of general knowledge, but this, they will readily understand, is
unavoidable when treating on the customs of so well known a people as
the Jews and drawing on the Bible for much of the information given. As
the facts drawn from the Scriptures have though been supplemented by the
results of the researches of many eminent travelers and writers, it is
hoped that the combination will be found worthy of the time expended on
its perusal.
The Mosaic dietary laws which for more than three thousand years formed
the text of important social and religious observances among the
inhabitants of the chosen kingdom were the outcome of a comparison of
the regulations and practices of contemporary nations. Whether the
system was compiled in the interest of humanity or health, it remains
true that it has proved itself to be one of the best economic regimes
ever made public. If for no other reason, the life of the ancient Jew is
especially interesting to those who study the foods of men, past and
present--although it must be admitted that the precepts they compiled
were more conducive to sound digestion than some of the practices they
followed!
The diet of the ancient Jews consisted at first, as did that of all the
pioneers of the human race, of but a few articles of food. But, though
meat was not consumed in large quantities, writers err when they
describe the food of Orientals as being light and simple. Orientals did,
and do, make use of an inordinate amount of grease in cooking. Eggs and
rice were, whenever circumstances permitted, saturated with fat or oil
and meats and vegetables were frequently simmered in fat before being
stewed. It was not unusual for a family of six or seven persons to
consume an average of two hundred pounds a year, and some of their
compounds would have ill suited delicate stomachs.
Bread, as in all ancient countries, constituted the greater part of the
food of the middle and lower classes. In Leviticus, Psalms and Ezekiel,
reference is made to the "staff of bread." It was most generally eaten
after being dipped into cheap wine or weak gravy.
The fresh green ears of wheat were often eaten without cooking, the
husks being rubbed off by hand. The grain was, though, more usually
roasted in a pan after being carefully sorted over, and it was sometimes
bruised and dried in the sun, to be afterwards served with oil.
"Kibbe" was a mixture composed of cracked wheat, boiled and dried,
beaten up with meat, onions, spices and the nut of a species of pine.
Wheat was also ground by women in hand mills formed of two stones, the
under one fixed and the upper movable.
The middle classes ate meat, vegetables, fruit or fish also, but always
as supplementary dishes to the staple article, bread.
Although in the earliest days the mistress and daughters of the house
did the baking, female servants were later employed by the wealthier
families. In Jerusalem indeed professional bakers, men, became so
numerous that a section of the town bore the title of "Bakers' Street."
The flour used in the manufacture of the common bread was mixed with
water or milk and kneaded with the hands in a small wooden bowl or
trough. Except in cases of great haste, leavening was then added. The
dough was allowed to stand for several hours, sometimes for the whole
night, in moderate heat. It was next rolled out and cut into circular
pieces about eight inches in diameter and three-quarters of an inch in
thickness. These were occasionally punctured and soaked with oil.
[Illustration: A portable oven of the Jews and Egyptians.
(From an old Egyptian drawing.)]
A more delicate kind of bread was twice kneaded before baking, and
stimulating seeds were added to it. Various varieties of thin cakes were
also baked every day and biscuits of substantial character were
furnished for travelers.
The professional bakers did their work in fixed, specially constructed
ovens, but portable ovens were usually found in private houses. They
were in the shape of stone or metal jars about three feet in height, and
were heated from the interior with wood, dried grass or flower stalks,
the cakes being placed on the ashes or the exterior sides of the oven
after the fire had burned down.
In other cases, a hole dug in the ground formed the oven, the sides
being covered with clay and the bottom with pebbles. Again, sometimes
the cakes were cooked on heated stones or by the more primitive method
of laying them directly on burning logs, or between two layers of dried
dung (then lighted and burned).
Some also baked the cakes in pans with oil and ate them whilst hot with
honey, or cooked them in such thin layers that they crumbled in the
fingers.
Figs were eaten fresh and dried. Pomegranates, mulberries, sycamore
figs, citrons and apples were widely cultivated. Grapes were eaten raw
or made into fruit cake (which possessed distinctly stimulating
qualities). Similar cakes were also made of raisins, dates and
figs--which were compressed into bricks, and when hardened could be cut
up only by the use of an axe!
