The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1908-01-07
ECCENTRIC IN EATING
Pet Fads and Aversions as Dis
played at Table.
ODDITIES or FAMOUS MEN.
5yron's Dinner of Mashed Potatoes
and Vinegar and What Came After.
Erasmus Could Not Eat Fish, and It's
Cdor Threw Him Into Fever.

Eta3fft6o OtAt6 tNNe 49, Ac'sf ~t'N -
Cdor Threw Him Into a Fever.
Most of us have met some eccentric
diner whose differences from those Of
the other guests were noticeable. And
eccentricity is an elastic word, which
may be applied, as will be shown, in
various directions. Sometimes 1t Is
genuine, a whim or characteristic
which is inherent Sometimes it is the
result of desire to appear singular
and attract notice. To this latter mo
tive probably was due Byron's eccen-
tricity at some dinner tables when, re-
fusing, to everybody's establishment,
the ordinary dishes of each course, he
simply mashed potatoes on his plate
and poured vinegar over them, eating
them In silence and drinking only soda
water with them. The chronicler Of
this episode dryiy adds that in the
evening Lord Byron went to club
and there had an excellent supper,
such as a commonplace people would
enjoy. The great bard's eccentricity
at dinner led to various minor ones
Initiating it under the idea that 1t
conferred distinction, even as for
similar reason they copied his turn
down collar and loosely knotted tie.
Condiments are among, the common
est illustrations of this peculiarly
There is a very old story-nearly
century old, in fact-of diner in
coffee room who ate no mustard, which
SO irritated another who held the gen
eral opinion about 1t that after ofrer-
ing 1t at intervals to the other he
jumped up with the cruet and said
"Confound it, sir, you shall have mus
tardw Some few people dislike salt,
which most deem necessity. Indeed
some years ago a letter appeared IN
print from lady who expressed her
opinion that salt was most injurious
and was never used In her household,
saying. indeed, If we remember right
", that even her bread and butter
were homemade to avoid particle OF
the mineral being used at her table
Some people eat salt instead Of sugar
with buildings, whether from actual
preference or the wish for singularity
seems doubtful Others repudiate the
mere suggestion of pepper On the
other hand, cayenne is sometimes eat
en- with everything Edmund Kean IN
his latest years used, it Is said, to
drink brandy with cayenne in it. a
beverage which is mentioned as hav-
ing been liked also by Peter the
Great when staying at Saye's court.
Mint sauce everybody likes with roast
lamb, but some eccentric diners have
1t served with every joint, which is a
peculiar taste. indeed, and one which
would have been a fine theme for
Charles Lamb The eating of rasp-
berry jam with roast veal is another
popularity. variant of the general
custom Of having red currant jelly
with saddle of mutton, which is in
deed an exquisite combination.
Other strange antipathies for COM
monpIace edibses are recorded. Thus
Cardan loathed eggs Neither boiled
nor poached had they for him the
agreeable associations they have for
most of US. The mere sight of them
made his gorge rise. What would
Charles Lamb have said Of a Han
overian gentleman who was distin-
guished for his feats In hunting. Herr
| vanghuin, who tainted at the sight of
roast pig? NJ Chesne, secretary to
Francis l., detested that general ia
vorite, the apple, as the sight of one
made his nose bleed. The learned
Erasmus could never eat fish. Indeed,
| it is said that its odor even was so in
furious to the great Dutchman that it
caused feverish symptoms. On the
other hand, Quin, the actor. every year
In the latter part of his life journeyed
to the west country to eat John Dory
fresh from the sea. The famous
scholar Scaliger blanched even at the
sight of water crosses.
Very often the unfortunate man who
really is the victim of internal whims
| is not believed to be so, but privately.
| If not aloud. is characterized as fad
dish, not to say impertinent. But while
such peculiarities as these are due to
the stomach that imperious organ,
there are others In diners which are
those of prejudice. habit and OCCASION
ally the liking for unpopular views.
Such diners by no means add to the
enjoyment Of ordinary people at a
"hospitable board" as the old world
phrase runs. Thus there is the guest
who is worrying himself and every
body else about possible drafts. anoth-
| er who ostentatiously declines fish and
soup and limits himself to the roast
and also has the foolish but by no
means uncommon idea that it is I'M
wholesome unless dried up to an arid
brown If salt be a thing to be shun-
ned by some gastronomes, others have
| the same notion-which they do not
keep to themselves as to pepper To
matoes are a bugbear to some, mack
erel to others. Some eye in disap-
proving silence the others who eat in
the ordinary manner. they themselves
dining by strict rule with various omis-
sions In the courses; also there is the
diner who experiments. as 1t were, on
his food, tasting each morsel tentative
ly and with dubious deliberation as If
he were not sure he were not being
poisoned. There are those who are
fretful if there is the least want of
mathematical accuracy in laying the
table. who are savage if their special
knives and forks are absent, who al
ways have dry toast or the like at ev-
cry meal and who converse on the lat
est food scare-London Globe.