The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1901-03-22
BoUILlABAlSE FAD

Those who have read Thackery's de-
iishtfl poem, "Bouillabaise," can crafty
their curiosity as To that ENJOYABLE dish
al any one OF twenty French restaurants
In this city, which regularly serve IL on
the Friday carte du jour, says the New
York Mail and Express The dish has
become quite a fad of late. and 10 no one
Is this more astonishing than 10 French
men themselves. In a prominent French
restaurant uptown there is an old Mar
seilles walter who has grown gray in the
calling. His lie has been passed In the
city OF his birthplace and i'm New York.
4 have been here 20 years aud have seen
the, growth OF the French cuisine" he
said To the writer when 1 came here
II was exceedingly uncommon, and. i'm
iacl none too popular. Americans used
70 Try " az an experiment and laughed
at IL when they found il was good They
used 10 call our dishes kickshaws, and
invariably inquired whether there were
frogs III every ragout.
Nowadays IL is universal. Americans
are as good judges as the French them
selves; But with bouillabaise IL is differ
eht. ny Is not national dish In France.
sno IL IN not over-popular I'm Paris. IL be-
longs 10 Provence. and is found at it's
best In Marseilies, Here Il is possible 10
get The dish fresh from the sea. which
is impossible In Paris. IL IL a simple
preparation, consisting OF one part eel,
one part tnnny-nsh and one part she'll
ilsh The rich color and favoring comes
from sanron, and the sauce Is a warm.
aromatic anair, like all Of those used In
southern France. The dish was made fa-
nous by the English poet Thackeray and
if i have heard his poem on bouillabaise
once, i have heard IL thousand times
AT one time We used TO give clam
chowder and fish on Friday, thinking TO
please our American customers. bun IL
was not "A great success; the frenchmen
would try the chowder as "A curiosity. but
the Americans wanted bouillabaise. Then
what Increased It's popularity was the
that almost every man, woman and child
In New York has n chafing dish. Every
week some customer tells me that he has
"A chafing dish, and with this as the ex-
cuse asks me for the recipe for bouilla-
baise. Whether they all try IL when they
get home IL another matter. | know that
some of them do, because they come here
again and make contrasts between their
connections and ours
1T is very easy TO make bouillabaiso
either in chatting dish or ON the stove
Put In frying pan half "a cup OF olive oil,
a Glove OF garlic finely chopped one onion
minced fine. two cloves and six pepper
corns. When these are "a light brown. add
a half pound OF boiled lobster and a
hale pound of any good fish. Eels. sal
mon, bluefish, tunny-hsh. goldfish. even
sardines, Will answer. Also put i'm a half
cup OF water. Then add "A little salt n
bay leaf. three slices of lemon. the pulp
of six tomatoes, "A teaspoonful of saffron.
a glass of white wine. and let IL simmer
20 or 10 minutes. Serve Ii upon very dry
toast and put IL on the table when IL is
stesming. There is one queer thing about
bouilabaise which ! cannot understand.
IL is essentially "A mans dish. Women
rarely order II, and even when they do.
hardly seem 10 enjoy ~. Why this is /
cannot say. unless IL be that the havoring
Is very hot and that the onion and the
garlic may make them fearful of AFFECT
ing their breath.