The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-12-19
"ARlSTOCRATlC" FISH.
Peculiar Customs and Tariffs In tho French
Metropolis.
Especial Correspondcnce.l


Especial Correspondence
PARIS, Dec. 1.-The Parisians are noted
for their cooking. Whenever we hear of
means that the food is cooked after tho
Partisan method. This fact has become
n household word the world over, but
there is something about Partisan cpl
cureanism that is not so widely known.
1t relates to fish, IL food which forms u
very largo part of the Partisan dietary.
AS Il matter of fact, larger amount of
fish is consumed in Paris-proportionate-
ly-than i'll any city in the world
The strange thing about fish in Paris
is that it has its grades, just as have the
people. Among the inhabitants we have
the upper class, consisting of the fam
lilies of the old nobility and tho leaders
i'll politics, who i'll this country are gem
orally of "gcntle blood" the bourgeois,
or middle class, which is the same in
every nation, and the working class,
which consists, us does it everywhere,
of mechanics, laborcrs and workingmen
of different kinds.
In Paris there is fish tariff commits
sion that has allotted all kinds of fish
that come to that market to three SINH
lar classes. One class Of fish is called
tho "aristocratic" and consists of sal
mon, trout, grayling, turbot, brill,
shrimp, mullet, Holsters, crayfish and
umbrina. Upon these fishes there is
levied duty of 40 francs per 100 kilos.
The second class is commonly called
bourgeois" and includes lampreys,
soles, cells, carp, sturgeon, gudgeon,
perch and pike, and upon this class the
tariff is only2 francs per 100 kilos. All
other fishes are allowed to enter Paris
free of duty, it being considered that
they are only fit for the working classes
and that these people cannot afford to
pay high rate for their food. In the
same way oysters pay high tariff,
all other molluslls being admitted free
There is delightful moral in this dis
eliminating policy of the Partisan au-
thorities. They hold that if you are rich
enough to occupy Il certain social posi-
ton you must pay tax to the city to
uphold that position, and as one of the
first marks of distinction of class in
Paris is denoted by the table, the com
missoners wisely tax the aristocrats and
bourgeois through their food, as repre-
scnted i'll the fish they offer upon their
tables. For instance, Il member of the
upper ten" would not dream of invit-
ing friend to Il dinner where fish of the
bourgeois" or working class was set
upon the menu. 1t is the same with the
middle class, and as result no one ever
grumbIes about this peculiar tariff.
Another popularity about the French
frclN .l-..tI- lot
high tax none of the "aristocratic" fishes
especially salmon and turbot-can be
purchased us cheaply ut the coast as they
can be bought in Paris. AS rule all
of this class of fish is contracted for by
the wholesale merchants in the capital
and none of it is offered for sale at the
fishing ports along the coast AS n re-
suit, when you wish salmon, turbot
lobster or other "aristocratic" fish at a
seaport town, you arc provided with one
that has been sent from Paris, the great
central fish market. So that the fish Won
eat at dinner in Boulogne or Dieppe or
Havre, even though it was caught off one
of these ports, very frequently takes a
trip to Paris and back before it is placed
Oh the hotel table in the town where it
was originally landed.
And, by tho way, while writing of fish
III the Partisan markets it will not be
out of place to describe one of the pretti-
est and most fashionable of French
dishes at this season. 1t is made by fill
ing the tail shells. or the chitinous COW
ering of Holsters tails with a mixture of
shrimp meat and sole torn into shreds
and properly seasoned. The Holsters
tail is taken i'll the hand when eating,
and the dainty filling is taken out with a
small, two prongcd fork specially made
for the purpose w r Fp,yr,orc