The San Francisco call., 1896-03-29
built fire under them and waited for the

built fire under them and waited for the
Goals to appear.
| Then he produced three dozen small
| oysters from the mysterious cart-box,
opened them deftly with an ordinary table,
| knife. spread them on the half shell on a
| newspaper and they constituted the first
course of the meal. A touch of lime was
their only seasoning.
| BY this time the Goals were ready. The
box yielded up dozen softsheli crabs
still alive. A quick pinch removed the
tail and the crustaceans were laid on their
| backs on the parallel steel rods over the
Goals. In short time they were turned
on their bellies, then soon again on their
backs. The signal for this last turn was
| their beginning to drip. This meant that
their fat was melting and must be saved
by turning them upon their backs. The
! notice OF their being done came when the
backs began to crack and the melted fat to
escape. Then they were removed. The
under shell was quickly stripped, and the
crab buttered and eaten out of hand, and
held very carefully SO as not to permit the
best part of all to spill. This came last.
The cup of the upper shell after the meat
was gone was half full of a savory liquor.
A pinch of butter, which soon melted, and
q few drops of lime transformed it into a
delicious swallow of something better than
a cocktail. No softshell crab prepared
in the finest restaurant ever could be as
sweet and luscious as that. Three were
cooked at time until the twelve were gone.
| Simple as all this looks in the reading,
there is not one person in a thousand who
knows how to cook q softshell crab like
that or who has the smallest idea how de-
licious it is. 1t was the perfect art OF our
friend that produced the result.
The next course might have been tender
chickens to broil, but as on this occasion
it was skirt steak and as that article and
the manner of preparing it are unknown
to any but epicures who can cook, shall
select the mysteries of the skirt steak for
exposition. This steak is not steak at
all, but the diaphragm of the beef-the
long, strong muscle, as thick and as broad
as ones hand, that produces the imitation
and defation of the lungs. The French
artist-cook selects his steak usually eight
days in advance of the picnic. During the
first four days it is kept hanging in cool
place and the succeeding four in an ice
chest. That makes it tender and sweet.
This is the only steak that can be per-
fectly broiled over Goals. The reason fol
this is that as the muscle runs lengthwise
instead of transversely, as in an ordinary
steak, and is of just the proper thickness
and is covered by strong Thin membrane,
its texture and vessels remain uncut, and
it cannot ''bleed" in the process of broil-
ing. Hence there is nothing to make g
! smudge by dripping, no creosote is formed
and not drop of the juices and fats is lost
A bed of Goals had been made for the
advent of the steak. The long narrow
strip of muscle was laid lengthwise upon
the rods. AS these were so close together
as to permit the edges of the steak to hang
over the fire it looked awkward, but the
Frenchman, who is wise and knows his
business, gave this explanations:
"You see, steak should never be turned
more than once over the Goals. The hang
ing down of the sides and the setting o1
the steak in that position produce cuI
when it is turned, and it holds all tne
juices that may come up" And sure
enough it did, for although nothing
dripped from the lower side the heat die
drive some juices to the top, and there
they were held. Into them the salt wa,
sprinkled just before the steak was ready
to be removed.