9 8 • 



matter of a few minutes, the dish is ready to be served. To 

 various dishes of meats and noodles the soaked flowers are added 

 during the final stages of cooking, or the flowers may be cooked 

 separately for a few minutes and added as a garnish — somewhat 

 as mushrooms are often employed. 



To these various dishes the flowers add substance of individual 

 consistency and they supply a distinct and pleasing flavor that is 

 best appreciated and realized by the eating. Flowers that are 



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Figure i. Pound and half-pound packages of gum-jum of the kinds 

 imported for sale in New York City. 



freshly collected may be used in quite the same way, but the flavor 

 is somewhat different from that when dried flowers are used. 



Dr. Alberl X. Steward of the University of Nanking states 

 thai in his experience in east central China the flowers may be 

 collected for use as food after they have closed and begun to 

 wither. A recipe which he reports is the following: 



"Fry small pieces of pork until they are brown, then add a little 

 SO) bean oil and water. After cooking for an hour add the 

 flowers and cook until they are tender. The addition of a little 

 salt improves the flavor." 



