Part 7

The Greeks also highly esteemed this aliment, and their ancient philosophers regaled themselves with lentils. Zeno would not trust to any one the cooking of them; it is true that the stoics had for their maxim: “A wise man acts always with reason, and prepares his lentils himself.”[VIII-35] We must confess that the great wit of these words escapes us, although we are willing to believe there is some in them.

However it may be, lentils were abundant in Greece and in the East; and many persons, otherwise very sensible, maintained, with the most serious countenance in the world, that they softened the temper and disposed the mind to study.[VIII-36]

It is hardly necessary to observe that this plant was well known to the Hebrews. The red pottage of lentils for which Esau sold his birthright,[VIII-37] the present of Shobi to David,[VIII-38] the victory of Shammah in the field of lentils,[VIII-39] and, lastly, the bread of Ezekiel,[VIII-40] sufficiently prove that the Jews numbered this vegetable as one of those in ordinary use among them.

The Romans had not the same esteem for it as the nations we have mentioned. According to them, the moisture in lentils could only cause heaviness to the mind, and render men reserved, indolent, and lazy. The name of this vegetable pretty well shows, they said, the bad effect it produces. Lentil derives its origin from the word _lentus_ (slow),[VIII-41] “_Lens a lente_.”

And, as if enough had not been alleged to disgrace this unfortunate plant, and to give the finish to the ill-fame it had acquired, it was placed amongst funereal and ill-omened foods. Thus Marcus Crassus, waging war against the Parthians, was convinced that his army would be defeated, because his corn was exhausted, and his men were obliged to have recourse to lentils.[VIII-42]

How was it possible to resist such attacks! The humble plant gave way in spite of the few flattering words of the poetic Virgil,[VIII-43] and the assurance of Pliny that this food produced two uncommon virtues--mildness and moderation.[VIII-44]

IX.

KITCHEN GARDEN.

The art of gardening, which may be called the luxury of agriculture,[IX-1] was known at the most remote periods.[IX-2] In the same inclosure was to be found the kitchen garden, orchard, and flower garden,[IX-3] at a short distance from the habitation of the rich.[IX-4] Royal hands did not disdain to embellish those spots which afforded a pleasing retreat, solitude, and repose.

Thus Attalus resigned the cares of his crown to cultivate his little garden, and sow in it the seeds of his favourite plant.[IX-5]

Babylon, the renowned city of antiquity, was celebrated amongst other wonders for her gardens suspended in the air; they were partly in existence sixteen centuries after their erection, and astonished Alexander the Great[IX-6] by the sublime grandeur of their prodigious boldness and the rare beauty of their workmanship.

Homer has left us the description of Alcinous’s garden,[IX-7] from which can be traced the birth of the art of gardening; its luxury consisted in the order and symmetry of its form, in the richness of its soil, the fertility of the trees, and in the two fountains which ornamented it. It was not so with the Romans. Those conquerors of the world displayed every where pomp and ostentation: Lucullus, Crassus, Pompey, and Cæsar, filled their gardens with the riches of Asia and the spoils of the universe.[IX-8]

The serious horticulturist, who wanted a garden for enjoyment, and not for show, carefully laboured, to see it bring forth fine fruits and excellent vegetables.[IX-9] Water was properly distributed for irrigation by means of aqueducts[IX-10] of tiles, wood, or lead pipes,[IX-11] and everywhere the plants received the necessary moisture; and clever experienced gardeners were constantly occupied in improvements suggested by an attentive and skilful master.[IX-12]

The kitchen garden of the ancients contained mostly the vegetables, herbs, and roots, of which we still make use; but they also cultivated certain other kinds, which modern cookery has either put aside or rarely employs. We shall describe all those which appear most worthy of notice.

CABBAGE.

This plant has experienced the fate of a host of human things that have not been able to bear the weight of a too brilliant reputation. Time has done justice to the extraordinary qualities attributed to it, and the cabbage now remains, what it ought always to have been, an estimable vegetable and nothing more.

