The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-03-06

This is moistened with tea or soup,
and to eat it with chop sticks is an
achievement. Cha" tea, is the water
of life. 1t moistens every transaction.
AS Mr.. Wegg would say, st mellers
the organ" 1t is worth noting that
the Japanese do not make it with boil
ing water. The water is allowed to
lose its first fervor, so that the .tannin
is not extracted. Nor does the tea
stand. The pale, greenish liquid is
Immediately poured off. This is prob
ably why the tea does not make its
drinkers nervous.
While speaking of articles of food,
some other things are worth mention
ing. One of these is. bean curd.
"tofu,' a white substance that is
sliced and fried like mush, with soy
for flavor. This curd is so nutritious
and so cheap that an American who.
lives in Japan suggested its being in
troduced into this country as a food.
Soy is brown liquid made from the
black bean and is said to be the foun-
dation Of Worcestershire sauce. 1t
enters into almost all cooking, and
most agreeably.
Once being in remote corner of
Toxic, the hour for eating arrived. 1t
was impossible to get home in a
couple OF hours. But hunger inspires
courage, and seeing restaurant with
the unusual sight of carcass at the
door, ] took off my shoes and entered
A number. of men were squatted about.
The sight of foreigner and; a woman
was, indeed, novelty. Phe whole
assemblage took an active and genial
interest lin my luncheon, giving the
maid advice and suggestions.
She brought my mat and a. brazier
of Goals on which was a .patina that
might have come from Pompeii, it was
SO lovely; In this she placed some
wafer-1ike slices of meat from the beef
at the door, and pouring in the soy,
gave me some brass tongs and left me
to cook it myself, while she arranged
my little table and brought my bowls
of rice soup and relishes. 1t was
charming, a meal to be remembered,
and meat thus cooked in soy; some
thing EJapanesy" that we might we'll
import.
It's Worth While
to Cultivate
the "Nuta" Salad
Another dish worth cultivating is a
salad, though cooked, called ''nuta."
This is made of CLAIMS, rape tops and
onion with sauce of bean paste, rice,
mustard and soy, rubbed into a brown
liquid, These dishes, including a
sponge cake called CASTILLO, and sup
posed to have been. introduced by the
Spaniards centuries before, every Jap
anese woman, whatever her rank, is
supposed to know how to prepare.
AS they use neither milk nor butter,
from our point of view, their kitchen
is handicapped. Another popularity
of the Japanese menagezis that there
is no common table. Each person has
his own little table and separate
dishes. AS many different people, SO
many different dinners. In this man
ner the wife and daughter of even a
"daimio" might serve her husband or
a guest without great labor.
In even the highest families, the
daughter of the house is expected to
get up early, air the. futons on which
they sleep and the night kimonas and
put them away, sweep the mating,
help with the dishes, then go to her
sewing, while the wife acts as her
husbands valet and looks after the
comfort of her mother-in-law.
The women of the house do all the
sewing. The women of the house
may include couple of "mekake," or
wife's understudies. The Crown
Prince of Japan is the son OF me
kake," but was formally adopted by
the Empress. who is childless.
All the world, even the newborn
baby in Japan, wears the kimona, and
the fashion never changes. There is
no. elaborate making of undergar-
ments; they do not wear them. a
petticoat is a straight piece Of stuff
wound around the body, and if more
warmth is needed, wear two kin1onas
Sewing, however, is carefully taught.
II