The times., 1899-09-03

custom at home, and answer "Con leche,''
because Cuban coffee. made according TO
the national rule BLACK as night, bitter
as death, and hot as hell" is palatable
only when served with boiled milk, in the
proportions of nine-tenths milk Then it
is a beverage fit for the gods-if those
mythical personages merit better things
than ether folk.
In truth, nowhere can more excellent
coffee be found, even in Paris or the Ger
man cities: and as for the United States
the world knows that Americans, with all
their conceit, have not yet learned the
A b G of coffee making. Most of the coffee
used in Cuba is grown on the island, and
sometimes the housewife goes out into
her own back yard and picks the beans,
as We pick peas for dinner. She browns
ii a good deal blacker than we roast coffee,
never more than the days supply at once,
and grinds ii only when required for cook
ing. She also uses a good deal more of
II than we do-never less than full teacup
OF ground coffee for each pint of water,
not boiled. or soaked, but slowly filtered
through; and the milk TO accompany it is
always served piping hot Indeed. the
Cubans have very little use for raw
milk in any form; they are too much
afraid of disease germs-and with abun-
dant 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 filled direct
from the COW, and the foaming fluid is
drunk without. the needless formality of
straining.
Popular Beverages I'm Cuba
In the matter OF chocolate making, Gu
bans are no less expert, and nowhere else
can be found so creamy, frothy and de-
licious a mixture. Being considerably
thicker and sweeter than the American
idea OF chocolate, small mug of 1t, with
a bit of bread or fruit, is a sufficient
luncheon. Naturally, in a hot country
cooling drinks are in great demand
Among a multitude of tempting refrescees
limeade, with a little Jamaica rum poured
over the ice, and haranjada (made from
bitter oranges) are very popular; also al
mond milk diluted with ice and sweet
! ened, and q certain big pink bean, whose
name / have forgotten, which, crushed in
cold water. makes a rich, fruity, and emf
nently satisfying beverage. AS to wines,
the poorest cafe has its win ordinaire
served without extra charge at every
meal. Excellent Catalonian wine brought
from the mother country, is sold very
cheap in Cuba-in Santa Clara almost as
cheap as drinking water, which in dry
times actually sells as high as 10 cents a
bucket! You should see the queer Span
ish "botellas''-wine bottles-with long.
delicate snouts and sometimes a coat-of-
arms cut upon them, circulating around
the tables OF the middle class. from back
corners in dingy shops where the clerks
are fed, 10 the servants tables in hotels
and the mess rooms of Spanish ships in
the harbor. One botella, or at most two.
filled with vino Catalan, answers for a
table full, and briskly it goes from hand 10
hand, as frequent but sparing draughts are
! taken. Strange TO say, the bottle never
once touches anybody's lips, but, held aloft
at the correct angle, the nozzle sends a
tiny stream with unerring precision into
the sophisticated drinkers wide-open
mouth.
You would be surprised to see such a
variety of food served in this third-rate
hotel in the heart OF a poverty-stricken
island, where nothing is raised; and great
er would be your astonishment to find
everything exeellently cooked Yet the
Santa Clara is by no means above the ay-
erage Of Cuban hotels. In all Cuba there
are only two meals day, not counting the
early coffee. and breakfast is almost the
counterpart of dinner. At both meals SOUP
comes first, sayory concoction whose
component parts could only be told by a
ciairyoyant. Hunt around In it, and you
may find chicken, pork sausage, and pig
tails; also peppers, almonds. and eggs
raisins, onions, and clans; possibly glib
LET'S, bits of mutton. and bananas boiled
whole In their skins. the whole colored
dark yellow with saffron. Probably every