Evening star., 1898-09-17
Substantials and Dainties Skillfullv
Prepared.
THEY HAVE ONLY TWO MEALS A DAY
"Flam" the STANDARD Dessert and
Better Than Our Custard.
a RICE CAS- OLE

Mrs. ellison Willetts In the American Kitchen
| Magazine.
The kitchens Of the Cuhans are always
either in the courtyard back OF the house
| or on the roof. Unlike the Irish. they
| never dream OF making the kitchen a sit
| ting or dining room. And, unlike the Amer
| leans. they do not cook three times "a day
| Twice day the Cuban servant or housc-
wife goes 20 her kitchen ana does her cook
| ing; at 10 o'clock, TO cook the breakfast
which is served at IL and about 6 o'clock
| to cook the dinner which Is served At : Ia
| the morning at or o'clock coffee is sci-y-
ed. though tor this purpose the kitchen is
| not used. The coffee is cooked I'm a French
! coffee pot on the siCeloard Of the dining
| room. As for coffee. nowhere in the world
| Paris and the German cities included 80
| they make such excellent coffee ns that
made by the Cuians. They use the coffee
grown on the Island and oftcntlncs the
| housewife Dicks the beans from a coffee
bed in her courtyard just as We would picl,
| green peas IN our own gardens. Cuban cof-
| fee is very black and strong but never
! muddy like the Turkish. The coffee beaa
Is usually cheap and plentiful. and the Gu
| ban cook has learned that to make good
coffee and not brown water he must not be
| too spartng of the raw material lie never
| coffee to a pint Of water
AT breakfast, at every place. stands a
| bottle Of red Bordeaux or Cata!oniau wine
| which is drank as freely as water. The 1901
ts usually ABUNDANT and n0urlshins Ate:
| breakfast, and not with it, coffee is served
| At breakfast they have the inevitable
| honey and fruit and eggs. the last being
cooked in styles about the same as in tho
| states. In addition, favorite breakfast
! dish Is a small tenderloin steak served with
| sliced fried potatoes.
Ninety Ways of Cooking Rice.
The island has nIrety different kinds Of
| rice, which the natives cook in almost
ninety different ways. In Cuba rice grows
| In the water or It grows on dry land: some
| varieties come to maturity in three months
others not for four OF six months. Besides
| the ordinary ways OF cooking rice in pud-
| dings, curries and so on, the Cubans have
| dish of their own, rice casserole. II is
usually served an entree Its ingre-
dtents. sufficient to al a moderate sized
casserole pound Of rice two piuts of
weak stock two slices of fat ham and one
J teaspoonful Of salt The casserole when
ready, Is used Of course, as a border for
| ragouts and fricassees. Translated from
the Spanish, the Cuban recipe for this dish
is:
After having washed the rice in water
TWO or three tines drs in Il well and rut n
In stewpan with the stock ham and salt.
cover the pan and let the rice gra luaIiy
swell over A slow fire occa sionallv stirring
to prevent its sticking When il ie aut4
sCrt strain I, pick cut the pieces cf ham
and, with the hack OF a large Wooden
spoon, mash the rice into 4 perf,.gtly
smooth paste. Then well grease a mold
ard turn 1t upside down for a minute ,r
TWO to drain. then put some rice all around
the bottom and sides Of it. place a nIece or
soft bread in the middle cover il with rice:
press 1t in equally with the spoon and LET
II cool. Then dip the mold into hot water.
turn the casserole carefully on a dish
mark where the lid is to be formed on ,bs
top, by making an incision with tho roint
or a knife about an fl ch from the edge All
around, and put in very hot oven BrusA
1t over with little butter and bake about
half an hour. or rather longer. Then care
fully remove the lid, which Will be formed
by the incision having been made an
around. remove the bread in small pieces
with the point Of knife. being careful not
TO injure the casserole. Fill the center
with the ragout or fr.Cassee. which snoulf
pe made thick; Tut on the cover. glaze it,
place 1t In The oven to set the glaze. Serve
as hot as possible"
Dishes Fit for the Gods
with Cuban cooks the favorte birls arc
| geese, turkeys peacoclls and pigeons Pea.
cocks, of course, ere served only AT the
best hotels and In the houses Of the rich.
But goose is an ordinary dish ilst as
chicken is ordinary in New England. The
Cuban rule, in cooking a goose. is:
Split the goose down the back, heat it
| well. Cook it with little onion chopped
fine and partly cooked: glass Of sauterne
boiled dowa with thyme and bavleaf.
Moisten with melted butter and season
we'll Cover the goose with thick LAYER
OF bread crumbs. Let IL brown, bastirg
frequently. Put in melted butter and some
mushrooms; add 10 the goose and let all
simmer
The Cubaas also have a way Of cooking
pigeons that mi yht well he copied In this
f>rs,-
cooking the delicious birds which are 50
plentiful there:
DRY pluck. sirge and divide six pigeons
in halves. Season with cayenne and lemon
juice and a sprinkle Of salt and set them
aside until wanted. Next. slice up an onion
ard fry it N butter t. light brown. throw
IN a tablespoonful of flour, some chopped
parsley, little garlic on the point Of Il
knife little grated nutmeg and hair a
pint Of white wine: stir the whole over the
fre TO boil about ten minutes. a pudding
DISH should be lined with a thin crust OF
suet paste, the pigeon and sauce put in
and the whole covered with paste: steam
for an hour and half and turn out care
fully
among Americans that Cuban cooks use A
great deal of garlic. OF course garlic IS
not entirely foreign matter in Cuban food.
but still ii is not used SO universally as
Americans suppose During all nv STAY in
Cuba, eating here and there in hotels and
private houses, good, bad and fair 1 dii
AOb once Hollce lne presence OF garlic. And
as for grease. the Cuhans use it, in cook
ing. only when absolutely necessary. At
any farm kitchen in the New England or
middle states l have had to eat q great
deal more grease than at any of the ha-
ctendas in Cuba.
They Never Take Raw Milk
As rule. Cubens DO not like to cook. but
they usually cook intelligently. They al
ways boil their milk. You seldom ind
Cuban drinking milk raw" The reason
for this is their fear Of drinking anything.
even water that has been or Is exposed To
air loaded with elements Of contagion.
With all their dislike of cooking the Gu
bans can never be accused of a want Of va
riety in the preparation OF vegetables.
same, meats or desserts. On the menu
card of my last dinner at the Ingiaterra
Hotel In Havana that card being now be-
fore me, / ind that the hotel cook. who
was neither a Frenchman nor Spaniard
but just a plain Cuban, had prepared tcu
different soups, fish in twelve different
forms. seven side dishes, twelve kinds of
rellshes. a choice Of nine entrees fv, boil