The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-11-01
GAsTRONOMY IN CUBA.
Some Tempting Dishes That the
Travellers May Find.

! AfAkEAefH Aaay HIhus
Santa Clara Correspondence of the Phila-
delphia Record
| In the matter Of chocolate making the
! Cubans are very expert, and nowhere csc
can be found so creamy, frothy and de-
| liclous a mixture. Being considerably
thicker and sweeter than the American
idea of chocolate. a small mug of it with
a bit Of bread or fruit is a sufficient lunch
con- Naturally, in hot country, cooling
drinks are in great demand. Among
multitude Of tempting frescOs, lemonade,
with little Jamaica rum poured over the
ice, and naranjada (made from bitter
/ oranges) are very popular; also almond
milk diluted with ice and sWeetened. and
| certain big pink bean, whose name l
have forgotten, which, crushed in cold wa
ter. makes a rich, fruity and emlnently
satisfying beverage AS to wines the
poorest cafe has its vim ordinaire. served
without extra charge. at every meal. Elk
cellent Catalonian wine, brought from the
mother country, is sold very cheap In Cuba
in Santa Clara almost as cheap as drink
ing water, which in dry times actually
sells as high as 10 cents the bucket. You
should see the queer Spanish "bOtellas''-
wine bottles, with long, delicate snouts,
and sometimes a coat of arms cut upon
Misunderstanding around the tables of the
middle class, from back corners in dingy
shops, where the clerks are fed. to the
| servants tables in hotels and messrooms
of Spanish ships in the harbor. One bo-
tella, or at most two. filled with vino cata-
Ian, answers for tableful, and briskly
il goes from hand TO hand, as frequent
but sparing draughts are taken. Strange
to say, the bottle never once touches any
body's lips; but, held aloft at the correct
angle, the nozzle sends a tiny stream with
TrNvn Ill
drinkers wide open mouth.
You would be surprised to see such a
variety of food served in this third rate ho-
tel in the heart of a poverty stricken ISL
and where nothing is raised and greater
would be your establishment to find every
thing excellently cooked. Yet the Santa
Clara is by no means above the average
of Cuban hotels. In all Cuba there are
only two meals a day. not counting the
early coffee, and breakfast is almost the
counterpart of dinner. At both meals
soup comes first, a savory connection
whose component parts could only be told
by a clairvoyant. Hunt around in 1t and
you may find chicken, pork sausage and
pig tails; also peppers, almonds and eggs;
raisins, onions and clans; possibly glib els,
bits of mutton and bananas boiled whole in
their skins the whole colored dark yellow
with saffron. Probably everything else
within reach of the cook that is edible
went into 1t; but what's the odds since the
result is delicious?
The Art of the Omelet.
About the only difference between break
! fast and dinner is that eggs figure at the
former meal. The Cubans, like their Lat
in cousins i'm France and Italy. know a
thing or two in the line of egg cooking.
| and particularly in omelet making, which
colder booded Anglo-Saxons can never
master II is an old saying that only per-
/ sons of blue blood and refinement can COM
| pound popular salad; and equally true
| is il that the art and science of omelets
| belong exclusively to the poetic races. l
| presume that you might get an omelet
| plain" in Cuba by giving such an order
! 10 the amazed cook; but l have never seen
| one here unadorned. or unmixed with
/ something besides the eggs TO give 1t col
or beauty and flavor. Tomatoes, peas or
| potatoes most frequently enter into it, or
! fruit, nuts, beans, onions, meat, rice or
| laisns.
Fish never follows soup, as with us but
/ is served ate in the Cuban menu And such
/ fish Big o. ntle, they are always brown
/ ed to delicate perfection in oil and served
| with lines or in some s-avory mess of TO-
! matoes, wine and the inevitable saffron.
! The fish market of any Cuban seaport is
| its most interesting sight. Thai of Ha-
| vana. called the Pescaderia Che word de-
/ rived from Pescado, fish, Is great stone
! building. mostly roof, resting upon arches
| supported by pillars, the sides being open
to secure ven Hat on. The market is a gov
| eminent institution and monopoly. ana the
/ niscatoriai display cannot le assed and
seldom cquaEed. in any part of the world.
! Not only does the Cuban coast furnish
! wonderful variety OF The tinny tribes, but
| fishermen come in regularly from the bor-
/ ders Of Florida, Yucatan and the Tortu-
| gas. There are shellhsh OF every descrip-
/ ton. snakelike cells. black and yellow Span
| ish angle-dsh, the so-called butterflies Of
the sea" beautiful dolphins. bright blush
! green bahama iurbot, squirre'fish of a tril-
| liant scarlet, parrot-fish, sharks enormous
! porpoises to he converted into OF, and a
| thousand others, golden, anne hyst, silver,
pearl blue, crimson, iridescent ana lstre-
| less gray.
! MOI only are fish for Cuban cousump-
! ton brought fiom other parts of The Carib-
| bean sea and the Mexican Gu t, even cod
| fish from far away Nantucket and salmon
/ from the Columbia, but great many 9TH
or common food supplies which might just
! as well be raised in the island come from
/ afar. Spanish vessels bring wines and
olives from EarcclOna; queer Portuguese
| craft discharge catgces Of onions, gar
| fic and flour. Halifax sends on ous, cab
| bagcs potatoes, apples and sailed fish;
South American hrigantines, with The GEM
! eral air Of piraucal craft, bring wheat
! jerked beef, sweet Oil bacon, Hard, figs
olives and brandy from Mexico come most
OF the bulls for fighting in the Plaza de
Toros and incidentally beef, while Amerl-
can and Canadian vessels bring about four
nUhs Of the entire food supplies consumed
in Cuba.
Speaking Of odd but extRmely palata-
bic 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
sausages and shrimps. colored gold with
saffron, for an entree; stewed tomatoes
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