Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-22

procure. To be known as a skilled COM
FOUNDER thereof is TO enjoy an enviable
fame. II is the faVorite rtfreshmtnt at the
Saturday night halls so popular among
that simple people. The invitation for these
festivities, which Is never written, but al
ways conveyed from house to house by
word OF mouth, always meets with a read
Ter and more joyous acceptance II coupled
with the statement that "There'l be a
gumbo by Madame Paul., or Madame
jean" or some other Creole dame, locally
noted for her housswifely expertness,
Jambalaya is another Creole dish. the
origin OF which is unknown. Its essential
ingredient is rice. With the rice may be
cooked a dry slow of chicken. or sausage,
or shrimp. or ham or tomatoes. In Louisi-
ANA rice Is used as a vegetable, and may
appear upon the table three times a day,
to be eaten with gravy with butter or by
itself. The Creole cook steams rice, but
never boils it. Other people may fill a
pot with cold water, put in the rice and
bring both together to a boil; but she
scorns so primitive a method. First the
water must come TO a boil, then the salt
Is added and then the rice. Another popu-
lar way Of cooking rice is to use what
the Creoles call a balm Marie" This is
IL hhlIlt ~ Aht hhANA AhAA VI HhNNA aAN ]
the inner containing the rice. Boiled In
this way, the rice Issues dry ard DELICIOUS,
every grain separate from every other
grain.
The Creole cook book contains half q
dozen corrections which are purely local.
OF these the Gala, or sweet cake made
Of rice, is one Of the best known. The
Gala vendors have nearly disappeared from
the streets Of New Orleans. but there may
still be seen Under the arcade near the
Tulane theater a venerable old ngress,
with her hamper draped in pink tarletan,
and a whisk broom of brown paper to
drive away the flies, who sells the true
Gala. The typical Creole candy is the
''praline.'' "Praline" is a word which
describes the process of coating broken
pecan meats with sugar by stirring them
in the boiling sweet until it graduates,
but in New Orleans 1t is applied to any
kind Of candy made in flat round disks,
six or seven inches in diameter.
Perhaps the sweet which is pre-emi-
nently Creole was cutie" But cutie" is
now difficult to procure, and must as the
years pass entirely disappear from the
Louisiana dietary. Cutie" is the juice
Of the sugarcane boiled till just about to
granulate into the sugar of commerce. 1t
was a product Of the open kettle process
of making sugar. and does not develop
in the modern centrifugal process. Cutie
is delicious with batter cakes, or especially
with the cornbread, which is made so
delicately with eggs and milk by the deft
old NANNY" in the plantation kitchen.
Any description of the Creole kitchen
would be incomplete IL it did not include
some reference to the celebrated Creole
coffee Creole coffee Is dripped, not Boiled.
Boiled coffee, the Creoles are fond of say
ing, is quite another beverage. made by a
distinct process and having an altogether
different SAVIOR. In the Creole method the
bean is first parched till absolutely black,
and by preference is subjected to this treat
ment only a few hours before the beverage
is to be drunk. The ground coffee is placed
in a tin or earthenware receptacle with a
perforated bottom and boiling water is
slowly poured thereon and allowed to per-
colate through into a second receptacle be-
low, both vessels being Theoretically sealed
wherever possible. Coffee thus made is, in
fact. a distillation. AT the Creole break
fast table it may be drunk with milk and
sugar, but when served in tiny cups after
dinner 1t should be taken alone. Or if not
taken alone, then with the addition of a
single lump of sugar melted in a spoonful
of burning brandy.
The Creole has always boosted a fine dis
elimination in wines and liquors. He has
even Invented two or three drinks which
are his alone. OF these the most distinct
i've are the Roffignac and the Bruleau. The
Rofflgnac is a combination OF syrup, whisky
and soda water, introduced by one Of the
first mayors of New Orleans, whose name
it still bears. The Bruleau is a more pic
turesque and complicated beverage. 1t is
prepared from frult-any fruit, particularly
the juicy ones, being acceptable. Dlvested
of the skin or rind. the fruit is heaped in
a pyramid in a shallow pan previously
filled with brandy, in which as much sugar
as possible has been dissolved. A lighted
match sets the brandy on fire. Then the
burning liquid is carefully ladled over the
fruit, suffered to trickle slowly down, alb
sorbing the flavor and odor as It descends,
until theNlast blue flame flickers out. The
syrup that results is imbibed in tiny guam
titles from slender glasses.
ny PREDERIC ]. HAsxTN.
Tomorrow-aeorge wsshington's VIII.