Stalls . rise magically in the streets on every holiday, for the making and frying of these crullers, and there are innumerable fruit-stalls odorous with roast apples and pumpkin, chestnuts, boiled beans, and cab- bage. It is a land, it would seem, where everybody cooks and nobody eats; since, in spite of this profusion, abstinence is the universal habit, and a family will break- fast on coffee and a roll, dine on three simple courses, and sup on an ice taken at a caf6. But the cook-shops thrive, and this because so little cooking is done at home, dinner often being sent in from them or the slightly more formal trattoria^ or restaurant, usually excellent and cheap, a dinner of five courses for three persons seldom going beyond eighty cents, or, at most, a dollar. This 84 IN FOREIGN KITCHENS. cooking is Italian or French, as one may elect. Now and then the Italian chimney has its share, and a flavor of smoke may be discerned, the miracle being that it is not al- ways there, since smoke and Italian chimneys have been synonymous from the beginning. An ingrained incompatibility exists, and apparently has always existed, between the Italian and fire oi any sort. It is certain that the sun appears to him the only legiti- mate source of heat, that he would cook by it if he could, and that hot ashes in a copper holder, the forerunner of our grandmother's foot-stoves, are his notion of a desirable method of keeping warm in winter. The newer houses claim to have chimneys con- structed on the English principle, but the Italian is utterly aghast at the amount of fuel demanded by both Americans and Eng- lish. The kitchens are arranged after the French fashion; that is, the chimney holds a stone table with various openings for char- coal fires. But the general effect is far more cheerful and ample; there is more light, more space, and quite as good a sense of order. ITALY. 85 The Italian housekeeper, like the French, is freed from much that burdens life in America. Baking of every kind is done outside, the bakers in Rome and Florence furnishing excellent graham bread and rolls of a better quality than anything yet known to the American baker. The laundry is also quite removed, and washing and ironing days are unknown. The French system of " portions " is only here and there followed ; but cook-shops are everywhere, and in the market, the fruit and vegetables of the sea- son, as well as every housekeeping need, from a beefsteak to a dish-cloth or duster, can all be supplied. Necessarily, then, unless the kitchen is fitted with an English or American range, baking must be dispensed with. Roasting is accomplished excellently well by means of spits; but the Italian cook prefers stew- ing or braising, this last method being one of the very best for preserving the juices and flavor of the meat, while reducing the most obdurate quality to tenderness. When browning is demanded, the "salamander" comes into play; this being a box-shovel 86 IN FOREIGN KITCHENS. filled with hot coals. If this is not to be had, a shovel made red-hot answers the same end.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Stalls . rise magically in the streets on every holiday, for the making and frying of these crullers, and there are innumerable fruit-stalls odorous with roast apples and pumpkin, chestnuts, boiled beans, and cabbage. It is a land, it would seem, where everybody cooks and nobody eats; since, in spite of this profusion, abstinence is the universal habit, and a family will breakfast on coffee and a roll, dine on three simple courses, and sup on an ice taken at a café. But the cook-shops thrive, and this because so little cooking is done at home, dinner often being sent in from them or the slightly more formal trattoria or restaurant, usually excellent and cheap, a dinner of five courses for three persons seldom going beyond eighty cents, or, at most, a dollar. This cooking is Italian or French, as one may elect. Now and then the Italian chimney has its share, and a flavor of smoke may be discerned, the miracle being that it is not always there, since smoke and Italian chimneys have been synonymous from the beginning. An ingrained incompatibility exists, and apparently has always existed, between the Italian and fire oi any sort. It is certain that the sun appears to him the only legitimate source of heat, that he would cook by it if he could, and that hot ashes in a copper holder, the forerunner of our grandmother's foot-stoves, are his notion of a desirable method of keeping warm in winter. The newer houses claim to have chimneys constructed on the English principle, but the Italian is utterly aghast at the amount of fuel demanded by both Americans and English. The kitchens are arranged after the French fashion; that is, the chimney holds a stone table with various openings for charcoal fires. But the general effect is far more cheerful and ample; there is more light, more space, and quite as good a sense of order. The Italian housekeeper, like the French, is freed from much that burdens life in America. Baking of every kind is done outside, the bakers in Rome and Florence furnishing excellent graham bread and rolls of a better quality than anything yet known to the American baker. The laundry is also quite removed, and washing and ironing days are unknown. The French system of " portions " is only here and there followed ; but cook-shops are everywhere, and in the market, the fruit and vegetables of the season, as well as every housekeeping need, from a beefsteak to a dish-cloth or duster, can all be supplied. Necessarily, then, unless the kitchen is fitted with an English or American range, baking must be dispensed with. Roasting is accomplished excellently well by means of spits; but the Italian cook prefers stewing or braising, this last method being one of the very best for preserving the juices and flavor of the meat, while reducing the most obdurate quality to tenderness. When browning is demanded, the "salamander" comes into play; this being a box-shovel filled with hot coals. If this is not to be had, a shovel made red-hot answers the same end.

In foreign kitchens