ACETARIA: A DISCOURSE OF SALLETS TEXT

rigorous Fare, and uncouth Disguises; but for teaching that the Grace of Temperance and other Vertues, consisted in a cheerful, innocent, and profitable Conversation. And now to recapitulate what other Prerogatives the _Hortulan Provision_ has been celebrated for, bessides its Antiquity, Health and _Longævity_ of the _Antediluvians_; that Temperance, Frugality, Leisure, Ease, and innumerable other Vertues and Advantages, which accompany it, are no less attributable to it. Let us hear our excellent _Botanist_ [106]Mr. _Ray_. 'The Use of Plants (says he) is all our Life long of that universal Importance and Concern, that we can neither live nor subsist in any Plenty with Decency, or Conveniency or be said to live indeed at all without them: whatsoever Food is necessary to sustain us, whatsoever contributes to delight and refresh us, are supply'd and brought forth out of that plentiful and abundant store: and ah, how much more innocent, sweet and healthful, is a Table cover'd with these, than with all the reeking Flesh of butcher'd and slaughter'd Animals: Certainly Man by Nature was never made to be a _Carnivorous_ Creature; nor is he arm'd at all for Prey and Rapin, with gag'd and pointed Teeth and crooked Claws, sharp'ned to rend and tear: But with gentle Hands to gather Fruit and Vegetables, and with Teeth to chew and eat them: Nor do we so much as read the Use of _Flesh_ for Food, was at all permitted him, till after the Universal Deluge, _&c._ To this might we add that transporting Consideration, becoming both our Veneration and Admiration of the infinitely wise and glorious Author of Nature, who has given to _Plants_ such astonishing Properties; such fiery Heat in some to warm and cherish, such Coolness in others to temper and refresh, such pinguid Juice to nourish and feed the Body, such quickening _Acids_ to compel the Appetite, and grateful vehicles to court the Obedience of the Palate, such Vigour to renew and support our natural Strength, such ravishing Flavour and Perfumes to recreate and delight us: In short, such spirituous and active Force to animate and revive every Faculty and Part, to all the kinds of Human, and, I had almost said Heavenly Capacity too. What shall we add more? Our Gardens present us with them all; and whilst the _Shambles_ are cover'd with Gore and Stench, our _Sallets_ scape the Insults of the Summer _Fly_, purifies and warms the Blood against Winter Rage: Nor wants there Variety in more abundance, than any of the former Ages could shew. Survey we their _Bills of Fare_, and Numbers of Courses serv'd up by _Athenæus_, drest with all the Garnish of _Nicander_ and other _Grecian_ Wits: What has the _Roman Grand Sallet_ worth the naming? _Parat Convivium_, The Guests are nam'd indeed, and we are told, ----[107]_Varias, quas habet hortus opes?_ How richly the Garden's stor'd: _In quibus est Luctuca sedens, & tonsile porrum, Nee deest ructatrix Mentha, nec herba salax, &c._ * * * * * A Goodly Sallet! _Lettuce_, _Leeks_, _Mint_, _Rocket_, _Colewort-Tops_, with _Oyl_ and _Eggs_, and such an _Hotch-Pot_ following (as the Cook in _Plautus_ would deservedly laugh at). But how infinitely out-done in this Age of ours, by the Variety of so many rare _Edules_ unknown to the Ancients, that there's no room for the Comparison. And, for Magnificence, let the _Sallet_ drest by the Lady for an Entertainment made by _Jacobus Catsius_ (describ'd by the Poet [108]_Barlæus_) shew; not at all yet out-doing what we every Day almost find at our _Lord Mayor's Table_, and other great Persons, Lovers of the Gardens; that sort of elegant Cookery being capable of such wonderful Variety, tho' not altogether wanting of old, if that be true which is related to us of [109]_Nicomedes_ a certain King of Bithynia, whose Cook made him a _Pilchard_ (a Fish he exceedingly long'd for) of a well dissembl'd Turnip, carv'd in its Shape, and