FoodNet

The gourmet's guide to Europe

1903

Page 161

Presented as published in 1903. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
In the Calle de las Sierpes, Paul Bourguet pre- sides over El Pasaje de Oriente, quite a large restau- El Pasaje de rant an<^ ca^> patisserie, and charcutier’s Oriente, Calle shop, with an entrance in a street at de las Sierpes the back as well as in the narrow main alley. Paul has been manager and maitre d'hotel in several important restaurants in different parts of the world, and the cookery at El Pasaje de Oriente is both French and Spanish. I was taken to breakfast there by friends who had told Paul to be on his mettle. We went through the lower rooms of the restaurant, which were filled with Spaniards eating their almuerzo , and into a quiet little room on the first floor looking down on to the busy Calle de las Sierpes. Paul had elected to show me the French side of the cookery of his establishment, and gave us a capital breakfast in which eggs and kidneys i played a prominent part, and some admirable Cafe j Special. Had he elected to give me a breakfast of purely Sevilian plats I should have been even more thankful to my hosts and to Paul ; but I had an excellent meal. A band plays in the cafe from 7 p.m. to midnight. A table d'hote lunch and dinner are served in the restaurant. The wise man going < to the Oriente will send for Paul and tell him his Spain 293 tastes and act on Paul’s advice, for Paul is a sympa- thetic soul, and the love of his art comes before mere money-making. The Pasaje de las Delicias, also in the Sierpes, gives its clients modified Spanish cookery. It Pasaje de las is the best restaurant at which to essay Delicias, Calle “ quarter of an hour soup,” or Sop a de las Sierpes Jamon P'icado. The Pasaje del Duque, in the place of that name, is the best restaurant in Seville for a Pasaje del purely Spanish meal. The Arro z a la Duque, Plaza V alenciana there is always excellent. del Duque The Bar International and the Cafe de Paris, both in the Campana, are the best of the cafes. The best fried fish shops are those of the Campana and the Calle Cerrageria. The restaurant which is most typical of Spain and of Seville is the Eritana, which is near the farthest end of the Paseo de las Delicias, the avenue where all ‘Seville drives of an afternoon. A white - walled house stands by the Eritana entrance to the garden, and this house contains the kitchen. The garden is almost a maze. One wanders amidst its luxurious vegetation, and here and there at turns of the little paths one comes upon an arbour with a table and seats in it. There is one summer- house, something like a Noah’s ark, which is high above the flowers and hedges, and in this little house a duel with swords was once fought. A humorous notice now prohibits any such encounters. The Eritana is essentially a summer dining-place, and is frequented by all classes. The pretty ladies who drive out there on a hot summer evening may not all be accepted in “ society,” but they add greatly to the picturesqueness of the garden. Mussel soup, and kidneys a la Jerez and mint soup, and eggs Flamen^a^ are some of the favourite dishes at the Eritana ; but 294 ^he Gourmet's Guide to Europe