The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-08-12
WITH THE CHINESE.
Tastes OF the Inhabitants OF the
Celestial Empire.
They Havo q Fondneas for Dishes THAI
Seem Anything But Inviting
60 nm Amerlcan-Some
Queer DnintIes.

In passing through Chinese towns tho
astonishingly large number of cook
shops interest and attract the foreign
pnsser-by. Ones curiosity Is often
aroused to know the Ingredients of the
messes he sees being concocted, but in
vestigation very often ends in some un-
pleasant disclosure and unless one is
possessed of q veritable cast-iron
stomach and nose we'll hardened to
Chinese smells, he had better beware
of even Chinese Dclmonico's. These
places ore unpleasantly pressed upon
the pedestrian. however, for the front
Is invariably open to the street, and in
order to tempt customers by the sight
and smell of viands the cook prepares
his dishes over charcoal fire in full
view and sets samples of his materials
and his bill of fare out on show
board before him Tables and
stools are placed IN the rear,
and here the hungry wayfarer
may banquet off such delicacies
as particularly tickle the Chinese palate-
Among the common people an ordinary
meal consists of boiled rice, coarse
green's and little fat pork. goats flesh
or fish. At the public Getting houses
daintics out of the ordinary line arc to
be had, and Chinese cookery is executed
with flourish as it were. ALI sorts of
fish, flesh and fowl, beasts of the SEQ.
air and land are represented in Chi
nese menu. The Frenchman is not the
only one who has his froglegs and snail
soup, for the Celestial, too, revcls in
these dainties, and many more even
moro strange eSnel1es and cells alike
know the fryingpan, and when skinned
and dressed appear very much alike
Many varieties of non-poisonous snakes
are used for food Silkworm grubs are
regarded as q choice morsel and are
stewed in lard and eaten as q relish,
and multitude Of other insects are
deemed edible. One variety commonly
seen in the fish stalls looks like an
American locust before it has taken on
wings, and large white grub that in
habits the bamboo sprouts is much
sought after in the south. Another va
riety of edible worm is found at the
root OF the sugarcane- The cane Is gen
orally pulled up, the roots being used
for fuel, and the harvesters as they go
along pick up these worms and drop
them into n little basket which they
strap about the waist
Many Chinese things taste very good.
but their food is, on the whole, any
thing but tempting. Their cookery
abounds in "maden dishes of compli-
Gated construction, highly favored
with spices and herbs, and, on account
of the limited use to which the chop
sticks can be put. the ingredients are
cut up into small pieces. Boiling.
stewing and frying are popular meth
dds of preparation, and the cook shops
show variety of nauseating- looking
messes whose odors are not to be met
with outside of China. The worst have
yet encountered come from the duck
eggs that have been kept In wet clay
until they arc high" and fermented
radishes which bear strong family
resemblance to sauerkraut, and these
can best be described by the southern
powerful bad" Although
we turn up our noses at John China
mans bill of fare, he in turn looks
askance at ours and thinks we are dis
gushing creatures to drink milk and
eat cheese, and he cannot be induced to
touch butter.
1t seems to be the general impress
sion that dogs and cats form staple
articles OF diet This is not true. They
are eaten to greater or less extent by
the poorer classes only, and vary in
popularity according to the district
In the seaports, where animal food is
readily obtained, they are not con-
sumed, and in Canton there are only
three or four stalls where their flesh
Is sold, but In country districts
many people eat these animals,
and rats, also. The Hakkas, wild
hill tribe occupying the mountainous
district west of Annoy, go in
for cat and dog more largely than any
other people and their method Of pro-
pairing them for culinary purposes is
horrible in the extreme Dogs paws
are frequently seen among their meats
in the butchers stalls Black cats ore
universally deemed moro desirable than
white or spotted, and tortoise-shcll cats
are seldom eaten. A well-known mis-
sionary to these people, in relating his
experience with these animals, says
that his family can always Keep a tor
toise-shell, while n black cat invariably
disappears Horsehesh Is extensively
consumed throughout the empire, but
Is horribly tough, for only old beasts
unfit for use are killed for food. Both
house rats and kind of wild rat that
inbabits the rice fields are eaten and