The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-03-22
EXPENSIVE EATING.
Some Instances of Costly Dishes and
 Wines.

| Tit Bits.
 l A famous chef has declared that the best din ner any man desire, exclusive of wines | can be served up for s2 head. But the mod | ern tendency of wealthy people to provide ex traordnary dinners for their friends is toward gross extravaganza rather than taste, and tho chef who nvents dish really too costly tc I be eaten takes higher. place than another who concocts an inexpensive dish. To suct extremes has the dresire to be extravagantly | epicurean gone that 1t is possible to or. 1 der dinner every mouthful of which would cost more than the majority of people spend 1 in supporting themselves and families for 6 fortnight.
 certain London restaurant can offer cpl cures one of the most expensive dishes ob- tainable. It is, of course the invention of a fsmous chef. and has added lustre to his name. But the hungry clerk will be well ad- vised not to order 1t. for it will not provide him with more than sufficient to whet his ap- petite, and will cost him six weeks salary, even if he has reached the affluence of | 20 year.
 The dish consists of the fat legs of four small birds. rare and expensive. no bigger than juvenile pigeons, inclosed in quail. which is placed in capon. A goose, the fattest and tenderest obtainabe. and fine turkey also play important parts in the preparation of this dish but the four small legs from the inside of the quail aloe are served up the other birds being employed to add their flavor to that of the four legs, in which duty they are assisted by liberal bastng with rare wines.
 This dish Is said to be sufficiently delicious to soften the heart of the most calIous cpl cure of course. the greatest thing in it's favor Is its prohibitive cost. Personally, we are inclined to envy the bulging-eyed pug which doubtless devours the incidental and ''spoilt capon, though blush for our vul- gar taste.
 Peacocks tongues form the basis of another Fashionable dieh nd fhnptUh thoxr stf ficiently expensive for most people, it is really the things added to them and their treatment which make the dish costly. It takes dozen peacock's tongues to make a dish large enough to be clearly visible to the naked eye and such a dish would add anything from f 3 to e7 to a dinner bill according to what other delcacies were employed in creating the dish.
 Turte-hn soup is yet another choice course calculated to allure man into the bankruptcy courts, though Its cost is comparatively trihing, enough to cover the bottom of soup plate being obtalnable in many hotels for mere bagatelle of e2 unless 1t has been elaborated, as it often Is, when 1t occasionally runs to e4 per head on the bill. Birds nest soup Is not yet really appreciated by Westerners. despite the fact that it is even dearer than turtle.
 Probably the most expensive soup to be had is that for which the talented-we were almost printing inspired" of a Paris restau- rant Is noted. Much mystery (as is usual with French dishes) exists to what it is made of, but one of the chief constituents is woodcocks' legs stewed very gently until the flesh falls off the bone, The resultant liquor is then all lowed to cool. equal portions of two wines are added, and then 1t is ready to he prepared in all earnestnes. It costs eighty francs every time.
 The tasteful art of being a genius of a chef seems 10 consist to a great extent in getting the smallest portion of food out of the most costly bird or beast in such way as to effect the greatest possible waste. dish invented by Paris chef in honor of a dinner given to an actress by some of her admirers con- sisted of the most delicate portions of thirty geese, ten turkeys, and woodcocks, prepared in a sauce, obtained by stewing the tender meat of four sirloins of beef and leaving only the turkey element to be served up with truffes The cost of the course fSo-not because of what 1t consisted. but because of all that was wasted in its preparation. It is on the cards that truffleE will soon be as unfashionable onions. since they can all most always be obtained for a guinea a pound, and no chef has yet discovered any part of them much better than the rest to excuse wasting half and doubling the price, though chefs nearly always have waste" of any kind to do with they will.
 Epicures of twenty years ago used to relish a nice woodcock. snpe. or capon, but the mod ern epicure would not deign to eat more than the most delicate portion of those birds and thus, while they than ever. more are required to make n dish, and the cost leaps up There is small and Infinitely deli cate species of the sturgeon called the sterlet which was very much favored a few years ago Now, however. the higher epicures will only touch its roe caviar at G2 a time.