serving glazes the rice
and brings out its flavor. Each grain should stand apart from its
neighbors. Some Cubans add a single kernel of garlic after removing the
water. The quantity is so small that there is but a suspicion of a
taste, and it gives this frugal dish a certain _cachet_.

FRIED PLANTAINS

are essential to every breakfast in the tropics, but they are not always
obtainable here. A very good substitute is the ordinary banana. It
should not be over ripe. Fry until a rich brown in hot fat. These three
dishes should be served at one course.

FISH IN ESCABECHE.

Take three pounds of bonito or halibut in slices, fry and lay for
several hours in a sauce made of half a pint of vinegar, in which the
following ingredients have boiled for a few minutes: Three or four
cloves, a bay leaf, a pinch of thyme, a kernel of garlic, a sliced
onion, half a teaspoonful of coloring pepper, three tablespoonfuls of
good salad oil and a few capers, olives and pickles. Hard boiled eggs
may also be used for garnishing. It is eaten cold, and will keep, well
covered in a stone jar, for weeks. (This dish is invaluable in summer.)
Serve with new potatoes, boiled, over which a lump of butter and a
tablespoonful of finely chopped parsley have been placed.

TENDERLOIN STEAK.

The best restaurants in Habana prepare the steak as follows: Take a
tender filet of beef, cut in cross sections an inch and a half thick,
wrap each piece in greased paper, and broil over a brisk fire. Remove
the papers, add butter, salt, pepper and plenty of lemon juice--say the
juice of two lemons for a whole filet. In Cuba they use the juice of the
sour orange, but that is not to be had here. This is the _creole_ style,
and is simply a modification of the French way. If you want the steak _a
la espanola_, it should be fried instead of broiled, and when well done
each piece surmounted by a _mojo_. The _mojo_ is a little mound
consisting of onions and green peppers chopped very fine, and lemon
juice added to the gravy.

Guava paste is easily obtained from any importer, and it is the proper
thing to eat it with fresh cream cheese or sliced Edam cheese.

COCOANUT DESSERT.

This is purely a tropical dish, but Americans are very fond of it. Peel
and grate a cocoanut; make a syrup out of four cups of sugar and two of
water; when the syrup begins to thicken (when it has boiled about five
minutes) throw in the grated cocoanut and cook on a moderate fire half