The Colfax chronicle., 1904-10-01
SERVE DELIcATEssEN STUFF
Dwellers in City Flats Resort to the
Dealer in Table Luxuries When
Company Comes.

Come right along up 10 dinner safo
the city man heartily to his out-of-town
friend.
The latter looked dubious.
How about your wife? She won't be
expecting me-"
The city man shrugged his shoulders
and laughed lightly. says the Louisville
Courier-Journal.
"Oh, I'll just telephone her and the
delicatessen shop will do the rest"
The country visitor wondered, but re-
Trained from questions.
His hostess received him in demure-
looking shirt-waist suit and made no
! apology for the fact that she and her 16-
year-old daughter took turns at waiting
on the table. The first course was clam
cocktails embedded in ice, the second
was cold sliced chicken, garnished with
cress and lemons, and the hot dishes
consisted of macaroni with cheese and
tomato sauce and crisp Saratoga pota-
toes. Crab salad, served in the shells,
surrounded by wreath of parsley, and
radishes cut in small tulip shape, were
served with thin salt waters and tiny
Jar of creamy cheese. For dessert there
were ice cream and sponge cake, with
coffee to finish.
The man from out of town waited un-
til he got alone with his host and then
bluntly asked what the latter had meant
by saying the delicatessen shop would
| do the rest,
The city man explained that nothing
served for dinner had been cooked at
home,- save the coffee. The macaroni,
with its cheese and tomato sauce. had
been bought in little earthen dish at
| the delicatessen shop and heated along
with the Saratoga chips in the gas oven.
| The. crab salad had come in bulk from
the same shop. with the shells in sep
arate package. Cold roast chicken had
formed the meat course, and the various
garnishes the lady of the house inyaria-
bly, kept on hand.
The guest could hardly believe that be
had eaten what his good wife at home
would scornfully term "bake-shop stuff. /"
The delicatessen shop of to-day is an
institution of evolution. 1t is the nat
ural result of the vexed servant girl
question. The woman who attempts to
keep but one servant finds that often one
is worse than none. She dismisses the
maid and does her own work, with the
aid Of the caterer and the delicatessen
shop. The latter has increased its sphere
of usefulness only as the housewife has
demanded it, and is now as essential to
the family of moderate means as the
caterer is to the family uf wealth.
In the big department stores. which
maintain delicatessen shops, regular
chefs are employed, generally of French
extraction, as they have brought the ari
Of catering to family trade down to a
science. In Paris the masses have al
their baking and cooking of Importance
done at shops. because fuel is SO high
America was slow to adopt the delicates.
sen shop but once having accepted it al
part Of the household scheme the
American wife goes in for it with en-
thusiasm.
All kinds of bake stuifs are to be hat
at these shops--cold meats in every pos
sible form, from plain roast to the mos
elaborate loafs and made dishes; vege
tables which requirefonly warming up
salads already mixed or the Ingredient
may be bought prepared separately Il
be mixed at home; and,sof course. al
the imported can goods like de foie gras
caviar, ETC., are in stock. The delicates
sen shop makes speciality Of packinl
picnic luncheons, travelling baskets ant
! automobile luncheon cases. 1t has be
come. in fact, an important industry;
The small shop is to be seen in all It
| glory Sunday evening. for which trad
special preparations are made. The cit
, nat dweller who has moi pantry roor
! enough to lay in the Sunday supply, fh
| hostess who Is caught unawares, Oh
; young couple Who are living in two fur
{ nished rooms and take their meals ou'
, and the bachelor-mait-l1l swear b
J 1.-THE delicatessen shop.