A PRIMA DONNA'S MEALS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19748, 22 September 1927, Page 8

A PRIMA DONNA'S MEALS.

WHAT DAME MELBA EATS. HINTS TO YOUNG SINGERS. FOODS TO BE AVOIDED. FRUIT AND VEGETABLE DIET. [FROM OUR OWN* CORRESPONDENT. 1 SYDNEY. Sept. 16. Every time Dame Nellie Melba. Australia's most famous singer, returns from her frequent tours abroad, she spends much of her time in giving advice to sing, ing students, especially those studying at the Albert Street Conservatoriuni, Mel. bourne. Recently she gave one of these lessons there, and it was brightly described by a writer in the Argus. 1: was one of the most interesting lessons Melba had given, and it was Melba at her best— Melba as a friend, as well as a critic and teacher. The lesson proceeded along the usual lines for about an hour and a-half, with the great soprano giving advice about breathing, production, enurfwjtt'on and interpretation. Then the students to ask her questions. There was a nervous silence. Then one girl set the ball roiling with a significant question. "Madame." she asked, "will you tell us what not to eat ?" "Ah," said Dame Nellie, and then came the most interesting period of the lesson. "Shall T tell you what 1 eat ? 1 begin my day with a dessertspoonful of lemon I juice—orange juice is just as good if you like sweet things, I don't—in boiling water. Half an hour later 1 have a raw tomato, or a bit of celery, or some water cress, with one tiny little bit of bread and butter, and two cups of weak tea. That is ail the tea I drink in the day. I have dona that every morning of my life, end it ! has done mo an enormous amount of good. | Perhaps for lunch I may have some fish ! or chicken with plenty of vegetables, arid | perhaps some stewed fruit. I "Do not mix your foods. If you have hot fish, have hot vegetables, and it you have salad do not have vegetables, and so on. You will get your blood stream running so beautifully dear you will never get a cold. I never eat meat. Three times a week 1 have no dinner at all, and three times I have a wonderful vegetable soup which has been simmering for three hours. Believe me, the less you cat the bfilter you are, and if you take my advice you will eat less and less meat and more and more vegetables and more fruit." Then Dams Nellie went on to un. mend certain things, boiled onions, which aha said she loved, raw carrots grated and made into a sandwich—anything that had grown in the earth. Then she asked: "Would you like to know what I eat when lam singing ? The day I sing I have my raw tomato and my tea in the morning. At one o'clock I have a chicken in a casserole, with vegetables and perhaps a baked apple; and at 5 o'cl6ck I have scrambled eggs without any salt, because you must never run the risk of getting thirsty wheu you are singing. That reminds me of a funny story. I was staying at aS country hotel, and asked for scrambled eggs without salt, when the cook remarked: "I know now why 1 can't aing. I love salt." Another in valuable hint, which Dame Nellie said was g*ven to her by an eminent Naw York throat specialist, was: "If you get that horrible, nervous, dry fueling, when your tongue seems to cleave to the roof of your mouth, press your tongue between your teeth. This helps the saliva to come, and it means such a lot"