The Gourmet's Guide to Europe Part 16

Naples

There is a certain man in a certain London club who has a grievance against Italy in general, against Naples in particular, and, to descend to minute detail, against one Neapolitan restaurant above all others. He tells his tale to all comers as a warning to those who _will_ travel in "foreign parts." He returned from a long turn of service in India, and, landing at Naples, concluded that as he was in Europe he could get British food. He went to a restaurant which shall be nameless, and ordered a "chump chop." He had the greatest difficulty, through an interpreter, to explain exactly what it was that he wanted, and then was forced to wait for an hour before it appeared. When the bill was presented it frightened him, but the proprietor, on being summoned, said that as such an extraordinary joint had been asked for, he had been compelled to buy a whole sheep to supply it. This is a warning not to ask for British dishes in a Neapolitan restaurant.

Time was when the Gambrinus, which is the excellently decorated cafe and restaurant at the end of the Chiaja, and the big cafe and restaurant in the great arcade, were at daggers drawn, and a war of cutting down of prices raged. In those happy days one could dine or lunch at either place sumptuously for a s.h.i.+lling. Some meddling busybody interfered in the quarrel and brought the proprietors into a friendly spirit. The Gambrinus, with its bright rooms, good decorations, and fair attendance, is perhaps the best restaurant at which a stranger can take a meal, unless he is looking for the distinctive Neapolitan cookery. If he is in search of the dishes of the town, let him try the Europa or, better still for his purpose, the Vermouth di Torino in the Piazza del Municipio. To eat the fish dishes which show the real cookery of Naples better than any other, he should go out on a moonlight night a couple of miles to the Antica Trattoria dello Scoglio di Frisio, or to the less aristocratic Trattoria del Figlio di Pietro in the Strada Nuova del Posilipo.

Of the macaroni I have already written. The splendid tomatoes grown in Naples, which are cooked with it, give it its particular excellence. It is also seasoned with cheese. _Spagetti alle Vongole_ is the macaroni seasoned with the little sh.e.l.l-fish of the place. _Zuppa di Vongole_ is a clear soup of bread and _Vongole_. _Polpi alla Luciana_ are small octopi stewed in an earthern pot with oil, tomatoes, chilli, and red wine. Between the pot and the lid a sheet of oiled paper is placed, to prevent the steam from escaping. The _Spigola_, the most delicate of fishes of the Mediterranean, is at its best between 1 and 1-1/2 lbs. in weight. It is either boiled or roasted, and is served with a sauce of oil, lemon juice, and chopped parsley. A steak _alla Pizzaiola_ is baked in an oven with potatoes, garlic, and thyme; and _Pizza alla Pizzaiola_ is a kind of Yorks.h.i.+re pudding eaten either with cheese or anchovies and tomatoes flavoured with thyme. _Mozzarelle in carozza_ is a slice of bread soaked in milk and a slice of Provola cheese, the whole plunged in beaten eggs and then fried. There is an excellent Neapolitan method of treating egg-plants, fried in oil, cut in slices, sandwiched with cheese and tomatoes, and then baked. Provola and Cacio Cavallo are the Neapolitan cheeses. Vesuvio, Capri, Gragnano, Lacrima Christa are a few of the wines grown along the bays. The walnuts of Sorrento are the best in Italy.

Palermo

Palermo has its special dishes, amongst them of course its _Spagetti_, seasoned with minced meat and egg-plant; but its ices and its fruit are its particular delicacies. Marsala, Moscato di Siracusa, and Amarena di Siracusa are the wines of the island. If you want to try Sicilian cookery, go either to the Lincoln by the Plazza Marina or the Rebecchina in the Via Vittoria Emanuele.

N.N.-D.

CHAPTER X

SPAIN AND PORTUGAL

Food and wines of the country--Barcelona--San Sebastian--Bilbao--Madrid--Seville--Bobadilla--Grenada--Jerez-- Algeciras--Lisbon--Estoril.

A candid Frenchman, who had lived long in Spain, asked as to the cookery of Spain compared with that of other nations, replied, "It is worse even than that of the English, which is the next worst." That Frenchman was, however, rather ungrateful, for the Spaniards taught the French how to stuff turkeys with chestnuts. The Spanish cooks also first understood that an orange salad is the proper accompaniment to a wild duck, and the Spanish hams are excellent. The lower orders in Spain have too great a partiality for _ajo_ and _aceite_ for oil and garlic. Their oil, which they use greatly even with fish, is not the refined oil of Genoa or the south of France, but is a coa.r.s.e liquid, the ill taste of which remains all day in one's mouth. Garlic is an excellent seasoning in its proper place and quant.i.ty, and the upper cla.s.ses of the Spaniards have their meat lightly rubbed with it before being cooked, but the lower cla.s.ses use it in the cooking to an intolerable extent. Capsic.u.m is much eaten in Spain, being sometimes stuffed, but in any quant.i.ty it is very indigestible.

