
cook?" And no wonder, for at first glance
| one sees long rows of bright copper sauce
pans, hanging in rows on the walls, tables
with cleaning white marble tops, very
| rough, dingy brick floor, and very strange,
| upinviting-looking something extending
| nearly the whole side of the room. The
crudest devices for cooking in the
| woods or among the rocks, when of
on picnic, seem hardly more primi-
| tive. The interest quickly center5 here
when told this is the "focoare," or fire.
place, and we try to discover the philoso
ply of it. A broad, thick stone is built
into the wall about the hight of an ordi-
nary stove, with several openings, eight by
ten inches, and three inches deep, with
iron gratings to hold the charcoal, the ashes
falling into receiver beneath, where there
are doors fitted with dampers. The hearth
stone, or ''focolare," is supported by sew
eral arches, which also serve as coal bins
A hood, or apron, is built out over the fire.
place, which prevents the smoke from fill
ing the room, and draws much of the
steam and odors from cooking into the
chimney. A space is left in the center of
the stone fitted with andirons, and here be-
tore blazing wood FIRE the roasting is done
The meat is put into an automatic ma
chine which turns at proper intervals, and
We all know how delicious meats are
roasted in this manner. But it is very Gu
rious 10 see the cooking done over the little
"fornelli, as the charcoal fires are called
After kindling the coal you must stand and
fan it until it is entirely red. If the pot
does not boil fast enough you must fan
again; if you put on more coal keep on fam
ming. 1t would seem that one If the first
requisites of good cook would be to be
good tanner" The coal crackles and the
sparks fly high in the air, like sparks from
Roman candle, and if some fall back into
the food it only passes for seasoning.
have finally convinced my maid that hot
milk looks better without the little black
specks, and now she kindly consents to
keep it covered.
All the boiling, stewing, broiling, brais-
ing, frying and toasting is done over these
little charcoal fires. Bread, pies and cakes
are not baked at home, as there are NO
ovens in the average kitchen. At one end
of the fireplace the stone is followed out to
form sink and over it a wooden rack is
attached to the wall, where dishes are dried
after being washed. No soap is used in
this operation, but water in which ashes
have been boiled answers the purpose and
costs nothing. a5t.t4s
The large kitchen of which l speak is
about twenty feet square, at the top of an
old palace in the heart of the city, owned
| by wealthy Count, now used for au apart
| ment house. Through its iron-barred
windows you may look far across to the
distant hills. On the walls are two long
| rows of cleats, where hang all sizes Of
copper sauce-pans, and shelves for the red
earthen vessels used for boiling. Black
pots and kettles are something unknown
| in this country, as far as my observation
goes. A row of small earthen dishes, with
| handles, stand near the fire, ready to be
filled with fine Goals, for at this season of
the year (November) the Italian is depend
ent On these little affairs to keep hands and
| feet warm. and from being benumbed with
the cold. They seldom have fires in their
rooms, and when they sit the charcoal pot
| is placed at the feet and another in the lap.
In very cold weather they carry them in
| the street, slung on one arm like basket.
When the cooking is done the fire is ex-
| tinguished Immediately, and there is not
| much heat from it at best One wooden
| table, the only thing in the room that looks
familiar, reminds me of those in our own
neat, convenient kitchens at home, and 1
remember how white they looked after the
| Saturdays scrubbing, but l am fain to
add this one looks as though it never had
good scrubbing-home fashion-nor the
| floors either. They clean these by strew-
ing wet sawdust about and then sweep it
off. This is done only once or twice a
! week, dash of water and light wisk of
the broom being held sufficient for every
day.
We are well pleased with the cooking,
and shall take great pleasure in introducing
many Of these savory dishes to friends at
home. The cooks understand seasoning
10 nicely, and the cents worth of differ
ent herbs is constant item in the account
book. One OF the favorite condiments of
the Italian is the rosemary, which the Ger
man peasant considers sacred, and wears
sprig of it in his cap on Sunday, and
would think it a sacrilege to eat of it.
After years residence here in the
Boot Italy is called "The Boot on ac-
count of its geographical lines), longing
| for home cooking occasionally seizes upon
US, and when Saturday night comes, Wis.
| ions of the families at home. gathering
| about the beans and fish-balls float before
our eyes, and the desire to enjoy the old
| time customary repast is not TO be longer
withstood. But there is a problem to be
solved-how to have baked beans without
an ovent The bakers were consulted and
| found unwilling to bake them, They OBJ
ject to innovations. One day 1 saw our
| maid, when cooking some meat in pan,
use a large iron cover on which
she piled live Goals. That gave me an
| idea. purchased an earthen soup boiler,
| much the shape of our bean-pots, and
made ready for the fray. l assembled to
| the kitchen, prepared the beans in the pot,
put them over one Of the little square coal
| fires, covered the precious contents with
the iron pan, heaped on Goals and ex-
planned to the maid how she must keep a
constant and steady fire, above and below,
| then patiently awaited results in my apart
| ments below.
| Fish balls. or FISH croquets IS they call
them here. they make in perfection. A
very clean Italian, who has what he terms
| an English bakery tand very good one it
| is). promised to make brown bread if l
| would bring the receipt, which / gladly
GlO. Dut IL proved TOO mucn Tor MIN and
he excused himself by saying he had no
| time to attend to it. AS we had no steam
ers nor tin pals with covers the brown
bread problem was a little difficult to
solve, and we were Obliged to take fried
| Indian meal cake as a substitute My
| anxiety vas so great lest accident should be-
| fall the beans, / went to the kitchen to take
| the beans from the pot myself, and found
| them all my fondest hopes had pictored.
l forgot to mention that / was Obliged to
pay thirty cents for teacupful of New
Orleans molasses, but we must have it, and
| q cupful goes a great ways in the matter
of sweetening beans.
Since our experiment proved so success
| full we have had the pleasure of inviting
several of our American friends to our Sat-
urday evening feast. For who is there,
| from one end of the United States of Amer
lea to the other, that does not like real
| Boston baked beans. Are they not "a
| classic" in cooking? Sometimes we add
| apple, or pumpkin pie. We form an
interesting procession, my maid and
l, as we carry our treasures through the
streets. She, with large tray of pies; I,
| with pitcher of pumpkin prepared to fill
| the pies at the shop. Too much trouble,
you think? Well, it's only when the home
hunger comes over u.s. and we get tired of
| the rich pastries served Us to eat, then
Il L. IL