Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-03-01
z n,,urp rooDs FRoM ABROAD.
Sent From the Old Countries TO Iheh
Children Here.

Sent From tpe Oid to nar,
OF the more than seventy nationaiities
that 20 to make up this great country
of ours there is probaoiy mo. mo- t une , .ma'
does not at some time during tue year.
appear on the books OF at ieasI one o.
our ports of entry by reason OF lmmi.
grants desires for home dishes; me ~
of these amounts to many nunuIsus. anu
most of the names are u"i"ii"' !"
American ears.
THE Irish have very little 10 boast OF ~
their native country from sastronomic
standpoint; yet they i impor' reg haaan
genuine "murphies, and Irish moss. a
peculiar kind of dried seaweed which Is
obtained upon the western coast OF the
Emerald Isle. This latter Is not very az
tractive in appearance, looking very
much like the stun employed IN our sea-
side resorts for preparing clambakes
Properly cooked. however, II becomes
converted into a dark gelatinous
mass and is extremely agreeable to the
taste 1t is said to be very wholesome
for people troubled with weak digestions.
The Swedes and Norwegians import
small cabbage. seawesa very mucn
kinds of bread. OF the latter one Is
like the German pumpernickel. the second
is like the unleavened bread which the
be a hybrid between the two. They are
how prepared. quite"palatable Toasted
and served with milk. cream. or butter.
they make an enjoyable dish.
The French keep alive their love for
LA Patrie'' by consuming any amount
of Gallo food. The queerest of all their
imports is picked cocks comb. the an
imal tissue and not the flower being the
article. Sometimes it is put up raw, and
sometimes it is half cooked and then
picked or spiced II makes a very bril-
liant dish but it Is not very fascinating
to one unfamiliar with the luxury. being
tough, poorly favored. and very sugges-
| tive of piece of leather. A relic of the
siege of Paris and the war of the Com
| mune is afforded in French blood pud-
ding, which is darker, heavier and more
wurst The love for this dish is an ac-
quired taste, the impression produced
upon one who eats it for the first time
being rather disagreeable. These. pud-
dings are made from the blood of beeves
or horses 1t can be found on the table
of nearly every French restaurant and
boarding house in this country.
The many German provinces are also
large exporters of odd foods to the Uni
| ted States. Besides such common pro-
ducts as sauerkraut. sausages. picked
herrings. and soused mackerel. they send
hares and wild boars in the winter time;
la curious confection called matzapan
which is made of white sugar. cream
and blanched almonds: various kinds of
bread, pastry and confectionery. Occa-
sionally they send eabbages and pota-
| toes. The former are smaller than our
own, but are usually more delicate and
| finer favored. The latter are small
round. and altogether inferior to our own
product. Other foods are goose breasts.
which are dried. smoked. and picked; ;
special kinds of ham, for which. IL should
be added, they charge special prices. and
| a very delicious mushroom, which Is
grown in caverns along the Rhine and
| other river courses.
| yx-l,sla 1.ar,, faxxy emo Ia rdr ayau prior IN
the present war lived under the Stars and
| Stripes, yet they Imported curious foods
| in large quantities and great variety from
Spain, Cuba and Porto Rico. Few OF
Ithese are ever found in our stores. near
| ly everything being consumed in either
the household or the few restaurants
which the Hispanolians have established
in the past decade. Among these luxu-
| res are Vic, Catalan and Basque sau-
sages all of which are long, tnin and
narrow. smoked. until they are almost
black dry and hard as a piece of wood,
but finer than any other sausage that
comes to this country, guayada and
guayabada. which are marmalades made
from the guava fruit alone, or from II
mixed with other fruit. and boiled down
SO hard as to justify the Castilian use of
the knife and fork when it Is served
upon the table. red and green peppers.
which have been canned i'll great tin
boxes that contain ten and twenty
pounds; Andalusan cheese of which the
ma eternal cows must have deteti upon
onions and garlic in order to account for
its flavor: preserves of cocoanut, pine
apple. orange. banana. and suava made
by boiling the fruit with coarse sugar
and then adding to ii brandy or strong
wine to keep it from fermenting; air
dried beef. which resembles the smoked
meat of our own country in appearance.
but differs from ii altogether in taste
and tenderness; smoked and dried sar-
dimes. which make an excellent appetizer
for dinner or luncheon and various
forms of anchovies. the most pnngent of
all the finny tribe. How the mouths of
the beleagured soldiers and citizens and
women and children in Santiago de Cuba
and the blockaded thousands in Havana
would water over the mere mention of
these delicacies.
Japan is heavy shipper OF outlandish
foods to the New World. 1t has practi-
cal monopoly of the nests which are used
in making birds'-nest coup, which. by the
way =, when zen prep'ss by an , american a.,
class in the world. 1t also catches and
dries armies of devil fish. which are as
popular in the East dried Goldfish in
the West. In fact the two sea foods are
very much alike in flavor and differ
chiefly in their texture the flesh of the
devil fish being hard, compact and more
like muscle than that of the familiar cod.
Tree mushrooms and sea mushrooms are
two other famous Japanese edibles that
come to us across the Pacific They re-
semble mushrooms in their contour and
structure. Dut IN nothing else. The tree
mushrooms have a flavor of wood bark.
while the sea mushroom boils away in
cooking very much as if it were made of
marine glue. In fact. it is used in ia
pan for making vegetable gelatne for
Ithickening stews and soups in very much
the same manner we convert the
bladders of surgeons and other fishes in
to animal gelatinen for similar purpose.
IDried fishes are another important export
from the land of the Mikado. Unlike us
the Japanese dry almost every eatable
fish from minnOws and whitehall up to
marine animals as large as the sturgeon
and the swordfish Their drying appears
to be conducted upon a differen. system
from our own. When ready for the mar
ket their fishes are so dried as to suggest
kiln-dred timber. They apply the same
process to the lower forms of sea life and
desiccate clans, mussels, oysters. prawns.
shrimps, crawfish, and crabs until they
resemble stone. In this condition the
foods will Withstand any climate and
may be kept in the open air without
spelling for an entire twelvemonth.
China is close rival of Japan and dis
plays an equal ingenuity in making the
delicacies which it exports to the Amer
lean market. There is long list Of these
which can be bought on Race street The
more important are crystallized lines.
dates, figs and watermelon rind. pre-
W. fAYrS 1a1n