The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-21
FOR 4 CHRISTMAS DINNER.
Choice Viands in Plenty are OBJ
tainable Here.
FROM AN sPicuRE.s VIEW.
state Of WasAington Furnishes
Fish, Flesh and Fowl In the
Highest Perfection-Game In
Plentiful and the Soil Produces
Rich and suoculent Vegetables
-suggestions for Christmas Menu

A HHISTMAS. no less than
Thanksgiving. is day Of feast
Ing. This IL the established
custom in England and Amer
lea and other countries in the list of
Christian nations. From now on until
after next Monday the average American
housewives mind will be filled with plans
concerning the essentials OF the Christ
mas dinner. including the traditional tur..
key. properly stuffed, juick oysters, crisp,
fresh celery, mince pies and the old Eng
lish plum pudding.
Probably the average man enyies the
lot OF the woman who has to deal In
this sort Of thing. That the male portion
OF the population expects great things
at dinner on. Christmas day will be con-
coded without argument, That there are
few places on this earth where mans
dinner can be more thoroughly and artis-
tically satisfied than In the state OF
Washington is easily susceptible of proof
Local caterers and market men claim
that the best Christmas dinner to be had
in the world can be secured In WASH
ington almost, II not entirely. of ma
tive production. Caterers who make
their business an art, assert that
there may be obtained from Puget sound
and from Eastern Warrington articles of
food which would arouse the admiration
OF the greatest epicures OF Europe and
the Eastern cities. 1t really makes ones
mouth water to scan tho list Of edibles-
fish. flesh, fowl and neutrality-suspicious.
in this state, all ranking high from an
epicurean point of view. which one of
the best known caterers In the city pre-
pared at the request Of an inquisitive re-
porter yestefdeys -. -
" W W
TN HIS caterer went through the list of
Il dishes to be served at Christmas
dinner First in the array OF tooth
some yiands. came the oyster, It being pre-
sumed that in the ideal bill Of fare for
Christmas dinner, the invigorating cock
tail. made of good old Kentucky whisky
would lead off, In the oyster line. many
people prefer the New York or Mary
land bivalve, served on the half shell.
1t Is claimed. however, that the Puget
sound oyster excels, gauged by an cpl
curean standard. even the most esteemed
Eastern oyster. The latter are shipped
here in cans, on ice, or in barrels In the
shell.
In either case, It is claimed, the East
ern oyster does not come up to the essen
tial requirements that the oyster to be
enjoyed in his perfection must needs to
be eaten almost palpitating from the
shell. In addition, culinary authorities
claim that the Sound oyster possesses in
concentrated form all the good qualities
OF the bdltlmOre DlVAlVe, III aQOlIlOn TO
the merit Of absolute freshness.
Fish occupies a prominent position in
the early part Of the ideal Christmas din
ner menu. Here, 1t Is asserted, Puget
sound outshines all competitors. In the
line of fish and shell fish should be noted
the Puget sound shrimp, which is often
placed first on the bill OF fare. The
Sound shrimp is Of good red color, snappy
and highly favored. The California
shrimp. 1t il claimed by well posted cater
ers, is far behind the Sound article,
while the New Orleans variety, although
perhaps larger, has no points over the
Sound shrimp in color and flavor.
Speaking strictly Of fish. one has only
to cite the Puget sound black cod, the
Sound herring, finer than even the famed
Scandinavian or Holland variety. caviar
from the Sound and Columbia river stur-
geon, and last, but not least, the Wash
ington mountain trout.
There are no sweeter or daintier fish
than the cutthroat or the rainbow trout,
which swim in the glacier fed streams of
this state, to say nothing of specified and
Dolly Warden trout which abound In the
larger streams and lakes. These fish are
plentiful. The man who wants to secure
them for his Christmas dinner has but
to board a street car or ride an hour or
so on a railroad train to find them in
plenty.
Epicures claim that the caviar from the
Sound and Columbia river sturgeon Is es-
teemed more highly than the article pro-
duced on the Baltic. In fact, the Russian
caviar, long held to be the standard, has,
It Is claimed, been relegated to second
place in competition with the Washington
caviar. Of which large quantities are ex-
ported every year.
On every well-regulated menu for a
Christmas dinner space is provided for the
deyi,ed crab The Dungeness crab ranks.
in the opinion Of Eastern epicures. above
even the lobster Of the Atlantic coast They
are plentiful and In fine form at this sea-
son Of the year.
" " w
~ ETTING down to the piece de resist
NJ ance of the average Christmas din
ner, Washington excels in turkeys BY
authorities 1t is commended that the East
ern Washington turkey stands highest.
The climate on the other side of the noun
tains, in the opinion of expert poultry
men, Is more favorable to the development
of the turkey than the damp climate Of
the Sound. Wet weather kills the young
birds or prevents their full growth and de-
velopment, 1t Is asserted.
In the line of game, which should be rep
resented in some form on the ideal menu
fer the Christmas dinner, Washington can
cast of the very best. The conventional
turkey is tabooed on Christmas in many
homes, and in Its stead eastern Washing
ton wild goose Is reared on a high pedes-
tai. Yakima county boasts Of the finest
wild geese in the state. There is a section
of Yakima county called Horse
heaven bordering on the Column
bIa river. where annually thou
sands of fat geese from Arctic zones,
with stomachs replenished by sojourn in
the Eastern Washington grain fields con-
gregate for weeks. These fiocks are drawn
upon for many Christmas feast, and 1t Is
claimed that the gray and green feathered
wild fowl are far more toothsome than
the average turkey.
From Eastern Washington may be had,
in season, prairie chickens with just
faint but appetizing flavor of the sage
brush. Western Washington's wooded hills
furnish pheasants and grouse In abun-
dance, while in the valleys. especially
about Anacortes and on WILDLY island.
whirring fiocks Of fat quail, including Bob
Whites and the California hooded variety,