Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1914-07-16
ate and WAS SAD
Yet 1t Was a Dish For Which He
Had Yearned For Years.
A TRAGEDY IN GASTRoNoMY.

souillabaisse as Sung by Thackeray
and as Served In a Famous Mar
settles Resort Proved Very Different
Propositions to an English EpIcure.
We all know that famous poem of
Thackeray's which begins.
street there is in Paris famous
For which no rme our language yields.
and goes on to tell of the tavern where
the genial Titmarsb in the days when
he was Paris correspondent late and
drank the bouillabasse
AS result of that delightful poem
tens OF thousands Of Englishmep have
| yearned to eat bouillabaisse Thacke-
ray puts II so beautifully. The steam
| ing dish of stewed fish that he con-
lures up in his lines-how appetizing 1t
seems! | know that it was quite early
in my teens when | first read that
poem. and from that moment there
was formed In my mind firm resolve
to eat some day of bouilabaisse
My opportunity came not long ago
when visited Marseiles. Ii was
nearly half past when sat down in
the dining room Of the hotel
There is no bouila baisse on the
menu" ] said severely TO the maitre
d'hOtel. 81 have come to Marseilles
specially to eat it" He replied that it
was not "A speciality Of the house. but
that 1t could always be prepared. How
long would 1t take? Twenty-Five min
utes. perhaps little longer. But
think monsieur would find II rather
heavy at such a late hour"
He was not encouraging. this maitre
d'hotel. did not accept for moment
his suggestion that bOuillabaisse was
too heavy dish for half past 8 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 Ii was
that of 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 ne
had eaten some that very afternoon.
an hour after his arrival in Mar.
seilles Here was the true spirit. and
| 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 tn 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-
PascaPs and Basso's. on the Vieu1
Port. We decided on Basso's.
"BouillahaisSe." | said laconically.
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 stuff you're going tc
eat?" ! asked.
That's bouillabaisse." he said. "but
it's not mine."
started. This bouilabaisse this Gu
rious looking stuff. with indigestibl,
looking Jumps OF fish floating in a bill
ious and oily saffron liquid. know
not what ! had expected bouilabaisse
to be. but II certainly was not this
There was a piece of fish which rec
ognized as eel. and loathe eels. The
broad tail of another and unknown
fish stuck up out Of the Opaque liquid
| D.,N 10 h.. tNoa
which repelled. II shouted biliousness
and the smell of saffron that arose with
the steam made me feel Ill. Oh. Thack
cray!
pecked at the eel-or It may have
been a lamprey-explored the various
saffron liquid on one Of the pieces OF
= toast that tioated In IT, But mine was
no palate for bouillabaisse. ] mad,
the waiter take the mess away anC
bring lamb outlets
= But | had tasted OF boulllabaisse and
was not to forget 1t. All day long the
5 terrible taste of saffron remained witt
l me- Nothing would shift 1t: not Mar
seilles tea. nor many golden books, mol
dinner In fact the bouillabaisse oI
lunch spoiled the dinner. And ut mid
night. In cafe on the Cannebiere, my
friend confided secret to me. "WheI
we fell In with each other just twenty
four hours ago." he said. II was suf
fering lust as you are now. The bor
rible taste OF saffron had remained OBJ
stinately with me ever since lunch anC
has not quite gone even yet But 20.
, told me you had come to Marseilles Il
eat bouillabaisse. and ] knew nothing
: / could say would dissuade you. Bu
no doubt the bitterness OF this momen
will fade away. and as time passes yot
will tell your friends In England how
|! excellent Is the real bouillabaisse I
/ only you have II in Marseilles."
/ "Never. | would die hrst" ex
claimed firnly.-London Standard.
o