The Egyptians adored it, and raised altars to it. They afterwards made of this strange god the first dish of their repasts, and were imitated in this particular by the Greeks and Romans, who ascribed to it the happy quality of preserving from drunkenness.[IX-13] It was more particularly the red cabbage that obtained these honours and prerogatives. From Italy the victorious legions introduced it among the Gauls, as well as the green cabbage; the white species appears to belong originally to southern countries.

Hippocrates had a peculiar affection for this vegetable. Should one of his patients be seized with a violent cholic, he at once prescribed a dish of boiled cabbage with salt.[IX-14] Erasistratus looked upon it as a sovereign remedy against paralysis. Pythagoras, and several other learned philosophers, composed books in which they celebrated the marvellous virtues of the cabbage.[IX-15]

A writer, not less serious than those we have just quoted, the wise Cato, affirms that this plant infallibly cures all diseases; and pretends to have used this panacea to preserve his family from the plague, which, otherwise, would not have failed to reach them. It is to the use the Romans made of it, he adds, that they were able during six hundred years to do without the assistance of physicians, whom they had expelled from their territories.[IX-16] This bold assertion deserved a little retaliation on the part of the faculty; so they deposed the cabbage from the rank occupied by it in medicine, and banished it to the kitchen.

The Athenian ladies formerly partook of the general enthusiasm in favour of this wholesome vegetable, which was always served to them when a new-born infant required their maternal love and care.[IX-17]

The ancients were acquainted with three principal kinds of cabbage: the silken-leaved, the curled, and the hard, round, white cabbage.[IX-18]

Apicius does not busy himself with any one of these varieties in particular in the various preparations he points out, and which we submit to the appreciation of connoisseurs:

1st. Take only the most delicate and tender part of the cabbage, which boil, and then pour off the water; season it with cummin seed,[IX-19] salt, old wine, oil, pepper, alisander, mint, rue, coriander seed, gravy, and oil.

2nd. Prepare the cabbage in the manner just mentioned, and make a seasoning of coriander seed, onion, cummin seed, pepper, a small quantity of oil, and wine made of sun raisins.[IX-20]

3rd. When you have boiled the cabbages in water, put them into a saucepan and stew them with gravy, oil, wine, cummin seed, pepper, leeks, and green coriander.[IX-21]

4th. Add to the preceding ingredients flour of almonds, and raisins dried in the sun.[IX-22]

5th. Prepare them again in the above manner, and cook them with green olives.[IX-23]

Who will question the service rendered to the culinary art by resuscitating these antique dishes, in which the cabbage admits of such a variety of combinations, and which we owe to the learning and experience of a man of taste? Whatever may be the opinion of our modern Trimalcions, we must not forget that this vegetable, prepared according to the recipe of Apicius, was the delight of the _gourmets_ of Rome more than eighteen centuries ago.

The Romans brought the red cabbage into Gaul, and the green cabbage also. White cabbages came from the north, and the art of making them headed was unknown in the time of Charlemagne.[IX-24]

“In some countries cauliflowers are dried, and the white headed cabbages are preserved. The first, stripped of their leaves, are cut in slices, and boiled two minutes in water slightly salted. They are shortly after withdrawn, and put to drain on hurdles, which are afterwards exposed to the sun during two or three days. At the expiration of that time the cauliflowers are placed in an oven half-warm, and are kept there till the stalks are dry; they are then wrapped in paper to preserve them from damp. To keep the headed cabbages, divide them in six or eight pieces, according to size, throw them for an instant in boiling water, then withdraw and plunge them in vinegar, which from time to time must be changed, especially at the beginning, taking care to add always a little salt.”--DUTOUR.

BEET.

Columella pretends that this plant owes its name (_beta_) to its resemblance to the letter B.[IX-25] We shall leave to the professional etymologist the trouble of examining whether Columella made a mistake or not.

The Greeks had two distinct sorts of beet--the black and the pale; they preferred the latter,[IX-26] especially when it came from Ascrea in Bœotia.[IX-27] They called this species Sicilian beet; and the physician Diphilus--who joined to his knowledge of botany that sort of gastrophagic intuition, that culinary _mens divinior_, whose inspiration never leads astray--placed it far above the cabbage, notwithstanding the estimable qualities of this latter vegetable.[IX-28] He recommended it to be eaten boiled, with mustard, and considers this food as a very excellent vermifuge.[IX-29]

The beet has not found favour with Martial, who, always caustic and severe, calls it an insipid dish.[IX-30] This injurious, and perhaps unjust, epithet would doubtless have exercised a fatal influence upon the destiny of this most inoffensive of vegetables, if an opponent of greater weight had not entered the lists against the atrabilarious poet.

