Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-07-05
M EALS IN MEXICO
CUSTOMS NOTED BY VISITORS
FROM THE STATES.
Light Breakfast Taken by Inhabitants
of the Republic-Food Of
the Working People.
From Modern Mexico.

The Mexican breakfast, like that of the
French. consists only of bread and coffee.
Lunch and dinner. or dinner and supper,
as they are called. differ but slightly. Din
ner IS served usually about ? o'clock. 1t
begins with soup and eggs, and then follow
a number Of meats, each served as a sep
hrate course with an entire change of serv-
ice every time The meats are eaten quite
alone, few vegetables being served in ad-
dillon to the salad course and such as are
used for garnishment. The dessert courses
at a Mexican table differ even more radi-
eally from those served on American tables
Homemade pies. cakes and buildings are
practically unknown.
The Mexican housewife pays comparative
" little attention to the kitchen, and rarely
cooks anything herself. If pastry is desired
81 Is purchased at the dulceria. Nothing IS
baked in a Mexican house, even the bread
being universally bought from bakers.
Mexican cooks do not, a rule. under
stand pastry making. and their sweets are
limited to stewed fruits, usually cooked to
the consistency of the richest and sweetest
preserves. so that very small portion is
satisfying.
The Business Day.
Business hours In Mexico begin in the
afternoon at 2;30 or 3 o'clock. and run until
2 or 8 in the evening. so that the supper
hour falls anywhere from $50 to an hour
later. This is probably one reason that
Mexicans are not more given to evening
entertainments. Attendance upon the the
alter entails the necessity of an unusually
early supper. or else its postponement until
a1ter the performance. thing that often
occurs On the other hand, a leisurely sup
per of an hour or more, beginning at o
O'Clock, brings the close pretty close to bed
time.
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 be-
gins his daily toll upon an empty stomach
About 0 o'clock his faithful spouse,
some member Of his family. and, not infre-
Quently, all of them, mother and children,
come trudgtng to the scene of labor with
basket containing pitcher Of soupy brown
beans, tortillas (cOrn cakes that form the
staff of life among the lower classes, some
rice and possibly some bits of meat that
are minced IN tortilIa, which in addi-
ton to serving often as both bread and
meat, Is also knife and fork and spoon.
Bits are torn off. and by deftly curling 1t
into semi-circular form and doubling the
end 1t is used as an effective scoop for even
liquid food.
Pulque at Meals.
a jug OF pulque, the fermented juice Of
the maguey or century plant, that is the
universal beverage among the masses on
the tableland, is also a usual accompani-
ment OF this meal. The Mexican labOrer
does not have a midday rest, but works
: until about 9 O'Clock. when the morning
repast is repeated without variation as to
bill Of fare. He begins his toll at daybreak,
and is expected TO work till dark, with lit
, tie regard to a clock On his way home he
stops at a 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 differ
: ence to him.
The Mexican peon can eat more, or get
along on less, than almost any other la
borer on earth. In the southern part Of the
country, where the mountain Indians are at
times drafted for work in the lower coun-
try, these men bring with them ball of
heavy corn-meal paste, about the size of
their heads, slung about their necks with
string. When hungry they break off a
piece Of this and mix It up in q cup OF wa
ter, and upon this single ration they will
tubsist Tor an entire week.