Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1914-06-23
ATE H. WAS SAD
Yet It Was a Dish For Whici, He
B; Had Yearned For Years
A TRAGEDY IN eAsTRoNoMY,
: EE : - :.
BotsuiifabaiI
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and ASH
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Propositions to an English EpIouTo.
We all know that famous poem o.
Thackeray's which@beglns,
A. street there is in Paris famouo ~;
For which no rirne our language Yields,
and goes on to tell Of the tavern where
the genial Titmarsh in the days when
he was Paris correspondent "ate end
drank the bouillabaisse." .a,;
As q result of that delightful poem
tens of thousands Of Englishmen have
yearned to eat bouilabaisse. Thacke-
ray puts it so beautifully! The steam
ing dish of stewed fish that he con-
lures up in his lines-how appetzing IL
seems! know that it was quite early
in nv teens when first read thac
poem, and from that moment there
was formed In my mind firm resolve
TO eat some day Of bouiliabaisse.
My opportunity came not long ago
when visited Marseilles. It was
nearly half past 9 when l sat down In
the dining room of the hotel.
There is no bouillabaisse On the
menu" I said severely to the maitre
d'hotel. II have come to Marse1lles
specially to eat it" He replied that It
was not a speciality Of the house, but
that it could always be prepared. How
long would it take? Twenty-Five min
utes, perhaps a little longer. But L
think monsieur would find it rather
heavy ut such a late hour"
He was not encouraging, this maitre
d'hotel did not accept for moment
his suggestion that bouillabaisse was
too heavy a dish for half past 8 at
night Thackeray had not talked about
heaviness. But twenty-five minutes!
ordered or omelet
At midnight, walking down the f.
nous Cannebiere, back to the hotel, I
was hailed by familiar voice. L waa
that of friend whom had not seen
for q long time Gratefully I grasped
Ills hand and told him that intended
to eat bouiIlabaisse as soon as possible.
And my respect for him was consider
ably enhanced when he told me that he
had eaten some that very afternoon,
an hour after his arrival in Mar
settles. Here was the true spirit, and
related to him. with some bitterness,
my experience with the maitre d'hotel.
well, It is rather heavy stuff" he
said. But brushed this aside, and we
arranged to meet at lunch on the NOR
row. when should have the best that
Marseilles could give me.
There are, as everybody knows, two
places at Marseilles for bouillabaisse-
Pascars and Basso's. on the VieuE
Port. We decided on Basso's.
"Bouilla baisse," said laconically.
paid no attention to what my friend
ordered. No other dish interested me.
But In q minute or so curious looE-
ing mess was set down before him.
"What's that stuff you're going to
eati" asked.
That's bouillabaisse," he said, "but
It's not mine"
started. This bouillabaisse. this Gu
rious looking stuff. with indigestlbls
| looking Jumps OF fish floating in BIZ
ious and oily saffron liquid! / know
not what l had expected bouillabaisse
| to be, but 1t certainly was not this.
There was q piece Of fish which rec
ognized rs eel, and loathe cells. The
broad tail of another and unknown
fish stuck up out Of the Opaque liquid.
But 1t was the yellow liquid itself
which repealed. 1t shouted biliousness,
and the smell of saffron that arose with
the steam made me feel Ill. Oh, Thack.
cray!
| pecked at the eel-or 1t may have
been a lamprey-explored the various
other fish, tasted gingerly Of the thick
saffron liquid on one of the pieces OF
toast that floated In it But mine was
no palate for bouillabaisse. l made
the waiter take the mess away and
bring lamb outlets.
| But had tasted Of bouillabaisse and
was not to forget it. All day long the
terrible taste Of saffron remained with
me. Nothing would shift it; not Mar
settles tea. nor many golden books, nor
dinner. In fact, the bouillabalsse OF
lunch spoiled the dinner. And at mid
night, in a cafe on the Cannebiere, my
! friend conGded q secret to me. when
we fell in with each other just twenty
! four hours ago. he said, Il was suG-
fering just as you are now. The hor-
rible taste Of saffron had remained OBJ
stinately 9th me ever since lunch ana
has not quite gone even yet But you
told me you had come to Marsellle3 to
eat bouilIabaisse. and knew nothing
could say would dissuade you. But
no doubt the bitterness Of this moment
will fade away, and as time passes you
will tell your friends in England how
excellent is the real bouillabaisse L
only you have it in Marseilles."
Never! | would die first" l e1"
claimed frmly.-.London Standard
Africa's Pyemy Antelopes.