Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-28
FOLK LORE SOCIETY
Interesting Papers Read at the Ses-
sion Held Tod lay.
CAPTAIN ]. G. BOURKE ENTERTAINING
In His Comments on mexican F God
and Mexican Cooking"
LAST MIG HTS RECEPTION

The Folk Lore Society resumed its ses-
sion at the Columbian University this
morning, the audience being first treated
to an interesting paper on "Kwapa Folk
Lore" by Rev. j. owen Dorsey, and to a
paper by Mr.. Gushing on the "Ritualistic
and CalendariC Nature OF the Central
American Goddess" Mr.. Cushing demon
strated that these remarkable hieroglyphic
tablets are record pictures Of dramaturgic
cere monies, calendarically arranged. Mr.
Cushing's paper showed deep research and
extended study Of this interesting subject.
Captain John G. Bourke Of the third
United States cavalry presented a paper
at the afternoon session of highly inter-
esting character, combining many enter
tanning features, with careful and valuable
scientific research 1t was a well-written
paper and was presented by the captain in
his own charming manner, with which so
many Washingtonians are acquainted. The
subject of the paper did not convey an
adequate idea of it's contents. He termed
1t "A Few Remarks Upon Mexican Cook
Ing and Mexican Foods and in addition
to these few remarks Captain Bourke pre-
sented some delightful sketches of Mexican
life and customs.
Capt. Bourkc's Original Object.
the literary province which Brillat Savarin
has made so eminently his own" said Cap
tain Bourke, that / began the compila-
ton of this series of notes upon the habits
OF life of the race which almost exclusively
populates our southern boundary; my pur-
poses were more strictly military than
those which animated the brilliant author
OF La Phisiologie du Gout.' l figured to
myself that should history repeat itself
and an army from Europe attempt to over
throw the government of Mexico 1t should
be again the policy and duty of the Ameri-
cans of the north to push to the rescue Of
the sister to the south and aid her in her
struggle upward and onward In the path
of civilization. 1t might perhaps happen
that an officer would find himself be-
leasuered and supply trains cut off, In
winch case there would be no alternative
of surrender or retreat unless he could
provide food for his troops from the re-
sources of the country.
Gould all this thorny jungle and chap
paral have been created in vain? No.
al swered 10 myself, the more we examine
into the great scheme Of nature the more
do We see that nothing has been made
Without some purpose. What all these
woods can supply l will try to discover
And thus l began and continued in a more
or less desultory way to learn little by
little, and not always with Intelligent GER
talLty what that vast country was good
for, and then the thought game to me that
after all mans noblesr pastime Is not in
constant and irritating preparation for
war, but in adding all In his power to
knowledge, which might, to some extent,
make men wiser and happier.
Introduced by Franciscnn Monks.
The cultivated fruits of Mexico were in
troduced principally by the Franciscan
monks, who established missions every
where in the days Immediately succeeding
the conquest. They brought over peaches,
apples, pears, plums, nectarines apricots,
paper-shelled walnuts almonds sugar cane,
conee, Spanish grapes, oranges and per-
haps, lemons and bananas, AS we'll as
horses, donkeys, cows. sheep and goats.
About 1851 the Jesuits entered upon mis-
sionary work in that country and followed
the rule established by the Franciscans.
Both these BODIES gave earnest attention to
the study Of native foods and improved up
on the cooking of the natives. Chocolate,
which plays important a part in our
domestic economy today, was obtained
from the AZtecS, and so were the tomato
and the piueappia The potato grows wild
in the higher attitudes of Mexico, but has
never attained in the dietary of the people
the Importance 1t merits. There is in ex-
istence a quaint volume, entitled "A New
Survey of the West Indies by Thomas
Gage, an English dominican monk, who
spent some fourteen years Of his life in
Guatemala and Mexico. He upbraids his
brother monks for being addicted to the
lnordlnate use OF candied pineapple. The
Carmeilte nuns, who had convent schools
for girls in nearly all towns Of any size,
seem TO have been great cake and candy
makers, and yesuges of their Skill remain
to our own day in the name of a Mexican
candy much In favor, known as 'Carmercil-
10 de leche.' Perhaps, our own toOthsome
caraneiS may perpetuate the experiments
with chocolate of some gentle, discalced
Caramei-lte who now occupies a long for
gotten grave.
Bad Native Cooking.
cor sumption of orgrats on festival occa-
SONS the Mexicans reveal their Arabic an
cestry, but of their Teutonic or Gothic
forefathers, their cooking retains no sur
vival," excepting the sausage. In the rural
and mountain hamets forks, knives and
spoons are not much used in eating. The
food, prepared, generally, as stews, Is
scoOped up in a piece OF tortilla ian Aztec
bread), and tortilla and all swallowed to-
gether.
TINS may also have been an oriental
table CUSTOM" said Capt. Bourke. Our
SAVIOR may have known it-at least, there
Is to be found in Mark an allusion to those
that dip in the dish with me- The century
plant furnished both food and liquor, the
latter, called mescal, being almost pure
alcohol. Strange to say, it is still adul-
tcrated along the Rio Grande by the addi-
tion OF lime water, a practice which was
sternly prohibited, under severe penalties
1913. Another plant, used in many ways
lo the Nopal cactus, both food and drink
being obtained from 1t. The beans Of the
mesquite, variety of the acacia, are still
made into bread as they We're in the time
of the Spanish explorer, Alarcow 1910
With it's present fine railroad system in
successful operation, it's fertile soil, its
government wisely and firmly administered
by its president, Porrio Diaz, and the
completion Of it's transcontinental line
across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Mexico
offers favorable field for the investment
of capital"
Frequently in the course of the disserta-
ton upon foods Capt. Bourlxe digressed to
present sketches of Mexican life.
Displays On Street Tables.
I'm the center of the plaza in a Mexican
town can always be seen rows of tables
set out with some care, lighted with rath-
er dingy oil lamps, anu provided with hot
coffee, hot chocolate, ez celent bread and
many dishes; hot or cold, which are re-
tailed in liberal portions at q moderate price,
so moderate indeed, that during the hotter
months these tables serve all the purposes
of the 'trattoria' of Venice, and supply to
families excellent fcoc already cooked at
prices which make it cheaper to patronize
them than to depend on servants Few
tourists can have forgotten the Chile
stands of San Antonio, Texas, once a most
interesting feature of the life of that
charming city, but abolished within the