Thus uninviting as this slimy animal seems to our English taste, there is evidently no doubt of its being used by the Chinese as an article of food, and according to the evidence of certain authors, is esteemed by the 'barbarians' a high-class luxury; but then we must remember that the inhabitants of the land of gongs and chopsticks, have always been famed for their singular gastronomic tastes. One poet writes:—
'That man had sure a palate covered o'er
With brass or steel, that, on the rocky shore,
First broke the oozy oyster's pearly coat,
And risked the living morsel down his throat.'
But, 'Mandarins and Pigtails,' what was such risk, I ask, compared to that which he endured, who swallowed the first mouthful of birds'-nest soup? or horror of horrors, the first spoonful of sea-snail stew? Yet we are told that both the 'mucilage' and the Bêches de Mer dishes are savoury and highly grateful to the palate of an appreciating gourmand.
A recent author, describing a Chinese dinner from personal observation, tells us, that when the first dish, composed of birds'-nest soup, was over, he waited the advent of the next course with very nervous excitement. 'It was a stew of sea-slugs. They are slippery, and very difficult to be handled by inexperienced chopsticks; but they are most pleasant and succulent food, not at all unlike in flavour to the green fat of the turtle. If a man cannot eat anything of a kind whereof he has not seen his father and grandfather eat before him, we must leave him to his oysters, and his periwinkles, and his craw-fish, and not expect him to swallow the much more comely sea-slug. But surely a Briton, who has eaten himself into a poisonous plethora upon mussels, has no right to hold up his hands and eyes at a Chinaman enjoying his honest, well-cooked stew of Bêches de Mer.
'During the discussion of this dish our Chinese master of the ceremonies solemnly interposed. We were neglecting the rudiments of politeness, no one had offered to intrude one of these sleek and savoury delicacies, deeply rolled in sauce, into the mouth of his neighbour. Efforts were made to retrieve the barbarian honour, but with no great success, for the slugs were evasive, and the proffered mouthful was not always welcome.'