Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-11-25
Table Luzuries Imported From All
Parts of the World.
FRANCE At THE TOP OF TIE LIST
Some Dishes That Are Quite Out
of the Ordinary
CATERING TO EPICURES

ed Walks OF lie, ne SoltiiileS " Tic
Thanksgiving dinner-a ceremony in which
the most abstemious person may properly
participate on account of it's associations.
If q parsonage of public Importance, the
feasting is protracted clear through the
snowy months to the season when Lent ar
rives and bids man call halt and give his
digestion a little well-earned repose. Wash
ington is the scene of much official dining.
The alimentary occasions here take on a
significance which similar affairs elsewhere
have not and they are therefore made the
objects of much concern. There is scarcely
a delcacy known to the human palate
which has not it's appearance here, al
though the people assembled at the ban
quet board may have been too much alb
sorbed In the seriousness of the after-din-
ner speeches to give much thought to a
secondary matter like the menu.
Yet there Is . delight to the student of
odd flavors something similar to that which
comes to the collector of old prints or an
tique gems. The American is waking up to
the fact that he has a stomach, and i'm
porters are ransacking the world for novel;
ties, while the general retailers are admit
ting to choice places on their shelves deli
cacies which were hitherto unknown eX-
cepting in the quarters occupied by es-
peciaI nationalities in the large cities. The
gentlemen who banquet this winter at ia
bles which make severely modern preten-
new tastes
Among the imports used by our citizens
the records of our custom houses show
there are over eight hundred different kinds
of foods Many are curious and make I'D
az long list of odd delicacies. This arises
from the fact that our foreign-born popua-
ton, like the Jews of Old who longed for
the flesh pots of Egypt. long for the dishes
and titbits they enjoyed in their youthful
days and in response to this demand
strange edibes with curious names are i'm
ported.
French DeIicacjes.
From France comes the longest list of
oddities, the oldest of all perhaps being
picked cockscombs. Usually they are put up
half-cooked and are then pick ed and spiced
There is to the American palate nothing
Appealing about picked cockscombs, which
are as tough as ''boarding-hous steak"
Another French dish of rare flavor is
blood pudding, which is commonly made
from the blood of beeves and horses. Dur
ing the siege of Paris the blood of dogs
cats, rats and birds was served into pud-
dings, and the French people have ever
since had a fOndnesS for blood pudding,
which is imported into this country for
French consumption only. and has not as
yet met with any favor among Americans.
We import more table deiicacies from
France than from any other country. Bor-
deauX IS the great exporting port. 1t has
been estimated that the number and va
United States from this city alone is as
much again as from all other parts of the
word From Bordeaux come the finest sar-
dimes. canned peas. marcedoines, truffies,
rugUous, olives and olive oils, and any guam
thy of different kinds of cheese The
Frenchmen think that no dinner is com
Dletc without cheese. "A dinner without
cheese" said I}riliat SaVarin, lis like a
beautiful woman with only one eye" Rogue
fort which differs from the other cheeses,
is made from the milk Of sheep and goats.
II is sharp, acrid. and not pleasant to the
uninitiated palate. Camembert is pasty and
comes in small fiat pats, each Weighing
about one pound 1t is more highly favored
than Roquefort, and it's bouquet after
some months becomes absolutely nauseat-
ing.
Made in Germany.
The Germans send US large quantities of
curious food. The more common importa-
tons are sauer kraut, picked herrings and
confections of various kinds, such as pre-
serves from Wiesbaden and Malnz on the
Rhine. sugar waters from Carlsbad, candies
form Cologne, besides caviar from Ham
burg, sausage from Frankfort and pate de
foe gras from Strasburg. Goose breasts
are dried smoked and picked. The saul
sages made Of chicken and duck are
quite palatable. 50, too are the Schwarz-
wald hams, which some think surpass even
our own. sugar-cured hams. OF cheese,
l4imburger is the best known. But for
cdor and strength. a new kind of Muenster
cheese takes the cake. 1t is so powerful
that piece as big your finger would
scent tan yard.
The number of delicaces imported from
Great Britain is immense. Probably the
best known are the various Jams preserves
and sauces coming from London. There is
scarcely town in England but adds some
Kind of canned goods or conserve to the
collection There are butter scotch from
Leeds, cheese from Nottingham, potted
chicken, ham and tongue from Cunning
nam, bloaters and anchovies from Var
mouth. The English still cling to many of
men Ola customs, and so we have, as in
/ The good old days" plum pudding and
gelatin of boars head, packed with pista-
emo kernels. The latter is put up In tins
'tliu lhe Pflce Is not as high might be
| SfApectea' II Is much like head cheese
richer. ---i
From Other Countries.
ihe ihportations frcm Scotland are oat-
n'eai ana hams from Glasgow, kippered
herring and haddock from Aberdeen and
Jams and preserves from Dundee The
emerald isle furnishes a few titbtts There
ID hlnd or seaweed not unlike Iceland
mess 1t makes good jelly. Although this
G 49, ~ much sought after by the Irish
usEefmen along the coasts they collect IT
ior export only, never eating it. as the weed
IS an object OF superstition among them.
o ona'e called dead mans grass" The best
-" anu SOud water III the world
Come II ON Dublin and Belfast. and Ireland
- at present exporting to the United States
great quantities of vinegar, hams, bacon,
mackerel and oatu cal ~
AS rule, the Spaniards are high livers;
Lhat IS to say, they like every bit of food
Hisnly seasoned or highly sweetened From
SPAN we get sweet pepper called pimien-
10, ,os morrones, also preserves and MARINA
Iades or every variety. The preserves are
made by boiling fruits and then adding
prdnoy or wine TO keep the mass from fer
ihehtins. Some of the marmalades-for
example those made from the guaya fruit
heed TO be cut with sharp knife. To
these may be added the far-famed Malaga
grapes. oranges, lemons and raisins. The
latter are always put up very prettily in
WOODEN, paper-laced boxes tied with rib
s 9ohs ana decorated with pictures of bull
lighters and Andalusian maids playing gull
tars or dancing the "fandango." The Span
lsh-Amerlcans import for their own con-
SUMPTION Catalan and Basque sausages,
oiack dry and hard; smoked and dried
sardines and anchovies
FROM Havana Is imported kind of mar
inaiade made from the guava fruit put up
lke the Spanish variety. but the great
trade. or course, between the United States
and Cuba is In sugar and cigars
IN the INST or Imported foods from Italy,
the trade In macaroni and spa ghetti is the