Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-24
Christmas Day Epicurism
in Various Foreign Lands

pole, and this star as a guide-as the
wise men Were uided To Be- hlehem a
procession winds through the streets, the
men chantinc the GLORIA in EXcelsis.
After the parade "A great supper is sery
ed and the Christmas day is begun.
In Mexico the Christmas celebration Is
a strangely mixed week of sports, revels
and religious observances. The Passion
Play attracts unfailing interest. do
the bull fights and cock mains In Spain,
too. the great festival is celebrated in the
same manner as in Mexico.
In France the three-day celebration OF
Christmas is an occasion for much char
ity and continued services in churches
In the south of France there is a quaint
custom of blessing the Christmas log.
not unlike the Yule log ceremonial Of
England.
The Frenchman's Christmas bill of fare
is extensive and varied, and in many re
spects quite different from our own. The
great Gallo national dishes are truffied
turkey and black puddings. OF which
every Frenchman who can afford such
Injuries makes a very hearty meal at
Yuletide. Then there is a wonderful
Strasbourg pie, the constituent parts OF
which are truffies and livers of fattened
geeSe-pate de foie gras boar's head iellV
2lentifully stuffed with pistachios: oys-
ters, lobtsers and crayfsh. all of " hitch is
finished up With bait of frog legs and
snails.
The forbears of modern Englishmen
must have possessed magnificent appe-
titles, and their hospitality was conducted
on a scale that would make the house
Keeper OF today shudder. The meal with
which old England commenced its Christ
mas day, mere appetizer to them. was
ample enough to rob the modern gour-
met of all Zest for food for several days
The old oaken sideboard Of the English
mansion groaned under its leviathan
round OF beef, its corpulent pork pie the
Yorkshire ham the Drawn and chine;
while on the table itself deviled turkeys
legs, homemade sausages, outlets and
kidneys sent up mingled and grateful
incense from an environment or piles OF
hot butter toast. new-laid eggs. honey and
'frumenty. This last-named festaJ dish
WAS made from wheat bruised in NOR
tar and seethed until IL burst. To this
was added clean. fresh broth, sweet milk
and the yolk of eggs, all Of which was
boiled. When il had settled, this inter-
esting po;pourri WAS mixed with fat veni-
son or fresh mutton.
But the above described repast was
trifiing compared with the dinner, the
real dinner that followed not many hours
later. This dinner was heralded by the
boar's head, preceded ny serNItors who
blew the resounding fanfare on their
trumpets The boar's head itself was
carried on a dish of god or silver into
the banqueting hall at the head OF A
stately procession OF guests. After the
boars head came the peacock. which was
served even more sumptuousfy. Great
care was taken in preparing this bird for
the feast. When il had been roasted and
dressed with a stuffing of sweet herbs and
spices, and basted with the yoik OF guinea
eggs il was sewn into its feathers, its
beak was guided and il was thus borne
to the dining hall by danes OF high de-
gree. accompanied by strains OF minstrel
sy Mince pie. too formed a part OF the
old English Chr stmas feast. But such
a pie 1t consisted of two bushels of
-four twenty pounds OF butter four
geese two turkeys, three rabbits, four
wild ducks, seven woodcock six snipe.
four cartridges, two meats tongues, five
curlew, nine blackbirds and two pigeons
1t took just three days to cook this pie
in an old-time brick oven built out of
DOORS