Banquets of the nations

Beat two eggs, add a quarter pint of milk, a dessertspoonful of rosewater, three ounces nut-oil, four ounces sifted sugar and a little grated nutmeg. Heat slightly and work into the dough. Now sift in four ounces of flour, mix lightly and cover up again, and let it stand near the fire to rise for another hour. Then put it on to a, well-floured baking board. If it seems too soft, add a little flour to it, but be careful not to add too much ; roll it into balls about the size of walnuts, and fry to goldenbrown in boiling lard. Sprinkle with sugar before serving. San hsien shao mai. (Crab Croquettes.) Take the meat (inside and claws) of two large crabs. Put into a stewpan a teaspoonful of chopped onions, with half an ounce of sesamum oil, pass them about three minutes over the fire, add a teaspoonful of flour, mix well, then add the crabs pounded down, and a gill of white sauce made of rich fish stock, flour, and a little ground-nut oil, or more if not sufficiently moist ; season with pepper, soy, a suspicion of garlic, a squeeze of lemon, and a little sugar ; then stir in the yolks of two eggs very quickly, stir it a little longer on the fire, and turn it out on a dish to cool ; when cold, take twelve pieces, each CHINA (North-West) the size of a walnut, roll them out an inch and a half in length, bread-crumb thrice over, and fry in lard. "Yeh ya kwa tsz. (Braised Slices of Teal.) Remove the fillets from a couple of plump teal. Put some peanut oil into a pan, and when quite hot slice an onion very thin into it, and fry till brown. Then put in the fillets of teal and brown, after which throw in a tablespoonful of pounded bacon which has been fried till brown and quite brittle, a large cupful of very strong stock made of the bones and trimmings of the birds, a tablespoonful of oil, half a tablespoonful of flour ; season with a tablespoonful of soy, a little sugar and pepper, a teaspoonful of pounded ginger, and a tablespoonful of ground green chillies. Put lid on pan and simmer gently for an hour. •Ch'ieh Chia. (Egg Plant.) Select the requisite quantity of rather thin and long egg plant fruit, and with a sharp knife cut the peel to imitate the scales of fish. Cut off the tops, having them about one and a half inches in diameter, and carefully scoop out the insides, then put them in a basin of salted water to extract the bitter juice. Peel and finely chop four moderate-sized onions, and blanch and peel two tablespoonfuls of pistachio kernels. Put some good oil in a stewpan, place it over the fire till hot, put in the minced onions and stir them about until beginning to brown. Then put in one breakfastcupful of well-washed rice, and continue stirring it. When the rice commences