The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1900-07-21
OODS OF o HER D a rs
EVOLUTION or DINING q N s,
'TERESTING ONE.


.s'u SUI, Banquet Of the Greeks A
M Great Display Pies III One Of
s which Four living Birds We're Com
fined. s ss#
1t would be- a hopeless matter to
attempt to trace the origin Of cook.
ing. There is strong evidence that
fruit, nuts and flesh composed mans
first food IS. The latter he could not
cook until he learned Of the exist
5ence and use OF Il re. Then he dried.
the meat before using it and cooked
it by placing it upon hot embers.
This method was not at all satisfac-
tory, for the smoke did much injury
to the favor. Man S inventive power,
was soon brought into play. He
#skewered the meat and laid ST across
piles OF stone, under which was fire,
thus protecting it from the smoke.
The gridiron thus derived its origin.
The early process Of cooking was one
long series Of periments. It still
retains the experime entail feature, de-
spite the cook books II and cooking
schools, to. this day. The early
Greeks were in the habit Of giving
wonderful banquets. For instance a
dish was. served composed Of the
brains of 500 peacocks. Course din
ners were in vogue among the people.
At the first course, as an appetizer,
were eaten radishes, olives, skirret,
eggs, turnips and fish, etc. a The sec
ond course contained thrush, guinea
fowl, Ionian pheasants, parrot, flesh
of young asses, and dogs. The third
contained fruit, Ancona cakes, pastry,
cheese, and wines. Fortunately the
Greeks ate but once a day, this meal
taking place in the evening. They
deliberated long over their food, eat
ing and drinking many hours. An old
Saxon custom provided that those
guests who were together about the
board must take their seats accord
ing to their rank. Should a guest
make a mistake and seat himself
above d his station, he was at once
pelted with bones and other refuse.
The lady of the house always occu-
pied an exalted position at the end
of the table, where she cut and dis
pensed the bread. It was considered
a great honor to wait upon the table.
To be lord or lady in waiting to the
king or queen is a high position to
this day. The men and women occu-
pied opposite sides Of the table. Each
guest carved for himself, using his
own knife, short, double-edged one
which he carried for the purpose.
Another curious early custom made
host responsible if a guest who had
been entertained three days com:
mitted a crime while under his roof.
He was compelled either to bring his
guest to justice or to answer to the
law himself. 1t was considered a
crime to lack hospitality. Even the
church frowned upon the offense and
called it sin. It was believed luck
would surely desert one who would
turn the stranger from his door. A
horn was always blown before meals,
so all wayfarers might come in and
partake. Sitting at the table began
about the time of Charlemagne. This
they did in imitation Of the Romans,
who took their meals lying upon
lounges. :. The dining table appeared
about the middle ages. Breakfast
was first spoken Of in 1853. The din
ner hour occurred about 8 o'clock and
supper before bed time. Later the
quality folk changed the hour for dim
ner to II and supper at o'clock.
. The greatest pie display ever
known to, history was in 1909. Flu
neral feasts were in vogue at the
time. This pie exhibit occurred at a
dinner given after the funeral of
Albrecht ~, king of Bavaria at the
royal palace in Munich. Seven mon
ster pies represented the seven ages
of the world. The first was an apple
pie, symbolic Of Adam and Eve, the
tree of knowledge, the snake, and the
apple. Upon the crust was the ira
dition told in figures made from con-
F
fectioners' sugar and almonds. The
second pie was made Of doves, in the
center Of which was the ark. Fig
ures of all animals known were also
upon it. Upon the crust Of each pie
were figures containing their mean
ing There was Abraham sacrificing
his son Isaac, and David Staying
Goliath, the ravens feeding Elijah,
and Samson tearing open the, lions
jaws, probably trying to impress upon
1t the necessity Of having a large
mouth for pie. Then the last pie was
opened, and that contained four living
birds, that began to sing. s II. $3:% S &
Wireless Telegraphy.
The governments seems to have aban-
sdoned experiments IN wireless teleg-s
.raphy a few months ago, when the
idea sa was e 8 new, several OF the depart.
ments actively competed for the honor