The Inner Man.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2082, 17 June 1887, Page 2 (Supplement)

The Inner Man.

The variety Of food which has proved acceptable to various appetites and doctrines: is an object of some curious study. Long ago shell fish, that reliance of the modern housekeepr, was forbidden to the Jews, 0n the contrary, the Romans knew the charms of the oyster, as certain people do to-day of the snail; that knowledge, however, speaks little for their good taste, for one of their most famous condiments was a sauce made of unclean portions of fish when in a putrid state, to be rejected in disgust to-day; and yet. according to one of theirancicntlaws, poultry was an article of food held in abhorrence by them. Again, the Jews were forbidden to use the blood of any meat, and particular and peculiar methods were employed at the slaughter to prevent the remaining of any excess of blood in the carcass; but the Australian to-day wants the blood to follow the knife in the carving of his beef and mutton, and the bloody gravy is thought by the careful nurse to be the best life-giving agent to invalid and child. Meanwhile, nothing would tempt the Brahmin to cat beef, and the Chinese rarely attempt it—indeed, the poorer classes never; but they prize the delicacy of a little live crab that one has to chase about the table, and earthworms, and dogs, and cats, and rats, and mice, are a part of their customary bills of fare. I’ork also was forbidden to the Jew and to the Mohammedan ; but where would much of our savoty cookery be to day without it, and what would become of one of the greatest industries of the United States were pork forbidden to us? There are many however, even among ourselves, who feel that it should be an article forbidden to all, and replaced by something more wholesome, the scrofulous character of the animal furnishing it, and his usually unclean habits, rendering it ttndesirabe. Vet while the majority of consumers think otherwise, the pork-packing establishments of the country will not tremble to their foundations. Another questionable provision of food is found in the French markets occasionally, but has not yet forced itself upon the public fancy otherwhere ; and that is not frog's legs, but horse (icsli. The general householder is not able, whether from prejudice or principle, to bring himself to try it; and we shall perhaps be d-nc altogether with the eating of meat before the effort becomes at all successful. S'till very strange viands are in request among strange people. The native South African loves a slice of roast elephant; the wild hunter of South America fancies a grilled monkey ; some eastern people have a passion for the flavor of assafoetida, as the people of the Mediterranean shores have for that of garlic; andgtnany Americans find the snap-ping-tuitlu of the wayside ditches only next to the terrapin in delieiousness. Meantime in the warmer climates there are many people who do not know the taste of meat at all. What rice is to the East Indian—his mainstay and support; what cabbages, Hour, pork, and potatoes are to onr own millions, the fruit of the plantain is to untold millions on the South Sea Islands and their neighboring shores, where it is eaten raw and roasted, baked, and boiled, and fried, and its variety never satiates or tires, and keeps whole races well fed and healthy, With milions of laboring people, too, in the British Islands, beans and peas, oatmeal and coarse white-meal take the place of meat, which latter is not partaken of perhaps twice a year, and these vegetable productions seem to have continued in comparative well-being a remarkably strong and sturdy branch of the human family. This may go to prove that iifocan bo sustained without such strong aliment as meat affords, while the lavish supply of the meat-market in onr own country ami our own generation may be the reason for th« lavish use of the’patcutmcdicine bottle. Yet it is not so likely that it is healthier to dispense with meat as that only the strongest of the British agricultural laborer has survived and increased under the dispensing regimen. It seems to be tolerably evident that what people are accustomed to eat from infancy, that is the food they prefer. The Esquimaux loves his repulsive train-oil, and would not relish our most dainty morsel so much as a goo 1 dish of blubber; and the fishing-people who cook seaweed would not thank ns for a dish of the most delicate junket or sea-moss farina that we could set before them. It is all a matter of taste, and yet the odd thing about it is that wc hold a difference of opinion in the matter to be somethingcontemptihlc, if not criminal. And perhaps the fishing tribe who do not eat the fish till it loads the neighboring air with foulness are not too heedlessly to be censured by the epicure who docs not eat the gamebird till, having been hung up by the tail, it falls of itself from the hook and leaves its feathers behind it.

The beverage in Persia is sherbet, which is plentifully supplied, and of which there arc many varieties—from the bowl of water with a squeeze of lemon to the clear, concentrated juice of any sort of fruit to which water is added to dilute it. Preparing sherbet, which is done with the greatest care, is a very important point in so thirsty a country as Persia, and one upon which much time is devoted. It may be either expressed from the juice of fruit freshly gathered or from the preserved extract of pomegranates, cherries, or lemons, mixed with sugar, and submitted to a certain degree of heat to preserve it for winter consumption. Another sherbet is much drank called ’‘guzangebben,” made from the honey of the tamarisk tree. This honey is not the work of the bee, but the produce of a small insect or worm living in vast numbers under the leaves of the shrub. During tbc months of August anil September the insect is collected and the honey preserved. When used fur sherbet it is mixed with vinegar, and although not so delicious as that made from fruit, it makes an excellent temperance beverage. Only among the rich and fashionable are glasses used : in ad other cases sherbet is served in china bowls, and drank from deep wooden spoons enrved in pearwood.

A new potato lias been recently discovered in It :: .in liy a Mr, Sace. The value to anmenMliou of this now tuber may be judged from lie; lat-Is that it is the most farinaceous of its species, and yields four cm;,- [i t annum. The. Indians esteem it hi'.ddy, and call it jmjia purcha. These potatoes prow numerous bulbs, ten t* fifteen in a bunch. from one seedling,' and the manifold stalks are covered from base to top with soft, beautiful leaves, brilliant with a lovely yellowish green. The tubers weigh from one hundred to two hundred and fifty grammes, and contain twenty per cent, of focnla and suventy-tivc per cent, of water.