The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-01-21

| retinue that must not only be lodged, but
| fed. rs well. and for this reason they are
cordially welcomed. But the foreigner
| travels with comparatively few servants
| the smallest number he can take with him
and he carries his own bedding and food.
| The latter Is cooked in his rooms. which
are very grudgingly placed at his dis
posal, and he requires nothing from the
kitchen except hot water. which is also
unwillingly furnished. Many Americans
obviate the difficulty-or partially obviate
it-by ordering Chinese food, which they
do not eat, of course. This is an affront,
ALSO whether II is left untouched or di-
vided among the servants; either course
is a reproach to the Chinese chef and the
cuisine. And they generally find it out,
If either alternative has been resorted 10.
CHINESE COOKERY.
Foreigners do not always willingly Of
fend. for TO the western taste almost all
Chinese food is unpalatable. Missionaries
who frequently attempt TO live upon it
break down in short time and acquire a
species of Indigestion that is nearly i'm
! possible to cure. Rice, chickens. ducks and
| fresh eggs may be had almost every place,
and all are excellent Chinese rice is es-
| pecially delicious, and Chinese fowls are fat
and tender, and the beef and mutton are
| unsurpassed. In the matter of meat of all
| sorts the Chinese do not discriminate; ii Is
cut in shapeless Jumps. and good, bad and
Indifferent, the tenderloin and neck, are
sold for the same money; all is fish, liter
| ally, that comes to the Chinese net. The
pork is not so good; pigs pick up precari-
rYfc Hrri,cr a1f all
fed. They are upon terms of the utmost
intimacy with the family. walking in and
out of the houses at will, and sharing the
doorstep with the dog, but they are thin,
slab-sided and wretched looking.
| Wheat -four while it is dark, is also very
sweet and palatable, and corn meal and
buckwheat are also largely used in the
north, at least. Corn cakes are a staple.
nodded in thick discs or in large cones. and
steamed. Corn meal also is sweet and pal
atable, with strong flavor of the fpesh
| grain. During recent journey to Chang
p'ing-Chow my friends carter took from
| the bosom of his frock, where it had re-
posed against his naked chest, a fat corn
| cake, a part of which he hospitality urged
her to accept. AS a rule, Chinese cooking
Is too greasy for the western taste, and so
many unusual and positively repulsive in
gradients are used that it is difficult to eat
it, even at feast where common polite
ness makes it urgently necessary to taste
of every dish before one. Chestnuts are
cooked in many palatable ways - roasted
evenly and thoroughly in kettles of burn
ing hot sand, boiled with meat and vege-
| tables, with fowls or in soup. But, as /
| have said, the foreign traveller who puts
| up at,native inns-as he must do, unless he
| is so fortunate as to obtain shelter I'm a
| country mission-must carry with him his
own flour. cocoa, coffee. bread and potted
| or cold meats. 1t is usual to cook meat
| partially and then boil or stew 1t on these
| excursions. At this season of the year the
| tart, appetizing red fruit" whose botan-
| ieal name 1 have been unable to learn,
and the luscious Chinese persimmon
may be had everywhere, from stroll
ing vendors by the roadside, among the
| fields, in the towns and villages. The
persimmon is about eight or ten inches
in circumference, with a thick, glossy skin
of the deepest orange red; within it is full
of rich. sweet pulp, and touched with frost
loses it's astringent quality-like the dwarf
species which grow in the United States.
The Chinese, however, are really most skill
full coeks, excelling in two chief essentials
thoroughly seasoning and cooking their
food until it is done. One does not watch
the process too closely, however, as their
work is largely done in the open air. in
clouds of dust, in vessels that are seldom
cleaned. and with hands that. though of
another color, recall the lamentation of
Lady Macbeth.
THE INSECT PEST.
| In warm weather Chinese inns swarm
with every known species of vermin that
can crawl, jump or bite. When it grows
cold they become torpid, and that Is an
other urgent reason for postponing jour
neys into the country. aside from the con-
dition of the roads. until the autumn. BY
that time their numbers have either been
decreased, or, they are at least. disabled
| by the cold. Unless worn out by many days
of continuous riding in cart or on
donkey it is difficult to sleep in these
primitive places, leaving vermin and the
adamantive K ang out of the question. For,
| while the houses along one side of the
open court are reserved for guests, on the
opposite side are open stalls for the ami
mails, and here donkeys and mules munch
and bray all night. mingling their stamping
with that of tired and impatient horses. 1t
will be seen, therefore, that travelling away
from the coast and the waterways is still
difficult and fatiguing, and in spite of the
cheapness of servants, carts and lodging,
it is very expensive in the end. So much
impedimenta must be carried for even a
few days absence that the traveller looks
as If he were equipped and provisioned for
| a journey across the empire-carters, donk-
ey boys a cook and ordinary servants be-
ing considered indispensable for very
ordinary degree of comfort.
l have spoken of reluctant innkeeprs;
we encountered one such specimen Upon
our first arrival. at nightfall, after having
crossed stretch of country known to be
overrun by aNdangerous band Of robbers,
we were unwillngly permitted to stay all
right The court was filled with carts
and animals, and 1t was evident that
the man told the truth when he said
the inn was crowded He gave us
shelter for the night, however. although he
insisted that our staff OF carriers and SER
wants should occupy one OF the rooms of
the suite-a plan which Immediately
vetoed, and 10 which they themselves, with
the never-failing sense of Chinese pro-
priety, also strongly objected. Upon our re-