The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-02-12
for 1Mo1neu

.sThese grapes are the ones you want,
Il think said the fruiterer.
had questioned him as to the best
fruit to serve this time of the year. |
had found so many oranges dry, apples
not ~well-favored, and bananas and
cream. had become a bit too steady a
Diet.
Now for that fruiterer's opinion
have a deal of respect; he can always
tell what is the good thing to have, so
1 inquired more especially into the
grapes
..They are expensive" he admitted.
ssThey sell at 81 and $3.50 a pound, and
one bunch weighs a pound. However,
this one bunch is quite sufficient for a
snail dinner party. for the grapes are
so large that each guest would only clip
off half 2 dozen.
Il am selling them for luncheons every
day. They form the only dessert, so the
hostesses tell me, served with the coffee
at the end.
He stopped to take an order for these
grapes from a woman, and going out sne
said: 81 found those excellent you sent
up for Sunday. l am using fruit almost
exclusively for dessert"
THAT is what so many of my Gus
toners tell me" he said as he renewed
his conversation with me. 1T certainly
is a healthy innovation. Americans are
too much given over to made desserts.
It would be more wholesome II they 1ol-
lowed primitive ideas and had nuts ana
fruit for the sweet after-touch at meals.
The oil in the nuts aids digestion ex-
c~eedingly. and we all know fruit is
pleasant medicine.
But. if my customers of this winter
are evidence. fruit is rapidly growing
popular instead of made dessert for am
ner. and oranges are a steady diet for
breakfast
These grapes are enormous" said.
holding up a monstrous bunch. " Do they
grow in American"
mo. that's the one unfortunate thing
about them. They grow in England,
and are shipped here every week, packed
fns cotton. l am told they are picked
from great vines centuries old. and the
care of these vines is a family inherit
ance. From father to son.. their yearly
fruitage is the pride of the household.
4 ''They are easily the most beautiful
grape I sell. and while their fashion
may make their great demand by society
folk. yet their exquisite flavor and su-
periority cannot be denied"
I contented myself with a quarter of a
pound. and I and my friends found them
all the fruiterer had claimed for them,
but. as I mentioned before, l usually take
his judgment.
I was glad to nave had this invitation.
for at a smart little dinner of eight the
&. other night, my ~newly-found friend. the
English grape. was served as dessert;
these alone just before. the coffee and
nuts.
They were so deliciously prepared that
even the men joined with US to ask how
they had been done, and to compliment
our -ever-ingeniou hostess on her sue
cassful idea.
had been put in a little M~araschino (any
had been put in a little Maraschino any
preferred beverage will do7Jamaiea rum
is exeellent), then into a covered mold
and down into the ice. where she left
them for twelve hours. When taken
out. they had absorbed the Maraschino
and were icy and hard. Lifting them on
a dainty silver fruit dish, they had been
plentifully showered with powdered
sugar; then served with silver grape clip
pers. Ordinary small plates were used
to receive them.
It was a dainty dish fit to set before a
Queen,
For the benefit of those who amt af-
ford the English grape, a like result can
be obtained with any grape. Malagas pre-
ferred, after the English.
But this was not all. My English friend
and 1 were destined to meet again.
AT a luncheon shortly afterward in New
York. these grapes were served as a sor-
bet. taking the role of the everlasting
Roman punch.
was stopping with the hostess, so I
inveigled her cook into telling me how
1t was done.
This is howl!
The grapes were skinned with a knife
and cut into halves. A quarter as much
grape fruit was crushed and added. The
whole was put into Maraschino. which
was thickly sugared and then placed into
a mold on the ice for a day.
1t was served after the croquettes and
and sweet peas and was delicious.
This dish would make a most toothsome
dessert. and here, as well as in the other,
a different grade of grapes could be sub
stituted.
We went yesterday to the dress rehear-
sal of "Transatlantiques," and a very
neat dressy rehearsal it was indeed
Everybody wore something smart in the
audience, and the new stage costumes
were lovely. Is it not odd how every year
one hears the same thing at the beginning