The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1901-07-19
TOO MANY COOKS.
An English WOman's Experience in
Hunting Up a Distinctively
American Dish,

A bright Englishwoman travelling
recently in America showed herself
SO appreciative of all good things
American that she was met every
where with the utmost eagerness to
afford such information and eXplana-
ton as she desired. At home she was
the owner of beautiful estate where
she entertained largely, and it oc-
currd to her that she might offer an
agreeable variety to her English
guests and welcome "Reminiscences
of home to American friends if she
could carry back to her cook some
recipes for dishes distinctively Amer
lean. She preached the idea while
lunching with three of her new Yam
kee acquaintance. They were most
responsive, says Youths Companion.
"Beans!" cried the lady from Bos-
ton, instantly. "My dear, beans!"
"But we have beans in England" re-
marked the Englishwoman. "And I
really shouldn't imagine they afford
ed much opportunity for"
"Fine cookery? But they do, I as
sure you. Boston baked beans are
quite different from any other beans.
Our beans
"Chowder!" interrupted explosive
ly the lady from Rhode Island, smit-
ten with a sudden happy thought.
"Beans are nothing to it. Clam
chowder! There's no dish so purely
and deliciously American as a good
clam chowder-none. 1t originated"
maybe it did and maybe it didn't"
broke in the Maine lady, unexpected
ly. cts a disputed question; but
succotash is sure. Succotash is In
dian beyond a doubt-real, native,
aboriginal Indian. It's the one In
dian dish. The Indians"
"No more than hominy and chow
der. Chowder is Indian, too. First
you want your CLANS good, fresh
ones-'
81 don't admit that Indian dishes
are as typically American as some
others. We're not Indians, and our
ancestors weren't. Now with baked
beans it's different. The distinction
is"
And just there the cooks began to
stir the broth and mix it.: Perfectly
fresh ones, you know, and milk and
corn and onions and potatoes and
pilot-crackers. Some people don't
put in corn, but / think" taught
the settlers. It's corn and beans to-
gether, and really most appetizing
when'-"baked for hours and hours
as slowly as possible; and they come
out the loveliest brown, and so ten
der and rich''-'fire of driftwood and
smother it under with seaweed and
roast the ears in the ashes to eat
with it"-"every Sunday morning all
over New England since nobody
knows when''-"the most characters
tic kind of Yankee good time. Till
you've been to Rhole Island clam
bake you actually can't imagine
"why, when it's so simple, most peo-
pie don't mix their beans and corn
in the right proportion, don't know;
but they don't, although everything
depends'-"sure you'd be delighted"
-'say it was simply delicious
"never tasted such a tempting mouth
full in your ffe"-"just a sniff is
enough to make you hungry as a
hunter"-"there's nothing else in the
world one wants to eat so much Of
it's almost shocking!"
The English lady recorded in her
notebook:
"Succotash.-A popular American
dish invented by the Indians; a kind
of fish-stew, prepared with maize.
beans, seaweed and the variety of
mussel called clam. 1t is simmered
overnight in the oven in deep earth
en- pot, and is customarily served on
Sundays throughout the states"