The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1935-09-19

NOUTH AFRICAN exporters are
bringing a new food to the
X worlds dining table which is al
ready replete with a generous
cross section of the living things found
ON the earth and in the sea.
Grasshopper ragout the new article
is called. For many years the Chinese
and Arabs have relished grasshoppers,
which were once destroyed as they at
tempted ruination of South African
crops. Now great masses of the in
sects are captured, carefully cleaned,
conserved, and shipped to the Orient
and Asia Minor ready to be eaten.
Strange foods are to be found on the
markets of all continents. In fact, one
part of the world is rather ignorant
of what satisfies the hunger or tickles
the palate of the other part.
He who would enjoy his food,
should not look over the kitchen WALL"
the Korean proverb warns; but there
is much Of interest to be found by
looking over the geographical wall of
space and regarding the food habits
OF other people. Rats and dog steaks
in China have regular market prices,
and thoroughly ripened eggs are deli
cacies. Our food is often looked upon
as queer and heathenish by these same
people. The Turk regards oysters as
we do some African and West Indian
dishes. But ''all human history attests
that happiness for man,-the hungry
sinner since Eve ate apples, much
depends on dinner"
Russian borsch is probably one of
the best known soups. The large
quantity of meat floating in a sea of
cabbage and sour cream is a meal in
itself, heavy and filing. Chinese fish
soups are known the world over for
their delicate flavor, as is Swedish
bouillon, made of all kinds of birds
with elks' meat as the piece de re-
sistance of the soup.
In a Swedish home, the Christmas
porridge is an affair of great i'm
portance, made in gigantic copper
washtub, being stirred by several
women, who take turns stirring, two at
time for no less than ten hours on
end. In this same home, cooks are
pensioned to prevent family recipes
from being given away.
Some Queer Sea Foods.
By Andorrans and Polynesians, land
lubbers and seafaring folk, seafood is
held in high regard. In Siberia v~-
ing to climatic conditions frozen SLICED
fish is the epicurian's delight Kukson,
the local fish of the salmon family,
nearly takes the place of bread
Frozen, the skin removed, sliced, and
eaten with salt, it is a savory treat.
But the South Sea islanders,
far from the freezing point, hunt
their treasured palolos by the light
of the moon. The tiny worms which
come to the surface of the water
once each year are eaten raw "on
location" or taken home in pals. In
Spain. little, white, transparent cells
two inches long, called angulas are
attracted and caught with the aid of
oil lamps, fried in patches in popping
olive oil, and served hot.
Australians hunt dugong (seacow),
like whale, but owing to the thick
ness of the hide, their spears are often
turned aside or broken. The flesh OF
this mammal has flavor akin to both
beef and pork, the meat being used
like bacon. A good sized specimen may
reach II feet in length and weigh 600
pounds.
The river-dwellers of Brazil ana
other tropical South American coun-
tries have remarkably large fish in
the jacaretinga, from which large
steaks are taken. Fried alligator tail
is also to be had there, as well as the
lizardlike iguana. The flesh of the
female iguana is supposed to be as
delicate as young chicken, although
occasionally experience has proved it
to be as tough as an old hen. Iguanas
are sold alive, tails tied together to
prevent escape.
Liberia Likes Dumboy.
Dumboy, the national dish of Lii
IBERIA, is prepared principally from a
sweet, non-pOisOnous cassava root
called cassada in Liberia. The roots
are peeled, boiled, and the fibers from
the center removed before the process
of pounding in mortar with a pestle
is begun. This process calls for con-
siderable skill and experience because
the cassada sticks to any dry thing.
The pestle must be kept moist, but not
so moist as to make the mass soggy.
Dried and fried dumboy becomes so
hard that it is used as shot in rifles.
To the north of Liberia, in Africa,
is found another standard, meal-in-
itself dish, CONSCIOUS. Mutton or fowl,
various vegetables, cooked separately
before mixing, and served with steamed
wheat dumplings make a highly sea-
soned Arab version of an Irish stew.
Climatic conditions play their part
in the formation of tastes in the Mar
quesas islands. Droughts from which
the Marquesas suffer necessitate long
storage of breadfruit. The white,
somewhat mushy pulp is ground in
wooden bowls and allowed to rise like
a mass of fermenting dough. This
poipoi has to the foreigner an unpleas-
ant odor and an acrid, bitter flavor.
Centuries of eating fermented pulp
have destroyed the natives appetite
for the fresh fruit.
Without counting calories, Bolivia
supplies novel way of preparing the
ubiquitous potato. To make chuno,
potatoes are frozen, trampled free Of
water, trampled again and again, un-
til they are little balls of pure starch.
The countries Of the Amazon basin,