A CHINESE DINNER IN NEW YORK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2288, 6 January 1898, Page 52

A CHINESE DINNER IN NEW YORK.

A Chinese dinner is the most civilised dinner in the world. Though the feast began at .2 o'clock in the afternoon, the teahouse was hung within and without with Chinese lanterns. The banquet table was round, to avoid all question of precedent. At ever* diner's place were ivory chopsticks, with a collection of dainty little cups and bowls, and_ never a knife or fork in sight. The first course was made up of such dainties as Western barbarism reserves for desserts. These aromatic fruits and' conserves, scattered all over the table 'in tiny dishes, piqued the appetite and made eating a delicate delight. It was impossible to bs Jittrried over dried water melon seed?. The chow-chow was not a pickle, but a preserve, a strange opaline tangle of gelatinous shreds, tough enough to require deliberation in the chewing, and of a flavour subtle as a perfums of flowers. ■ The Cumquat oranges, little honey-coloured globes of pungent sweetness the s : z3 of the tip of one?a thumb, were mysteries to linger over. The melon rind and curiously candied ginger bit the palate provocatively till it appreciated the soothing blandnass of the long, juicy >wheel-fruit. Everjthiug bad to be eaten with, the ivory chopsticks; and owing to the zeal of the beginners to practisetheir chopsticks on such easily-handled viands before passicg to the difficulties of rice and stew, it is probable that far more of tbe firgt course was eaten than Oriental etiquette would approve. With the second course came the first wine — a pale, faintly odorous liquor, served from little covered teapots of quaint cbina, and drunk from fragile cups of thiinbls s:z?. Thedish of this course, aptly known as " fowl in the nest," is one cf the pieces d£ resistance of the Chinese Savarin, and very enticing it looked, curiously garnished, and resting in a great oblong bowl. It consists makly of the breasts and legs of y&ung pigeons, the breasts of young chickens, bean sprouta and Chinese mushrooms-all stuffed into a hollow •watermelon. The melon riad is securely plnggea, and tbe whole thing is boiled till the melon looks like a roll of white pastry. When this comes on the table a hole is cut in the rind and the content* are scooped out, ■ steaming and fragrant. Nothing could be mote delicious or more wholesome. The «hark-fin rolls, .in ispite of their forbidding name, were a gelatinous mixture rolled in €ggs,-Tery light and digestible, but needirg tbe relish of the red " soy " sauce into which cne was expected to dip them. " Bird in the bush " was duck cooked in some fashion unknown to the chronicler, and served with a garniture of Chinese parsley, not even remotely akin in flavour to our occidental herb of that name. Throughout these three courses were fierved with unremitting diligence the thimble cups of white rice wine. Bat with course five came the " wine of the roots," a heavier, more aromatic liquor, brownishpurple in hue, and blending perfectly with the strange stew of mushrooms, chopped fish, and grated peanuts which accompanied it. The stuffed chicken wings were a marvel of delicacy, "but the addition of " soy " obscured their distinctive flavour to any but a Chinese palate subtilised by a thousand years of discrimination. Then came the world-famous "bird's nest soup." It was like an idealised chicken broth thickened with idealised tapicca. It justified itstfame, which is more than can be said of many other objects of renown, The eighth course has a familiar air, being simply broiled pigeon. But it was well redeemed from the commonplace by the liquor which want with it. The rose wine is a white spirit distilled from apricots and rose leaves. A thimbleful makes every vein tingle deliciously. But the marvel of it is that successive thitablefals produce no worse effect. Robb wine ruled the remainder of the feast, and its rule proved beneficent. Tbe boiled abalones of the ninth course were interesting; they are a dried shellfish that require three daya' boiling before they can be eaten. Course 10 was the solid course of the mßal— it -was the standard Chinese dish of chop suey. This is a stew of beef, chicken, or pork, with bean sprouts, mushrooms, waterlily roots, sprouted, grain, and unknown

flavourings. At this stage cur artfully conducted appetites were juat ready for a solid dish like this, and the liberal bowls of chop suey were soon disposed of. With the white nut broth — a sort of light, sweet soup — came curious Chinese cakes, sweetmeats of unexpected flavour rolled in a white transparent paste. Then little cups of waterlily tea, one of the finest of rare Chinese tea?, rounded cf£ a perfect dinner which had lasted four hours.

Between the courses, obeying a wise Chinese custom, the guests would leave the table and wander about the room, or show themselves from the balcony to the doubtless critical observers on the street. When the dinner was over the guests had neither eaten nor drunk too much for comfort or dignity.— Julian Jekrold, in the Illustrated American.