Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-15
SOME CURIOUS FOODS
TASTES CERTAINLY DIFFER ALL
THE. WORLD OVER.
Prejudice Enters Very Largely into
the Matter of Racial or In
dividual Preferences
From the seieutlfe AlnerIcan.

Among civilized nations the variety of
tastes attracts but little attention. The
vcgetarians Ard the meat eaters each have
their followers AID recent school advo-
Gates less food and Fewer meals. while there
are countess fads for the delectatoa Of tie
hungry.
That civilized man has missed some OF tha
most toothsome dainties goes without say
ing. ard Il IS evident that prejudice enters
very laTse,y INFO this Thus iu California.
The best ffsti,tt is said. is the scuipn. hut
IN the east this fish goes begging on ac-
count Of its disagreclble appearance. In
Arizona IAdian children may De ssea cltch-
fng ants and eating them; and in Mexico
the honey ant is eagerly sought after by
the natives. VITO eat the well rounded cur
rant like abdomen. In south America the
large lizard, tie igHana, is de,icacy not
to speak sofrste larger snakes which in
taste are like chicken. Tie ordinary rat
tesnatSe, IL Is said. is very good eating il
one can overcome the Unborn prejudice
Americans are inclined to regard the Chi
nese as a race of rat eaters and denounce
the animal As unclean. at the same tim.
consuming ous yearly OF the post ioath-
some of AL anlmals-the hog Tic rat il
careful Of its toilet, cleaning itsett con-
SANITY but the hog is the only animal
Of so-c,alled Intelligence that revels In dirt
ana prefers II to cleanliness. The common
~
glands, will never be popular as food Vet
Its flesh is not only coed. but delicious ac-
cording toy various eonnoisseurs who have
eaten il. 4=s"'r
Bias Against Inse"ts.
Ihat Insects do not enter more into In.
1909 supplies OF nations is due to preiudIee
'rasshoppers are eaten by some western
tribes. Ground up. they make a meal thar
IS said to be both nourishing and ograo-
u TO
tiTongh country. believing himself NJ ~.
Starving, as large game was NOT ia no haa
Md worms and various insects were al
idho. During the flights of locl1sts Iosi,,-
sometimes collect them in harg u,ast . .tuns
ai19 COOK them for n meal
me most singular food in all rrot,,b5rit,-
nortior. .a a vac e OF fly common in certain
ara This insect is found i'm s,sc, pm .
quantities In Lake Mono Cal th.t - -
and o,I' ea,, up on the shores in vast windrows
Ter OF Mono is very singular seayoi,ai
VET! neavy and smooth, like oil so p,SoS
fuses ~ ha resists Ordinary wind and re-
pesiil 70 appear the Indians gather from
ID anu near and scrape them up place
{ t y, wormlike rcrea lures on cloths and racks
IN the sun and dry them when the, ara
beaten UP and husked, looking then Ike
rice The Indians call the food koo-cbah
pee Zee ann many bushels are collected at this
Tune; that the larvae are nutritious 4.
SHOWN by the condition of the Indians who
soon grow fat on the rich diet MANY birds
are attracted by the larvae and gorge them
serves with the singular food
Flies Eggs efficacy.
On Lake Texcoco, in Mexico. a curious
ny Is found which also is eaten by the
natives and known as ahuatl; the eggs OF
the insect, which are deposited on sedges
are also collected and eaten for food On
Lake Chalco a certain sedge is cultivated
on which the eggs of a species of fy ara
. depos!ted.~.. Bundles are made of these and
placed in Lake Texcoco for the purpose,
and when covered. the sedge is beaten over
pieces of cloth and the eggs secured These
are collected and ground into a meal also
called ahuatl. and are in great demand on
fast days, when fish is required the in
sects or eggs not being considered flesh
as they come from the water. The food is
made into small cakes and tastes not unlike
caV1are. Not only the eggs but the larvae
themselves a disagreeable looking worm
are used as food under the name of puxi
Inc civilized man, perhaps turns from
such food with disgust but IL Is well to
remember that epcures in many countries
and especially in England and America. are
,partlcplarly fond of cheese when inhabited
by the larvae of very common fly. In
the United States the large octopus or
squid common on the Pacific coast offends
the American palate, but the Italian.
Frenchman or Portuguese eats it with avid
ity and considers IL a delicacy. The meat
is clear and white. like chicken, and has
the flavor of crab.
49, Chinese Dainties
The question of national tastes is an in
teresting one. and the contrast between
those of China and America is remarka BILE
The objects displayed In the Chinese quar-
ter as dainties are often repugnaut to
Americans. We find the Chinaman selling
eggs of unknown age. especially duck eggs
containing ducklings ready TO be hatched.
Shark fins-a tough, dis greeable food-arc
in demand, while deer horns In the velvet
kinds Tor
nest of the swallow, with its embedded Sc
erection of the mouth glands OF the bird, is
nearly worth It's weight in gold. Trepang,
the tough impossible holothurian. ~ eaten.
: and its collection is an important industry
along the Malay coast, valued at at least
$10oG coo per annum.
In France the sea anemone is used
food; stuffed like peppers and boiled. it
calls to mind crab or crayfish. The echinus
of various species is also used, cooked in
the shell, like an egg. and eaten with q
spoon. In nearly all the old countries OF
Europe of the type of Spain and Italy the
poor are so poor that everything in the ma
ture OF food is utilized Absolutely nothing
is wasted and meat is rare. The writer re-
calls the surprise of an Italian fisherman
who landed In California after a trip around
the Horn, and was amazed, not at the
country, but with the abundance of food.
He found his countrymen eating meat
twice. perhaps three times. day. when lie
rarely had 1t once month. He saw hun
dreds of pounds of fish wasted. and dis
carded merely because the people did not
care for II. when in Italy even the heads
would be boiled and eaten. He saw big
tunnes towed out TO sea and thrown away
because they were tough. when In his own
land every scrap OF this fish was saved.
America was indeed the land of plenty to
the poor of other nations.
Certain Indians consider earthworms a
dainty. They dried and rolled together
into a peculiar -four. In Bahama and some
= of the Florida keys the conch is catchy
far the toughest food known; more like
India rubber than anything else, having 10
be beaten and pounded before IL can be
masticated or even cooked
Cars for the Sick.