drest with _Oyl_, _Salt_, and _Pepper_, that so deceiv'd, and yet pleased the Prince, that he commended it for the best Fish he had ever eaten. Nor does all this exceed what every industrious _Gardiner_ may innocently enjoy, as well as the greatest Potentate on Earth. Vitellius _his Table, to which every Day_ _All Courtiers did a constant Tribute pay,_ _Could nothing more delicious afford_ _Than Nature's Liberality._ _Help'd with a little Art and Industry,_ _Allows the meanest Gard'ners Board,_ _The Wanton Taste no Fish or Fowl can chuse,_ _For which the Grape or Melon she would lose._ _Tho' all th' Inhabitants of Sea and Air._ _Be lifted in the Glutton's Bill of Fare;_ _Yet still the_ Sallet, _and the_ Fruit _we see_ _Plac'd the third Story high in all her Luxury_. So the Sweet [110]_Poet_, whom I can never part with for his Love to this delicious Toil, and the Honour he has done me. Verily, the infinite Plenty and Abundance, with which the benign and bountiful Author of Nature has stor'd the whole Terrestrial World, more with _Plants_ and _Vegetables_ than with any other Provision whatsoever; and the Variety not only equal, but by far exceeding the Pleasure and Delight of Taste (above all the Art of the _Kitchen_, than ever [111]_Apicius_ knew) seems loudly to call, and kindly invite all her living Inhabitants (none excepted) who are of gentle Nature, and most useful, to the same _Hospitable_ and Common-Board, which first she furnish'd with _Plants_ and _Fruit_, as to their natural and genuine Pasture; nay, and of the most wild, and savage too _ab origine_: As in _Paradise_, where, as the _Evangelical_ [112]Prophet adumbrating the future Glory of the _Catholick Church_, (of which that happy _Garden_ was the _Antitype_) the _Wolf and the Lamb, the angry and furious Lion, should eat Grass and Herbs together with the Ox_. But after all, _latet anguis in herba_, there's a _Snake_ in the Grass; Luxury, and Excess in our most innocent Fruitions. There was a time indeed when the Garden furnish'd Entertainments for the most Renown'd Heroes, virtuous and excellent Persons; till the Blood-thirsty and Ambitious, over-running the Nations, and by Murders and Rapine rifl'd the World, to transplant its Luxury to its new Mistriss, _Rome_. Those whom heretofore [113]two Acres of Land would have satisfied, and plentifully maintain'd; had afterwards their very Kitchens almost as large as their first Territories: Nor was that enough: Entire [114]_Forests_ and _Parks_, _Warrens_ and _Fish-Ponds_, and ample Lakes to furnish their Tables, so as Men could not live by one another without Oppression: Nay, and to shew how the best, and most innocent things may be perverted; they chang'd those frugal and _inemptas Dapes_ of their Ancestors, to that Height and Profusion; that we read of [115]_Edicts_ and _Sumptuary Laws_, enacted to restrain even the Pride and Excess of _Sallets_. But so it was not when the _Pease-Field_ spread a Table for the Conquerors of the World, and their Grounds were cultivated _Vomere laureato, & triumphali aratore_: The greatest Princes took the _Spade_ and the _Plough-Staff_ in the same Hand they held the Sceptre; and the Noblest [116]Families thought it no Dishonour, to derive their Names from _Plants_ and _Sallet-Herbs_; They arriv'd, I say to that Pitch of ingrossing all that was but green, and could be vary'd by the Cook (_Heu quam prodiga ventris_!) that, as _Pliny_ tells us (_non sine pudore_, not without blushing) a poor Man could hardly find a _Thistle_ to dress for his Supper; or what his hungry [117]_Ass_ would not touch, for fear of pricking his Lips. Verily the Luxury of the East ruin'd the greatest Monarchies; first, the _Persian_, then the _Grecian_, and afterwards _Rome_ her self: By what Steps, see elegantly describ'd in Old [118]_Gratius_ the _Faliscian_, deploring his own Age compar'd with the former: _O quantum, & quoties decoris frustrata paterni!