We will point out, as briefly as possible, those plants mostly used in the kitchens of the ancients to heighten the flavour of their dishes, or to give them a particular taste, according as the dish or fancy might require it. In them especially lies the secret of those irritamenta gulÆ, or excitements of the palate, which Apicius brought so much into fashion.
POPPY.
The seed of this plant was offered, fried, at the beginning of the second course, and eaten with honey.[X_1] Sometimes it was sprinkled on the crust of a kind of household bread, covered with white of eggs.[X_2] Some of it was also put into the panada, or pap, intended for children[X_3]—perhaps to make them sleep the sooner.
SESAME.
This seed was used in nearly the same manner as the poppy, and it occupied a distinguished rank among the numerous dainties served at dessert.[X_4] Certain round and light cakes were covered with this seed.[X_5] The Romans brought sesame from Egypt.[X_6]
SOW-THISTLE.
This plant furnished a kind of milk, which was sometimes drunk: sometimes various kinds of meat were seasoned with it.[X_7] It was afterwards given up to rabbits, and there is every probability that they will retain undisputed possession of it.
ORACH.
Few vegetables have been more exposed to injurious accusations. Pythagoras reproaches it with causing a livid paleness, dropsy, and the scrofula, in those persons who eat it.[X_8] Nevertheless, a greedy curiosity introduced it into the catalogue of culinary preparations, and the guests of Apicius tasted more than once the fatal orach without knowing its pernicious properties. History does not say that they suffered any pernicious effects from it.
This plant is also eaten like spinach, and mixed with sorrel to soften its acidity.—Bosc.
ROCKET.
Persons about to undergo the punishment of the whip were recommended to swallow a cup of wine, in which rocket had been steeped. It was asserted that this draught rendered pain supportable.[X_9] And again, that this plant, taken with honey, removed the freckles which sometimes appear on the face.[X_10]
Whatever may be the degree of credence accorded to these two recipes, this vegetable enjoyed some reputation among the ancients, who mixed the wild and the garden rocket together, so as to temper the heat of the one by the coldness of the other.[X_11]
FENNEL.
It was employed but seldom in the preparation of dishes or pastry; but it was believed that the juice of its stalk had the property of restoring or strengthening the sight.[X_12]
DILL.
This plant, which, according to the ancients, weakened the eyes,[X_13] was much renowned for its exquisite odour,[X_14] and its stomachic qualities.[X_15] A much-admired perfume[X_16] was made from it; it produced an agreeable sort of wine or liqueur;[X_17] and a small number of choice dishes, for the enjoyment of connoisseurs, owed to it the reputation they had acquired.[X_18]
ANISE-SEED.
The production of an umbelliferous plant, which grows wild in Egypt, in Syria, and other eastern countries. Pliny recommends it to be taken in the morning, with honey and myrrh in wine:[X_19] and Pythagoras attributes to it eminent Hygeian properties, whether eaten raw or cooked.[X_20]
HYSSOP.
The Greeks, the Romans—and before them, the nations of the east[X_21]—believed that hyssop renews and purifies the blood. This plant, mixed with an equal quantity of salt, formed a remedy much extolled by Columella.[X_22] It was crushed with oil to make a liniment, used as a remedy for cutaneous eruptions.[X_23] An excellent liqueur was obtained from it, known under the name of hyssop wine;[X_24] and lastly, this plant was used in a number of dishes, which it rendered more wholesome and refreshing.
WILD MARJORAM.
Nearly the same qualities were attributed to this herb as to hyssop;[X_25] and it was employed still more frequently in the composition of the most delicate condiments. Dioscorides[X_26] and Cato[X_27] make copious remarks on a much-esteemed liqueur, which they called wild marjoram wine.
SAVORY.
An odoriferous herb, which entered into the seasoning of nearly every dish.[X_28]
THYME.
Besides the various culinary purposes for which the ancients used this plant, they, like ourselves, extracted from thyme aromatic liqueurs,[X_29] the preparation of which will be given in another part of this work.
WILD THYME.
We find it rarely spoken of by magiric writers. Pliny believes it to be most efficacious against the bite of serpents.[X_30]
SWEET MARJORAM.[X_31]
Was much employed in the Isle of Cyprus; very little, if at all, in Rome, where they knew little more of sweet marjoram than the oil extracted from it.[X_32]
PENNYROYAL.
The ancients entwined their wine caps with pennyroyal,[X_33] and made crowns of it, which were placed on their heads during their repasts, by the aid of which they hoped to escape the troublesome consequences of too copious libations.[X_34] On leaving the table, a small quantity of this plant was taken, to facilitate digestion.[X_35]
Pennyroyal occupied, also, an important place in high gastronomic combinations.
RUE.
The territory of Myra, a city of Lycia, produced excellent rue.[X_36] Mithridates looked upon this vegetable as a powerful counter-poison;[X_37] and the inhabitants of Heraclea, suspicious—and with reason—of the villany of their tyrant, Clearchus, never stirred from their dwellings without having previously eaten plentifully of rue.[X_38] This plant cured also the ear-ache;[X_39] and to all these advantages, it joined that of being welcomed with honour on all festive occasions.[X_40]
MINT.
There was formerly—no matter where or when—a beautiful young girl, who was changed into this plant through the jealous vengeance of Proserpine.[X_41] Thus transformed, she excited the appetite of the guests, and awakened their slumbering gaiety.[X_42] Mint prevented milk from curdling, even when rennet was put into it.[X_43]
SPANISH CAMOMILE.
