Rock Island Argus., 1900-01-10

Delcactes ana For an American
Chef to Prepare Them For His Ta-
bIe-The Cost.
May good digestion wait on appetite
Behold q victory for the toothsome
canvasback duck and the iridescent
diamOndback terrapin, That which
dies aloft amid the blue vault of heay-
en- and that which dives deep down in
sluggish streams alike are to be
slaughtered TO make London holiday,
says the Philadelphia Press. America,
tired of sending heiresses to London,
now switches off to duck and terrapin.
and great is the joy of the epicure
thereat.
Sir Arthur Guest of London tasted
the glorious, palate tickling terrapin in
this prim Quaker city some years ago.
He also indulged in canvasback duck
in Philadelphia, and he vowed a. great
oath that some fair day his friends in
England should partake of these far
famed culinary triumphs of Philadel-
phia.
He could travel and eat to his uttermost fill,
But the taste of the terrapin clung to him still.
And So it came about the other day
that Mr.. Lawrence Mccormick of the
Bellevue received a note from Sir
Arthur Guest saying that his lordship
intended to give a dinner of 40 covers
in London about the middle of January
and that he wanted terrapin and can
vaSbaQk duck in sufficient quantities,
and not only to send the terrapin and
duck, but that the Bellevue was TO
send one of its chefs to Sir Arthur
Guests Kitchens, and by the presence
of the august Bellevue chef the deli
cious bits of epicurean delight could be
prepared as only a chef could prepare
them.
And so Mr. Mccormick has sent Sir
Arthur Guest a letter saying that cook
and edibles would arrive on time. Ten
days before the dinner party in Lon
don the chef and his precious cargo
Will embark, and four days before the
dinner that chef will be in his lord
ships Kitchens getting acquainted with
the pots and pans and other homely
receptacleS necessary to prepare dishes
fit for the Olympian gods themselves.
OF course Sir Arthur Guest has said
nothing whatever about cOst-cost
doesn't count where canvasback and
diamOndback are concerned. But,
merely to show how expensive two
courses can he made when you order
your cook and incidentals in Philadel-
phia and serve them in London, here
are some pretty figures:
1t takes 20 terrapin to tickle 40
palates-and terrapin nowadays are 81
apiece on account possibly of the dia-
monds on their backs. But times
20 gives us $40 as the cost of the
shelled back delicacy. Then the can
vasback duck is very expensive fowl.
1t feeds on celery roots along the Mary
land ShOre-and celery is n rather eX-
pensive diet, even for Il duck. And so
these birds are worth Sc a pair, and
there will be 20 ducks, or ten pair,
which means $50 for ducks. And then
our dear friend the cook. There are
four chefs at the Bellevue, and one of
these will go to England. His wages
are $500 a month, and he will spend
5000 for n round trip ticket
Now we have the mere cost of this
chef duck terrapin expedition and
without any of the frills of profit put
on. And here's how the mere cost
foots up:
Wages of chef. $500
Twenty canvasback ducks. 90
Twenty terrapin. H0
Total cost 800
These $TOO merely represent the ac-
tual cost of things, and no mention is
made of brandies, sherries and the hun
dred details of culinary wants. Add
500 for them and we get $500 for the
cOst-Only the cost, mind you-of can
vasback duck and diamondback terra
pin for 40 people. And when you pay
500 n head for such delicacies then it |
shows how necessary some luxuries
are.
The chef is tickled to death at the |
idea Of showing the Englishmen how |
the wonderful canvasback is prepared |
and the egg gorged terrapin is served. |
And he's lying awake o. nights to |
rightly rehearse his famous formula so /
1t will come to him letter perfect in a /
strange and foreign cline, for the chef /
is the principal article of import in /
this strange astronomical expedition.
Diamondback terrapin has been known
in dear Lunnun," but it is usually |
here and canned. Then you
heat the can in boiling water and
think you haze terrapin.
Canvasback duck, too. have they in
Shot and shipped within 4S
hours of its airy demise, it arrives in
London in fair condition. But the
London cooks don't know what to do
with the fowl when they get it, and
hence the chef. the real Americanized
French chef, who goes to Albion to
show epicures that a hot bird differs
from n canvasback and that diamond
back terrapin isn't turtle.
The terrapin Of toothsome taste,
And diamonds On his back,
Nov crosses DER trackless waste
To England's vzsteless tract.
The cznvasback with Spreading wing
Beloved BY you and me
Now doesn't DO blessed thing
But 20 across the sea II