The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1915-11-26
FRENCH SOLDIER IS
T FURNISHED GOOD
FOOD IN TRENCHES.
DAILY MENU IS WHOLESOME,
OUTSIDE OF NUMBER OF DEL
ICACIEs WHICH OFTEN WAY
FROM THE MESS TENT.
By Assoc1ATEp PRESS.

Paris, Nov. 25.-As far as food
goes, the French soldier lives well, #
the ordinary program of the French
common people is taken as a stan
dard. His menu is based on two solid
meals day with a breakfast of bread
and coffee. There is nothing the
French soldier appreciates so much
as his morning coffee. It is brought
to him in canvas buckets, sugared but
without milk, and like all French cof-
fee 1t is excellent. If the weather is
bad there is usually sip of rum from
the company rations to go with the
coffee and bread.
For dinner and supper the two
great staple dishes are rag out and
pot-au-feu. The rag out is made of
stewed meat, preferably mutton,
, highly seasoned. The pot-au-feu is
boiled beef and soup. The stew is
generally thickened with dried beans
or rice, but the pot-au-feu receives
as many varieties of vegetables as
! ingenious foraging can muster, with
always plentiful basis of potatoes.
| Occasionally the Trench cooks even
close to the firing line vary the menu
with special dishes such as steaks,
brains, hearts and the like, which they
carry out to the men in the trenches.
| 1t is current remark in France that
the cook is the bravest man in the
regiment, and this is generally tri-
butte to the danger that he sometimes
has to undergo to- carry his dainties
to the appreciative Poilus who await
his coming at the very apex of the
battle line.
The meat in its raw state is brought
up on the hoof to point as near the
lines as is conveniently safe, and
there slaughtered. Typical French
economy is shown in this operation,
for use is made of every possible
| fragment of the carcass. The hide,
bones, and UNBEATABLE portions are
carefully collected and sent back to
the base to be otherwise turned to
advantage. The cook of each mess
sends his assistant each morning for
the squads share of the butchers
stores, and the assistant receives
/ promptly great piece of beef or
mutton corresponding to the number
of men to be fed.
The operation of carving the meat
| is generally matter of great inter-
est to soldiers who happen to be off
duty. They gather in the vicinity of
the cooks tent or hut and admire or
criticize the skill with which he I'M
dertakes the operation. Although
some of the best cuts are often used
in the pot, there is an opportunity
for the exercise of considerable skill
in trimming off an occasional sup
ply of steaks or chops for treatment
in some other manner.
The meat dishes by no means COM
plete the soldiers dinner. There is
the bread-and French bread is pro-
verbally excellent. 1t is baked in
loaves like small milestone, and
before being served the crust is care
| fully cut away, because in transpor-
tation and handling certain amount
of dirt is bound to gather there. The
interior is rather more solid than that
of the French bread served in Ameri-
| can restaurants or in Paris.
Each man is allowed half-pint of
red wine with each meal, and the
Individual may provide himself with
| such Injuries as salad, cheese or fruit.
Salad may often be obtained locally
and not infrequently the men have
their own little beds OF their favorite
green, grown in some favorable spot
close to their position.