CROSSES DE FOUGERE, A LA JAPONAISE 

 people make use of young Brake as food. And this 

 reminds me that, some years ago, I heard the last Japanese 

 Ambassador remark at dinnera propos of the Asparagus 

 that was just going roundthat he wondered we should 

 not make use in the kitchen of the Bracken he had noticed 

 growing in such enormous and neglected quantities in 

 England. In his country, he assured us, they eat the 

 young shoots, when still in their folded "crozier" stage, 

 precisely as we over here eat Asparagus, and consider 

 them not only as delicacies, but as particularly whole- 

 some and nutritious, 



The recipe for cooking them is simple. The croziers, cut 

 just short of the roots, are to be parboiled in strongly salted 

 water / the first water, which extracts some unpleasantly 

 bitter principle, is to be quickly poured off/ then the 

 shoots, thoroughly drained of this first water, are boiled 

 in a large quantity of fresh water, drained again carefully 

 and served with oil or butter, very much like our Sprue. 

 I must some day make the experiment. I wonder if the 

 joy, now, of eating tender young Bracken would be like 

 that of the savage devouring his declared enemy ? 

 Meanwhile, for the sake of the desired grass, the hecatomb 

 must be repeated daily. 



183 