_ _At qualis nostris, quam simplex mensa Camillis!_ _Qui tibi cultus erat post tot, serrane, triumphos?_ _Ergo illi ex habitu, virtutisq; indole priscæ,_ _Imposuere orbi Romam caput_:---- Neighb'ring Excesses being made thine own, How art thou fall'n from thine old Renown! But our _Camilli_ did but plainly fare, No Port did oft triumphant _Serran_ bear: Therefore such Hardship, and their Heart so great Gave _Rome_ to be the World's Imperial Seat. But as these were the Sensual and Voluptuous, who abus'd their Plenty, spent their Fortunes and shortned their Lives by their Debauches; so never did they taste the Delicaces, and true Satisfaction of a sober Repast, and the infinite Conveniences of what a well-stor'd _Garden_ affords; so elegantly describ'd by the [119]_Naturalist_, as costing neither Fuel nor Fire to boil, Pains or time to gather and prepare, _Res expedita & parata semper_: All was so near at hand, readily drest, and of so easie Digestion; as neither to offend the Brain, or dull the Senses; and in the greatest Dearth of Corn, a little Bread suffic'd. In all Events, _Panis ematur, Olus, Vini Sextarius adde_ _Queis humana sibi doleat natura negatis_. Bread, Wine and wholsome Sallets you may buy, What Nature adds besides is Luxury. They could then make an honest Meal, and dine upon a _Sallet_ without so much as a Grain, of _Exotic Spice_; And the _Potagere_ was in such Reputation, that she who neglected her _Kitchen-Garden_ (for that was still the Good-Woman's Province) was never reputed a tolerable Hus-wife: _Si vespertinus subitò te oppresserit hospes_, she was never surpriz'd, had all (as we said) at hand, and could in a Trice set forth an handsome _Sallet_: And if this was Happiness, _Convictus facilis sine arte mensa_ (as the _Poet_ reckons) it was here in Perfection. In a Word, so universal was the _Sallet_, that the [120]Un-bloody Shambles (as _Pliny_ calls them) yielded the [121]_Roman_ State a more considerable Custom (when there was little more than honest _Cabbage_ and _Worts_) than almost any thing bessides brought to Market. They spent not then so much precious time as afterwards they did, gorging themselves with _Flesh_ and _Fish_, so as hardly able to rise, without reeking and reeling from Table. [122]----_Vides ut pallidus omnis_ _Coena desurgat dubia? quin corpus onustum_ _Hesternis vitiis, animum quoque prægravat unà,_ _Atque affigit humo divinæ particulam auræ_. See but how pale they look, how wretchedly, With Yesterday's Surcharge disturb'd they be! Nor Body only suff'ring, but the Mind, That nobler Part, dull'd and depress'd we find. Drowsie and unapt for Business, and other nobler Parts of Life. Time was before Men in those golden Days: Their Spirits were brisk and lively. ----_Ubi dicto citius curata sopori_ _Membra dedit, Vegetus præscripta ad munera surgit_. With shorter, but much sweeter Sleep content, Vigorous and fresh, about their Business went. And Men had their Wits about them; their Appetites were natural, their Sleep _molli sub arbore_, sound, sweet, and kindly: That excellent Emperour _Tacitus_ being us'd to say of _Lettuce_, that he did _somnum se mercari_ when he eat of them, and call'd it a sumptuous Feast, with a _Sallet_ and a single _Pullet_, which was usually all the Flesh-Meat that sober Prince eat of; whilst _Maximinus_ (a profess'd Enemy to _Sallet_) is reported to have scarce been satisfied, with sixty Pounds of Flesh, and Drink proportionable. There was then also less expensive Grandure, but far more true State; when _Consuls_, great Statesmen (and such as atchiev'd the most renown'd Actions) sup'd in their _Gardens_; not under costly, gilded, and inlaid Roofs, but the spreading _Platan_; and drank of the Chrystal Brook, and by Temperance, and healthy Frugality, maintain'd the Glory of _Sallets_, _Ah, quanta innocentiore victu_! with what Content and Satisfaction! Nor, as we said, wanted there Variety; for so in the most blissful Place, and innocent State of Nature, See how the first _Empress_ of the World _Regal's_ her _Celestial_ Guest: [123]_With sav'ry Fruit of Taste to please_ _True Appetite, ---- and brings_ _Whatever Earth's all-bearing Mother yields_ _----Fruit of all kinds, in Coat_ _Rough, or smooth-Rind, or bearded Husk, or Shell_. _Heaps with unsparing Hand: For Drink the Grape_ _She crushes, inoffensive Moust, and Meaches_ _From many a Berry, and from sweet Kernel prest,_ _She temper'd dulcid Creams_.