We read in Apicius: “Boil, over a slow fire, some very tender white beet; add leeks, which have been taken from their native soil some days previous; when all this is cooked put it into a saucepan with pepper, gravy, and raisin wine; take care that the ebullition be regular, and serve.[IX-31]

“Or, if you prefer: tie in bundles the beet you have carefully chosen, wash it, throw in some nitre, and boil it with water; then put it into a saucepan with sun-raisin wine, pepper, cummin, and a little oil; at the moment of ebullition add a mixture of gravy and coarsely chopped walnuts; cover the saucepan for an instant, uncover, and serve.”[IX-32]

The skilful artist is pleased for the third time to mention this culinary herb; and this is the new preparation which he gives:--

“When you have boiled beet in water until it is tender, add a pulp of leeks, some coriander, and cummin seed, carefully combined with flour and sun-made wine; place these different ingredients in a saucepan, and add gravy, oil, and vinegar.”[IX-33]

By tasting one of these dishes you will be convinced that Martial did not understand them; or, perhaps, he composed his epigram after dinner.

One species of beet is well known in its two principal varieties, under the name of beet-root and white-beet. The southern parts of Europe appear to be the native countries of the beet. It serves as food for both man and cattle. Sugar is extracted from the root, and potash from the stalks and leaves.

Beet-root is preserved, after stripping it completely of its leaves, and the earth which remains on them, in greenhouses, in dry cellars, and even in trenches covered with earth, in layers, lengthwise, with sand. They are thus preserved until the following May.

“Beet-root is eaten cooked in ashes or in water, and seasoned in various ways; they are excellent in salad, either by themselves, or mixed with endives or dandelion, &c.”--BOSC.

SPINACH.

It does not appear that spinach was known to the Greeks and Romans. Some authors think that it might be the _chrysolacanon_ of the Greeks,[IX-34] but it is probable that this was no other than the _orach_;[IX-35] Beckmann[IX-36] thinks, with several botanists, that this plant came from Spain; and, indeed, it has been often called the _Spanish vegetable_.[IX-37]

We only speak of this plant by way of memento, and regret that our first masters in cookery have not been able to transmit to us the results of their studies and experience in the preparation of spinach, whose precocity must always render it valuable to amateurs of vegetable food.

MALLOWS.

The ancients ate mallows, and recognised in them soothing and softening qualities.[IX-38] Diphilus of Siphne says that their juice lubricates the windpipe, nourishes, and is easily digested.[IX-39] Horace praises this aliment;[IX-40] and Martial, for once just, recommends its use.[IX-41]

It is true that a passage of Cicero would seem to indicate we know not what deception, which appeared all at once when eating or after partaking of mallows;[IX-42] but the Roman orator, perhaps, knew little of the properties of the plant, which were only described much later by Pliny the naturalist. The curious may consult on this subject the twenty-first chapter of the twentieth book of his great work.

At all events mallows were in high renown; they occupied one of the first ranks among pickles, those famous _acetaria_ which had so powerful an effect in quickening the appetites of the Greeks, and preparing their stomachs for great gastronomic struggles.[IX-43] They were served as a salad. The large-leaved mallow was mixed with œnogarum, pepper, gravy, and sun-made wine.[IX-44]

The small-leaved mallows were also prepared with œnogarum and gravy; but instead of pepper and wine, oil and vinegar were added.[IX-45]

ASPARAGUS.

“_Quiconque ne voit guère n’a guère à dire aussi._”[IX-46] But travellers, those daring pioneers of science, have sometimes, in their travels, the strange good fortune to behold wonders invisible to other eyes. Thus some skilful explorators of Africa saw, about the middle of the second century of the Christian era, in Getulia, asparagus of excellent quality and of very beautiful growth, being no less than twelve feet high! It is needless to add that the Libyan vendors rarely sold them in bundles. But these veridical travellers, on quitting the plain to ascend the mountains, found something still more wonderful; the land there seemed to suit these plants still better, for they acquired the height of twenty cubits.[IX-47] After this, what shall we say of our European asparagus, so shrivelled and diminutive in comparison with that of Getulia?

