Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1914-10-23
ATE AND WAS SAD
Yet It Was a Dish For Which He
Had Yearned For Years.
A TRAGEDY IN GASTRONoMY.

BOuillabaisso as Sung BY Thacksray
and as Served IN q Famous Mar
settles Resort Proved Very Different
Propositions to an English Epiours.
We all know that famous poem o.
Thackeray's which begins,
street there is In Paris famous.
For which no rirae our language yields.
ana goes on 10 tell OF the tavern where
the genial Titmarsh IN the days when
he was Paris correspondent ''ate and
drunk the bouillabaisse"
As a result Of that delightful poem
tens OF thousands Of Euglishinen have
yearned to eat boulllnbnlsse. Thacke-
ray puts 1t 80 beautifully. The steam
ing dish Of stewed fish that he con.
jures up In his lines-how appetizing II
seemsl | know that It was quite early
In my teens when Hrst rend that
poem. and from that moment there
was formed in my mind a firm resolve
to eat some day OF bOuillabaisse.
My opportunity came not long ago
when visited Marseilles 1t was
nearly half past 0 when I sat down in
the dining room of the hotel
There is no bouillH baisse on the
menu" ! said severely to the maitre
d'hOteL II have come to Marseilies
specially to eat It." He replied that II
was not q speciality Of the house, bat
that It could always be prepared How
long would II takeI Twenty-Five min
utes, perhaps a little longer. "But
think monsieur would Hnd It rather
heavy at such late hour"
He was not encouraging. this maitre
d'hotel. did not accept for a moment
his suggestion that bouillabaisse was
too heavy a dish for half past at
night Thackeray had not talked about
heaviness. But twenty-five minutes!
ordered an omelet
At midnight. walking down the IA
nous Cannebiere. back to the hotel.
was hailed by familiar voice 1t was
that OF friend whom l had not seen
for long time. Gratefully I grasped
his hand and told him that intended
to eat bouiuabalsse as soon as possible
And my respect for him was consider
ably enhanced when he told me that be
had eaten some that very afternoon,
an hour after his arrival in Mar
seilles Here was the true spirit, and
l related to him. with some bitterness,
my experience with the maitre d'hoteL
swell, 1t is rather heavy stuff," he
said But brushed this aside, and we
arranged 10 meet at lunch on the NOR
row, when l should have the best that
Marsellles could give me.
There are, as everybody knows. two
places at Marseilles for bouillabaisse-
PascaPs and BassO's, on the Vieux
Port. We decided on Basso's.
~BOuillabaisse," said laconicaIly.
paid no attention to what my friend
ordered. No other dish interested me.
But in a minute or SO a curious look.
ing mess was set down before him.
whats that stun you're going to
eatT / asked.
THAT'S bouillabaisse." be said. ''but
it's not mine"
started This bouillabaisse. this Gu
riOus looking stun, with indigestible
looking Jumps OF fish floating In a bill
ious and oily saffron nquid!' know
not what had expected bOuillabalsse
to be. but it certainly was not this.
There was a piece Of fish which rec
OgniEed as eel, and loathe cells. The
broad tail Of another and unknown
ish stuck up out Of the Opaque liquid.
But II was the yellow liquid itself
which repelled II shouted biliOusness.
and the smell Of saffron that arose with
the steRm made me feel Ill. oh. Thaek.
erayi
I pecked at the eel-or It 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 foated in II. But mine was
no palate for bOnillnbaisse. ] made
the waiter take the mess away and
bring lamb outlets.
But l Ind tnsted OF bOuillabaisse and
was not to forget It All day long the
terrible taste Of saffron remained with
me. Nothing would SHIFT II; not Mar
sellles tea. nor many golden books. nor
dinner. In fact, the bOuillahaisse Of
lunch spoiled the dinner. And at mid
night. In a cafe on the Cannebiere, my
friend conhded a secret to me- when
we fell In with each other Just twenty
four hours ago." he said, II was Suf-
fering Just as you are now. The hOr.
Fible taste OF saffron had remained OBJ
Btinately with ms ever since lunch and
has not quite gone even yet But yOu
told me you had come 70 Marseilles to
eat bOuilla baSsse. and l 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 b tho real bOuillabalsse II
only you have II in MHrseilIea."
"EeVer! | would die nrstF I eG-
claimed ArTntv. oudOu Standard