CHAPTEE XVIII. 



MURJENIDjE (continued). 



The Congtsk. 



Kal riTvov etBov Xifivrjs ipiKvdea yoyypov 



K€ip.€Vov iv XoTraSccro'', 6 S' ctt' evvea ksIto rpaire^aLS. 



Matron. Parod. 



AS few fish, are better than eels-proper, properly served, 

 so nothing in cookery can be worse than a conger 

 under any form of presentation j warned, however, by 

 such proverbs as ' de gustibus,' ' every one to his taste,' 

 and ' tous les gouts sont respectables,' to show forbear- 

 ance to any aberrations of our neighbour's ninth pair of 

 nerves, we restrict ourself to recording the surprising 

 fact that this fish, like the eel, had from the earliest 

 times friends and partisans in plenty; Greek epicures in 

 particular showing an extraordinary liking for it when 

 very fat {^aypv a-^oSpa), and entering into league to 

 bring it into more general notice. At market, while the 

 whole carcase was eagerly sought after, and caught up 

 by rival competitors ; the head was considered the really 

 capital part : this always fetched a great price at Athens ; 

 and there is a story extant of a Grecian Ude, who, though 

 obliged from its scarcity to pay exorbitantly for the ar- 

 ticle in question, would, he said, had he possessed two 

 heads, have given one to his master for the privilege of 

 keeping that of this fish to himself. With so strong an 

 inducement for fishmongers to decapitate congers, ace- 

 phalous specimens would probably be as common then 

 as were those of ling in the days of Belou, when he in- 



