America and were never heard of in the Old World till the
Spanish acquired them in the New — our corn, sago, succo-
tash, chocolate, cocoa, tapioca, peanuts, Lima beans and a
great many other foodstuffs. And some of these, though
in every-day use among us, are never tasted in their per-
fection except in Spanish America. For perfect chocolate,
go to Mexico; while a Guatemala Indian would be ashamed
to offer anj'-one what a majority of us would call a cup of
coffee.
Palatable anywhere, this general dietary plan is almost
indispensable in the countries where it has grown up. It
admits of infinite variation ; but its essential features are
not to be disregarded. “Americans,” for instance, who set-
tle in California and continue to eat precisely as they used
to in Maine or New Jersey or Indiana, need not wonder if
in the long run their digestions fare as would the digestion
of an Eskimo removing to Ecuador and maintaining his
diet of blubber. In a word, diet must be adapted to cli-
mate, Natural man always does so adapt it — by the slow
process of the survival of the least foolish — and has his
reward. He has little need of dentists or appetizer, and
biliousness, dyspepsia and gout are strangers to him. It is
well for civilized people to be as wise. For such as dwell
in the arid half of the United States, the Spanish-American
menu can give many profitable hints.
Without going into an exhaustive essa3r on the details of
this food-scheme, it will be enough to note a few of its
vital characteristics. It is on the whole simpler than our
average United States menu, with less pastr}^, less meat,
and less flummididdle bread. Fruits, vegetables and soups
are rather more predominant in it. For anti-bilious reasons
it is much more highly seasoned than our own cookery.
One of its characteristics is a liberal use of the chile, or
native American red pepper, both green and ripe. This is
not like the vicious cayenne or the venomous tabasco, but
sweeter, more agreeable and more healthful than either.
Most Americans do not at first flush like dishes in which
it predominates ; but it is an easily acquired taste— and
once learned, there is nothing of which one becomes fonder
IV
LANDMARKS CLUB COOK BOOK.
than a good concoction of chile. Green, it is chopped and
fried with potatoes or meat or beans, to their great advan-
tage. It is also used whole as a wrapper for stuffing of
forced-meat, cheese, etc. When ripe, dried or fresh, it is
ground up and cooked as the sauce of hundreds of dishes.
Its “hotness” can easily be regulated without destroying
its flavor, by soaking, by removing the seeds, by adding
tomatoes, and so on. In any shape it is palatable, and in
almost every shape beneficial to the system though some
few people find the green chiles, particularly when un-
cooked, too laxative. It is really a necessity of the arid
lands ; an unequaled stimulant to the liver, which tends in
these climates to become torpid.
Page 2
Presented as published in 1903. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
America and were never heard of in the Old World till the Spanish acquired them in the New — our corn, sago, succotash, chocolate, cocoa, tapioca, peanuts, Lima beans and a great many other foodstuffs. And some of these, though in every-day use among us, are never tasted in their perfection except in Spanish America. For perfect chocolate, go to Mexico; while a Guatemala Indian would be ashamed to offer any one what a majority of us would call a cup of coffee.
Palatable anywhere, this general dietary plan is almost indispensable in the countries where it has grown up. It admits of infinite variation ; but its essential features are not to be disregarded. “Americans,” for instance, who settle in California and continue to eat precisely as they used to in Maine or New Jersey or Indiana, need not wonder if in the long run their digestions fare as would the digestion of an Eskimo removing to Ecuador and maintaining his diet of blubber. In a word, diet must be adapted to climate, Natural man always does so adapt it — by the slow process of the survival of the least foolish — and has his reward. He has little need of dentists or appetizer, and biliousness, dyspepsia and gout are strangers to him. It is well for civilized people to be as wise. For such as dwell in the arid half of the United States, the Spanish-American menu can give many profitable hints.
Without going into an exhaustive essay on the details of this food-scheme, it will be enough to note a few of its vital characteristics. It is on the whole simpler than our average United States menu, with less pastry, less meat, and less flummery bread. Fruits, vegetables and soups are rather more predominant in it. For anti-bilious reasons it is much more highly seasoned than our own cookery. One of its characteristics is a liberal use of the chile, or native American red pepper, both green and ripe. This is not like the vicious cayenne or the venomous tabasco, but sweeter, more agreeable and more healthful than either. Most Americans do not at first flush like dishes in which it predominates ; but it is an easily acquired taste— and once learned, there is nothing of which one becomes fonder
than a good concoction of chile. Green, it is chopped and fried with potatoes or meat or beans, to their great advantage. It is also used whole as a wrapper for stuffing of forced-meat, cheese, etc. When ripe, dried or fresh, it is ground up and cooked as the sauce of hundreds of dishes. Its “hotness” can easily be regulated without destroying its flavor, by soaking, by removing the seeds, by adding tomatoes, and so on. In any shape it is palatable, and in almost every shape beneficial to the system though some few people find the green chiles, particularly when uncooked, too laxative. It is really a necessity of the arid lands ; an unequaled stimulant to the liver, which tends in these climates to become torpid.