Year: 1872




The Americans in Europe, or at least
most of those with whom have con-
versed, complain constantly of their in
ability to get good and palatable food,
even at the best of European hotels.
You find, after struggling to get your
food properly cooked, that you are
compelled to resign yourselves to the
table d'hote, and to cat whatever is
given to you, whether You like it or not,
or know what it is that you are called
upon to digest. If anything con. IS
along that you recognize, such as a chick
en-, you find it cut up in iniinitisimally
small particles, about fifty to chicken,
of which you are expected to take but
one. In fear of depliving your neigh
bors of any, you take the first piece
that your fork lights upon, and gencr-
ally find yourself incapable of scratch
ing u thitbleful Of meat for your share
of the p,llet. Next comes some green
spinach, which you are expected to cat
by itself, and he thankful. This is fol-
lowed by some veal, which appears to
have done duty i'll soup before it was
roasted, favored with onions. A dish
of potatoes comc along, which you re-
cognize as Christian food, but you find
that these have been cut up and fried
with onions. AS everybody does not
like onions, would it not be well for all
cooks to cook them separately and al
low those who like them to make the
mixture? An ar,ichoke comes next and
You must take few leaves and suck
them. But previous to all this there is
about three spoonsful of very thin soup
given You, and then some fish general
ly about the size of minnow cut in
two, as an intimation to the guest that
half of fish is his share. Then comes
some salad, with another chicken cut
up so as to give an atom to each of the
forty guests to make chicken salad out
of. This is succeeded by a spoonful CT
pudding, and thimbleful of ice cream,
some grapes and q cake about the size
of an American half dollar, SO far as
my memory of that coin serves. After
every mouthful you masticate, your
plate, knife and fork are changed, and
if you get through this very unsatisfac-
tory dinner in IN hour and twenty min
utes, as we have to-day, You are very
fortunate, Life is too short" for such
waste of time.


The American that leave home dur
ing summer must expect to deprived of
all the blessings that summer brings
him at hcme. He may pick up hard
peach CT 1iavor'e IS pear occasionally,
and pay seven francs for five peaches,
as we did at NIarseillas; or, if lie can
atand the climate and Heas of Italy, he
may find palatable fruits there, but he
must fore,ro ali hopes of peaches and
cream, watcr,nelons, cantaloupos, and
cvon hot corn must he to him asa thing
which has 10 existence. He gets 10
good bread after he passes the capcs,
and as to griddle cakes of any kind,
why, I do not believe they know what
ii griddlo is in Europe. At Liverpool
We called for the famous English muf-
fins, and werc furnished with cold and
clammy half-baked dough. France
used to be distinguished for the sweet
ness of its bread, but We have found it
as hard and tastcless as it is possible 10
make bread If an American has Il g
dyspepsia, and desires to be where his
food will not tempt him to overload his
stomach, Europe is the place for him, ,
but if he thinks. that good living is es-
sential to enjoyment he had better stay
Mt home.