The suburban citizen., 1902-09-13
MEAL HOURS IN MEXICO.
Differences in Customs Noted by Visitors
From the United states.


The Mexican breakfast, like that or
the French. consists only of bread and
coffee. Lunch and dinner or dinner
and supper, as they are called, differ
but slightly Dinner is usually served
about 2 o'clock. 1t begins with soup
and eggs, and then follows a number
of meats; each served as a separate
course. with an entire change Of ser.
vice every time. The meats are eaten
quite alone, few vegetables being
served in addition to the salad course,
and such as are used for garnish'
ment. The dessert courses az MeXi'
can table differ even more radically
from those served on American tables
Home made pies, puddlngs and cakes
are practically unknown. The Mexican
housewife pays comparatively little at
tention to the kitchen, and rarely cooks
anything herself. If pastry is desired
it is purchased at the dulceria.
Nothing is baked in a Mexican house,
even the bread being universally
bought from bakers. Mexican cooks
do not. as a rule, understand pastry
making, and their sweets are limited
to stewed fruits, usually cooked to the
consistency of the richest and sweet
est preserves, so that a very small por.
ton is satisfying. Business hours in
Mexico begin in the afternoon at 2.3C
or 3 o'clock, and run until Z or in the
evening, so that the supper hour falls
anywhere from $50 to an hour later.
This is probably one reason that MeXi.
cans are not more given TO evening en-
tertainments. Attendance upon the
theatre entails the necessity of an un.
usually early supper, or else its post
! ponement until after the performance,
a thing that often occurs. On the other
hand, leisurely supper Of an hour or
more, beginning at . O'Clock, brings
the time pretty close to bedtime.
The Mexican day laborer swallows
a bowl Of coffee at a street stand, on
his way to work, If he is fortunate
enough to pass one, and has the price,
but usually he begins his daily tod
upon an empty stomach. About Q
o'clock his faithful spouse, or some
member of the family, and not infre.
quently, all of them, mother and chill
dren, come trudging to the scene Of
labor with basket containing a pitch.
er of soupy brown beans, tartillas Corn
cakes that form the staff of life among
the lower classes, some rice and pos.
] Ia 80, In m a
tortilla. which, in addition to serving
often as both bread and meat, is also
knife and fork and spoon. Bits are
torn off and by deftly curling it into
semi-circular form and doubling the
end II is used as an effective scoop
for even liquid food. A jug of pulque,
the fermented juice of the maguey or
century plant, that is the usual bever'
age among the masses on the table.
land. is also a usual accompaniment
Of this meal.
The Mexican laborer does not have
a midday rest, but works until about
3 o'clock, when the morning repast
is repeated without variation as to
bill of fare. He begins his toll at day.
break, and is expected to work till
dark, with little regard to a clock. On
the way home he stops at pulqueria
TO have all the drinks he can afford.
and arrived at his home he may find
something more to eat and he may
not. 1t seems to make little difference
to him. The Mexican peon can eat
more, or get along on less, than almost
any other laborer on earth. In the
southern part OF the country, where the
mountain Indians are sometimes draft.
ed for work in the lower country, these
men bring with them a ball Of heavy
corn meal PASTE about the size of their
heads, slung around their necks with
a string. When hungry they break off
piece of this and mix it in a cup Of
water, anG upon this single ration they
will subsist for an entire week,-Mod'
/ ern Mexico.