Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1909-09-30
AMERICAS MANY
FAVORITE DISHES
What a Gast-onomic Tour Of
the States Might Mean to
President Taft.
From the New York World.

| Wherever MIR. Taft has gone since being
elected president his hosts have set before
him that dish which is the peculiar gas
| tronomic speciality of the place. They re-
called him on possum in Georgia and
New Orleans made great preparations to
Initiate him into the mysteries OF alliga-
tor steak. If this sort of entertainment
becomes universal and MIR. Taft continues
to travel about the country for the next
four years he will learn what gastrono-
mic paradise he Is presiding over
In N.sginia he will, If he has not al
ready done SO, find out what n dainty dish
can be made from coon 1t takes an old
colored man To prepare the fat little fell
low, that he may not be too greasy. He
has many times tasted terrapin cooked as
they can cook 1T nowhere else but In Bal
timore. and II is probable that at Key
| West and In Cuba he has already over
come the prejudice against shark by SAM
| pling those entrees of sharks fins that
are 80 frequently found upon the bills of
fare.
III Is unimaginable that he has not eaten
scrapple In Philadelphia or Goldfish heads
in Boston those dainty cheeks and
tongues of Gods fried with salt pork ais
they can fry them nowhere else but in
| New England coast towns. And III he
spends any time In such places as Ports
mouth. ~ H.. he is sure to have swordtish
set before him.
AL Detroit they will give him frog legs
those big. fat launches of the blllfrogs
/ that croak along the st. Clair flats They
will offer them to him In IL dozen ways
| stewed. fried. baked, fricasseed, a la New
4 burg, etc. Another thing they eat around
| Lake st. Clair Is the plcbean mud turtle
1t often masquarados as terrapin. and II
\ the Madeira with which II is cooked be OF
fine enough quality only Il connosseur can
IIta tho. .itr t.,,t
| mud turtle that the Michiganders need not
offer it 10 MIR. Taft under any other but
it's own name.
When he goes up into the northwest.
they VIII give him catfish stew in Helena,
! Rocky mountain trout in Butte and Spo-
kane. bear ham in ST. Paul. elk chops in
Duluth. cariboo steak in Ashland and IL
| he should cross the border line into Mani
| toba no will be able TO get roast sirloin OF
| buffalo In Winnipeg
| On the Pacific coast they have their OVID
dainties from the far-famed Puget Sound
oysters which Seattle and Tacoma Will,
serve him to the great fat crabs that VIII
be offered in San Francisco Ii Charlie
| Taft gets out with the boys in San Fran
cisco he will surely be initiated into eat
ing Chinese clam, the abalone that the
boys carry In their pockets and from
which they cut chunks with their knives.
At Santa 1'e or Tucson he will find men
ready and eager to feed him upon rattle
snakS. On some of the Florida keys no
may have turtles eggs for breakfast II
he should spend a summer on Lond Island
and be lucky enough to strike Amagansett
or Quogue at the psychological moment,
he may have an opportunity to taste
whale, which. IL properly cooked. is said
to be very good, and returning from there
he could not pass Coney Island by without
enjoying clambake.
Then there are the Holsters of Penob-
scot bay. the sturgeon of the upper Hud-
son, the shrimps of the Gulf Of Mexico, the
wild turkeys of Virginia, the white fish
that can be had in perfection only at Mi
agara, Detroit, Sault Ste Marie and Mack
mac. the shad Of the Connecticut river.
the canvasback ducks on the eastern shore
of Maryland, the ham of the acorn-fed
hogs of the Virginia plantations, and all
the other dainties that have made towns
famous.
And what of New York? Here he can
revive the memories of his trip around the
world. by dining on the national dishes
of all lands. For New York imports and
acclimatizes all the foods of the world.
from the birds nest SOUP and tow-foo of
China to the lsibbe and lebban of Syria:
from the inuza rela, the tinocchio and the
ravioli of Italy to the haZenpfeffer, the
wild boar and the sauer kraut of Ger
many; the escargots. the buillebaisse and
artichokes of France, the chile con carne
and baccalao viscaya of Spain. the sweet
meats of Turkey. the haggs and short
cake of Scotland, the succulent moss of
Iceland, the dulse of Ireland, the curry
md Bombay duck-which is q fish-of In
dia. the b!oaters and ale Of England the
raw steak Of the Don Cossacks, the wines
/. Of Sicily, Greece and Portugal--New York
can give him first class dinner Just as It
would be served to him in any capital In
u all the world.