Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1899-05-10
NATURES DAINTIES.
CURIOUS ARTICLES OF FOOD THAT
ARE BUT LITTLE KNOWN.


RhinOceros Meat Not without Admirers
Lion Flesh Said to Be Good Eating.
1t was Punch who pathedcally com.
planned of the monotony OF eternal
beef and mutton, and prayed for the
invention of a new meat. Indeed, the
English bill of fare is an exceedingly
limited one, and many besides Punch
have sometimes wished that a new
meat could be invented. But we do
not take advantage of all the dainties
which nature offers; it is not necessary
to invent a new meat, but simply to
acquire courage to taste and cat hith-
erto uneaten animals, birds and rep
tiles.
The cow, sheep, pig, various fowls,
game and fish furnish all the items
of the various bills of fare; indeed the
food Of the vast majority of the people
simply consists of beef and mutton,
with occasional changes to pork and
fish. There are, however, many other
animals which, prejudice apart would
furnish just as nourishing ar d tasty
and more novel food Horse flesh is
regarded with popular horror but the
dislike is one simply founded on preju.
dice. No doubt the flesh of old, worn.
out nags is neither very palatable or
nouriShing. But a horse which from
its birth is intended for food, and fed
and cared for like an OK, supplies ex-
celient meat 1t is much finer in flavor
than beef or mutton, and much more
expensive. In Paris the restaurants
include horse beef in their daily
menus. In England it is sometimes
served at great feasts as a novelty,
and 10 shillings a pound is the usual
price paid for it. Similarly. donkey
flesh is very good eating, provided il
is young. A donkey more than eight
months old is not edible In taste it
is said to much resemble a turkey
though very much finer in flavor Two
shillings a pound is the price for don
key meat, but a big demand would, of
course, reduce this to a reasonable fig
ure; the same remark applies to horse
flesh. In Arabia the horse IS eaten
and considered a great delicacy.
Custom and prejudice alone prevent
many really tasty and common ami
mails being used for food or all ami
mails the pig, with its filthy, groveling
habits and food, seems the most IN
likely TO be appreciated by human be-
ings. Yet the pig, whose pane is a
synonym for all that is low anG bestial,
is eaten without repugnance-nay,
with relish. Charles Lamb wrote a
prose epic In praise of roast pork. A
dainty lady will eat and enjoy roast
pork, but she would scream aLd shud- |
der at the very idea of eating a roast
rat. Yet the rat is a vegetarian, and
most clearly in its habits while no.
body can claim that for the Jig Rat |
pie is a great delicacy, and was a !
dish of which the Rev. j G. Wood, |
the celebrated naturalist, was ex-
tremely fond.
During the siege of Paris. in 1871,
the starving inhabitants ate up all the
animals In the ZOO Elephant and |
lion steaks and the flesh of other wild |
animals were eaten, and, though it |
was case of Hobson's choice-that |
or none at all-the Parisians found |
that they were very palatable. Even |
now the gOurmets of Paris delight in
the flesh of camels, lions and ele- |
plants. Camels flesh is brought from |
Algeria and is said to be remarkably |
like beef 1t is as tender as veal, and
the Arabs regard it as very nutri- |
tious The hump of q camel is the tit !
bit of the beast, and when plump and
fat is a dainty indeed.
In the South of France snakes are
sold, ready for cooking. under the
name of hedge cells. Frank auckland, |
the famous naturalist, stated that he
once made hearty meal off a boa con-
strictor its flesh being exct edingly
white and firm, and not unlike veal in
taste. Fried or stewed rattle snake is
very like eel, which people eat with
out a qualm of stomach or conscience.
Lion flesh lis said to be very good
eating, but tiger is tough and sinewy.
Nevertheless, the latter is eaten in In
dia, as there is a superstition that 1t
imparts strength and cunning to the
eater. Bears flesh is great favorite
in Germany, and smoked tongues and
hams are considered great delicacies.
On account of the rarity of bruin, they
are expensive. Sausage-so dear to
the Teutonic heart-and stomach-is
also made with bear liver; % pounds
of sausage can be made from single
liver
There appears to be considerable
diversity of opinion as to the merits of
elephants flesh. In India and Africa
it is a favorite dish with tie natives,
but European who has travelled
much in Africa says: Il nave tasted
elephant over and over again. 1t is
more like soft leather and glue than
anything else 1 can compare it to-
Another traveller however, declares
that he cannot imagine how an animal
so coarse and heavy can produce such
delicate and tender flesh. All authori-
ties. however agree in commencing
elephants foot Even the traveller
quoted above, who compared ele-
plants flesh to leather and glue, adj
mits that "baked elephants foot is a
dish fit for a king. When an elephant
is shot in Africa the flesh is cut into
strips and dried; it is then called bill