A bachelors cupboard

In the little alcove kitchen in the rear of the first room stood Matias's wife, a handsome, liquid-eyed Mexican woman of thirty, busily cooking the " Albundigos," " Tamales," stirring the " Chili con carne," and rolling the " Enchiladas " for the Senor who sat in the next room drinking of the heavy, puckery Mexican wine. Mexican and Creole Cooking With the second course of delicious fish, with a sauce even hotter than the soup, Matias brought the register, or guest book, which reminds one of a similar one at the " Cheshire Cheese " In London. Filled with autographs of famous people and drawings by artists and verse by poets and pen pictures by descriptive writers, It was a worthy tome, and interested one for more than an hour's time. The delicious enchiladas which form a part of every Mexican dinner are simply tortillas or corn cakes rolled over like a German pancake and filled with grated cheese and sliced onion with chili sauce poured over it, and a soupçon of garlic grated on top. It is impossible to make tortillas as they are made In Mexico, as the corn is not made into meal there, but is rubbed between stones into a soft, pulpy mass — but I have eaten some very good ones made by a San Francisco artist in his studio on Russian Hill, made like an ordinary corn griddle cake with a little wheat flour added to prevent brittleness. He fried his onions In a little olive oil, then put a spoonful on each enchilada' and grated some cheese over, rolled it deftly, and poured over it the chili sauce, which as everyone knows is made from tomatoes and hot Mexican peppers. The same artist gave to me some of his choicest Mexican recipes which had been given him in a burst of generosity by Madame Matias. Chili chicken is not the least delectable of these, and is made as follows: Mexican and Creole Cooking CHILI Boil a chicken until tender, let cool, and CHICKEN chop fine. Wash and dry a cup of rice, put it into a pot which contains equal portions of melted lard and butter and fry a few moments, then add chopped tomatoes, onions, salt, and some chili powder, which can be bought at any purveyor's. When this is well blended and the rice has swelled, add the chicken and some of the broth in which it has been boiled. HOT I wonder if any of you have ever eaten a TAMALE fresh hot tamale, and if you have ever essayed the canned substitutes offered occasionally on buffet cars of the vintage of Armour or the Libby canning factories? There's just the difference between a new-laid egg and a very bad one—with all due respect to the canners, who certainly do their best to turn out the real Mexican article. But a fresh tamale with the corn husks smoking hot can only be prepared properly by a Mexican woman — so I will not attempt to tell you how they are done. They can be had in their perfection In the City of Mexico, and from there on up the coast to Portland, Oregon, where they are very good Indeed. By w^ay of a change, some day when you are having chicken or chili con carne, try with It some genuine SOPA Boil some rice rather soft, with a trifle DE ARROZeach of chili sauce and onion juice or chopped onion, and eat It with salt, pepper and butter. It will be found a vast Improvement over the plain boiled " Carolina head."