The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1899-08-18
ODD FADS AT MEALS.
SOME QUEER THINGS THAT ARE NOT
ed IN RESTAURANTS.

The Man Who Ate Cream ON His
Beefsteak and Seemed to Like 1t.
Butter on Ice Cream and Pie and
the Lobster and MIX Combination.
A tall, thin man came into the restau-
rant, and q new waiter showed him to q
table and handed him bill of fare. The
man didn't even glance at the bill.
Bring a small steak, very rare, and q
couple pitchers Of cream on the side" he
said.
The waiter disappeared and in q few
minutes came back with the steak, cup
OF coffee and two pitchers of alleged
cream. He ranged them in front Of the
customer, and the latter glanced them
over. When his eye struck the cup Of
coffee, he scowled.
II didn't order no coffee" he half yell.
"well, 1 s'posed when you said two
pitchers of cr"-
Take it away"
The waiter put the cup of coffee on his
tray and gathered up the two pitchers of
cream and turned to retrace his steps to
the kitchen.
The waiter nearly tripped himself as
he spun around. He meekly placed the
pitchers by the side of the steak without
n word and stood rooted to the spot. The
tall, thin customer picked up the two
pitchers and emptied the cream on his
steak. The walters eyes bulged out and
his chin dropped rs the man began eat
ing his strangely seasoned steak. Just
old load thu
and called him to one side, warning him
with: "Say. you better watch out, er the
old gent'll hop ON to you fer watchin him.
That must be new one on you-cream
on steak-huh? It's an old one around
here. His nobs there comes in here an
orders that same layout about every
other night.
"Well, have seen more ridiculous COM
binations served to freak feeders in my
time than l could remember in a week.
Oftentimes the dishes served are eata-
bles that fairly fight with each other.
One day a man came in and gave me an
order for broiled lobster and milk. Now,
that is a combination that Is simply aw-
full. told the customer l didn't want to
seem so impudent as to offer him advice
as to what he should eat, but thought
ought u tell IT'LL ludl anu Luiih
made a bad team. He laughed, thanked
me, and told me to bring on my fractions
team and he would try to break 'em to
drive double. That was enough for me,
and I brought them on. That man was
sick for three days. He came in after
ward and told me all about it; said the
next time he'd take my advice.
Il once saw IN apparent granger
spread granulated sugar half an inch
thick ON his roast beef and eat it with ev-
ident relish. 1 have seen that feat per-
formed only once, and will likely never
see it again. Several times have had to
have strawberries warmed for a well
known Chicago business man. Yes,
know that is q hard one to believe, but it
is a fact. Took the berries out and put
them in the oven for few minutes-just
left them there until they were soft and
utterly ruined for anybody except this
man. He said they were fine.
Eyes, I've seen few old caters in my
time" said the waiter. Nearly every
day a man comes in here who eats moth
ing but a whole mince pie for his lunch
con. Some people think it would require
a man with n copper lined stomach to
digest that kind of luncheon every day,
but SO far my mince pie man is holding
up beautifully. Another regular custom
er takes honey and rolls and nothing else
for breakfast every morning. He says it
is the best and most wholesome break
fast he has ever tried, and that he is 60
ing to keep it up as long as it agrees with
him. One Of the Queerest things to me is
the way people take acidulous things
with dishes largely or almost wholly
milk. / have seen people eat pickles with
ice cream time and again. Frequently
people put vinegar in their oyster stews
and then complain that the milk is sour.
II have often seen customers make use
of butter in way that would seem very
strange to most people. This is putting
butter in coffee. That has probably been
done In every restaurant and hotel dining
room in New York. 1t is custom which
is quite common in Switzerland. There
sweet butter, unsalted, is used. But even
if there is q little salt in the butter it
vastly improves the coffee for many peo-
pie. Then, once in awhile. we see diners
put butter in hot milk. l suppose that is
to make the milk richer. / once saw q
man put butter on his ice cream, but
suppose he was just doing it for an cx-
pertinent. or course buttering pie is not
rare by any means.
1--WE see absurd things at the table ev-
cry day, but they come so thick and fast
and we have SO many other things to
think about that we don't remember
Them" said the restaurant proprietor.
II recall a few incidents that struck me
rather forcibly. Some months ago a
rather old lady used to come in here very
often in the evening and order a Welsh
rarebit. She always brought in with her
a little bag of peppermint lozenges, and
she ate the peppermint with her rarebit.
We used to have another regular Gus
toner who came in every day and order
ed oatmeal and hot buttermilk. He ate
the combination rs if it were the best
thing in the world. Then there was an
other customer who was fond of oatmeal
whom / saw on several occasions pour
eatsup into the dish. thing should be
afraid of the effects of oatmeal and cat
sup. l saw one performance that fairly
made me gasp. A man came In and took
seat ut far off table, and, before a
waiter could get to him, he poured out
half a glass of Worcestershire sauce and
drank it off at one gulp. On another &C.
casion a fellow came in under the influ-
ence Of liquor. He ordered only cup Of
coffee. When he got it, he poured out
half Of the coffee and filed the cup up
with olive oil and drank the mixture. II
he was taking the oil to prevent liquor
influence, be took it little too late."-
New York Telegraph.