CHRISTMAS FARE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13368, 24 December 1906, Page 4

CHRISTMAS FARE.

- Something about ■ the GOOD things. )$&/■ • ■ : • ''£'.'" [WHAT the tradespeople " HAVE PROVIDED. : : -.:■■. ■ h : (PASSING OF THE PLUM h ; f ; PUDDING. , : v "Ichaboo" is written over the Christmas >~ plum puddingin New Zealand at anyrate. Its glory is departing, although not «" ' : rapidly. On learning this solemn fact many pf people, notably dyspeptics, will exclaim, fl\ "For this relief much thanks;" but sentimentalists will be inclined to shed a tear ■'•- • as the dark brown, indigestible, sphere ■k~: commonly known as plum pudding is lowi'v. ered down into the grave, of things that ' have —the dust to dust and ashes to ashes of the Christmas fare of the past. K. ; • "We have turned out over 1000 ChristV-' . mas puddings this year," said the head of Ij. a large wholesale grocery firm to a representative of the Herald. " I have increased |*'-- ;, Hay puddings from 100 last year to 500 this m Beacon," remarked a leading. confectioner, Efv? "and they go all over the country, as well mas tho city,". lie added. Surely, then, it 01 ' may be -argued, this does not mean the [*?'.', decadence of the Christmas plum pudding. %i: That is just what it does mean. It means :.■-' that the days of tho pudding as an institu- ..' tion are numbered. There can be no sentiment about an article which the housewife, 'J-V. turns out. of a tin, or which reaches-her with a label on it. No, the thin end of I ,' the wedge is inserted between the pudding ';. and hallowed associations, and it needs no prophetic insight to foresee that the days '-. of the Christmas plum pudding is becoming extinct, that it may have to go before palegi'''faced blanc mange, or tremulous pineapple '. 'jelly. Even the jellies themselves are : ' purchasable in packets, and custard powders have supplanted the straightforward ,-"" article, composed of eggs and milk only, •-: •with the addition of a soupcon of vanilla ■'. or almonds. The Christmas cake, too, is ''.'•".■ not generally home-made, and Scottish • ■ shortbread is "flaunted before ones very eyes ! '. in the shop windows, with devices such as "Frae mither to fither," or ",Frae auld . Reekie"a bit of romance on the face of H'^itr—worked in pink piping, in a setting of • strictly conventional and very indefinite flowers of a sugary substance. An Auckland pastrycook confesses to having already made from 4000 to 5000 cakes of all sorts, and weighing from seven to eight tons. "I ; don't know how many more will be re- - quired." he said, " but as this branch of ..- my business has grown 50 per cent, this , year I should not be surprised if our turner-' out of Christmas cakes weighs over 10 '"«» tens." And he was only one of several. Coming to fruit we find the Christmas r * market glutted with bananas. The Atua -:' on December 6 brought 5613 cases and 374 .'.'.'■ bunches of bananas, also 690 cases of pine- ',- - apples, 51 cases of oranges, and 360 kits of I varied:fruits, but only on Wednesday last the Manapouri arrived with 9732 cases and '>" 1585 bunches of bananas, 4347 cases .- ; oranges, and 156 cases of other fruits, in- • - eluding that' of the cocoanut tree. In addition, the Sierra brought from -•'"■ America 3808 cases of apples and ■6102 boxes of oranges. These are •all . on the market, and one importer at ' least is lamenting the fact that he gave ■ I|d a {lb for Fiji bananas—which he still llpihas— -while he could purchase the Cook IsI land-article. at' Id a lb, and plenty at the %-,% price. 3 uThis does not mean that the consumer who makes his purchases by the - pound;will get the benefit of the glut of bananas in the fruit market, the vagaries ' , .of which ; pass the understanding of everyone except the wholesale dealers. Locally- •-" grown fruits, peaches, , and cherry plums, ...are. a week earlier than usual, but the V} .peaches are bringing 6d to Is 4cl,a dozen Wu Wholesale, and are nothing like the luscious mfl-uifc .that our fathers tell us in their day ; they bought from the Maoris for 4d to •'; 6d a large kitful. , The. plums have gone ■■ ■ up," too, within a, few days from Is 8d an *»--. 181b bos to 3s 6d or the same quantity. "-.and yet there is a large quantity of tropical, fruit in the market. Alligator; pears -/ aid mangoes are in the market in small quantities, but they must become cheaper, and must be ticketed with the price before they come into strong favour. - r- •■"- In "connection -with the' Christmas pud- j ding and its imminent decline, it" may be interesting .to state that the Americans r :- s have quite captured the New Zealand raii'- sin market. ' Australian raisins count for Ts practically nothing; besides, the Common- ' ' -wealth can use all it can grow; but the luscious Spanish muscatel lias practically disappeared from the market, and the : . American— quite so large in size, but '~ .equal* in flavour, and containing less and ■. smaller pips, and much more profit- ;-. ; able to handle—has taken its place. For - "' the present the currant of he lonian 15... ... lands still holds its own. Whether the '..- will drive that out, too, is a '{ matter of time, perhaps. The Americans .shipped by the Sierra; 12,026 cases of dried-:fruits, and -much of this consisted 1 - of seeded raisins. Here, again, a good deal.of work connected with the ChristflpKinias pudding is saved, but at the expense }. '" -of sentiment. For "to help stone the • .raisins," was the joy of the child of 10 /. ;. years ago, and ' the legal commission on ' ■'. the work was liberal, to say nothing of -the surreptitious tasting of the fruit. There -,\ is more economy in the seeded! raisin '/ after -all, but it lacks sentiment. Canned - "fruits -from- America , amounted to 4845 - cases by the Sierra, but as the New Zealand article grows in favour so will the ' "importations from', California decline. As ||y^';. matter of. • fact the first-class quality of iNiew Zealand-canned fruits -is not being turned out fast enough to meet local r wants. . '.':■■ Coming to meats.- Here in New Zealand the Christmas "lamb takes pre-eminence of the beef, for the director of a'large but- : chery business . stated that the £;•; 'weekly killing of .-beasts by his company ' <&veragcd 220 for the" whole year. All of I, '. this was. locally consumed. "It is good .and plentiful," he said. "Lamb fetches 8d ' ' -per lb hindquarters, and 6d per lb fore- '- qtiarters, and there is plenty of it. Fowls, fll particularly young roosters, are very scarce, H and fetch up to. 4s lid each. We require 1400 fowls for the Christmas trade, !-. and shall kill 3000 head of poultry alH| together. Geese are scarce. It does not WS& pay to raise them besides, they can 'l' always be sold in the country. Turkeys -'['/ are not so scarce, but they are fetching :k ... long prices. Ducks are plentiful, and people who would prefer fowls may have to fall back ,upon them, unless they are prel':' pared to pay the price. As for hamswell, "we find them in full supply. We are prepared to get rid of 1500 at least, at from 8d to 9d per lb. Bacon is scarce, but i>"; that is not a Christmas luxury like ham is."

1":;. - Taken altogether, the supply of food for o':„% Auckland, both necessities and what may ..be termed luxuries, has been ample for this - Christmas, although there has been also, hi - some departments a largely-increased de- ?'•. shand; Much depends upon the methods .and character of the individual business house, and the output of one may be no safe • index to the, volume of business of the "' ."whole/ There is undoubtedly an increased • turnover in Christmas goods' such as meats, 7 fruits, cakes, and groceries, but only, it- ' seems, in proportion to the steady increase of r population year by .year.