The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1898-09-28

Fare and 1s Particularly 1rritated Over
Dish of Powdered Horse Radish Served
witk Frozen Whipped Cream.
When you have examined the con-
stitution of the German cuisine, you
are tempted to grow loquacious. You
are conscious of having discovered that
the psychology of a nation cannot be
constructed upon mere analysis of its
made dishes. Your estimate of Brjllat-
Savarin sinks. lie could not tell you
what you are, even from all the menus
of your lifetime. Freiligrath's philo-
sophie conclusion that "man is what
he eats'' you straightway qualify as
true only when referring to cannibal-
ism. And you will aver that only in
the case Of paleolithic man can you
construct man from the crumbs that
fall from his dinner table And this
you will want to prove, and conse.
quently will grow talkative with pre-
senting Of much evidence.
And yet, in your sane moments, you
will have sneaking affection for the
statement that German is a German
because he eats what he eats. AS a gen
eral rule he may be said to eat five
times a day. But his hunger is con-
stantIy being stilled-
He starts early in the day with cup
Of cafe au lait and small buttered
roll. This keeps him going till II
O'Clock, when he demolishes slice of
buttered rye bread spread with slices
of hard boiled egg, raw chopped beef or
cheese. This ] washes down with
glass of ale, thus stillins his inner man
till dinner time. Dinner takes place to-
ward o'clock and consists Of soup
generally nourishing), a plate Of meat,
with potatoes and fruit (cranberries,
prunes or apricots), occasionally cheese,
seldom sweets, rarely green vegetable
Three hours later coffee is taken,
served with a piece of cake or thick
bread and butter This is the hour pre-
cious to the gossip and the busybody,
the time for spreading scandal. Toward
8 o'clock the appetite again asserts
itself The hour of the ubiquitous sau-
sages has arrived. Their name is legion,
and they share the honors with slices
of ham, smoked goose breast, pieces of
raw picked herring, and in summer
hard Boiled eggs and potato salad.
Such is the German method OF spread
ing the meals over the day. Of course
there are exceptions. Many families
have two ample meals a day. but the
bulk of the population eats mostly but
tered bread and snacks In justice to
Germany one must say that the fare 1n
many home will compare favorably
with that of many an American family.
In the German restaurant the cuisine
is on tie whole monotonous and the
food singularly insipid All meats seem
to have the same favor, all are served
with the same heavy, viscous sauces,
and invariably escorted with the same
soaplike potatoes. Stodginess and heavl-
ness are the great blots on the German
fare. The element of variety, too, seems
considered superfuoCs.
In the concrete the subject is almost
too painful to face, the difficulty being
to steer clear of exclamations denotlng
positive offensiveness. Some OF the
kickshaws which figure regularly upon
{ the German table are reputed to be most
sustaining. They certainly are intense
ly and ostentatiousiy wonder inspiring.
One preparation is everywhere met
with under the name (more or less pho
netically spelled) of beefsteak la tar
tare. Its basis is raw chopped beef;
this, spread out into pat Of elllptlcal
shape, is crowned with the raw yolk OF
an egg, raw finely chopped onion IS
sprinkled over it, garniture OF CHER
kins is added, and the whole is eaten
with much gusto and no worse conse-
ouences than durable thirst.
In many Of the dishes you discover
all the humor, feeling and Imagination
of a Wagnerian composition. You find
the resoiute desire to build up harmony
upon discord. Of this nature may be
considered the traditional menu OF New
Years eve, carp, pancake and punch
These three, brought into immediate
iuxtaposition and consumed in plethorlc
quantities, generally have the desired
effect-that of inducing hysterlcai
good humor.
For stodginess nothing beats the ia.
vorite dish, panache. 1t consists OF
picked pork, sour cabbage and a puree
of split peas boiled down to the con-
aistency of stiff dough. Experiments on
this mass produce deplorable capers and
cause one to grunt mournfully. A va
riety Of this diet is found IN Berlin.
You substitute boiled balls OF dough
and Indifferent prunes for the peas and
cabbage, and you have the dish popu
larly termed "the Silesian kingdom OF
heaven. Cold eels, imbedded IN a
translucid, glutinous substance, hgure
in all workmen's taverns, While roast
goose is de rigueur for all solemnlties.
A dainty which we have recently
met with in Berlin recalled Darwin $
or1- nvnorlmAnt Is