[1] Tor. _conditura malorum Medicorum quæ et citria
dicuntur_. V. Not quite identified. Fruit coming from
Asia Minor, Media or Persia, one of the many varieties
of citrus fruit. Probably citron because of their size.
Goll. Lemon-apples; Dann. lemons (oranges). List.
_Scilicet mala, quæ Dioscorides Persica quoque & Medica,
& citromala, Plinius item Assyria appellari dicit_.
[2] G.-V. _vas vitreum_; Tac. and Tor. _vas citrum_; V.
a glass vessel could not be successfully sealed with
plaster paris, and the experiment would fail; cf. note 3
to No. 21.
[24] TO KEEP MULBERRIES
_MORA UT DIU DURENT_
MULBERRIES, IN ORDER TO KEEP THEM, MUST BE LAID INTO THEIR OWN JUICE
MIXED WITH NEW WINE [boiled down to one half] IN A GLASS VESSEL AND
MUST BE WATCHED ALL THE TIME [so that they do not spoil].
V. This and the foregoing formulæ illustrate the
ancients' attempts at preserving foods, and they betray
their ignorance of "processing" by heating them in
hermetically sealed vessels, the principle of which was
not discovered until 1810 by Appert which started the
now gigantic industry of canning.
[25] TO KEEP POT HERBS
[_H_]_OLERA UT DIU SERVENTUR_
PLACE SELECTED POT HERBS, NOT TOO MATURE, IN A PITCHED VESSEL.
[26] TO PRESERVE SORREL OR SOUR DOCK
_LAPÆ _[1]_ UT DIU SERVENTUR_
TRIM AND CLEAN [the vegetable] PLACE THEM TOGETHER SPRINKLE MYRTLE
BERRIES BETWEEN, COVER WITH HONEY AND VINEGAR.
ANOTHER WAY: PREPARE MUSTARD HONEY AND VINEGAR ALSO SALT AND COVER
THEM WITH THE SAME.
[1] The kind of vegetable to be treated here has not
been sufficiently identified. List. and G.-V.
_rapæ_--turnips--from _rapus_, seldom _rapa_,--a rape,
turnip, navew. Tac. and Tor. _Lapæ_ (_lapathum_), kind
of sorrel, monk's rhubarb, dock. Tor. explaining at
length: _conditura Rumicis quod lapathon Græci, Latini
Lapam quoque dicunt_.
V. Tor. is correct, or nearly so. Turnips, in the first
place, are not in need of any special method of
preservation. They keep very well in a cool,
well-ventilated place; in fact they would hardly keep
very long if treated in the above manner. These
directions are better applied to vegetables like dock or
monk's rhubarb. Lister, taking Humelbergii word for it,
accepts "turnips" as the only truth; but he has little
occasion to assail Torinus as he does: _Torinus lapam
legit, & nullibi temeritatem suam atque inscientiam
magis ostendit._
Now, if Torinus, according to Lister, "nowhere displays
more nerve and ignorance" we can well afford to trust
Torinus in cases such as this.
[27] TO KEEP TRUFFLES
_TUBERA UT DIU SERVENTUR_
THE TRUFFLES WHICH MUST NOT BE TOUCHED BY WATER ARE PLACED ALTERNATELY
IN DRY SAWDUST; SEAL THE VESSEL WITH PLASTER AND DEPOSIT IT IN A COOL
PLACE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account