In a Chinese Restaurant
THERE are tastes in Chinese food which are never found in any European cuisine--rich flavours, the secret of which a French chef would give his eyes to know. Some Europeans, it is true, thoroughly dislike Chinese food, but on the whole it may be said that .the complaint of most foreigners about Chinese dinners is that they are too long.
Let us go and have dinner in a first-clais restaurant in Peking. The entrance is not at all prepOssessing. One is led by a bowing, smiling gentleman through a short passage full of people who seem to have nothing. better to do -than lounge about watching eVeryone come in, or talk to the private rickshaw coolies, who are having their meal while. their masters are at dinner inside. And then on beyond one enters a big eoUrtyard, full of nsise and bustle, round which are nurnberleis little doors, each leading- into a private restaurant,. and a balcony with more doors leading out of it. If your guide thinks you are a grand person he will take you upstairs to one of the rooms leading off the balecinyr If not, - you :will be shown into one on the ground floor.
The first thing to do is to wash your hands and face -with a steaming towel By this time the nuts and tea, have been brought-- in, and while dinner is being prepared (either .a la carte or table d'hdte) you can nibble -and . Then, come the shqrs .4'oeur!T8—four or five dishes—and the meal has began. But "no; there • is One thing more: If thereare any Chinese in the party, everyone must sit in order of seniority. One man -(613Viouly much older than anyone else) is guided towards the- place of honour ; but when.- he realizes what is happening, he backs -quickly away. There are more bowings and guidings and smilings, and eventually he is steered into the seat of honour. And then the whole process is repeated for 'the second man, and so on till everyone is finally installed.
- In front of each 'person are a pair of chopsticks, a :Small bowl about the size of a teacup, a china spoon with a short handle; and several squares of paper. With these latter everyone gets about 'wiping his bowl, chop- sticks, &c., and not till this is finished does the meal begin. Everything is taken from the common bowls in the centre, mouthful by mouthful, with the chop- sticks, and either eaten at once, after 'being dipped into Ohe of the many games on the 'table, or else put into the rice bowl, which. generally makes its appearance beside each visitor 'early on in the meal. The hors 'd'oeuvres may. consist of all sorts of thingS, but the most 'usual are bean curd (a very strong tasting food, rather like a cream cheese to look at, which is eaten in tiny pieces as a kind of spice), cold chickens' feet, liver, and Various sorts- of raw or cold vegetables.
• Long before one has finished with the hors d'oeuvres, the first course comes in. The Chinese always seem to 'think it polite to bring in fresh dishes before the guests lave grown. tired of the last ; thuS 'one often finds Oneself desperately trying to eat some chicken before it gets cold, while not being able to resist having a go at the apple fritter which has just come in steaming hot.
One of the most delicious of Chinese dishes is black-eggs. These are ordinary hens' eggs that have been buried in the earth for several months, or 'even years. Naturally they taste rather strong, but not with the taste of an . ordinary bad egg, in fact with quite a special flavour like 'nothing else in the world. Sharks' fins provide another great delicacy. These are long; thin, jelly-like things,- about the size of French beans. They are covered in a thick brown sauce, with a curiously bitter flavour, and taste of . very little else but the sauce— in fact, they are not nearly so exciting as they sound. But" the greatest delicacY of all is birds' nest soup. This 'is really made of birds' nests, only these particular birds build their nests of sand and mix a tremendous amount of saliva with it, and it is principally the gelatinous saliva that is used for the soup, which tastes like chicken broth. It is a great compliment to your guest if you give him birds' nest soup in China.
—Besides these special dishes, mutton, chicken, beef, pork, and above all, fish, are served in a never-ending variety of deliciOus ways. One very good dish is apple, "with a kind of toffee pOured over it. It has to be eaten -Very hot or else the toffee hardens so that you cannot get it Off the plate eVeri-With a knife. A dish that is sometimes given early in the Meal is sweet soup made of fdtus seeds, so good that it does not disappoint even thOse with distant visions of Greek mythology and Tennyscin. When soup arrives, the china spoon is used ; it has defeated the chopstick's, 'and' they are put down. OnlY 'two-kinds of wine are drunk. Both are served hot—one is a -Very" intoxicating white wine with a strong and rather unpleasant take the'TOther is a yellow wine, like sherry, of which one 'can drink almoSt 'any amount without- feeling the effects.' - - When dinner is over, one sits ' meditatively chewing r"spices until a 'Servant brings 'in the hot" towels, when once more every one *rims his -liana ' and face with 'them.' Then comes the time for leave-taking. More bows and smiles and praises and depreciations are gone through, and finally every one goes out into the courtyard, where now 'a high-pitched voice is singing to the twang
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