Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-08-30
HAD A SNAKE DINNER
THE MAJORS STORY OF A SPREAD.
WITH RATHER AS THE LEADER.
The Snake Tasted Like the Fried Breast OF
Tender Spring Chicken. but the Novice
Held His Portion Down With Frequent
Drafts Of Generous Wine.

Held His Portion Down With FreQuen
Drafts Of Generous Wine.
, Clouds of tobacco smoke filled the cornol
OF the little up town cafe where they wcr,
telling snake stories, and the yarns thai
were told were decidedly thrilling. o.
course they were all true. The southern
man in the party, Major X, for some
years past a successful lawyer in this city
had been telling about the DEVILS swamp,
down south, and its extraordinary number
and variety of reptiles. Suddenly he asked,
did you ever eat rattlesnake?
ooh, you needn laugh, he said. "I've
eaten it, and it was g9d too. This is the
way it came about At Bay st. Louis, the
place, you know, where the pugilists have
in the last few years trained for their prize
fights in the south, there used TO live an
old Frenchman named Pierrot He came
from the country back of Lyons, France
| whore they eat snails, frogs, and 1t seems
| snakes as well. Pierrot was famous
| hunter, and, though the deer and turkey
had been driven away from the neighbor.
hood, he was the most successful hunter OF
quail, squirrel, rabbit, woodcock and jack.
snipe, with which the country back OF the
bay aboundcd.
II had heard that Pierrot was q feeder
on snakes and asked him about it, He ad.
mittcd that he ate rattlesnakc whenever be
could get it, and invited me 10 dine with
him the next time he secured prize.
1T was about u week after that, In the
middle of juno, that old Pierrot informed
me that he had captured live rnttler. He
had pinned the snake down with forked
stick and extracted its fangs by Jerking
them out with silk handkerchief, which
the reptile had struck at. The snake WINS
kept in wooden box, and / was taken
around to see 1t. 1t was u sleek, chubby
looking fellow with eight rattles. We
were TO have the dinner next day at Bur
ratini's. Ciraccio Burratini came origi-
nally from somewhere near Naples and
was as fond Of snakes and snails as old
Piorrot was A fourth member of tho din
ncr party was Marscilles man named
Dayonno, who had fed on cscargots, sea
spiders and things like that pretty much
all his life. He was good cook besides.
SO the preparation Of tho dinner was left
to him.
"Burratini kept saloon on the line Of
tho Shell road which skirts tho Mississippi
sound, with wide galleries running round
the house. A giant live oak tree, hanging
with Spanish moss, kept the spot In con-
tinual shade, and from the front yards Of
tho houses near by floated the odors Of &C.
acias, cape jasmines and oleanders. 1t was
In this lovely Andalusian spot, with the
sea breezos floating In fresh from tho gulf
that we sat on the seward veranda to cat
our feast.
we had other things besides rattlesnake
of course, but snake was served ut each
course after the shrimp and soup. Shrimp,
you know, tho small river variety, is one
of tho best nppetizers land or water fur
nishes for tho delectation of an educated
palate. Well, we had shrimp, rich onion
soup and thon u court bouillon of Spanish
mackerel.
Don't know what court bouillon isi
The fish Is smothered in sherry with a
sauce of finely chopped onions and garlic,
parsley and spice, and It's royal dish, I
tell you. No, it's not bouillabaisso, but
If you don't Ike highly spiccd food I
wouldn't advise you to try It,
After the court bouillon there was fllIet
CT rattlesnako. Tho slices wore FIRST dipped
In the beaten yolks Of oggs, thinly sprin-
kled with finely ground cornmeal and fried
In swimming oil. forgot to say that the
court bouillon was not wholly of Spanish
mnckercl. Snake was one Of the compo-
nents, and that Is how first got my taste
Of ruttlesnaku. was not told. however.
that snake WAS mixed with the fish,
There was II lot OF wine, of course. q
good, woll bodied French claret, and by
tho timo tho flllet of snake was served, 1
was pretty well fortified for the gastronom
lc ordeal. 1t looked nice and temptinu.
but could sec snakes rs plainly as any
old topper over did after an unfed dcbauch.
generous wine, though, Is great allie
Walton OF that sort of abhorrence, andI
tackled tho snake.
"IasteS As well as / can remember, 1t
tasted like the fried breast of spring chick
en-, but II hadn't kept my goblet filled,
don't know how it would have tasted.
know that boltcd tho morsels and then
Instantly washed them down with wine To
Keep the thing from wrigglng.
After that we had stcwed snake with
mushrooms, with polenta as n side dish.
The polcnta was added In deferonce to
burratlnl, az most Italians of his class
think meal is incomplete without that
most filling but rather vacuous of boiled
grits. The snake was used up by this time,
ana we finished our repast with a feast OF
escargots, or rather sea snails.
Inc snails the oystermen bring up with
Ihelr tongs from the sounds and bayous
tributary to the gulf arc almost as palata-
DIG as the escnrgots imported from the
south OF France. Yes, l saw snakes next
iay, but l attributed the delusion to the
wine. New York World.
exchange No Robbery In This Case.