---- Then for the Board. ----_Rais'd of a grassy Turf_ _The Table was, and Mossy Seats had round;_ _And on the ample Meaths from Side to Side,_ _All Autumn pil'd: Ah Innocence,_ _Deserving Paradise_! Thus, the _Hortulan_ Provision of the [124]_Golden Age_ fitted all _Places_, _Times_ and _Persons_; and when Man is restor'd to that State again, it will be as it was in the Beginning. But now after all (and for Close of all) Let none yet imagine, that whilst we justifie our present Subject through all the _Topics of Panegyric_, we would in Favour of the _Sallet_, drest with all its Pomp and Advantage turn Mankind to _Grass_ again; which were ungratefully to neglect the Bounty of Heaven, as well as his Health and Comfort: But by these Noble Instances and Examples, to reproach the _Luxury_ of the present Age; and by shewing the infinite Blessing and Effects of Temperance, and the Vertues accompanying it; with how little Nature, and a [125]Civil Appetite may be happy, contented with moderate things, and within a little Compass, reserving the rest, to the nobler Parts of Life. And thus of old, _Hoc erat in votis, modus agri non ita magnus, _&a._ He that was possess'd of a little Spot of Ground, and well=cultivated _Garden_, with other moderate Circumstances, had [126]_Hæredium_. All that a modest Man could well desire. Then, [127]_Happy the Man, who from Ambition freed,_ _A little Garden, little Field does feed._ _The Field gives frugal Nature what's requird;_ _The Garden what's luxuriously desir'd:_ _The specious Evils of an anxious Life,_ _He leaves to Fools to be their endless Strife_. O Fortunatos nimium bona si sua norint Horticulos! _FINIS_ * * * * * _APPENDIX_ Tho' _it was far from our first Intention to charge this small Volume and Discourse concerning_ Crude Sallets, _with any of the following Receipts: Yet having since received them from an_ Experienc'd Housewife; _and that they may possibly be useful to correct, preserve and improve our_ Acetaria, _we have allow'd them Place as an_ Appendant _Variety upon Occasion: Nor account we it the least Dishonour to our former Treatise, that we kindly entertain'd them; since (besides divers Learned_ Physicians, _and such as have_ ex professo _written_ de Re Cibaria) _we have the Examples of many other_ [128]Noble _and_ Illustrious _Persons both among the_ Ancient _and_ Modern. 1. Artichoak. _Clear it of the Leaves and cut the Bottoms in pretty thin Slices or Quarters; then fry them in fresh Butter with some Parsley, till it is crisp, and the Slices tender; and so dish them with other fresh melted Butter_. _How a_ Poiverade _is made, and the Bottoms preserv'd all the Winter, See_ Acetaria. p. 5, 6. Ashen-keys. _See_ Pickle. Asparagus. _See_ Pickle. Beets. \ Broom. | Buds. | _See_ Pickle. Capers. / Carrot. _See_ Pudding. Champignon. _See_ Mushroom. 2. Chessnut. _Roasted under the Embers, or dry fryed, till they shell, and quit their Husks, may be slit; the Juice of Orange squeezed on a Lump of hard Sugar dissolv'd; to which add some Claret Wine_. Collyflower. \ Cucumber. | Elder flowers. | _See_ Pickle. Flowers. | Gilly-flowers. / Herbs. _See_ Pudding _and_ Tart. Limon. _See_ Pickle. 