ABOUND will find sand-dabs au gratin to be
very fine. At Jack's, striped bass
cooked in wine is what we think the best of the fish to
be found in the market, or at the restaurants, cooked
that way. Jule's is famous for his Rex sole. At all of
the French and Italian restaurants small fry is cooked
to perfection. If you wish fish in any way or of any
kind you will make no mistake in asking for it at any
of the French or Italian restaurants, or at the Shell Fish
Grotto, and if you are in doubt regarding what to order
just take the proprietor into your confidence, tell him
you are a stranger in the city and ask him to serve you
fish the best way he prepares it. You will not be disap-
pointed.
96
SAN FRANCISCO
Variants of food preparation sometimes typify na-
tionalities better even than variants of language or
clothing. Take the lowly corn meal,
for instance. We find that Italian SOME
polenti, Spanish tamale, Philadelphia FOOD
scrapple and Southern Darkey crack- VARIANTS
ling corn bread are but variants of
the preparation of corn meal in delectable foods. It is
a long step from plain corn meal mush to scrapple,
which we consider the highest and best form of prepar-
ing this sort of dish, but all the intermediate steps come
from a desire to please the taste with a change from
simple corn meal. Crackling corn bread is the first
step, and here we find that the darkies of the South
found good use for the remnants of the pork after lard
was tried out at hog-killing time, by mixing the crack-
lings with their corn meal and making a pone which
they cooked before an open fire on a hoe blade, the
first of this being called "cracklin' hoe cake."
Good scrapple is one of the finest breakfast dishes
that we know during the winter, and when prepared
after the recipe given here it precedes all other forms of
serving corn meal. To mix it properly one must know
the proper values of herbs and condiments, and this
recipe is the result of much discriminating study. Mod-
esty prevents us giving it more than the name of
"scrapple." It is prepared in the following manner, dif-
fering from that made in Philadelphia:
Take a young pig's head and boil it un- SCRAPPLE
til the flesh drops from the bones, in water
to which has been added two good-sized onions, quartered, five
bruised cloves of garlic, one bay leaf, sweet marjoram, thyme,
rosemary, a little sage, salt, and pepper. Separate the meat
from the bones and chop fine. Strain off the liquor and boil
with corn meal, adding the chopped meat. Put in the corn
meal gradually, until it makes a stiifT mush, then cook for half
an hour with the meat. Put in shallow pans and let cool. To
serve slice about half an inch thick and fry in olive oil or but-
ter to a light brown.
91
BOHEMIAN
As originally prepared the tamale was made for
conveyance, hence the wrappings of corn husk. This
is a Spanish dish, having been brought
SOML ^Q ^j^jg country by the early Spanish
rOOU explorers, and adopted by the Indian ✪ Polenti
Page 52 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1914. 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
ABOUND will find sand-dabs au gratin to be very fine. At Jack's, striped bass cooked in wine is what we think the best of the fish to be found in the market, or at the restaurants, cooked that way. Jule's is famous for his Rex sole. At all of the French and Italian restaurants small fry is cooked to perfection. If you wish fish in any way or of any kind you will make no mistake in asking for it at any of the French or Italian restaurants, or at the Shell Fish Grotto, and if you are in doubt regarding what to order just take the proprietor into your confidence, tell him you are a stranger in the city and ask him to serve you fish the best way he prepares it. You will not be disappointed.
Variants of food preparation sometimes typify nationalities better even than variants of language or clothing. Take the lowly corn meal, for instance. We find that Italian SOME
polenti, Spanish tamale, Philadelphia FOOD
scrapple and Southern Darkey crack- VARIANTS ling corn bread are but variants of the preparation of corn meal in delectable foods. It is a long step from plain corn meal mush to scrapple, which we consider the highest and best form of preparing this sort of dish, but all the intermediate steps come from a desire to please the taste with a change from simple corn meal. Crackling corn bread is the first step, and here we find that the darkies of the South found good use for the remnants of the pork after lard was tried out at hog-killing time, by mixing the cracklings with their corn meal and making a pone which they cooked before an open fire on a hoe blade, the first of this being called "cracklin' hoe cake."
Good scrapple is one of the finest breakfast dishes that we know during the winter, and when prepared after the recipe given here it precedes all other forms of serving corn meal. To mix it properly one must know the proper values of herbs and condiments, and this recipe is the result of much discriminating study. Modesty prevents us giving it more than the name of "scrapple." It is prepared in the following manner, differing from that made in Philadelphia:
Take a young pig's head and boil it un- SCRAPPLE
til the flesh drops from the bones, in water
to which has been added two good-sized onions, quartered, five bruised cloves of garlic, one bay leaf, sweet marjoram, thyme, rosemary, a little sage, salt, and pepper. Separate the meat from the bones and chop fine. Strain off the liquor and boil with corn meal, adding the chopped meat. Put in the corn meal gradually, until it makes a stiff mush, then cook for half an hour with the meat. Put in shallow pans and let cool. To serve slice about half an inch thick and fry in olive oil or butter to a light brown.
As originally prepared the tamale was made for conveyance, hence the wrappings of corn husk. This is a Spanish dish, having been brought to this country by the early Spanish
rOOU explorers, and adopted by the Indian
Records on this page
PolentiScrapple