The bunches of grapes often attained a weight of twelve pounds.
Walnuts were plentiful. Oranges were introduced at a later date.
Among the vegetables grown were lentils (which were boiled and eaten
with butter oil or fat and pepper), leeks, onions, beans, barley,
lettuce, endive, purslane and other herbs. Vegetables were usually
boiled as potage.
The spices most in favor were cummin, dill, coriander, mint, mustard and
salt. Cummin was threshed with a rod and with salt served as a sauce.
Pistachio nuts and almonds were popular as whets.
Salads were extensively known.
Honey was used in some cakes as a substitute for sugar. It was also
eaten raw or with other articles of food, even fish.
Various artificial productions made from fruits and the exudations of
trees and shrubs bore the title of honey, the best known of which was
the boiled down juice of the grape, then called "d'bash," known to
modern Arabs as "dibs."
"Butter and honey" and "milk and honey" are in Biblical language
synonyms of the diet of prosperity.
The butter then used differed from our own product inasmuch as the hot
sun to which the cream was exposed when being churned rendered the
completed article more liquid. Even to-day in some parts of the Orient
the butter served to visiting Europeans has to be manufactured
especially for them from cold cream.
Cheese consisted of coagulated buttermilk, dried until hard and then
ground.
Oil was made from various vegetables, but that of the olive was most
esteemed.
Wine and water were carried in vessels made of the skins of goats, kids
or other clean animals. After the animal had been killed, the head, feet
and tail were cut off and the body was drawn out of the skin, which was
then tanned (acacia bark being sometimes called into service). The hairy
part of the skin formed the exterior of the vessel, the legs and the end
of the tail being sewn up. When filled, the neck was tied up.
An ox skin was used to make a "gerba" which formed a storage chamber for
large quantities of liquor. One of average size contained sixty gallons.
The milk of cows, sheep, camels and goats was drank. When fresh it was
known as "khalab," when sour as "khema." The latter was used in the
composition of salads and for cooking meats, etc.
A strengthening beverage was made by heating milk over a slow fire and
then adding a small piece of old khema or other acid to make it
coagulate. Much of this was bottled and kept for future use. It was the
universal refreshment offered strangers and the ancient Jew, like the
modern Arab, refused to accept payment for it.
The other drinks of the people were barley water; sherbet (made by
partially dissolving fig cake in water); pomegranate wine; beer made
from barley with herbs such as the lupin and skirret; honey, date, fig,
millet and grape wines and a drink made by placing raisins in jars of
water and burying them until fermentation had taken place. Water was
imbibed in large quantities after meals.
Vinegar was made by mixing barley with wine, or soured wine was used.
The prohibition expressed in the ninth chapter of Genesis against animal
blood as an article of diet was repeated with detailed instructions in
Leviticus. Instead of devoting a large amount of space to recounting the
regulations there expressed, it will perhaps be better to make only a
general classification of them.
There were interdicted: _Sheretz haaretz_, creeping things; _sheretz
haof_, winged insects, with the exception of the fully developed locust;
of _sheretz hamayim_, creatures dwelling in water, those which were not
provided with fins and scales; of the feathered species those which were
not furnished by nature with the implements with which to clean
themselves; of the quadrupeds and animals of the chase those that did
not chew the cud or were not provided with split hoofs.
The fat parts of animals were also reserved for the altar and temple
offerings.
Special interdictions were announced against dead or injured animals;
though these did not extend to strangers. In the New Testament, these
laws are also mentioned as applying to healthy animals that had been
strangled or killed in any manner other than that prescribed.
In a word, the Mosaic laws prohibited the use of any flesh that was
diseased, bruised or rendered unwholesome by the presence of too much
blood and also of the flesh of animals that were not cleanly in habits,
diet or body.
Oxen were not eaten when older than three years.
It is not necessary to give here the oft-repeated methods of Jewish
butchery, as they have been of late so frequently described--and highly
endorsed--by medical and scientific men.
Fresh fish (eaten generally broiled) appears to have been the principal
article of diet in the environs of the Sea of Galilee. The Jews,
however, were not well versed in the character of the different species.
They roughly classed them as big, small, clean and unclean.
