Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-05
ITALIAN MARKETS.
The Bewildering Variety Of Food
Offered for Sale.

FROM iA' 1lOcStheepeT
In this country we think of market
places as being used wholly for the sale
of foodstuffs, but in Italy It has quite q
dinerent meaning, fcr there you may
ind not only fish, meats fruits yegeta-
bles-all the products of land and sea
but the handiwork of all the people
There you may buy a Neapolitan ha [
from the signora the signorita who
has gathered and cured the grasses and
woven the beautiful soft, plant hat with
her own nimble fingers. The hand-woven
linens of all sizes may be bought for
/ mere song-linen. which is in truth the
grass bleached, every thread an honest
linen thread. and which does verify wear
lifetime and then may be handed on
to the younger generation. The beau
tiful Italian laces, often dirty and crun1-
pied or carefully pressed and wound on
shingles or on tiny wooden rolls, acco. d.
ing to the individual idea, may be bought
for an astonishngly small amount of
money.
E,nbroideries of all kinds will be found
there. OItentimes an eXquisitely en-
broidered piece Of underwear lace trim
med from some noble lady's wardrobe
may be picked up in the market plac.
from some faithful Mariana when the
fortunes of the house in which she serves
are cbbing low. Yes. even some OF the
fine old family laces and linens may be
Eithtu UP, tpT tIIe pEluS VI IQdlly VI tf1e
old. old families is being laid low with
( their cbbing fortune.
Many cooked things may be bought in
the market place. such as the sweets used
/ all over Italy, and the various sauces
without which most Italian cookery would
be very incomplete. The mutton of Italy
/ is not the delicacy which The English
and Americans know. for ii has de-
cidedly strong flavor, and the Italian
butcher disposes of most OF his mutton
under the name of veal, aiming to put
! it on tho market on feast days when, as
/ he says. people are far too excited TO
know just what they do eat.
/ l wonder what an American housewife
would think when she went to the mar
ket TO find the fowls all cut up-here u
pan of breasts, there a pan of wings.
and still another pan of legs, ard even
the gibletS variously divided. Cooks may
serve what is very common with them.
| especially in the better homes, pan of
chicken breasts, interlaid witt: bits of
| ham and sausage. or a gibiet dish served
with the famous tomato sauce. Your
! choice of cuts would depend largely upon
the length of your purse. Italy is famous
! for its cheese. particularly the Parnne-
san cheese which is sold in the market
! by cheese vendors. There is the cha. coal
man. too. hawking his wares tied up IL
4 various sized sacks. and those who buy
! from him call him none too honest. Then
there arc the stout, rugged women who
. come down from the mountains W.T..
great heaps of brushwood tied together
and carried about on their heads.
| The art of marketing is one to he ac-
quired only after much travail Of sou!
| and many lost coins. With the averag
/ Italian. no matter what his wares may
| DE. IL is by grace of his patron saint tina
he charges the English-speaking peopi
double what he would his own country
men, and this, too. after much bargain
ing has been done IT seems that an
| Italian can rarely resist the temptation o.
being little Bit dishonest with the
! foreigner. An old Italian proverb is,
Never trust your ncehbor; your neigh
bo.. does not expect it." There is much
laughing too. among themselves, but the
! wide awake bourgeois is quite able to
/. fight her own battle over the counter.
enjoying IL the while, and generally comes
out triumphant.