In the south of Spain the heat is tropical in the summer, and the only meat then available in any small town is generally goat. As in India, the chicken which you order for your lunch is running about the yard of the inn when the order is given. The princ.i.p.al dish of Spain is _Puchero_, which consists of beef, very savoury sausages, bacon, fowl, and plenty of the white haricot beans known as _garbanzos_, some leeks, and a small onion, all put together into a pot to boil. The liquid is carefully skimmed before it actually boils, and as the sc.u.m stops forming hot water is added. The broth, _Caldo_, is used as soup; the remainder, which has had most of the sustaining quality boiled out of it, is the daily dish of the middle and upper cla.s.ses, who call it _Cocido_. _Gazpaco_ is a kind of cold soup much used in the southern and hotter parts of Spain. It is made of bread crumbs, bonito fish, onions, oil, vinegar, garlic, and cuc.u.mbers. All these are beaten into a pulp, then diluted, and bread broken into the mixture. The better cla.s.ses drink this as we should afternoon tea. _Bacalas_, or dried cod, is one of the staple dishes of the poor in the north, and the English in Spain also often eat it. The favourite mode of preparation is to first soak out the salt, then let the cod simmer, but not boil, adding afterwards _pimientas dulces_ and chopped onion fried and pounded. The selection of a cod-fish is the first necessity in preparing this dish, for some of the cheaper kinds from Norway are so odoriferous as to make them impossible to most white men.

Spain is a country which is no happy hunting ground for a gourmet. The restaurants in Barcelona one can rely on, Madrid comes next in honour, and the rest, to use a sporting term, are "nowhere," the customary _table-d'hote_ dinner at the restaurants of a small town consisting of _Caldo_, then the universal stew, then _Arroz a la Valencia_, rice, chicken, and tomatoes, and finally quince marmalade.

Lisbon is the one city in Portugal where the cooking is worthy of any serious consideration.

The wines of Spain are the Valdepenas, which is very strong and really requires eight or ten years in bottle to mature, a Rioja claret, which is a good wine when four years in bottle, and of course sherry in the south, of which all the leading brands are obtainable. In the north I have found Diamante a pleasant wine to drink. The Spanish brandy is, if a good brand is chosen, excellent.

Barcelona

The busy bustling capital of Catalonia is better off in the matter of restaurants than any town in Spain, the capital included. First in order comes Justin's, the longer t.i.tle of which is the Restaurant de Francia, in the Plaza Real. It is an old-established house with a good cook, and excellent wines in its cellars. It is a restaurant that the French would describe as _non chiffre_, for it does not mark the prices on its card of the day, though they are not higher than at most of the other restaurants of Barcelona. There are some very pleasant private rooms at the restaurant, and a large room for banquets. The cuisine is almost entirely French. You can get a very fair dinner, wine and all, at Justin's for about 6s.; but if you are giving a dinner party, and are prepared to pay 30 pesetas or 18s. a head, Justin's will give you such a dinner as the menu I give below, wine and all:--

Huitres de Marennes.

Consomme Colbert.

Hors-d'oeuvre varies.

Loup. Sauce Hollandaise.

Cotelettes de Sanglier Venaison.

Salmis de Beca.s.ses.

Chapon Truffe.

Pet.i.ts pois a la creme.

Glace Napolitaine.

Desserts a.s.sortis.

VINS.

Rioja blanco.

Vinicola.

Cliquot sec frappe.

The Rioja Blanco, Diamante, and Vinicola seem to be the wines most generally drunk at Justin's. MM. Marius and Gerina are the present proprietors.

In the central square, the Plaza Cataluna, is the new and gorgeous Restaurant Colon, attached to the newly finished hotel of that name. The decorations of the interior are artistic, and the building bears on its facade in gold and colours the arms of the princ.i.p.al European nations.

Here, as at Justin's, the cookery is almost entirely of the French school. The _chef_ is M. Azcoaga, the manager Mons. Scatti. There is a good fixed priced lunch and dinner, specimen menus of which I give:--

5 Pts. DeJEUNER.

Hors-d'oeuvre.

Oeufs poches Princesse.

Filets de Sole Waleska.

Poulet Cocotte Bayaldy.

Buffet froid.

Filet grille. Pommes fondantes.

Biscuit glace.

Dessert.

6 Pts. DINNER.

Hors-d'oeuvre.

Consomme d.u.c.h.esse.

Creme Windsor.

Turbot. Sauce Hollandaise.

Carre d'Agneau Maintenon.

Haricots verts Anglaise.

Caille sur Canape.

Salade.

Peches Richelieu.

Dessert.

The Continental and Martin's may be said to run a dead heat for third place. The former is in the Plaza Cataluna, and its cuisine is both foreign and of the country. On its bill of fare are always three _plats de jour_, and that on one day, _Raviolis Napolitaine_, _Escargots Bourguinonne_, and _Filet grille Bordelaise_ were the three dishes, and on another _Oeufs Meyerbeer_, _Filet de veau froid aux Legumes_, and _Rap Marinera_ shows the variety of the fare. The prices of these dishes are all between one and two pesetas. Under the heading of _fritures_, all kinds of _conchas_ and _Escalopitas_ and _Croquettas_ are to be found, as well as the _Frito Mixto_; and the fish column gives an interesting selection of the sea denizens of the coast, _Rap_, _Calamares_, _Merluza_, _Pouvine_, and others. The banquets at the Continental are entirely French in character.

Martin's in the Rambla del Centro is almost in front of the Opera House, and has a number of snug little rooms for supper parties, of two or more, after the theatre. This is a dinner for a dozen given at Martin's.

The position in the menu of game, _hors-d'oeuvre_, and fish is in accordance with the usual Spanish custom, and is always adhered to in this establishment:--

VINS.

_Jerez Macharnudo._ | Creme de volaille Royale.

| Hors-d'oeuvre.

_Rioja Clarete._ | Cailles a la Maintenon.

_Barsac_ 1893. | Saumon de la Loire a la Parisienne.

| Troncons de Filet a la Perigueux.

| Asperges en Branches.

_Moet Chandon._ | Chapons de la Bresse aux Cressons.