Keeping House In Paris.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXXXVII, Issue 11736, 13 September 1902, Page 2

Keeping House In Paris.

(New York Advertiser.)

Housekeeping in France is altogether different from what it is in America. The greatest economy is practised by tne French. Separate houses are almost unknown. Everyone) dwells in apartments. The prices of apartments are regulated by the number of stairs one has to climb. Elevators are scarcely ever seen. In .comparison with apartments in Ameiica, those in France seem bare and comi'orttess. Rarely are any pictures hung on the walls, and there is an absence of bric-a-brac and hangings- Of course, that applies to the dwellings of the middle-class, well-to-do people. The rich live sumptuously, amid historic furniture and pictaures, in the most elegant apartments. The kitchen is usually one of the most attractive places in a French apartment, being provided with a shining array of copper teakettles, saucepans, etc., all burnished to the greatest degree of cleanliness.. Everything is porcelain lined, and even if a tenant remains no more than three months the kitchen battery must be done over a fresh— at ydur expense, of course. An ice chest is unknown. The kitchen is provided with a sort of box, shoved half-way out of a window, and with, slates for the sides. No ice is ever used in preserving anything. The Americanhousekeeiper would wonder how it was- possible to get alonor without refrigeration. The secret is this: Only sufficient for each meal is provided. Every article is calculated1 toi a nicety. When the provisions for a family are brought in it seems as if there is not enough to feed a humming bird. In some mysterious manner there always is enough, but the American woman in France is in a constant state of alarm when there are guests. In salads the French are famous, using weeds which would be thrown away elsewhere. They always serve a. salad with one or two fragrant green herbs, a shred of eschalot or a sprig of young onion. Eggs are another dish which are served in manifold ways, and which are a great.resource if an unexpected guest comes in. There are a hundred different ways of cooking, them, all dainty and delightful. As for vegetab'es, no nation in the world knows how to prepare them as well as the French Cheese pays an important role in the economy of aFrench kitchen. And such cream! It is of the consistency of fresh butter. Alas, however, it is often sour. The French do not object to that. Fresh cream is difficult to obtain. The French rarely eat it with fruit, nor do they put it in coffee as we do. The butter is invariably good, perhaps because it is not salted, and soon turns rancid. It is til ways brought to table in tempting Jittlb pats., a delusion and a snare on account of their extreme thinness, but pretty to look at, and good to the taste.

The meats are, as a rule, poor and tasteless. In but a few first-class places can one procure a juicy beaf steak, and the price is much higher than with us. The art of roasting beef or mutton is not known to t) c French, but in the preparation >f chicken they are rnsorpasse'. TurkW is by n j means as cheap and common as withAmerieans. Goose consequently takes *ts pi cc, and * young goose well prepared is not a thing to be dispised. Chestnuts are about the only stuffing ever used in France. Bread stuffiing is unknown.

The oysters are horrible little flat things, tasting of copper or something worse. They are never cooked, so cine of the chief delights of the American gastronomist is unknown here.

The French epicure is inordinately fond of snails, which are raised in quantities for the table If one could divest oneself of the idea, the taste is not half bad. The shells are very large, and they are prepared by sprinkling on the top a little parslley and a lump of butter. They are set in a hot oven and heated through. The meat is black,' and the taste is not unlike mushrooms. Clams are not seen, but mussels and periwinkles are favourite dishes.

French coffee is a delusion and a snare. The fault is not, however, in the manner of making, but the quality of the ingredients. Coffee is ajo least a third dearer than in the United States*, the duty being excessive. It is largely adulterated with chicory, and the French are so accustomed to the taste that they prefer it made that way. One great advantage possessed by the French housekeeper is the power to procure in an. emergency almost everything edible. There are places called rotisseurs, or roasting shop®, where one may see the beef and chickens cooking on a spit before an enormous open fire. Here one may purchase these articles and have them sent home warm from the fire. There are other shops where one may tmy potatoes already fried, or spinach cooked ready to serve, also meat pasties and small and delicate shells filled with minced chicken or veal. Salads are ready for the table, and any variety of tartlets, pates and cakes filled with cream, etc.

In pastry the French are par -excellence the cooks of the world. No sodden piecrust or half-cooked fruit for them. The crust is flaky and the pies always display the fruit, which seems to keep its colouring and to tempt the appetite by it* alluring awearance. One may purchase an entire dessert course whica seems to be1 meat, vegetables or fish. Tnere are delicatelybrowned untrussed chickens, oute littlse quail, bunches of asparagus, cauliflower or cabbage, fish with the accompanying lemon and sauce—all in reality cakes of the most delicate .composition. It is only in the matter of wine that a French table is unstinting, even the servants stipulating for so much or a. corresponding sum of money. The yin ordinaire is, however, very poor in quality and by no means intoxicating—its sole recommendation. However, good wine, like everything else, can be had by paying for itWater is never used for drinking purposes, whether from .custom or because there is a legend that the water of Paris is unhealthy. A glass of liqueur is almost invariably the finish of a meal and is generally good. Fruit is dear, and not nearly as fine as in America, nor isi it used in such qupantities Each piece is usually counted before being placed on table.and but one apple apiece is allowed to each person. Watermelons are rarely seen or eaten. One may procure strawberries at almost any season of tha year, the little wild variety being almost always in the market. Cherries arc aboat the cheapest of all fruits, and are very good. There are a number of exotic fruits and vegetables, which come from the French colonies in Africa. They are strange of taste and difficult to accustom one's self to.