The Greeks, not having any better, contented themselves with the ordinary sort, such as we have at the present day. They considered it very useful in the treatment of internal diseases.[IX-48] Diphilus, who was very fond of it, regrets that this vegetable should be so hurtful to the sight:[IX-49] is it because we eat asparagus that spectacles have become necessary at nearly all periods of life?

The Romans cultivated this plant with extreme care,[IX-50] and obtained the most extraordinary results. At Ravenna, they raised asparagus each stem of which weighed three pounds.[IX-51]

Then, as in our days, they were allowed but a short time to boil; hence the favourite expression of Augustus, who, to intimate his wish that any affair might be concluded without delay, was accustomed to say: “Let that be done quicker than you would cook asparagus.”[IX-52]

The cooks of Rome had a method which appears to have been subsequently too much neglected; they chose the finest heads of asparagus, and dried them. When wanted for the table, they put them into hot water, and then boiled them a few minutes.[IX-53] Thanks to this simple process the plant swelled considerably, and passed as being very tender and fine flavoured.

The Apicii, Luculli, and other connoisseurs of renown, had this vegetable brought from the environs of Nesis, a city of Campania.[IX-54]

It is asserted that Asia is its native soil, and that it was originally brought to us from that part of the world. Nevertheless, wild asparagus grows naturally in certain sandy soils, as, for instance, in the islands of the Rhône and the Loire.[IX-55]

“When it is found impossible to eat all the asparagus you have cut, and which has arrived at a convenient maturity, place them by the thick ends in a vessel containing about two inches of water; or else, bury them half-way up in fresh sand. By means of these precautions asparagus may be preserved several days.”--PARMENTIER.

GOURD.

This vegetable, which the wise _gourmet_ is too discreet to despise, and to which the whimsical fancy of Roman gardeners gave the most grotesque forms,[IX-56] appears to be the very image of those soft and easy dispositions who yield to and obey every one, and whose unintelligent mildness is only repaid with sarcasm or disdain. Observe this creeping vegetable, left free to grow to its full size, which would sometimes attain the length of nine feet,[IX-57] and which the will of man was able to reduce to the slender and tortuous shape of a hideous dragon.[IX-58] When hardly ripe, it was cut and served on the tables of the most dainty, where it was eaten with vinegar and mustard, or seasoned with fine herbs:[IX-59] and whilst the ungrateful guests savoured the stomachic and nourishing flesh of the gourd,[IX-60] they did not cease to amuse themselves at the expense of its round and almost empty body[IX-61]--the proverbial image of a head not over well-provided with brains.[IX-62]

To the present day even, more than one popular joke continues to pursue this plant, although its culinary qualities are appreciated as formerly.

We are indebted to India for the seed of the gourd,[IX-63] which the Greeks designated, according to the species, by the names of Indian and common gourd. The latter kind was either boiled or roasted; the former was generally boiled in water.[IX-64] Antioch furnished the finest specimens to the markets of Athens.[IX-65]

The ancients were acquainted with the manner of preserving this vegetable in such a state of freshness as to enable them to eat it with pleasure in the month of January:[IX-66] the method is as follows,--the gourds were cut in pieces of a moderate size; these pieces, strung like beads, where first dried in the open air, and then smoked; when winter arrived, each piece was well washed before putting it into the stewpan, with the various culinary herbs which the season produced; to this was added endive, curled cabbage, and dried mushrooms.[IX-67] The rest of the operation is easily understood. The Romans prepared this vegetable in different ways: a few of the principal ones will suffice.

