The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1899-09-07
Speaking of odd but extremely ma

oPo"hihS VI ouu Jul cAlrcmely palat-
able dishes compounded by Cuban cooks
over their queer little "estufas'' contain
ing a handful of charcoal, here are a few
most commonly met: Beans, cooked with
sausage and shrimps, colored golden with
saffron, for an entree; stewed tomatoes.
mixed with chopped boiled eggs; pigeons,
seasoned with lemon juice, onions, pars-
ley, nutgem and white wine, baked in a
thin crust of suet paste; chickens, fried in
oil and garnished with mushrooms and
garlic; and geese slit down the back.
covered with bread crumbs and Drowned
in the oven, afterwards smothered in a
sauce or saulerne boiled down with THYME
and bayleaf. Peacocks are also cooked.
but are so expensive as to be found only
in the best hotels and the houses of the
rich. A favorte way of fattening poultry
here is to put them in barrels and stuff
them with walnuts and cornmeal for sew
eral days before they are killed, some
thing as Americans fatten turkeys for
Thanksgiving such savages we mortals be
in all parts of the world Just before Christ
mas, all over Cuba, turkeys are driven from
door to door through the city streets,
in droves of from forty to hundred, for
people to make their own selection.
Guinea hens, Guinea pigs, mountain rats
and variety of small birds, enter into
the festive menu. Beef, mutton and
pork is killed the day before it is used,
often cooked as soon as killed, because it
cannot be kept in this warm climate. For
the same reason, reputable Cuban cooks
will never buy fish unless they are alive,
and the markets have big tanks full of fish
swimming about. Shrimps Holsters and
mussels are very small here, and the little
tasteless oysters grow on the submerged
branches of shrubs and trees along the
coast; therefore, instead of buying them
by the peck, unshelled, or by the quart or
can. as at home, you go to market and get
a branch of oysters, as if they were cher
ries. Terrapin.. and turtles are fine enough
to make up for the lack of oysters, and
the crabs are better than the best found
in the lower Potomac-whch is saying
great deal for them. Land crabs, espec-
tally, grow to great size and their bodies
enormous claws. They burrow in holes
and their clumsy locomotion is like that
of a man who has looked too long upon
the wine when it is red. Cooks feed
these monsters on cornmeal for several
days before they are to be dropped in
boiling water or oil.
Cubans are adopts in pastry, but they
never make pies. Their desserts are
principally of fruits, uncooked and in
compotes, with too much sweetness for
the American taste. They maze pud-
dings and cakes ALSO and kind of Gus
tard called ''tlam," compounded of eggs,
milk, cornstarch with lemons or bana mas
and a dash Of red Wine Everybody in
Cuba who has cent to spare eats ''monte
cardo," ice cream. at least once every
day, usually just before going to bed.
Few make it in their houses, but send to
the pastryshops for it, just as the bread
rolls are sent in for breakfast. Another
strange, but delicious dessert, whose mys-
teries / have never been able to fathom,
is called tortona, and is found only in the
best cafes. 1t looks like a slice from
slab of pink tinted ice cream, but is not
ice cream at all, though very cold.
FANNIE BRIGHAM WARD.