[2] V. Ingenious method to skin tender root vegetables, still in vogue today. We remove the skin of tender young root vegetables, carrots, beets, etc., by placing them in a towel, sprinkling them with rock salt and shaking them energetically. The modern power vegetable peeler is really built on the same principle, only instead of salt (which soon melts) carborundum or rough concrete surfaces are used, against which surfaces the vegetables are hurled by the rotary motion; often enough, too much of the skin is removed, however. [70] BEETS À LA VARRO _BETACEOS VARRONIS_ [1] VARRO BEETS, THAT IS, BLACK ONES [2] OF WHICH THE ROOTS MUST BE CLEANED WELL, COOK THEM WITH MEAD AND A LITTLE SALT AND OIL; BOIL THEM DOWN IN THIS LIQUOR SO THAT THE ROOTS ARE SATURATED THEREBY; THE LIQUID ITSELF IS GOOD DRINKING. IT IS ALSO NICE TO COOK A CHICKEN IN WITH THEM. [1] G.-V. _Betacios_; Tor. _B. Varrones_. Probably named for Varro, the writer on agriculture. [2] Roots on the order of parsnips, salsify, oysterplant. [71] ANOTHER LAXATIVE _ALITER AD VENTREM_ ANOTHER VEGETABLE DISH, PROMOTING GOOD HEALTH; WASH CELERY, GREENS AND ROOTS, AND DRY IT IN THE SUN: THEN ALSO COOK THE TENDER PART AND HEAD OF LEEKS IN A NEW [1] POT, ALLOWING THE WATER TO BOIL DOWN ONE THIRD OF ITS VOLUME. THEREUPON GRIND PEPPER WITH BROTH AND HONEY IN EQUAL AMOUNTS PROPERLY MEASURED, MIX IT IN THE MORTAR WITH THE WATER OF THE COOKED CELERY, STRAIN, BOIL AGAIN AND USE IT TO MASK THE [cooked] CELERY WITH. IF DESIRED, ADD [the sliced root of the] CELERY TO IT [2]. [1] V. "new," i.e., cook leeks in a separate sauce pan; NOT together with the celery, which, as the original takes for granted, must be cooked also. [2] V. We would leave the honey out, make a cream sauce from the stock, or, adding bouillon, tie same with a little flour and butter, and would call the dish Stewed Celery and Leeks. The ancient method is entirely rational because the mineral salts of the vegetables are preserved and utilized (invariably observed by Apicius) which today are often wasted by inexperienced cooks who discard these precious elements with the water in which vegetables are boiled. III [72] ASPARAGUS _ASPARAGOS_ ASPARAGUS [Tor. IN ORDER TO HAVE IT MOST AGREEABLE TO THE PALATE] MUST BE [peeled, washed and] DRIED [1] AND IMMERSED IN BOILING WATER BACKWARDS [2] [3]. [1] V. Must be dried before boiling because the cold water clinging to the stalks is likely to chill the boiling water too much in which the asparagus is to be cooked. Apicius here reveals himself as the consummate cook who is familiar with the finest detail of physical and chemical changes which food undergoes at varying temperatures.