1st. Boil the gourd in water, squeeze it out carefully, place it in a saucepan, and mix some pepper, a little cummin seed, rue, gravy, vinegar, and a small quantity of wine, reduced to one-half by boiling. Let the whole stew, and then sprinkle it lightly with pepper, and serve.[IX-68]

2nd. Boil and carefully squeeze them to extract the water, then put the gourds into a saucepan with vinegar and gravy; when it begins to simmer, thicken with fine flour, sprinkle lightly with pepper, and serve.[IX-69]

3rd. Throw some salt on the gourd after it has been boiled, and the water pressed out of it; put it into a saucepan, with a mixture of pepper, cummin seed, coriander, green mint, and the root of benzoin; add some vinegar; then chop some dates and almonds; a little later, more vinegar, honey, gravy, sun-made wine, and oil; sprinkle lightly with pepper, and serve.[IX-70]

4th. Put into a stewpan a fowl, with a gourd; add some apricots, truffles, pepper, cummin, sylphium, mint, parsley, coriander, pennyroyal, and calamint; moisten with wine, gravy, oil, vinegar, and honey.[IX-71]

These four recipes are sufficient to prove that this vegetable stood very high in the estimation of the Romans.

TURNIPS.

The epicureans of Athens preferred turnips brought from Thebes;[IX-72] Roman gastronomists placed those of Amitermes in the first rank, and those of Nursia in the second. The kitchen-gardeners of Rome furnished them with a third variety, to which they had recourse when they could not procure any other.[IX-73] They were eaten boiled, thus:--after the water had been extracted from them, they were seasoned with cummin, rue, and benzoin, pounded in a mortar, adding to it afterwards honey, vinegar, gravy, boiled grapes, and a little oil. The whole was left to simmer, and then served.[IX-74]

CARROTS.

The Greeks and Romans planted or sowed them in the beginning of the spring, or autumn.[IX-75] They distinguished two kinds, the wild and the cultivated.[IX-76]

This much esteemed root received the honour of being prepared in many ways. Sometimes it was eaten as a salad, with salt, oil, and vinegar.[IX-77]

It was also stewed, and mixed afterwards with œnogarum.[IX-78] Again, they boiled it in a stewpan, over a slow fire, with some cummin and a little oil, and just before serving it was sprinkled with ground cummin seeds.[IX-79]

BLIT

(A SORT OF BEET).

Blit is one of the family of _atriplices_, which grows in Europe, and in the temperate regions of Asia; it owes its ancient reputation entirely to the insipidity of its flavour, from which it derives its Greek name, synonymous with stupidity and insignificance.[IX-80] Blit was eaten boiled, when nothing better was to be had. In fact, it was a last resource--and nothing more.

PURSLAINE.

This vegetable, the aspect of which would lead us to suppose it possessed savoury qualities (though experience proves the contrary), was formerly mixed in different salads, and still enjoys some esteem when associated with a leg of mutton.[IX-81]

In default of esculent qualities (which it certainly does not possess), the ancients recognised in purslaine many admirable virtues,[IX-82] which are not acknowledged in the present day. The internal use of this plant, also its external application, cured the bite of serpents, wounds inflicted by poisoned arrows, and infallibly neutralized the effects of poisonous drinks.[IX-83] But, alas! purslaine is not now what it was formerly; for it is hardly permitted to appear by the side of one of our fresh white lettuces.

SORREL.

Sorrel is a polygenous plant, and grows throughout Europe amidst the grass fields. The Romans cultivated it in order to give it more vigour,[IX-84] and ate it sometimes stewed with mustard, and seasoned with a little oil and vinegar.[IX-85]

BROCOLI.

Drusus, son of Tiberius, was so passionately fond of the brocoli, which Apicius induced him to eat, that he was more than once severely reprimanded by his father on the subject.[IX-86] It is true that the celebrated Roman epicurean displayed so much art, and gave such delicious flavour to it, that this dish alone would have been enough to establish his reputation. In fact, brocoli has always been appreciated by connoisseurs; and Glaucias, who passed his life in meditating seriously on the perfectibility of culinary ingredients, said: “That nothing could be better than this vegetable, boiled and suitably seasoned.”[IX-87]

This was the method of preparing it at Rome: they used only the most tender and delicate parts of the brocoli, which were boiled with that extreme care the artist always devotes to this first operation; and, afterwards, when the water had been well drained off, they added some cummin seed, pepper, chopped onions, and coriander seed--all braised together, not forgetting, before serving up, to add a little oil and sun-made wine.[IX-88]

ARTICHOKE.