The Romans sometimes mixed with their drink the burning root of the Spanish camomile;[X_44] and we are astonished at meeting with the name of this formidable plant among the ingredients of some of their dishes.
CUMMIN.
The condiments prepared with cummin had a very great reputation; and culinary authors frequently mention this vegetable, which the Greeks and Romans invariably used.[X_45]
ALISANDER.
The same might be said of alisander, which, in the time of Pliny, passed as an universal remedy,[X_46] and which Apicius honours by naming in many of his dishes.
CAPERS.
Young buds of the caper tree, a shrub—native of Asia, where the species are in great varieties. It was but little thought of at the tables of the higher classes, and therefore was left to the people.[X_47]
The buds of the caper are gathered, and thrown into barrels filled with vinegar, to which a little salt is added; then, by means of several large sieves made of a copper plate, rather hollow, and pierced with holes of different sizes, the different qualities are separated, and classed under different numbers. The vinegar is renewed, and the capers are replaced in the barrel, ready for exportation.
ASAFŒTIDA.
This plant, which we have excluded from our kitchens, and whose nauseous smell is far from exciting the appetite, reigned almost as the chief ingredient in the seasoning of the ancients. Perhaps they cultivated a kind which in no way resembled that of modern times. If it were the same, how are we to explain the extreme partiality which Apicius shows for it? and which he says must be dissolved in luke-warm water, and afterwards served with vinegar and garum.[X_48]
It is certain that the resin drawn by incision from the root of this plant is still much esteemed by the inhabitants of Persia and of India; they chew it constantly, finding the odour and taste exquisite.
“The neck of the root is cleared of the earth it is covered with, and replaced by a handful of herbs. At the end of forty days the summit of the root is out transversely; then a small bundle of herbs is laid over, so as not to touch it. A whitish liquor exudes from the cut, and every other day it is gathered; the cut is renewed until the root is quite exhausted. The result of this crop is laid on leaves, and dried in the sun.”—Bosc.
SUMACH.
The Romans made use of the seed to flavour several kinds of dishes.[X_49]
GINGER.
This root was known at Rome under the Emperors, and many persons have confounded ginger with pepper, although they in no way resemble each other. Pliny refutes this error, and represents it as a native of Arabia.[X_50] It was used with other condiments.[X_51]
“The Indians grate this root in their broth or ragoÛt; they make a paste which they believe is good against the scurvy. The inhabitants of Madagascar eat it green, in salad, cut in small pieces, and mixed with other herbs, which they season with salt, oil, and vinegar. In other places ginger is taken infused as a drink; it fortifies the chest, and awakens the appetite. It is preserved in sugar after it has been stripped of its bark, and soaked in vinegar. Delicious preserves are made of it with much perfume, and which keep a very long time.”—Dutour.
WORMWOOD.
The Egyptians had a great respect for the wormwood of Taposiris,—no doubt on account of the medicinal properties which physicians attributed to it.
Heliogabalus often regaled the populace with wormwood wine,[X_52] and the Romans gave it to the victorious charioteers. Pliny thinks this plant so salutary that nothing more precious could have been presented to them.[X_53] This explanation appears to have had but little plausibility, and it has been more rationally supposed that this liquor prevented or counteracted any giddiness they might feel. “You can cure yourself of dizziness,” says Strabo, “with the bitter leaf of wormwood.”[X_54]
The Roman wormwood wine was composed in the following manner:
They bruised one ounce of this vegetable, and mixed it with three scruples of gum, as much spikenard, six of balm, and three scruples of saffron; to which was added eighteen setiers, or 180 gallons English, of old wine. This mixture was left to stand some time, but was not heated or subjected to any other process.[X_55]
In pharmacy, wine is made of wormwood; also a syrup, a preserve, an extract, oil by infusion, an essential oil, and wormwood salt. It is supposed that several brewers on the Continent substitute the leaves and flowers of this plant for hops, in the manufacture of beer. It is, perhaps, a calumny, and we only repeat it in a whisper.
“The leaves of wormwood are used in salad to make it more digestible and heighten the flavour. They are preserved in vinegar, and to season dishes. Lastly, they are considered by some persons as a remedy, and the frequent use of them to be indispensable for the preservation of their existence.”—Bosc.
In concluding this chapter, it will be necessary to anticipate a question which naturally presents itself: did the Romans know the art of forcing fruits, and of procuring, at one season, the various vegetables or plants which belong to another period of the year?
Some verses from Martial will leave no doubt on the subject:—
“Whoever has seen the orchards of the King of Corcyrus (Alcinous), dear Entellus, must have preferred thy rural habitation. Thou knowest how to preserve from the rigours of winter the purple grapes of thy vine bower, and prevent the cold frost from devouring the gifts of Bacchus. Thy grapes live enclosed under a transparent crystal, which covers without concealing them.
“What can avaricious nature refuse to the industry of man? Sterile winter is constrained to give up the fruits of autumn.”[X_56]
This curious passage gives us to understand that the Romans had hot-houses and, no doubt, glass bells in their orchards and gardens, to bring sooner to maturity some of those productions of the earth which, by their delicate flavour and perfume, raised the insatiable desires of a people, decidedly the greatest epicureans ever known in the history of gastronomy to the present day.
