A CHINESE DINNER.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVI, Issue 4907, 25 November 1925, Page 1

A CHINESE DINNER.

ENGLISHWOMAN'S 1 POINT OF VIEW

DISHES THAT TASTE DIFFERENT.

The enticing odour which streams from a Chinese restaurant is. a much better guide to enjoyment than the menu, for a translation of the delicacies at your service is apt to lend speed to your departing footsteps. Lizards, earthworms, and toasted rat® are scarcely calculated to whet an Englishman’s appetite, even if his nose does bid him stay.

But things are not half as bad as they sound. You must dare the first step and the rest is. easy—comparatively. You .notice the tablecloth, scrupulously clean and fresh. Good breeding forbids your examining the array of small dishes on the table, but curiosity is easily satisfied. There are nuts salted and nuts baked, almonds in plenty, and perhaps sunflower s.eeds, as well, as numerous; dishes of small fruits prepared in the mqst tempting way.

If you are lucky you may see something brown swimming in a green sauce. Investigation proves it 'o be goose liver, .a speciality of Chinese cookery. But no one has eyer tasted it,. as the Chines© cook it, and. you feel that something has been brought to perfection in 6000 yjears. Another plate holds, slices of eggYou ■scarcely- recognise them as eggs, for the yolk is a deep copper colour, and the white is no longer white, but green. These are the so-called 1000-year-old eggs of which you have certainly heard, buried deep in the ground when they are fresh. Only these are not quite so old—only ten years, your host assures you. Life is uncertain’ at the best of times, and nobody keeps them s,o long now. The farmers want the money, hence it is unusual to find any older: than perhaps thirty. Naturally the flavour improves with keeping, and those who dare to taiste invariably pronounce them delicious.

Now the real dinner is just beginning. You have been but tickling your palate with this rich’ fare, standing all the while in Chinese fashion. Your host waves, you ,to. a seat and the work bf the day begins.

The waiter appears carrying a crab salad. This may be followed by a fish course; a giant fellow, white and tender, reposes on the dish, seasoned to perfection, as you find at the first mouthful, Next a puddingnshaped something is brought to the table. It looks like a Jelly. You cannot discover its name, but .after you have eaten, someone whispers "Swallows’ nests.” Then they bring in a. goose, and you sigh with relief. This at least.cannot be tampered with. It is only twenty years old, you hear, and shudder. But no, you need not fear ; it is as tender as a chicken

You begin to Ibise count soon, for iseaweed and bananas baked in honey follow, and tomatoes and potatoes; but you take leave of your host convinced that the experiment was very well worth while. —H.F.D., in the “Westminster Gazette.”