172 BOUILLABAISSE. 



things, which ha\'e become "■eneral in Europe, were 

 served up there as entrees, also sea-urchins, a deHcac\' 

 that 1 had not hitlierto seen at an ordinar\- Table 

 d'hote. I willingly left this tid-bit for otliers. To me 

 it proved that man is tlie most wanton of all predaceous 

 animals. Thousands of female sea-urchins are caught, 

 broken open and wasted. The whole bod\' is thrown 

 awav and onh- the little bit of roe consumed. Thus 

 countless multitudes are destni\-ed. I ha\e no desire to 

 acquire a taste for this orange -red. insipid, slim\' stuff: 

 but opinions differ. Our table companions were al«-a\s 

 thrown into raptures In' "Ronillabaisse", a dish lor which 

 the Provencal longs whenever lie is living in an\' other 

 part of France. The hostess tried to ascertain hv the 

 expression on the faces of her guests \\hether tlie\' liked 

 the Bouillabaisse, for the proper cooking of this dish 

 is alone suflicient to establish the reputation of an IL'itel. 

 As it was put before us this dish consisted of lobsters 

 and fisli. Our hostess made no secret of its preparation, 

 v^he told us tliat she had first of all mixed together 

 some garlic. Iaurel-lca\es, white pepper and oli\e-oil 

 and fried them in a casserole: then poured a glass of 

 white wine o\'er this and added the lobsters, fish and 

 sufficient water to co\er the whole ; then more pepper 

 and salt, and boiled lor twent\ minutes and lasth 

 linisjied up with a pinch of saffron. The fish were 

 ser\ed up in a deep tureen in their own broth with the 

 addition of some \\hite bread cut up. The Boullabaisse 

 found unanimous appro\al. The hostess maintained that 

 it w as onl\- worth while to prepare it tor French people, 



