The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-04-18

christmas stockings. In the bitter cold
winter weather, the danger of freezing
during transportation added much to
the cost of the fruit. Bananas were
not in common use nor for sale in towns
around Boston forty or fifty years ago.
Preserved ginger from China in fine
blue and white Jars, and guava jelly
from the West Indies were almost the
only foreign preserves.
Since the settlement of Florida and
California with vast tracts devoted to
the growing of tropical and semi tropic-
al fruits from all over the world and
with the railways bringing them 10 US
quickly, we have enlarged our list Of
dainties.
The very choicest guava jelly comes
now from Florida, firm, clear, brilliant
of color and of choicest flavor. In
England the Florida guava jelly is pre-
ferred to that made in Jamaica. The
jelly comes in pretty white wood boxes
very artistically wrapped in crepe It's
sue paper and ribbon tied, or in metal
serew-topped glasses. Guavas are de-
lieious raw or cooked, in jam, jelly, can
ned or in cheese, wine, syrup or vinegar.
The raw fruit is eaten with sugar or
cream.
The guava cheese is yellow, thick,
fruit pulp, like the crabapples after the
clear Juice has been extracted for Jelly,
or like apple, peach or prune butter
the ripe, fresh fruit reduced by long
boiling. This comes in boxes prettily
wrapped in heavy crepe paper and rib
bon-tied, labeled "'Sweets to the
Sweet
s'Cheese'' is an Old English name
for mould of fruit, as Damson plum
cheese, Green Gage cheese, etc. It
must be thick enough to keep its shape
and slice well for luncheon or dessert,
at dinner with real cheese, Neufchatel
for instance, and fine crackers. Guava
cheese is a very pleasant sweet, too,
for breakfast English fashion, with tea
and toasted mullins or bread and butter.
Guava wine is amber color and has
6ne flavor, not too sweet, and yet 1t
would be called a ladies wine. Guava
vinegar is prepared also for the trade;
and is considered better suited to del.
.icate4 stomaehs than other vinegars.
Guava syrup is rich, thick and dark and
used as maple syrup is, and is liked bet
ter than maple syrup By many, though
we are so conservative we hesitate over
Innovations The writer remembers
once having quite a surplus of syrup
from preserved pears, which was used
on delicate batter or griddle cakes and
found delicious.
Apropos of syrup, it is a Southern
custom to boil cane syrup and butter
together until very thick, and place a
small dish of it by each person, while
it is still hot, for the morning batter
cakes or to eat with waffies at tea. In
Chile syrup is made from variety
of palm and called .tpalm honey.
~ Another preserve from Florida is that
made from the calyxes of Jamaica sor-
rel. the Hibiscus Sabdariffa. After the
flowers, which resemble mallows, drop
off, the calyxes thicken and become
bright red, and when stewed the pre-
serves closely resemble cranberry sauce,
with an added suggestion of gooseberry
and strawberry, perhaps.
This plant will not grow except IN
tropical and semi tropical florida, where
the young leaves are used for greens.
The preserve is not sent North as it
loses its brilliant color, and is apt to
deteriorate with long keeping.
From pineapples is made fine extra
dry dinner wine. This wine is served
cold, but not iced, as the guava wine
should be. The latter often benefits
those who suffer from Indigestion or
dyspepsia in some forms, and the pine
apple wine contains proteolytic engine.
The fresh fruit assists in the digestion
of proteids and is a most appropriate
and delicious finish for Welsh rareblt
supper, either the plain pineapple or
mixed with orange sugared, and II you
like, a suggestion of brandy or noyau.
In an old cook book | found this sug
gestion for cooking eocoanuts which
might perhaps take away their gutta
percha hardness. Boil the eocoanut in
its own milk an hour or SO until tender,
before mixing it with an equal weight
of sugar and wished eggs and lemon
before baking in shells of pastry. Here
is a hint for lovers of coeoanut who
find it hard to chew and to digest, viz:
Should 1t not contain milk would not
water or dairy milk do insteads Cocoa
nut is sliced IN water until the flavor is
drawn out and the water added to
tomato soup to improve its flavor ac-
cordng to a recent authority.
The alligator, or avocado pears. are
now found on Northern menus, especial
" in New York. In Florida these are
eaten from the shell just scooped out
with spoon, like a eanteloupe, after
being treated to little salt, pepper
and lime juice.
The tropical pawpaw which possesses
pepsin-like qualities and which is said
to have cured Joseph Jefferson of dys-
pepsia, resembles melon closely. The
avocado is like ball of vegetable but
ter.
Grapefruit is another Florida favor
tie which has become popular in the
North. Sapadila, mammee apple, Gus
tard apple, Jamaica and Surinam cher
ries are novelties to northerners which
one may see at the midwinter county
fairs5in southern Florida. In addition
there are eocoanuts, lines, lemons,
grapefruits and oranges of many
varieties, from the tiny Chinese KUN
quot TO the navel orange, Strawberries
of course, and delicious fresh vege-
tables. tomatoes, eucumbers, peas,
beans, lettuce, etc.
From the standpoint Of the epicure as
well as from money standpoint,
Florida growers rank the avocado or