3. Mushroom. _Chuse the small, firm and white Buttons_, growing _upon sweet Pasture_ _Grounds, neither under, or about any Trees: strip off the upper Skin, and pare away all the black spungy Bottom part; then slice them in quarters, and cast them in Water a while to cleanse: Then Boil them in fresh Water, and a little sweet Butter; (some boil them a quarter of an hour first) and then taking them out, dry them in a Cloth, pressing out the Water, and whilst hot, add the Butter; and then boiling a full Hour (to exhaust the Malignity) shift them in another clean Water, with Butter, as before till they become sufficiently tender. Then being taken out, pour upon them as much strong Mutton (or other) Broth as will cover them, with six Spoonfuls of White-Wine, twelve Cloves, as many Pepper-Corns, four small young Onions, half an Handful of Persly bound up with two or three Spriggs of Thyme, an_ Anchovy, _Oysters raw, or pickl'd; a little Salt, sweet Butter; and so let them stew_. _See_ Acetar. p. 26. Another. _Prepared, and cleans'd as above, and cast into Fountain-Water, to preserve them from growing black; Boil them in fresh Water and Salt; and whilst on the Fire, cast in the_ Mushrooms, _letting them boil till they become tender: Then stew them leisurely between two Dishes (the Water being drained from them) in a third Part of White-Wine_ _and Butter, a small Bundle of sweet Herbs at discretion. To these add Broth as before, with Cloves, Mace, Nutmeg_, Anchovies (_one is sufficient_) _Oysters_, &c. _a small Onion, with the green Stem chopt small; and lastly, some Mutton-Gravy, rubbing the Dish gently with a Clove of Garlick, or some_ Rocombo _Seeds in its stead. Some beat the Yolk of a fresh Egg with Vinegar, and Butter, and a little Pepper_. _In_ France _some (more compendiously being peel'd and prepared) cast them into a Pipkin, where, with the Sweet Herbs, Spices, and an Onion they stew them in their own Juice, without any other Water or Liquor at all; and then taking out the Herbs and Onion, thicken it with a little Butter, and so eat them_. _In_ Poiverade. _The large Mushrooms well cleansed_, &c. _being cut into quarters and strewed with Pepper and Salt, are broil'd on the Grid-iron, and eaten with fresh Butter_. _In_ Powder. _Being fresh gathered, cleans'd_, &c. _and cut in Pieces, stew them in Water and Salt; and being taken forth, dry them with a Cloth: Then putting them into an Earth-Glazed Pot, set them into the Oven after the Bread is drawn: Repeat this till they are perfectly dry; and reserve them in Papers to crumble into what Sauce you please. For the rest, see_ Pickle. 4. Mustard. _Procure the best and weightiest Seed: cast it into Water two or three times, till no more of the Husk arise: Then taking out the sound_ (_which will sink to the Bottom_) _rub it very dry in warm course Cloths, shewing it also a little to the Fire in a Dish or Pan. Then stamp it as small as to pass through a fine Tiffany Sieve: Then slice some Horse-Radish and lay it to soak in strong Vinegar, with a small Lump of hard Sugar_ (_which some leave out_) _to temper the Flower with, being drained from the Radish, and so pot it all in a Glaz'd Mug, with an Onion, and keep it well stop'd with a Cork upon a Bladder, which is the more cleanly: But this_ Receit _is improv'd, if instead of Vinegar, Water only, or the Broth of powder'd Beef be made use of. And to some of this_ Mustard _adding Verjuice, Sugar, Claret-Wine, and Juice of Limon, you have an excellent Sauce to any sort of Flesh or Fish_. _Note, that a Pint of good Seed is enough to make at one time, and to keep fresh a competent while. What part of it does not pass the_ Sarse, _may be beaten again; and you may reserve the Flower in a well closed Glass, and make fresh Mustard when you please_. _See_ Acetaria, p. 38, 67. Nasturtium. _Vide_ Pickle. Orange. _See_ Limon _in Pickle_. 5. Parsnip. _Take the large Roots, boil them, and strip the Skin: Then slit them long-ways into pretty thin Slices; Flower and fry them in fresh Butter till they look brown. The sauce is other sweet Butter melted. Some strow Sugar and Cinamon upon them. Thus you may accomodate other Roots_.