The Van Buren press., 1895-06-08
EpIsLspoos.
The Bright Red CANNES the Greatest
Dslicacy Of the Chinese Gourmet.

Edible DO0Ss
The Bright Red CANNES the Greatest
DslicAcy Of the Chinese Gourmet.
Horse meat Is being consumed by the
poorer classes Of Europe more and more
each year, but dogs-since the siege OF
Paris-have not appeared under their
own name on the tables of Partisan res
taurants. At Peking, on the contrary.
no good dinner is complete without a
Allet or log Of dog.
This custom, which seems 80 repug.
nant to us, is Of very an cient origin. In
Egypt, as far back as history goes, some
people used to piously embalm their
dead dogs, while others Judged itmore
economical to kill and eat them. Plu-
tarch tells that the In habitants of Gym
opolis, where these animals were hon.
ored, made terrible and relentless war
on the people of oxyrinchis, who had
committed sacrilege OF this latter
kind. In his book ON "Diet," Hippo
crates, speaking Of ordinary foods, ex-
presses the opinion that the flesh of
the dog makes muscle, but that 1t is
difficult to digest.
"Our fathers" says Pliny, the Ro-
man historian, regarded little dogs as
food SO delicate that they were FREE
quently served as an expiatory sacri-
fee. To-day, even, the flesh Of young
dogs Is served in banquets made In
honor Of the gods" A little further
on he says: "Tliis meat was employed
in the repast at the installations of the
pontiffs." According to Apicius, who
has left to us curious treatise on
cooking, the Romans also ate full
grown dogs, which they f1rst fattened.
The North American Indians, through
scarcity Of game, sometimes sacrificed
their companions Of the chase, but
among certain tribes, the Sioux, for
example, the dog has always been
favorite article Of food.
It is said that before the introduction
of horned cattle into Mexico the Span
iards ate SO many of the native dogs
that the species completely disap-
peared. According to Capt. Cook, the
New Zealanders ate their dogs and used
their skins for clothing. They pre-
ferred this meat to pork. In Africa It
is delicacy, In Ashantee Land they
eat 1t fresh or dried. The Greenland
ers and the Kamschatkana also cat 1t
sometimes, but only when forced to do
so by the necessities of famine.
The Celestial "chouchou," or edible
dog, resembles greatly the Pomeranian
breed. Its forehead is broad and its
muzzle quite pointed, though less SO
than the Pomeranian. The ear Is
short, erect and pointed forward, lit
tie rounded at the tip. The eyes are
small and black, the body short and
thick. The "chouchou" has rough,
thick hair and curled tail. There are
two varieties; one has long hair, which
10 the higher esteemed-the dish OF
the rich; the other has short, thick
hair.
There are three different colors, one
| entirely bright red; this Is the aristo-
cratic variety. The others are Of differ
ent shades OF q dark tawny with black
muzzle, and of light tawny color
with clear muzzle. This last is the
commonest variety. A general char
acteristic Of this race is that the tongue
| Is blush black. This color is not natur-
al, however; the puppies have red
tongues, which begin to grow dark Mt
the end Of fortnight or three weeks.
| It is rare that one Of them IL born with
black tongue.
The ''chouchous" are rare in Europe.
| In France, M. Waldeck Rousseau, the
statesman and lawyer, Is about the
only person who owns one. M.
Rousseau, by the way is said to possess
the only Sismese cats In Europe.
1t is generally believed that the CO.
mestible dog of the Chinese is tho COM
mon variety with purple skin, entirely
devoid Of hair, except little about the
head, but these blue dogs Of China
incorrectly SO called, since they are
encountered elsewhere in Asia and
Turkey-are only q species which suf-
fers from hereditary skin disease.
The manner Of preparing these dogs
for the table is the same as In vogue
in the case OF suokling pigs, and In
China there is no formal dinner or
grand banquet without a ''chouchou"
as the piece de resistance, decked out
in the same way as pigs are on Euro
pean tables or American free-lunch
counters-N. Y. World.
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