ANCIENT COOKERY. 617 



But what of the eifect upon the taste? It is related of one of these old 

 gourmands that he was seized with an invincible desire for loaches. It was 

 in the middle of the night and thej' were far from the sea. He had no idea 

 where the loaches could be obtained, but loaches he must have, and his 

 chief cook was sutr.moned. "Loaches, sire !" cried the man in dismay ; but 

 the command was imperious and must be obeyed. The cook was more skil- 

 fuU than the noted Vatel, cook to the Prince of Gaude, who when he found 

 that his master was to entertain the king at dinner, and there were no fish 

 to be had, went to his room and threw himself upon his sword. The demand 

 for loaches sent this man to his room, not to kill himself, but to study and 

 experiment. Before long he came forth with a plate of fried loaches, irre- 

 proachable in appearance, and as to taste the gourmand declared he had 

 never before eaten any he liked so well ! And of what were they made? 

 Of radishes, pared, cooked and seasoned. But if we admire the skill that 

 could prepare such a dish, what must we think of the taste that judged it? 



Of tliis taste we .may judge partly by their seasonings. The following- 

 ingredients composed their sauce for crawfish : honey, vinegar, wine, garum, 

 oil, chopped onions, pepper, alisander, carrots, cummin, dates and mustard. 

 The following is stuffing for a crab : cummin, mint, rue, alisander, pine nuts 

 and jjepper soaked for a long time in garum, honey, vinegar and wine. The 

 following made sauce for roebuck : pepper, parsley seed, dry onion, green 

 rue, spikenard, honey, vinegar, garum, dates, wine and oil. The following 

 is the entire recipe for a dish of ducks' brains : "Cook some ducks' brains 

 and mince them very small ; then place them in a saucepan with pepper, 

 benzoin-root, garum, sweet wine and oil ; add milk and eggs, and submit 

 the whole to the action of a slow fire." The celebrated Apicius gives this 

 dressing for roast duck : "Make a mixture of pepjjer, cummin, alisander, 

 mint, stoned raisins or Damascus plums ; add a little honey or myrtle wine ; 

 place it in a saucepan, cook, and then add to these substances vinegar, gamm, 

 and oil ; afterward, some parsle}^ and savory. 



We find a large share of the recipes equally absurd; we select a few 

 cakes from Apicius : "Mix pine nuts, i^epper, honey, rue and cooked wine : 

 cover with eggs well beaten ; submit this mixture to a slow fire, and serve 

 after having smeared it with honey." Again: "Make a compact mixture 

 of honey, milk and eggs ; let it cook very slowly, and serve after having 

 sprinkled it over with pepper." Less elaborate cakes were made with 

 cheese and rye or other vkinds of flour, and sometimes with the addition of 

 eggs and honey. Sugar they did not have, hence dates, figs and honey were 

 their principal sweeteners, but cheese was a common ingredient of their 

 cakes. Here is one of tpe most simple : "Half a pound of flour, two and a 

 half of cheese, three ounces of honey and one egg. As soon as baked it 

 was smeared with honey and dredged with poppy seed." It was eaten with 

 spoons. We should hardly accept it now, either for taste or wholesomeness, 

 though it is not quite so gross a conglomeration as the sauces already given. 



