The Washburn leader., 1914-08-28
ate AND WAS SAD
Yet 1t Was a Dish For Which He
Had Yearned For Years.
A TRAGEDY IN GAs1RoNomY.

eouillabaisse 40 Sung by Thackeray
and az Served In a Famous Mar
seiiles Resort Proved Very Different
Propositions to IN English Epioure.
We all know that famous poem Of
Thackeray's which begins,
A street there is In Paris famous
For which no rtme our language yields.
and goes on to tell of the tavern where
the genial Titmarsh in the days when
he was Paris correspondent ''ate and
drank the bOuillabaisse."
As q result Of that delightful poem
tens OF thousands OF Englishmen have
yearned to eat bouillabaisse. Thacke
ray puts 1t 50 beautifully: The steam
ing dish Of stewed fish that be con-
jures up In bis 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 in my mind firm resolve
to eat some day of bOuiIla baisse.
Ny opportunity came not long ago
when / visited Marseilles. 1t was
nearly half past when | sat down In
the dining room Of the hotel.
There is no bouillab:isse on the
menu" ] said severely to the maitre
d'hotel. Il have come to MarseilIes
specially to eat It." He replied that 1t
was not speciality Of the house. but
that 1t could always be prepared. How
long would 1t take? Twenty-Five min
utes. perhaps little longer. But L
think monsieur would find it rather
heavy at such 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 at
night Thackeray had not talked about
heaviness. But twenty-five minutes.
l ordered an omeIet.
At midnight. walking down the IA
nous Cannebiere. back to the hotel.
was hailed by Il familiar voice. 1t was
that of II 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 ne told me that he
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
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 hest that
Marseilles could give lne.
There are, as everybody knows. two
places at Marseilles for bouillabaisse-
Pascal's and Basso's. on the vieux
Port. We decided on Basso's.
"Bouillabaisse," | said laconically. ]
paid no attention to what my friend
ordered. No other dish interested me.
But In a minute or so curious look
ing mess was set down before him.
whats that stuff you're going to
ent7'' I asked.
That's bouillabaisse." he said. 'but
It's not NINE"
lstnrted. This bouilla baisse. this Gu
ti0us looking stuff. with indigestlble
looking Jumps Of 6sh floating In bill
1ous' and oily saffron liquid: know
not what l had expected bouillabaisse
to be. but it certainly was not this.
There was 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.
But 1t was the yellow liquid itself
which repelled. 1t shouted biliousness.
and the smell of saffron that arose with
the steam made me feel III. Oh. Thack-
cray:
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 floated in it. But mine was
no palate for bouillabaisse. made
the waiter take the mess awav and
bring lamb outlets.
But I 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
seilles tea. nor many golden books. nor
dinner. In fact. the bonillabaisse Of
lunch spoiled the dinner. And at mid
night. in cafe on the Cannebiere. my
friend confided 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-
rible taste Of saffron had remained OBJ
stinately with me ever since lunch and
has not quite gone even yet. But yO1
told me you had come to Marseilles to
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 first" l ex-
claimed firmly.-LOndOn Standard.
Africa's Pygmy Antelopes.
The pygmy antelope Of the Gold