Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1914-07-09
ATE AND WAS SAD
Yet II Was a Dish For Which He
Had Yearned For Years.
A TRAGEDY IN GASTRONOMY.

and as Served In Famous Mar
settles Resort Proved Very Different
! Propositions to an English Epicure.
We all know that famous poem of
Thackeray's which begins,
A street there is in Paris famous
! For which no rhine our language yields.
and goes on to tell Of the tavern where
the genial Tltmarsh In the days when
he was Paris correspondent ''ate and
drank the bOuillabaisse
AS n result of that delightful poem
tens OF thousands OF Englishmen have
yearned to eat bouiIlabaisse Thacke-
ray puts 1t so beautifully! The steam
ing dish of stewcd fish that he con
lures up In his lines-how appetiZing 1t
seems! know that 1t was quite early
In my teens when ! first read that
poem, and from that moment there
was formed I'm my mind firm resolve
to eat some day of bouilla baisse.
My opportunity came not long ago
when visited MarseiIes. 1t was
nearly half past 8 when sat down In
the dining room of the hotel.
There is no bouillabaisse on the
menu" ] said severely to the maitre
d'hOtel. ~ have come to Marseilles
specially to eat It" He replied that II
was not a speciality OF the house. but
long would 1t take? Twenty-Five min
utes, perhaps little longer. But l
think monsieur would find 1t rather
heavy at such n late hour"
He was not encouraging, this maitre
d'hotel / did not accept for a moment
his suggestion that bouillabaisse was
too heavy n dish for half past at
night Thackeray had not talked about
heaviness But twenty-five minutes!
1 ordered an omelet
At midnight. walking down the IA.
nous Cannebiere, back to the hotel. |
was hailed by familiar voice 1t was
that of a friend whom had not seen
for long time Gratefully grasped
his hand and told him that intended
to eat bouillabaisse 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
l related to him. with some bitterness,
my experience with the maitre d'hotel
well. 1t is rather heavy stuff" he
said. But | brushed this aside. and we
arranged to meet Mt 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-
Pascafs and Basso's. on the Vieux
Port We decided on Bassos.
"Bouillabaisse," l said laconically. |
ordered No other dish interested me.
But In a minute or so a curious look.
ing mess was set down before him.
whats that stuff you're going TO
eat?" I asked
That's bouillabaisse." he said. but
it's not mine"
! started. This bouillabaisse. this Gu
rious looking stuff. with indigestlble
looking Jumps OF fish floating In bill
ious and oily saffron liquid! l know
not what l had expected bouillabaisse
to be. but It certainly was not this
There was piece Of fish which ! rec
ognized rs eel, and l loathe eels. The
broad tail of another and unknown
fish stuck up out of the Opaque liquid.
But It was the yellow liquid itself
which repealed II shouted blliousness,
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 lamprey-explored the various
other fish. tasted gingerly OF the thick
saffron liquid on one OF the pieces OF
toast that tioated In II. But mine was
no palate for bouillabaisse. made
the waiter take the mess away and
bring lamb outlets.
But l had tasted OF bouiilabaisse and
was not to forget It All day long the
terrible taste of saffron remained with
me. Nothing would shift 1t; not Mar
seilles tea. nor many golden books. nor
dinner In fact. the bouillabaisse OF
lunch spoiled the dinner. And ut mid
night, In cafe on the Cannebiere. my
friend contded a secret to me- When
we zen III Win ehSu otheA JuSt e"ehIy-
four hours ago." he said. 81 was suf-
fering just as you are now. The hor,
rible taste OF saffron had remained OBJ
stinately with me ever since lunch and
has not quite gone even yet But you
told me you had come to Marseilles 10
eat bouillabaisse, and | knew nothing
l 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 II
only you have It In Marseilles-"
Never! | would die hrstr l ex'
claimed tirmly.-Loudon Standard