I have often had coffee that tasted very salt, and rather bitter, the cause of which was then unknown to me; but a gentleman, who was ‘up to the trick,’ assured me it was occasioned by the frazils (or baskets) being immersed in seawater, in order to give the berries that greenish, horny appearance, which is supposed to be the indication of a superior quality.
Sugar-candy is always used for making tea, coffee, and, indeed, for all such purposes: it is to be had of various degrees of purity, and either of indigenous manufacture, or imported from China. The former kind is sold by the maund, and may be estimated at from twenty to forty rupees; the latter in tubs made of thin deal, and other light wood, in which the candy is packed among dried bamboo-leaves. The price of a tub is usually about twenty rupees, (more or less, as the markets may stand,) for which about sixty pounds weight are obtained.
Although the sugar-cane is, by many, supposed to be indigenous in India, yet it has only been within the last fifty years that it has been cultivated to any great extent: since the failure which took place some twenty years back in the West Indies, it has become a most important article of commerce. Strange to say, the only sugar-candy used until that time was received from China; latterly, however, many gentlemen have speculated deeply in the manufacture, and, by serving themselves richly, have rescued the country from a very impolitic branch of imposition. We now see sugar-candy, of the first quality, manufactured in various parts of Bengal, and, I believe it is at length admitted, that the raw sugars from that quarter are pre-eminently good. I have lately had occasion to purchase some of a very superior fineness, called Soonamooky, from a place of that name in the Burdwan district, which was as high as eleven-pence per pound.
About thirty-two years ago, the common raw sugar, known by the name of g’hoor, was to be had at three rupees per maund of 96lb. in the upper provinces: this was about three farthings per pound; for a Sonaut or Tersooly rupee then was exchanged at about two shillings, or even so low as one shilling and ten-pence. In consequence of the great demand for the article, it rose gradually, but in comparatively a very short time, to eight rupees the maund of 72lb.; and it has been so high as twelve rupees, but not, I believe, for any length of time: partial instances could be quoted, of even fourteen rupees being given.
The superior kind, which may often be had nearly white, at least of a dove color, perfectly dry, and sharp grained, under the name of cheeny, was formerly about seven, or eight, rupees per maund (of 96lb.); of late, it has risen to full fifteen; and has been up to twenty.
The sugar-candy made in India, where it is known by the name of miscery, bears a price suited to its quality: some may be had at twenty, and some up as high as forty, rupees per maund (82lb). It is usually made in small conical pots, whence it concretes into masses, weighing from three to six pounds each.
For further information, I must refer my readers to Mr. Colebrooke’s excellent Essay on the Husbandry of Bengal.
Bread is not made of flour, but of the heart of the wheat, which is very fine, ground into what is called soojy; a kind of meal, so far from being pulverized, as to bear a strong resemblance to rather coarse sand. Soojy is kneaded the same as is done with flour, but there being no yeast in the country, (I mean such as we know by that name,) it is leavened by means of toddy; which is the juice obtained by making incisions into the taul, (or palm-tree,) already described. In many parts of India, taul trees are very scarce, and are carefully preserved for the sake of the toddy, which is sold to the nonbaies, (or bakers,) at a high price. In Bahar these trees are peculiarly abundant: there we often see groves, of hundreds upon hundreds, let out to the kulwars, or distillers, to great advantage. These venders of misery have the art of rendering the toddy peculiarly potent, by causing it to work upon the kernels of the datura, that grows wild in every part of India, and possesses in every part, whether the stem, root, leaf, or nut, a most deleterious property. Toddy, that has been strongly impregnated with datura, (which is the name it bears in the East,) acts very rapidly on the brain; producing mania, and, not unfrequently, apoplexy, when drank to excess.
The bread is usually made into small loaves, weighing about a pound each; these are called ‘single-loaves’ and may generally sell from fifteen, to twenty, for a rupee; which brings the bread to about three half-pence, to two-pence, per pound. ‘Double loaves’ include double the weight, and sell in proportion. A large portion, of both sizes, is baked in tin moulds, of a brick form; these are generally preferred, on account of their rarely scorching, and not requiring to be rasped, as all the other bread, baked in the form of heavy cakes, generally does.
Soojy, (the basis of the bread,) is frequently boiled into ‘stir-about’ for breakfast; and eaten with milk, salt, and butter; though some of the more zealous may be seen to moisten with porter; a curious medley, by no means to my taste! Nor is much to be said of its qualities; as few stomachs are suited to its reception.