The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-07-26
EATING OF THE FRENCH.
4 GREAT CHANGE Seems TO HAVE
COME ABoUT IN THAT COUNTRY.


Now in voEue-FamOus Restaurants Are
Disappearing with the Gourmet-EnG-
lish Customs A~dopted-The Table Man
ners in Vogue Now In Polite Paris.
PARIS. July 15.-Tho French have an apho-
rlsm which says. Animals feed. man eats, but
only the Frenohman knows how to eat" Some
times they amplify this by adding that only the
Frenchman knows what TO eat. and they are
often serious. 1t is a cardinal belief with
many Of them that the English never see food
other than raw beef and watery potatoes; that
the Germans have knowledge only of sausage
and sauerkraut. and that the Americana bill OF
fare Is made up solely Of fried ham and buck
wheat cakes. Now, the odd thing about
all this Is that rare roast beef has become
tho standard dish Mt all Paris restaurants.
and that sausage. ham and sauerkraut are
served largely everywhere. and that you can
always get them when you can get nothing
else. 1t is a Rastronomic change which has
kept pace with the taste for beer. which is the
common drink In Paris. except at meals. Even
with food 1t has superseded wine 80 that the
two drinks are about In the proportion OF one
to four. This is not because the ordinary
French wine has grown 80 bad, for the French
beer is worse than anything else could be.
France. in contradiction to Paris. is not o
country OF snails and frogs legs. but Of tripe.
Where It all comes from Is one of the mysteries.
Everybody OF moderate and lesser means eats
tripe: 1t Is cooked in many ways. and Is
disguised in none. which may indicate that
the French fancy 1t. Next TO tripe there Is
nothing you are so sure Of getting at a French
table d'h0te as stewed rabbit. especially II you
do not have a preference for it. The French
being naturally n little suspicious since the
days Of the Prussian siege. these rabbits are
always sold with the heads on.
The days Of the great restaurants OF Paris.
the gllded palaces OF the boulevards whose
fame was world wide. are said to be irrevocably
past. There are but three OF a score remaining.
and the best known OF these. the Cafe Anglais.
will be closed within the year. They no longer
pay. Contemporaneously, too, the more modest
places in the quiet streets leading from the
boulevards. which catered solely to the race Of
gourmets bred by the Second Empire, have dis
appeared one by one, after vainly trying to re-
cruit clients from the new generation. As
q matter OF fact the gourmets, Paris's pride.
have died out. The modern prototype is the
clubman who initiates everything English,
and thinks 1t bad form to lose half his
day eating and digesting. Now. instead of
spending three hours over his midday break
fast at one Of the old-time fashionable restau-
rants, discussing the bill Of faro with a boon
friend as II It we're the draft Of an international
treaty. this man hurries over a breakfast OF q
slice Of cold beef. English bread and a pewter
mug Of ale. which he gets at one OF the numer-
GUS English taverns which have fourished in
Paris for q decade. Then he rushes of to some
sporting " event. This is the class of French
men Of whom the gourmet was made. But the
gourmet isn't English. and the English have
no more slavish worshipper than the modern
fashionable Frenchman. except the modern
fashionable German.
In other grades Of French society. running
the gamut Of professional and business men.
students. shopkeepers and workmen. the
charge Is no less to be marked. Thu Bohemian
Is the only man who has not altered his pran-
dial habits: and he doesn't count. because he
doesn't eat often enough to form the habit. The
most striking point in the change is hurry. Not
so very long ago one was struck-if he were a
foreigner. and not Latin-with the leisurely.
not to say dilatory. atmosphere Of a French
restaurant OF any class. Patrons and walters
alike seemed to be bound to kill time somehow.
There was much talking. much gesticulating.
French restaurant bears a striking similarity
to the -" quick lunch" places Of America. There
his mouth it is nearly always to put something
into IT or to scold the waiter. There is another
h heshns spi te pm the Piates D :" but f tRe mo ode Rf frePcR pr
man who loves to air his English by quoting
Teen ISIS moaney." Is content to run the risk
that know how to eat they probably, do not
cause that would mean too much. The person
OF, other lands habituated to the use Of a napkin
the universal French use Of that article as a bib,
Wherever you go in Paris. whether 1t be to
swell restaurant, you find the napkin1;in France
an expansive s~preqd-tucEed into the .mascu-
feminine, corsage; some women. indeed. tie II
around the neck. thus permitting its ample
folds to enVelopthe entire upper part ofthe body.
There ia AT tho UraSAnt moment on view in the
shop windows OF the Rue de Riyoli a large pho
t9Ereph of Of a state 3 !. 4, GiP pGE4Stbs dinner din ngr IL Nv which sed
heads; And the, napkin-bib is really Cont
mental. not French only.
table knife is put in France. 1t Is a much more
Of steel, the Skill with which the French use, 4
for the conveyance OF food is really admirable
Germans, Who seem to be. at the same time
more deXterous with other, weapons. II you
!, not steadiastiY Keep your eyes on Your nc owf
plate. you find 1t impossible to do %anythinl
! with which. be is provided. for eating. But
! at the end Of tho meal there is a performance
The F %S6s hlnssn'SSt sioEFe Who9 9f G 5ns Of aiq tSsse eS Sss
0Tghly. then; lHHninE oyer i, Iayes his liz lips anS
l the water back into, the bowl, The finishing
or with a small pocket brush. The whole opera
9 ton. whatever else may be thought OF it. il
n thorough.
a There are many curious things In connection
. with a French, Kitchen which 1t is much BETTE
to eat. in Paris. But in thinking OF them
. man must remember that no article OF food Il
: ever wasted; all find some use, even II dis
. guised. Thus. to. name but a single instance
y the feathers on a chicken or duck are the Qnl,
things that do not enter into culinary employ
+ ment; the head and comb OF a chicken ar
\ eaten. and the feet are always used in prepar
4 ing soup stock the interior fittings find thei
way into various CONNECTIONS bearing ~attractivp
q names. Among the various other unfamilia
q across are these: The kitchen In a French privat
q house Is usually situated where one mightexpec
q in the front Of the house. Butchers do not kee'
meat on Zoe. and their shops are always entirel
I open 70, the street. protecteda at night only by a
. iron railing. You can buy only beef. muttol
and veal alta butchers; fresh pork is sold at
v charcuterie, chickens and fish and game at
i DrnnArY 4nrRnnaah mnY hn sold nnnnrdinn 4