302 The Honey-Makers 



'•• Pound some cheese carefully, and put it into a vessel ; 

 then place above it a brazen sieve and strain the cheese 

 through it. And when you are going to serve it up, then 

 put in above it a sufficient quantity of honey." 



Yet other cheesecakes, he tells us, are made thus : — 



" Put some honey into some milk, pound them, and put 

 them into a vessel, and let them coagulate ; then, if you 

 have some little sieves at hand, put what is in the vessel 

 into them, and let the whey run off; and when it appears 

 to you to have coagulated thoroughly, then take up the 

 vessel in which it is, and transfer it to a silver dish, and the 

 coat, or crust, will be uppermost." 



"And also," says he, "in Crete they make a kind of 

 cheesecake which they call gastris. And it is made thus : 

 Take some Thasian and Pontic nuts and some almonds, 

 and also a poppy. Roast this last with great care, and 

 then take the seed and pound it in a clean mortar ; then, 

 adding the fruits which I have mentioned above, beat them 

 up with boiled honey, putting in plenty of pepper, and 

 make the whole into a soft mass (but it will be a black 

 color because of the poppy) ; flatten it and make it into a 

 square shape ; then, having pounded some white sesame, 

 soften that too with boiled honey, and draw it out into two 

 cakes, placing one beneath and the other above, so as to 

 have the black surface in the middle, and make it into a 

 neat shape." 



One cannot help wondering whether this medicated 

 honey-cake was not the same given to departing spirits to 

 quiet Cerberus, and whether, when partaken of by living 

 epicures it was most potent in producing nightmare or the 

 gorgeous dreams of the opium-eater. Whatever its effect, 

 it certainly must have been extraordinary. 



The following is the opinion upon cheesecakes and upon 

 honey held by Archestratus, the inventor of made dishes, 

 as he called himself. 



