A HARD-WORKING DIET. 73 
8. ‘BUTTES’ (HENRY).—1599. Henry Buttes, 
1599. 
“Dyets,. Diy. a lash: 
Choice, whenever you can get it, great or little. Carp. 
Nourisheth best, tasteth most excellently and ex- 
quisitely ; in all men’s judgment a fish of chief note. 
Only it soon tainteth, therefore dress it presently. 
Lay it scaled and gutted five hours in salt, then fry 
it in oil and besprinkle it with vinegar in which spice 
and saffron have boiled. Temperately hot and moist, 
in the beginning of the first. For any season or 
constitution. 
Thick; caught in May, in a swift running river, Trout. 
full of deep downfalls and rocks, and not out of 
standing pools. Nourisheth well; soon digested ; 
yields a cool juice for an over-hot liver and blood ; 
therefore good in hot agues. It soon putrifieth. 
Scarce fit for old men and weak stomach. Seeth it in 
just so much vinegar as water ; eat it with sour sauce 
as soon as you can. Seasonable in hot weather for 
all but decrepid ; every temperature but phlegmatic. 
Our vulgar proverb hath it, “As sound as a trout.” 
River sturgeon is fatter and therefore more grateful Sturgeon. 
to the palate than sea sturgeon. Seasonable in 
summer, the belly the best. A friendly dish on the 
table, very dainty and of chief account. Nourisheth 
well ; inciteth Venus ; cooleth the blood moderately. 
Naught for the sick or in recovery, for it is some- 
what fat; makes thick and clammy juice, slowly 
digested. Seeth it in water and vinegar with a little 
cinnamon or fennel in it. Seasonable in hot weather 
for all but those plagued with distillations and 
diseased joints. 
Eige2 