Salt fish also was imported into Jerusalem.
Locusts were considered to be but meagre fare, but they were eaten
salted, dried and roasted with butter in a pan.
An ordinary kitchen was equipped with a range, a heavy caldron, a large
fork or flesh hook, a wide, open metal vessel for heating water, etc.,
two or more earthenware pots and numerous dishes.
The kid, lamb or calf, killed on the advent of a holiday or in honor of
a guest, would sometimes be roasted or baked whole, but it was usually
cut up and boiled in a caldron filled with water or milk and set over a
wood fire, the scum being taken off from time to time and salt and
spices added.
The meat and broth were served up separately or together as desire might
dictate.
The principal meal was held in the early evening, although occasionally
noon was chosen for a big banquet.
The early Hebrews seated themselves on the ground when partaking of a
meal; but their descendants soon succumbed to the example of the
Egyptians and adopted the reclining couch, which was universally used in
the time of Christ.
The first reference we have to the change in custom is found in the book
of Amos, where the prophet rebukes those who "lie upon beds of ivory."
Ezekiel also inveighs against one who "sat on a stately bed with a table
prepared before it."
Each couch seated from three to five persons, and the women usually
dined with the men.
The meat and vegetables were sometimes served in one large dish, into
which each in turn dipped his bread, but on other occasions portions
were placed on individual plates.
Many events were made excuses for festivals.
The "mishteh" was a drinking party, which in the apostolic age was
called a "komos" and was often the occasion of gross licentiousness.
The cups used were modelled after those made by the Egyptians. The "cup
bearer" or butler held a very important position in a rich man's
household.
During times of fasting or sorrow, all meats, wines, etc., were
eschewed. They were called the "bread of desires."
Prison fare consisted of bread or pulse and water.
The vine or apples of Sodom, the "Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye,
but turn to ashes on the lips" of which Josephus wrote and Moore and
Byron sang, are worthy of more than passing notice. They have caused a
great deal of discussion among scientists and travelers who have
differed in their opinions as to the identity of the fruit or plant
mentioned.
[Illustration: The colocynth--"the Dead Sea fruits."]
As the _ecbalium elaterium_, with variations in name, it has been
described by Dioscorides, Theophrastus, Pliny, Celeius, Rosenmuller,
Winner and Gesenius; as the _cucumbis prophetarium_, and _solanium
sodomaeum_ by others; as the _asclepias procera_ by Burckhardt, Irby,
Mangles and Dr. Robinson. Among still other disputing writers may be
mentioned Pococke, Hasselquist, Seetzen, Elliot and Chateaubriand.
Michaelis, Oedman, Dr. J. D. Hooker and the Rev. W. Houghton agree that
Josephus referred to the fruit of the colocynth (_citrullus
colocynthis_) which resembles an orange in appearance, and when dry will
burst on pressure with a crashing noise.
[Illustration: Tamarix Gallica--The Manna plant of the Scriptural
desert.]
The varying opinions may be ascribed to the fact that in the south of
Palestine are found several members of the gourd tribe, as well as the
fruits of several shrubs and trees, which under certain conditions
answer very closely to the descriptions afforded us of the "Dead Sea
Fruits," although the colocynth is the only one that answers them in
every way.
The palm tree, once so plentiful in Judaea, is now rare and in the
vicinity of Jericho is extinct, the last one having died a few years
ago.
All readers of the Scriptures remember the important part which manna
played in the history of the Jews. The manna which is at the present day
known in the Arabian desert through which the Israelites passed is
collected in June from the tarfa or tamarisk shrub (_Tamarix Gallica_).
According to Burkhardt, it drops from the thorns on to the sticks and
leaves which cover the ground and must be gathered early in the day or
it will be melted by the heat of the sun. Its fall is said to be caused
by the punctures made by insects. The Arabs cleanse, boil and strain it
and put it up in leather bottles, and thus prepared it will retain its
virtues for several years. It is used in the place of honey or
butter--it is never eaten alone. It is abundant only in wet seasons, and
in a very dry year it is not found at all. It is not exactly peculiar in
character, as there are several shrubs in India and Syria.
[Illustration: Salvadora--The arboreous Mustard Plant of Palestine.]
