The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-03-06
By Mary Gay
Humphreys
o Yen San, the Hon
MAJ orable Miss Dollar, cut the
Wv tender, young onions for


wv tender, young onions for
tori-nabi, she as inevitably
sliced them diagonally as Bridget cuts
them i'll tubular sections. But what
difference between these oval, gra-
dated rings, revealing the delicate
!, standings and attractive anatomy of
the onion, and Bridget's chunks! This
= symmetry and beauty of color in some
, way satisfied O Yen's instructive sense
of beauty before the onion gave up its
. SAVIOR and scent to the bits of chicken
and other matters that made up one
of the best of Japanese dishes, Our
+ tOri-nabi.
! know of no better illustration of
the fundamental difference between the
Japanese and the West than this aes-
thetiC treatment of the onion
i 0 Yen was our handmade, but she
dressed in silk, and the hair dresser
came twice a week. When she put
flower IN vase, we were painfully
. conscious of aWkWardness and barbar-
Gus taste, She had dainty cabinet,
with little drawers, her own little lac
quer bows, pale blue china, and sake
jug, her own hibachi-or braMer-
where she prepared her own food, and
, when this was ready she squatted be-
fore her six-inch high table, arranged
about her the little bows, or rice, soup,
and her condiments, got out her ivory
chop sticks, and ate like lady. Moth
ing ever disturbed the elegance and
dignity Of this routine.
When She Ate
4, Her Evil Smelling
"Daikon"
Certainly, she had way of sucking
III her breath that put Our teeth on
edge, and we fed the house when she
ate her evil smelling "daikon," long
white radish, which also would make
skunk remark, there's no use in 1iv-
ing" But sucking in the breath is
Japanese etiquette for respect and ap-
probation, and when | intimated any
thing derogatory to the daikon to a
Japanese acquaintance, he commented
on our lively cheese Thus the races
keep tab on one another and suppress
vainglory. But [ silently reflected
that foreigner cooking and eating
alone would soon come to serving
himself out of sardine boxes and
baked beans from the can.
The root of this difference seems to
lie in the fact that i'll the Orient house
keeping is almost the only profession
open to women. This is why they are
so expert and pleasing in their meth,
DDS. From the Empress to the maid
there is but one law. In the hand
11yNr11of1
knows by heart, "The Code of Morals |
for Women" No. 10 of the eighteen
articles reads:
Though a woman have many ser
wants, it is the rule of women that she
do all the business herself. She shall !
sew the clothing and cook the food |
of her father and mother-in-law; she
shall wash the clothing and sweep the
mat of her husband, and when she
nurses the child she shall wash the
linen herself. Women shall always
live within the house, and also not go
out without any business
o Yen's Artistic
Household
Pots and Pans
This is not mere verbiage. 1t seems
also to account for the household
utensils being so beautiful. 0 Yen's
kettle, in which the honorable hot
water is boiled, is of bronze with
Wave-like formations in fine gold lines.
The tongs with which she manages
her Goals are of carved brass. She
cooks her rice in a pearl colored
earthen dish with black whorls that
is set directly on the Goals.
The cooking of rice, as we know it,
is performance, hit or miss. Orien
tai rice is always perfection. Each
grain is whole and dry. 0 Yen put
her dish on the fire with water enough
to cover the rice When the water
was boiled out the rice was done.
Rice is more to the Japanese than
bread is to us. Etiquette demands
three bowls of rice at meal.