The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-09-02
SOME NOVEL WAYS
OF CUBAN HOTELS
The Bed Rooms Are Cool, Clean
and Good
KNOW ART OF COOKING EGGS
Cuban Stoves Are All Primitive and
Charcoal Is the Fuel Used.
Feature of Homes Is
the Court.

In Cuban hotels a cool and clean room
with freshly washed stone floors, crisp
and dainty net curtains and linen of fine
texture, makes up for the hard bed and
absence of not and cold running water.
At the table the lack of good beefsteak
is more than supplied by very excellent
cmelets, variety Of fish, unrivalled
cheese. together with fruits and vegeta-
bles in infinite variety.
The butter throughout Cuba is undenia-
bly, bad but the bread, according to a
correspondent of Leslie's Weekly, is alone
worth a trip to Cuba.
The first thing a woman tourist sees,
after the boy has brought up the luggage,
pulled up the curtains, asked in a soft
Anglo-Spanish patos If she would like to
have a glass of orange juice or a plate
of pineapple, and, in the conscious way
of bellboys the world over, fingered until
the inevitable coin has reached his palm,
is a quaint, old-fashioned candlestick.
A second glance falls upon stone bot
tie which contains the drinking water,
and even on scorching hot days, keeps
it moderately cool.
Being a woman she next examines the
bedspread, which is crocheted, and ten to
one is of a dainty lavender or old blue
color. French windows open wide upon
a balcony, and a general impression of
the room is pleasing. Rocking chairs are
everywhere in Cuba.
In the dining room walls that fold up
like screens leave the room like a garden
with the exception of the roof. A narrow
rod separates the diners from the side
walk. The early morning meal of coffee
and rolls, with fruit, is served in the
rooms and genuine breakfast Is served in
the dining room from 10 until 2.
Table Gay With Fruit.
The table is gay with fruits of various
colors, fiavors and degrees of palatability.
Like the Jamacans, the Cubans peel their
small, deliciously sweet oranges like APP
pies. stick a fork through them, and lit
orally knaw them off, a process which
results In extracting all the juice without
eating the pulp.
A plate of sliced pineapple is set on
each table. Assorted native fruits, NAM
eys, sapotas, anons, mangoes, ETC., are
always served Shell fish In abundance
and fish of every variety are a feature of
Cuban meals. Generally three kinds on
one plate are served to each guest-soft
shell crabs, white bait and sea bass, or
some similar salt water nSn.
The Cubans have the art of cooking
eggs TO perfection. The most popular
method with Americans is that called
Cuban Eggs" A small earthen dish is
filled with a sauce previously prepared
and consisting of tomatoes, mushrooms
and green peppers highly seasoned. Two
eggs broken on top are sprinkled with Il
little parsley. salt, pepper and butter, and
the whole is set In a very hot oven for
a moment.
Aside from the olives, which are differ
ent from anything In the same line seen
in this country, the next best thing on "a
Cuban menu is the guava jelly and the
cheese which are served together. The
cheese is of two varieties, the Cuban,
made from goats milk, and ordinary
cream cheese.
The jelly is thick and Is cut in strips.
Even in the most primitive hotels in
Cuba this dessert is served; and in fact.
the natives seem to consider 1t much
a part of the every day meal as bread.
Orange juice is a favorite drink at
meals. Excellent ice creams are made
with the native fruits
Coffee a Curiosity.
j Cuban coffee is a curiosity to the Amer
/ lean. The bean is burned to a cinder
the Cubans claiming that this destroys
the toxic qualities. The waiter brings a
pot of coffee with one hand and pot of
boiled sailed milk with the other.
The diner generally experiments with
his combination. first trying half milk
nd half coffee. then varying the quanti-
tics until he has a mixture to suit III
taste. A few Americans like sailed milk
and coffee, but to the majority the Cuban
coffee is a joke. Cuban chocolate Is unuS-
ually good.
During the heat of the day In summer
many Cuban families prefer to order their
! dinners from the hotels to cooking them
! In their own homes. and a frequent sight
| In the street of Havana is the dinner car
rier. The food is placed in a series Of cas-
| serole-like dishes. WHICH, being of heavy
ware and each fitting closely upon the
other, keep the contents hot for a con-
siderable length of time,
The Cuban stoves are all primitive ar
fairs in which charcoal is burned Few
modern stoves have found their way to
the little republic. and even the American
/ families who live in Havana seem to pre-
fer the old fashioned method of cooking.
| charming feature of all Cuban homes
! and many hotels, is the court around
which the house is built. The average
Cuban house is barnl<e and unattractive
4 on the outside, but to the visitor who
steps within a transformation like larry
! land meets the eye. The majority of the
! courts are filled with flowers and small
shrubbery, and many of them have foun-
! tains