Niebuhr discovered at Mardin, in Mesopotamia, on the leaves of a tree, a
species of _capparis_, a kind of manna which appears during the months
of July and August, being most plentiful in wet seasons. If shaken off
before sunrise, it is pure white in color. If let remain, it collects
until very thick, and the leaves are then gathered and steeped in
boiling water until the manna floats to the top like oil. This is called
by the natives _manna essemma_, heavenly manna.
Burkhardt found in the valley of Jordan a similar gum on the leaves and
branches of the tree gharrob (a species of oak), which fell to the
ground in drops of brown-gray dew. Its taste at first was sweet, but
after a day's exposure to the elements became acrid.
The manna of European commerce is exported from Calabria and Sicily. It
drops from punctures made in a species of ash by an insect resembling
the locust. It is fluid at night, but begins to harden in the morning.
The manna of Scripture, which was the sole support of the Israelites for
forty years, must be regarded as miraculous, as (1) manna is under
ordinary circumstances stimulating rather than sustaining, (2) the
season in which it is found does not extend over a term of more than
three or four months, (3) it is found only in small quantities compared
to the enormous amount--15,000,000 pounds a week--which would have been
necessary to provide each member of the Israelite camp with the rations
mentioned, (4) a double quantity certainly does not fall on the day
preceding the Sabbath and (5) no natural product ceases at once and
forever.
The mustard plant mentioned in the Gospels may have been either the
common mustard plant which grows to a large size in the Orient, or it
may have been the _Salvadora persica_, an arboreous plant of abundant
foliage, the seeds and leaves of which have a distinct flavor of
mustard.
THE CHINESE.
It would be foolish to publish any strict dietary code as descriptive of
the food of the people of the vast region generally known as the Chinese
Empire, for apart from the difference in the products of the various
sections of that diversified country, it must be remembered that the
numerous tribes, which when amalgamated centuries ago formed the Empire,
have retained most of their original customs, owing partly to the
paucity of transportation facilities and the consequent impediments to
an interchange of ideas, partly to the conservative nature of the people
and partly to the influence of climate and surroundings. Furthermore,
as, excepting a few fruits which are of comparatively recent
introduction, such as the pineapple, the foods of Chinamen to-day
closely resemble the foods of Chinamen four thousand years ago, it will
not be necessary in this volume to keep very strictly apart the past and
the present.
Until quite recently it was customary to regard the Chinese as
uncivilized and degraded heathens who voraciously devoured all kinds of
vermin and other miscellaneous tit-bits which to most people of the
Western Hemisphere are repulsive even in suggestion, hence it may be
well to repeat here that, although it remains true that cats, dogs and
rats occasionally serve as articles of food, this happens only when
provisions are scarce or among the very poor, who (as in all civilized
countries), linger always on the threshold of starvation.
The Chinese, in spite of the doleful tales of some writers, are on the
whole a well fed race. Beef and mutton are not plentiful except in the
north, but hogs, poultry and fish, with vegetables, fruits and rice are
within the reach of a majority of the population. Wrote a Chinese sage:
"The scholar forsakes not his books nor the poor man his pig."
Furthermore, in the preparation of their national dishes the Chinese
cooks (especially those in the cities and in the households of the rich)
display a high degree of skill.
Wheat, several varieties of rice and sweet potatoes are grown in all
parts of the Empire, and barley, sorghum, cabbages, beans and other
vegetables and sugar cane are also raised in large quantities.
Rice is seldom ground except when made into cakes.
The sorghum, or hauliang (extensively cultivated in the north), is not
used as in America for the manufacture of sugar, but the seeds are
ground and made into a coarse bread or used for the preparation of some
brands of whiskey.
Sweet potatoes are sliced into coarse strips and dried in the sun. It
is, though, considered a sign of extreme poverty to be seen eating them
at any meal other than a lunch or hurried repast.
Of the vegetables, the petsae or white cabbage is the most widely
cultivated.
Beans grow luxuriantly. Fully one-half of the crop is crushed for the
sake of the oil, the residue being pressed into bricks and used as a
fertilizer.
