The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-09-05
GAsTRONOMY IN CUBA.

fescaderia, or FishMarket-Four
Score Ways of Cooking Rice-The Art
of Omelettes.
Especial Correspondence of the Journal
and Courier.)
Santa Clara de Cuba, Aug. This
city of the good Saint Clara, capital of
the rich province of the same name,
with population of over thirty-five
thousand, is altogether the quaintest
town of its size l have seen in Cuba.
Somewhat outside the usual lines of
foreign travel, though on the compar-
lively little-used central railway, it has
managed to retain much of the SAVIOR Of
antiquity through nearly three slow
going centuries. Two hundred and six
teen miles southeast from Havana and
midway between Sagua la Grande and
trinidad, 1t lies in the very heart of the
island, and the center of the richest
sugar producing district. Its narrow
stony streets, lined with one-story
houses painted pink, purple, gray and
blue, radate and ramble from CEN
trail plaza after the fashion Of Spanish
American and ramble halfway UP the
low hills that environ the town. Our
party was met at the station by Cap
seAiIf i'CdH anu lib liCuSeIoliNot anu CO.
corted UP town With 1.-The honors Of
war" in an ambulance drawn by mules.
OF all the humping, jarring ioint-dso-
eating modes OF transit invented by
man, surely the army ambulance de-
serves the palm, and how the sick and
wounded ever endure it passes civilian
comprehension. Rattle his bones over
the stones" shouted Jolly, dark-eyed
Captain Bean at the top of his voice, to
be heard above the clatter of hoofs and
wheels, as Miss Barton and her bevy of
Red Cross followers bumped heads to-
gether, all holding on for dear life and
striving with braced heels and stiff
fened backs to retain the perpendicular.
"Really," continued he squaring his
broad shoulders, this Is healthy exer-
else, though rather rough on beginners.
AT any rate, it is the best cure in the
world for dyspepsia. Just look at me!
l have ratified off thirty pounds of SUI
perfluous flesh since leaving Wisconsin
and never felt SO we'll in my life"
The great, rambling, one-storied Ho-
tel de Santa Clara, kept by dark
-browed gentleman late of Seville, is
oharmingly picturesque, with it's several
tiower-f1lled patios surrounded by
sleeping-1 ooms, its furnishings and
manner of service as Spanish as any
thing in Spain. The beautiful brass
bedsteads with their elaborate draper
les Of satin and lace, are innocent of
mattresses, the most being a thin
quilt spread upon woven-wire springs,
and oftener only the sheet; for Cubans
believe that the less you have under you
wi mt, to- hot, aYfy +l,r1 at-
ter for health. Carpets of course, there
are none. The tiny stand at the head of
the bed upholds the inevitable candle in
a quaint ''stick;" the wardrobe is big
enough to sleep in and the clay water
jars, of similar pattern to those desig
mated in the story of the Forty
Thieves" excite the sin of covetous-
ness in the most religious heart. The
great windows bullying over the street
and extending from floor to ceiling,
have neither glass nor curtains, but the
heavy wooden shutters inside the bars
are provided with little hinged doors
for admitting modicum of air when
privacy is essential.
Cafe sofa, con leche?" Coffee
clear or with mill1?) is the first thing
you will hear, very early in the morn
Ing. as the chamberlain presents HIM
self for orders Be advised, whatever
may be your custom al home, and an
swer ICON leche;" because Cuban coffee
made according to the national
rule, (''black as night, bitter
as death and hot as hell")-is pal
atable only when served with boiled
milk, in the proportions of nine-tenths
milk. Then it is beverage nit for the |
gods, IL those mythical personages mer-
it better things than other folk. In
truth, nowhere can more excellent cof-
Zee be found even in Paris or the Ger
man cities; and as for the United |
States---the world knows that Ameri- |
cars, with all their conceit, have not |
yet learned the a, b, of coffee-making. |
Most of the coffee used in Cuba is
grown on the island, and sometimes the |
goes out into her own back |
yard arc picks the beans, as we pick |
peas for dinner. She browns it a good |
deal blacker than we roast coffee, new"
eli more than the days supply at once
ana grind9 it only when required for
cooking. She also uses a good deal
more Of it than we do-never less than
a full teacup of ground coffee for each
pint OF water. not DOlleQ, or soaked, out
slowly filtered through; and the milk TO
accompany it is always served piping
hot. Indeed, the Cubans have very lit
tie use for raw milk in any form;
they are too much afraid of disease
with abundant reason. A
Cuban never drinks milk except when
the cows are driven around from door
to door. Then, up and down the street,
servants are seen rushing out with cups
and glasses to be filed direct from the
cow and the foaming fluid is drunk
the needless formality of
;traning.
In the matter of Notwithstanding
Cubans are no less expert, and nowhere
Else can be found so creamy frothy
md delicious a mixture. Being consid-
,rably thicker and sweeter than the
American idea of chocolate, small
mug of it, with a bit of bread or fruit.
: a sufficient luncheon. Naturally, in
hot country, cooling drinks are in
great demand. Among a multitude of
tempting refreshcoes lemonade, with a
title Jamaica rum poured over the ice,
md naranjada, (made from bitter or
nges, are very popular; also almond
milk diluted with ice and sWeetened, |
nd certain big pink bean, whose
ane / have forgotten, which, crushed |