The Republican journal., 1903-02-19
WHAT TO EAT.

sWhat to Eat" is unique and very
entertaining publication. Its shape and
it's cover distinguish it from the com
mon herd of magazines. You can tell
What to Eat wherever you may see it.
In contents also it is original. 1t is not
monthly cook book or a cooks kinder
garten. 1t tells of good things to eat,
and of what not to eat; of social fes-
tivities and customs; of home enter
tainments; and its editor is foremost
in the good fight for pure food. In the
January number is told the story of
"Coco," who albeit a goose was ''no
goose" The writer says:
Coco was incubated, hatched and rear
ed in the bosom of the Margot fam
ily, who dwelt on Grande Isle on a
Pegoty-like houseboat, and lived, more
or less, by raising cauliflower for the
New Orleans market. Old man Mar
got, his son Ben, and two daughters
made up the family.
That paragraph takes the writer back
36 years. In 1867 New Orleans had an
epidemic of yellow fever, and for a
time was shut off from the rest of the
world by strict quarantine. The dis
ease was in a comparatively mild
form, and in a total of some 10000
cases there were $4,000 deaths. The
writer escaped Bronze John, but en-
countered an even worse foe in an in
termittent fever and suffered two re-
lapses. When convalescent the doctor
decided that change of air and scene
was necessary and ordered his patient
to Grand Isle. The Margot family were
then running a hotel, or rather resort,
utilizing for the purpose the buildings
of an old plantation. The planters
house was devoted to ladies and fami-
lies. the negro quarters were white
washed and furnished for bachelor
quarters, there was building which
served as billiard room. bar room and
Office, and another as dining room.
The family consisted then, as i'll the
sketch above quoted, of old man Mar
got, his son Ben and two daughters,
and very nice people they were. 1t
would be very interesting to know the
date of this story of Coco; why the
family should be living in a houseboat;
and whether it is the same family that
lived on Grand Isle in 1867, or a new
generation. Much might be said of this
interesting place; but just now recital
of what we had to eat is in order. We
quote from sketch published in the
New Orleans Times:
The well-laden table presents many
temptations to those fresh from city
cuisines First, of course, come the ever
welcome bivalves:
One needs the genius Of Shelley
To fifty hymn these treasures of the sea-
Saaclous dabs of appetiZing jelly,
Sources of epigastric extacy"
OF these delicious shell fish there is
no Lack and so fresh from their beds
that they only wake at the sharp thrust
of the fork as they disappear down the
throat of the lucky mortal who sits at
blle tdDlt VI luC 1odC liOlSl.
Then, there are oysters-fried, roasted
and stewed; oyster omlette, oyster soup
and jumblaire; red fish and sheepshead,
baked and boiled; crokers. mullet,
founders and trout, crisp and nicely
Drowned; ruddy shrimps, deliciously
cool and fresh; turtle soup, stew, and
turtle stuffed; golden-hued omlettes,
made of eggs so fresh that the echo of
the hens warning cackle has hardly died
away; home made bread, free from dele
terious substances; chickens of tender
age; and fresh, pure, sweet milk, alb
libitum morn and night. Somewhat |
thus runs the bill of fare. All the in
valid has to do is to eat and grow fat;
but he will find it necessary to put a
strong curb on his appetite. The sea air
is wonderful tonic; and so is the bath
in the salt-sea surf. The beach is half
A mile. or less. from the quarters, and !
upon the sandy shore roll the waves of
Tie Gulf of Mexico; making, as they say
who speak by authority, the finest surf
bathing in the South. Seaward there is
not even an island to be seen. Now and |
then the long trailing smoke OF steam
ship is discerned along the horizon; or,
nearer, the solitary sail of lugger
Otherwise there is nothing to break the
save the broad expanse
If sea-
Ozark, heaving, boundless, endless and
sublime"