The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-10-12
FOOD AND TABLE CUSTOMS PECUL-
lar TO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.
Impressions from an Englishman
Who Encounters the American
Menu for the First Time.

ence IN search or tndt variety WHICH IL s'S
spice of life. Some are forced against their
inclination by necessity &c encounter fresh
neighbors and fresh dishes. while others,
who would only too gladly roam around the
table. are by the same necessity forced TO
keep the same seat
In visiting a new country one or the
things that strikes the traveller first is the
difference in the food and the manner OF
serving it. and once away from home one
remembers his own native dishes and signs,
or pretends to sigh for them, all the while
that he is enjoying the novelties and vari-
ETY. of food set forth by the new country.
II by magic he could summon one OF his
favorite dishes before him he would prob
ably not eat it, for environment and climate
have changed and the new dishes are suited
to conditions in the foreign land.
A traveller visiting New York for the
first time finds plenty of that variety which
the palate Graves. A mere glance at the
menu of a hotel dinner demonstrates that
fact. Here, for instance, is fish he has
never heard of, there an entree with which
he is not acquainted. Then his eye catches
a German dish, and farther on Is sweet
ne has already tasted in Paris. New York
cookery is cosmopolitan.
We will imagine this traveller, VINO shaD
be English, sitting down to his first din
ner in New York, full of the spirit of adj
venture and not haunted by the spectre OF
indigestion. The DINING room is very like
any other dining room, for all hotels are
much alike, always the same palms, the
same shaped lamps, the same efforts az
adornment But soon he notices curious
whizzing sound, and a delightful draught
of cool air playing around his neck. he
looks about, and notices many electric fans
here and there about the room looking like
huge moths impaled. Certainly he has
seen them before in England. but seldom,
for there too often the air is chilly and
damp, and the warmth of the dining room
delightful.
ICE WATER A SURPRISE.
His eyes idly fall on notice to the effect
that Music will resume early in Septem'
ber." Does everybody go out of New York
then In the summer? Or is 1t like London
in August when the papers inform the
reader that the town is deserted and every
body has gone to the country or abroad
while he knows that he is one of thousands
of the well-to-do still left in the city?
He is surprised to see the waiter place
glass of iced water before him. Now the
most difficult beverage to obtain in a Lon
don restaurant is water. Wines, cups, min
eral water, are all much easier to get than
water. 1t is not on the bill of fare. Iced
water is unknown.
1t is his first experience Of clans, but
they look so like oysters that he attacks
them without delay. Further investigation
proves that they are not unlike oysters,
only inferior. He takes hors d'oeuvres,
a fresh shrimp, so large that in England IT
would be called a prawn.
He halls with delight consomme glace.
He had decided that II was too hot for
soup, but iced soup is different. He thinks
how curious it is that English housewives
do not have iced soups. He will insist on
having his soup iced when he gets back to
England, If by any lucky chance the
weather should prove to be warm.
The names of the fishes sound fearful
and wonderful. What may a bluefish be,
and are soft-shelled crabs good to eat?
With the ordinary English crab he is quite
familiar. and he knows that delightful
Irish dish, hot dressed crab. His choice
falls on the crabs. When the dish arrives
he smiles involuntarily as he looks at the
little fried crabs. They remind him of his
boyhood when he padded barefoot among
the rocks on the seashore and digged in
the sands to dislodge the young crabs in or
der to see them scuttle along He thinks of
the very first crab he ever saw, and of the
vicious nip which rewarded his childish
efforts of investigation. What will be the
result of his investigation tonight? He
tries them cautiously with his fork. Is the
skin edible? He looks at the other tables
near at hand in a wOuld-be casual manner,
but nobody else seems to be eating the
curious fish. In a few minutes he is an
adherent of soft-shell crabs forever. The
only entree that promises novelty is a
squab which he orders Frogs legs he is
sure he will not like. In Paris he could
never be persuaded to try them. The
squad proves to be nothing more or less
than pigneon. and pigeon by any other
name is still the same. Pineapples and
bananas he has never had served vege-
table before. They are a little too sweet
for his taste. Eggplant he will try an
other time.
LIKES THE ICE CREAM
The rest of the dinner has no particular
surprise, but the ice cream is joy. Eng
| land does not excel in the matter of ice
cream, but then the climate does not favor
the ice cream trade. Probably New York
city alone consumes more ice in a day than
the whole of Great Britain. Ice is some
times extremely difficult to obtain in Lon
| dan, and when obtained is very expensive
| Then English houses have no facilities for
keeping the ice, and are obliged to have it
| brought in fresh every day. If London
chances to have a week of hot weather ice
| becomes scarce. Ice in England is a luxury
and paid for accordingly.
But food is largely a matter of climate
| English food is solid, so are its people;
many dishes are very heating, but then in
ward warmth helps 20 keep off cold and
| chills, and repelS the attacks of the fog
| fiend. Very often in England during the
| summer, especially in the country after
very hot day, the evening falls damp and
| chilly, so that the Englishwoman is Obliged
always to keep her furs at hand. She new
| er knows when she may require them This
| variability of climate is discourag ing 10
| housekeeping. The housewife never knows
what to order for the next days meals: III
| may pour with rain all day and the dainty
| dinner thought out and arranged for a hot
| night will not be fully appreciated Ii is
| generally said that the English have no
| imagination in cookery, and il is probably
| more or less true. But has not the climate
| something TO do with this? English roast
| beef and plum pudding are excellently suit
| ed to English conditions
Then Englishman does not hurry over
| his meals in anything like the same shion
as an American. His food which would
| no doubt give Yankee indigestion, is al
| lowed more time TO digest. The hurried
/ lunch is comparatively unknown i'm London
4 The business man leaves his office at
] o'clock, strolls to his favorite restaura nj
| or club, and does not think of emerging
/ from ii until o'clock at the earliest
| Even the junior clerks and office bows are
/ One meets crowds of boys and young
| women in the city between u and 2 stroll.
| ing about the streets, gazing into shops.
| and generally taking a little rest from
| their labors. In such places as ST PauI's
| churchyard. which is in the heart of the
/ city around the great cathedral the seats
are always full at lunch time crowded
| lunches and throwing pieces 10 the pigeons
1 a rRl hr0 IA.