102 HISTORIC AND CULINARY 



in the wild state in Spain and less frequently in the 

 south of Germany and France. It first attained notoriety 

 on account of its alleged virtue as an antidote to snake's 

 bite — hence the popular interpretation of its etymology 

 — the word being thought to be derived from escorso, a 

 snake — the fact of course being that it owes its name to 

 the colour of its root. It seems to have been introduced 

 into England about the end of the sixteenth century, 

 though it was probably cultivated at first more for its 

 supposed medicinal properties than as a pleasant addition 

 to the table. 



About the beginning of the seventeenth century it 

 was evidently known as a delicious edible, and is 

 referred to in " Le Jardinier Francois," published in 

 1616. From the middle of the seventeenth century 

 onwards, recipes for its cooking are to be found in most 

 of the better French, American, and English cookery 

 books, though in France it has never been a popular 

 vegetable in the sense that the more delicate salsify is 

 popular. 



In Hay's translation of Lemery's " Treatise of Foods," 

 to which reference has been already made, both these 

 plants are classed together as "saxifrage," of which the 

 author says : " There are two Sorts used for Food 5 the 

 first is a Root of a Kind of Goat's-beard, and the other 

 of Scorsonnere, commonly called the Saxifrage of Spain." 

 The latter, he says, has "a more agreeable Taste than 

 the other, probably because it is endu'd with some more 

 volatile and exalted Principles." 



Salsify, like scorzonera, is much less grown in Eng- 

 land than was once the case. Evelyn refers to the 

 common yellow goat's-beard as "an excellent salet 

 root," and Parkinson also mentions it as a cultivated 

 vegetable. The salsify, or purple goat's-beard, also occurs 

 wild in England, but it is certain that such plants are 

 merely escapes from gardens. Both species close their 



