Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1899-07-14

are undoubtedly familiar with the state
ment oft repeated both in print and by
word of mouth that New York is more
like European cities in many respects
than it is like other American towns.
Nothing would tend more to confirm
the truth of this statement than a tour
of inquiry regarding their everyday diet
among the crowded denizens of what is
known as the east side. There are thou
sands dwelling in that part of the town
whose regular eating is about as unlike
the regular eating of native born Ameri-
cans as you can imagine and who would
cry out with indignation were they
obliged to subsist on American fare.
Sweets and sours.
Cultivated Europeans often protest
against what they term American fond
ness for opposites in matters gastronom-
ical, but the liking for antagonistic foods
among the east siders is far more pro-
nounced than among any Americans of
whom the writer has knowledge.
The shaving tailors of the sweatshops
subsist to a remarkable degree upon
sugar, which they consume in the form
of what they term mineral waters These
drinks consist simply of plain Croton,
into which as much sugar as it will carry
impaired to the mixture by the addition
of harmless pigment and a faint flavor
is added by the infusion of some weak
essence. Put up in half pints, this con
coction retails at 2 or cents a bottle.
The average sweatshop tailor will con
sumo two or three bottles a day and, be
sides their contents, will take for food
each 81 hours little besides a few ounces
of bread, wee piece of meat. perhaps,
and few sweet cakes. 1t is the notion
of the tailors themselves that they derive
a stimulating effect similar to that pro
duced by alcoholic drinks from their so
called mineral waters. Physicians with
whom the writer has discussed the mat
ter say that the sweetened Croton is in
deed strengthening to those who partake
of it, but as a food solely and not as
stimulant. They say that the extensive
use of sweetened water in the manner
described by the hard working tailors
proves the food value of sugar very con
clusively.
Pickles form the antithesis of sugar as
a food on the east side. Though omitted
in the above list Of sweatshop workers
diet, they often form a part thereof
though used much more extensively by
some other east side denizens than by the
pickle are virtually endless. They in
clude peppers (red and green), cauliflow-
er, onions and cucumbers, besides n lot
of things not picked by Americans
Picked peppers are perhaps the greatest
favorites. Italians being their most en-
thusiastic consumers. The Roumanian
pepper is by all odds best liked, but the
common red pepper is highly esteemed
also.
Great Vogue of Raw Peppers.
The fiery qualities of the east side pic
killed. pepper would be too strong for most
Americans, but pepper pickles Of any sort
are mild in comparison with Roumanian
peppers raw. 1t may seem a strong state
mcnt, but it is true nevertheless, that the
east side abounds with persons who ask
for no more palate tickling delicacy than
raw Roumanian pepper to eat out of
the hand exactly as you would eat juicy
red apple. 1t is enough to make a Yam
KEGS eyes water to walk through some Of
the east side thoroughfares and see the
general eating Of raw peppers that is GO
ing on almost constantly. There are many
east siders who do not sit down at tables
in orderly fashion to take their food, but
imbibe it from the hand wherever they
happen to be when they feel hungry, and,
often as not, the sidewalk is the favorite
place for the consumption of hand
meals to coin phrase
Most of the hand meal eaters buy their
food either at the contracted little gro
ceries scattered throughout the east side
or from lhe men who travel about the
streets with pushcarts or from the ven
ders of that amazingly curious mart, the
Hester street market. But the liking for
pickles and raw peppers is by no means
confined TO the hand meal eaters. There
are thousands and thousands of extreme
ly well to do families on the east side,
and most of these are as fond of the sour
and burning dainties as their poorer
neighbors. These well to do families lay
down their own pickles every fall exact
| ly as the thrifty American housewife lays
down hers, but east siders never lay down
| pickles in tubs. The barrel is the small
est receptacle used by them for such a
! purpose, and that family not supplied
with two or three barrels of pickles at
the beginning of each cold season would
consider itself decidedly unready for win
ter. The growing of peppers, particular
| ly of the Roumanian sort, has become a
very profitable industry among certain
Long Island and New Jersey farmers. II
took them several years to discover the
east side demand, though, and till they
did the east siders had to import their
| peppers from Europe.
Curiously enough, though good peppers
are now obtainable near New York, on
ions suitable for east side picking are
not. They are procured from the west
East siders don't know exactly where
they grow, but it is somewhere in the vi
cinity of Chicago, for the shipments al
come from that city.
Soup of Beets and Eggs.
A curious kind of beet soup is another
dish in great favor on New York's cas-
side. You might listen to the name o.
1t full half dozen times without know
ing how to spell it. The east slider VIII
told me about it shook his head and final
ly gave up its photography, which, h,
said, might be either "bortsch," "borsch'
or "borscht."
To make this dish they take younj
and tender beets, with the short greer
leaves left on, and boil them a long time
The result is a thick soup. Then the!
take the yolks of lot of eggs, stir then
thoroughly and pour the beet soup in
The whole mass is then stirred again un
til it is uniformly yellowish pink in color
The whites of the eggs are then heater
till they form a stiff batter, which is the
placed on top of the egg and beet SOUP