The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-11-02
Old Roman Cookery Book"
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FAMOUS EPICuRE LEFT RECIPES THAT HAVE BEEN NspIRA..
20 TON OF CHEFS FOR SEVENTEEN CENTURIES.

known. except a fragmentary one in
Sanskrit. the vasavarajeyam. The
The original has been lost. but. 81
formed the basis of: a book published
$50 years after his death, and this,
which contains his recipes. has lived
for seventeen centuries and has beer
the inspiration Of thousands Of cooks,
Many OF the recipes Of Apicius are in
common use with but slight modifca.
ton to. this day, especially by the
COOKS OF Spain. Italy. and. southern
france. OF course. we have advanc-
ea In gastronomtc knowledge. since
those days. Those syharitic. Romans
knew nothing Of many foods that are
almost q commonplace to us-sugar,
for instance. and potatoes and turkeys.
to say nothing Of chocolate, tea, COT.
zee n tobacco. So. where our re-
ctpes direct sugar theirs ordered
money. II they had not turkeys they
cartridges. pheasants and quail.
where we use potatoes they used
chestnuts, peas. beans and lentils.
The taste Of the Romans. of the
early days OF the empire ran to the
reconcile. To serve food with its own
navor seemed too easy. Art in cook
Ing did not consist in adding such con.
diments as would bring out the natur-
al navor of the meat-as we eat mus
tara with ham or cranberry sauce with
turkey-but rather in SO Disgusting the
havor as to make 1t impossible to rec
ognize what va the basis of the dish.
The artistic chef Of that day made
veal taste like fish. fish taste like rab-
bit. and SO on to a bewildering extent,
limos as some modern French cooks
boast that they can make q delicious
ragout out Of a pair Of WORKOUT
gloves.
The striking features Of cookery
among the rich Romans were multi
pity Of dishes. the destruction and
waste of vast quantities Of material
and the absolute Disgusting Of flavors
by means Of extraordinary combine.
tons Of highly seasoned sauces and
gravies.
In Italy today pigs livers are served
by Apicius. Mixed with herbs. salt
and wine. they are stuffed into small
sausage skins, with one bay leaf to
each. and baked 49,.
And there are many similar recipes
given by Apicius which are 20 similar
to h methods in use today as to. be
almost identical. He tells how to
make barley water such as given to
tnvalids; how to preserve. comestiblea
with honey or salt by Pressing and
keeping out OF the air. He tells how
to keep punches of grapes by buryine
them In fresh bran; how to keep
vegetables green by washing them in
sod and water, and dried figs and
prunes by dipping them into boiling
sea water.
Again. the raise meat pies, so dear
to the heart Of the Engiishman, and
the no less delicious deep pies, made
In pastry-lined; bowls, wore we'll
known to .Apicius. and he even. gives
explicit instructions about leaving a
mole In the upper crust through which
the steam may escape.
The majority Of our modern sauces
were known In his kitchen. You
could make a sauce piquante; remoul.
ade or vinaigrette without difhculty by
following his Instructions. It IL inter.
esting to note that the far-famed
Worcestershire auc had it's origin In
his Kitchen. and has changed but 1T.
tie since. Today. as then. 1t 10 made
OF cayenne pepper. black pepper,
cloves. ginger. turmeric. paprika. mus
tard. sugar. tamarinds, vinegar. sher.
~. garlic and asafoetida. This 10 prob.
ably the only form in which asafoeti.
da Is used In cookery today, but It was
used by every housewife in the middle
ages.