The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-10-23
THE MARKsr IN HArAxA.
Picturesque Cooks, Unfamiliar Fruits and
Live Fiah seen There.

Picturesque Cooks, Unfamiliar Fruits and
Live Fish Seen There.
The Havana market Is crowded at daybreak
by Spanish, French. Chinese and colorod cooks
Of both sexes. Some chcfs. who affect the dig
nifty OF a coat, arc accompanied by their APP
prentlces or sculllOns, who carry baskets,
spanish cooks, who usually are employed In
second class restaurants wenr nat. red woollen
caps. and shuttle along slipshod with their
baskets slunR over their shoulders. while
oblique-eyed Chinese wear ell sorts Of queer
headGear, loose trousers and blousos. Colored
women don bandanas. which lend a dash OF
color +otheS scene, as they wRddla along through
the market, their fat sides shaking with laugh
ter. while they bolsterously greet their friends
as they go from stall to stall. haRRling with tho
market men. Marketing Is always done by
cooks In Havana. because employers are aware
that they can drive q better bargain. even TAX
ing into account the perduisites allowed them
by tradespeople. $3.50"
Golden, juicy oranges are Numerically
piled on the stalls. fanked by punches Of lus-
clous yellow and red bananas. and nutbrown
zapotoes which outwacdly resemble an Irish
potato. but contain n luscious pulp inside
that atones for their ugly exterior. Mameyes
are n rich. dark red fruit ,1incased in n rind
resembling bark. Besides these fruits there
are roseapples with the perfume OF the rose.
fragrant pineapples, pomegranates. fresh figs,
rcd or white guavas. star apples, almonds.
pears. and guana6anas. The last have. a
pr,ffGIy green rthd hi and q white pulp Ike
and. refreshing fruit, often used as a re-
freshing drink. Cubans are fond Of cooling
DRINKS, made of almonds, guanabanas. or tam
arinds, and rarely take any other beverage for
their luncheon.
Green cocoSnuts contain a sweet liquid like
fcal fruits which abound in Cuba are msngoes
c~hirimoyas and c%iruelas, which are Juicy and
s gSciefiv Fish nias g sna A. In nS Cuban \ waters sSeoTss are df T esi
Wick tastes ike salmon. No Havana Ia COOK viii
ket with big tanks full OF fresh fish, with white
marble slabs and scales, is very picturesque. The
shrimps, Holsters. and mussels, are somewhat
small, The oysters GROW on the submerged
These branches are, broken OF and sold in the
market. but the Cuban oysters are small and
Sea crabs and land crabs are also good. The
stand high from the ground on their enormous
claws. Land crabs burrow In holes. and their
drnnRen man. Is c CooEs feed eS9f tSesss crabs raHH s1 on corn Sl a
meal for several days before they cook them. as
this makes them more palatable.
is to put them in barrels and stuff them with
!Ealnuts and eornmeal for several days before
LlHV1 II lllC JUDI i Vii bllIltib n
are driven through the streets in droves OF
from, forty to a hundred. from door to door, for
people to make their own selection. This GUS
tom furnished the Spanish poet. Salvador
Rulda. with a theme for n Christmas song;
mani Si nsas ofI mndH4 plenty r ~ game anne io raF spoyt SI
men in Cuba.
Beef is killed the day before it is used. for
it cannot be kept fresh longer than one day on
account Of the excessive heat.
When the cook returns from the market his
presence Is made known to the household, by
squacking ducks, cacklinR hens or squealing
pigs; for all such live stock are brought from the
market, and they eXpostulate angrily on being
carried around In such close quarters. And
pigeons and doves. with soft eyes, utter a COO
Ing. ~plaintive note, as though with a sad fore
American. cookery is almost unknown in
Cuba, and the favorite cuisine is French. Span
ish. or Cuban. Good cooks command high
wages. Families require two or more servants.
according to their means. because every branch
OF domestic service Is separate. A cook only
attends to his kitchen. a waitress to her table.
and a laundress to her department.