"Bean curds" is a very popular dish, especially for breakfast. The beans
are ground to a flour, which is passed through three strainers of
coarse, medium fine and very fine linen. This is boiled for an hour over
a slow fire until the proper consistency is obtained.
Salted beans form quite an important article of commerce. Four catties
of beans are put in a jar with one catty of salt, half a catty of ginger
and a few taels of almonds and spices. The jars are then sealed and left
untouched for about a month.
A more novel way is to put the beans in earthenware jars filled with
very clear spring water, changing the water every four hours. In seven
days tender shoots have appeared and the beans are then sold as a
delicacy.
Peanuts are grown for the sake of their oil.
Hsiang-yu is a fragrant oil made from peanuts and beans, which is used
for the toilet and by the poor for cooking. Castor oil answers the same
purposes.
The juice of the sugar cane is extracted by crushing the stalks in two
perpendicular cylinders, kept in motion by a yoke of buffalos, the juice
being received in a tub placed beneath. Lime is added to the juice and
it is then immediately boiled.
[Illustration: A Chinese poulterer's shop.]
Within the limits of Chinese territory are found almost all known
varieties of fruits, some of which are indigenous to it.
The whampee is a yellow skinned fruit about the size of a grape which
hangs in clusters from the glossy-leaved trees which produce it. The
flavor is tart and its three or four stones are of a greenish color.
The li-chi has a rough red exterior. Inside is a white film which
incloses a watery translucent pulp of a sweetish taste and a brownish
black ovoid stone.
The lo-quat is a species of medlar.
Oranges, ginger, etc., are preserved in sugar.
Ducks are raised in almost incredible numbers. Their eggs and those of
fowls are frequently hatched by artificial heat.
Eggs that have been preserved in lime for several, sometimes a great
many, years are much esteemed. After a quarter of a century, the yellow
assumes a dark brown color and the whites have the appearance of meat
jelly--strange though it may seem, they are really excellent in that
condition.
All foods served at a genuine Chinese dinner are previously cut into
minute particles. The large roast pieces which adorn the tables at
dinners given in seaport towns to foreigners of note are placed there
merely in deference to the customs of the guests.
[Illustration: A Chinese dinner party.]
Rice and soup are brought on to the table in large vessels from which
individual saucers are filled. Other dishes are partaken of by all
present directly from the common bowl.
It is considered a token of hospitality on the part of the host or
friendliness on the part of an acquaintance to take an especially choice
piece of meat or vegetable from the bowl and to place it on the plate or
in the mouth of a fellow diner.
The two chopsticks are both held in the right instead of separately in
each hand as ordinarily believed. They are maintained by the thumb and
ring finger and manipulated by the index and middle fingers. One stick
remains motionless, the other is so manoeuvred as to entrap with ease a
morsel of meat or even the smallest grain of rice.
The sticks (square at the top and round for the rest of their length)
are made of bamboo or more precious woods, ivory or silver. On the upper
portions, poems and pictures are often engraved.
Spoons are used for liquids.
[Illustration: Chopsticks and bowl.]
An ordinary meal among the middle classes consists of eight dishes--two
vegetables, eggs, fish, shell fish, bird and two meats (pork and goat;
or, in some parts of the north, mutton and beef).
With this will be served a large tureen of soup with rice, the latter
taking the place of bread.
When eating rice, the bowl is raised by the left hand to a close
proximity to the mouth and the rice is rather scooped than picked up.
The importance which is attached to rice as a life-sustaining article
may be judged from the exclamation of a Chinese sailor when he was
informed that it was held in but secondary repute in America. Throwing
up both hands with an expression in which were combined horror and pity,
he cried: "Oh, the sterile region of barbarians which produces not the
necessaries of life; strange that the inhabitants have not long ago died
of hunger!"
Two good meals a day, the customary number, and a light luncheon, will
in the average native home represent the expenditure of about ten cents
in American money.
Wine is served only on special occasions.
The hotels in the large cities are distinguished by titles as in this
country, though the Chinese proprietor gives freer rein to his
imagination, choosing such titles as "Cum Lee" (Golden Profits), "Cut
Shing" (Rank Conferring Hotel), the "Cut Sing" (Fortunate Star), etc.
They are often comparatively tall structures and are usually clustered
together in one quarter of the town.