The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-08-01


Two entecotes aux epinardS.
One perdreau truffe.
One frontage Roquefort.
A bottle of NUTS with the beef.
A bottle of Sauterne with the partridge.
And perhaps a glass of punch with a cigar
afterward, but that is neither here nor
there. The insertion of the PURGE into the
julienne was not of my recommending, and
if this junction is effected at all the opera
ton should be performed with the greatest
care If you put too much PURGE both soups
are infalliby spoiled. A much better plan
it is to have your julienne by itself, though
1 will not enlarge upon this point, as the
excellent friend with whom l dined may
chance to see this notice and may be hurt
at the renewal in print of a dispute which
caused a good deal of pain to both of US.
BY the way we had half dozen sardines
while the dinner was getting ready, eating
them with delicious bread and butter, for
which this place is famous. Then followed
the soup. Why the deuce would we have
the pu-, but never mind. After the soup
we had what 1 do not hesitate to call the
very best beef steak l ever ate in my life.
BY the shade of HeHogabalus, as
write about it now, week
after 1 had eaten it, the old, rich,
sweet piquant, juicy taste comes smacklng
on my lips again, and L feel something Of
that exquisite sensation then had. l am
ashamed of the delight which the eating
Of that piece of meat caused me. G.
and 1 had quarreled about the soup q
said so and don't wish to return TO the
subject but when we began on the Steak
we looked at each other and loved each
other. We did not speak, our hearts were
full IA M WI
laid down our forks and looked at one an
other and understood each other. There
were no two individuals on this wide earth,
no two lovers billing in the shade, no
mother clasping her babe to her heart mere
supremacy happy than we. Every now ana
then we had a glass of honest firm, gener-
Gus Burgundy, that nobly supported the
meat. AS you may fancy, we did not leave
a single morsel of the steak, but wien 1t
was done we put bits of bread into the Sill
yer dish and wistfully sopped up the
gravy. suppose l shall ALI never ertd in this this
what then? What If / did like it excess
siVely? Was my liking unjust or unmanly
Is my regret now pulling or unworthy
When it is eaten l resign myself ana can
eat 2-franc dinner at Richards without
i'll humor and without pang:
Any dispute about the relative excellence
of the beefsteak cut from the filet, as is
usual in France, and of the entrcote, must
henceforth be idle and absurd. Whenever,
once for entrecote; the fllet in comparison
with it is a poor fade" LADY, meat. what
folly, by the way, is that in England which
induces us to attach an estimation to the
part of the sirloin that is called the sunday
side-poor, tender, stringy stuff, not com
parable to the manly meat on the other
side handsomely garnished with crisp fat
and with a layer of horn. Give the Sunday
side to misses and ladys maids; for men
be the Mondays side; or, better stll ,I q
flavor the ribs of beef This IS the meat
l would eat were L going to do battle with
any mortal foe: Fancy l0O,OCo Engllshmen
after a meal of stalwart beef ribs encoun-
tering 100. 600 Frenchmen who had partaken
of a trihing collation. of soup, turnips, car
rots, onions and Gruyere cheese. Would
it be manly to engage at such odds!
say no.
Passing by Verys one day I saw cadav-
erous cook with spatula humping a poor
beefsteak with all his might. This is not
only a horrible cruelty but an error. They
not only beat the beef, moreover, but they
soak it in oil. Absurd, disgusting parb i.il
ty. Beef so beaten loses its natural spirit;
it is too noble for corporal punishment.
You may by these tortures and articles
make it soft and greasy but tender and
The landlord of the Cafe Foy q have re-
ceived no sort of consideration from him)
knows this truth full well, and follows the
simple, honest plan. First, to have good
meat and, next to hang it long ,time.
have instructed him how to do the steaks
to turn; not raw, horribly livid, and blue
in the midst as | have seen great maps or
meat (what a shame to think of our fine
meat being so treated. but cooked all the
wav through. Go to the Cafe Foy, then ask
for beefsteak a la Titmarsh, and you Will
see what a dish will be set before you. L
have dwelt, upon this point at TOO m du'l
length perhaps, for some of my readers,
but it can't be helped. The truth IS peer Is
my weakness, and 1 do declare that L de-
rive more positive enjoyment from the SIM
pie Wand than from any concoction what
ever in the whole cooks cyclopedia.
Always drink red wine with beetsteak;
cot
too high a flavor good Beaune say Thls
fact which is very likely not known TO
many persons who forsooth are too mag
nificent to care about their meat ana drink
this simple fact L take to be worth the
whole price I shall get for this article :.
But to return to dinner: We were leIt,
think c. and l. sopping up the gravy
with bits of bread and declaring that no
power on earth could induce us to eat
morsel more that day; At one tlme we
thought of countermanding the perdreau
aux truffes that to my certain knowledge
had been betruffed five days before.
Poor blind mortals that we were; , un-
grateful to our appetites, needlessly mis-
trustful and cowardly. A man may DO what
he dares; nor does he know until he tries
what the honest appetite Will bear. we
were kept waiting between the steak and
the partridge some ten minutes or so. FOE
the first two or three minutes we lay pack
in our chairs quite exhausted, indeed. Ihen
we began to fiddle with a dish of tooth
picks for want of anything more saVory.
Then we looked out of the window; then
and asked: "Pourquoi diabie nous fait-on
attendre ST longtempe% The waiter
grinned. He is a nice, good-humored Eel
low Auguste, and l heartily trust that
some reader Of this may give him franc
piece for my sake. Auguste grinned and
disappeared.
Presently we were aware of an odor grad
ually coming toward us, something musky,
fiery, savory, mysterious-a hot drowsy
smell that lulls the senses and yet intlames
them-the truffes were coming Yonder
they lie governed under athe full bosom of
the red-legged bird. My hand trembled as
after little pause l cut the animal in two.
c. said I did not give him his share of
salt into my plate and a little cayenne pep
per-very little. We began, as far as l can
remember the following conversation:
Gustavus-ChOp, chop, chop.
Michael Observation-Disclosures
G.-Gobble.
NJ. A.-Obble.
G-Here'S big one.
NJ. A.-Hobgob What wine shall we
have? I should like some champagne.
Cts bad here. Have some Sauterne.
NJ. Avery we'll Hobgobglobglob, etc.
Auguste Opening the sauterne)-Cloo-oo
oo-oop. The cork is out; he pours it into
the glass, CLOCK, CLOCK, CLOCK.
Nothing more took place in the way Of
heap of bones-a very little heap. A truf-
fesque odor was left in the room, but only
an odor. Presently the cheese was brought;
the amber Sauterne flask had turned of a
sickly green hue; nothing, save half glass
Of sediment at the bottom, remained
to tell of the light and social spirit that
had but one-haf hour before inhabited
the flask Darkness fell upon our little
chamber. The men in the street began cry
ing. Messenger! Journal du SOir.' The
of the louis lie Grand opposite, illuminat-
ing two classes of punch@that two gentle