The Pantropheon; Or, History of Food, Its Preparation, from the Earliest Ages of the WorldSoyer, Alexis
History
The Pantropheon; Or, History of Food, Its Preparation, from the Earliest Ages of the World
Soyer, Alexis
Cooking; Food; Gastronomy
_Macedonian Pork._--Choose, among a number of large and fine sucking
pigs, the one which appears to you the most worthy of the culinary
sacrifice. Draw it by the upper part; clean it well, and fill it with
chicken sausages chopped small, the flesh of thrushes, ortolans, and
pork; add Lucanian sausages, dates without stones, raisins, and
afterwards, mallow, beet, leeks, parsley, coriander, whole pepper, and
pine nuts; add eggs, and a good quantity of well-peppered gravy. Bake
it, having previously scored the back of the animal, so that it may be
basted with its own gravy. When a delightful odour shall then warn you
that it is done, cover it, before serving, with a relishing mixture of
pepper, rue, garum, or gravy, to which you must add wine, honey, and a
little oil.[XVI-55]
_Stuffed Sucking Pig._--The intestines are drawn out by the throat, and
an opening made under the skin. You then fill with stuffing a bladder,
to the neck of which is securely fixed a long and narrow tube, which
will convey to every part the somewhat liquid substance which you will
express from the bladder. The opening is then closed with parchment sewn
to the skin. It is hardly necessary to say that this operation should be
performed in several places.
Let us now see to the inside. Crush pepper, alisander, wild marjoram,
and a little benzoin root; mix with this, garum or gravy, cooked brains,
raw eggs, flour, and pork gravy; the whole must be boiled on a slow
fire, and the pig filled with it, also with little birds, pine nuts,
whole pepper, and garum. It now only remains to place it in the oven,
watch over the cooking, baste it with gravy, and serve.[XVI-56]
_Aristoxenic Ham._--Take a fresh ham, salt it, and smoke it two days;
then rub it with a mixture of oil and vinegar, and hang it to the
ceiling.[XVI-57] Some days after you must boil it with a great quantity
of figs and three bay leaves; then take off the skin, make incisions in
the flesh, and fill them with honey. Finally, prepare a paste of flour
and oil, with which cover the ham; put it into the oven, and withdraw it
only when this crust is completely done.[XVI-58]
_Lucullian Ham._--Cook a ham, newly salted, with two pounds of barley
and twenty-five figs. Then bone it, and slightly scarify the skin with
an iron blade; put it into the oven, taking care to cover it with a
little honey. When it begins to colour, put into a saucepan some cooked
wine, pepper, wine and a bunch of rue, the half of which is then poured
on the ham. The other half of this seasoning serves to humect the
quenelles which you have taken beforehand from the ham previous to
baking; these must be well soaked with gravy, and then, if you have any
remaining, pour it over the ham, which you serve surrounded by the
quenelles.[XVI-59]
_Ventre de Truie à l’Athénienne._--It is boiled with sweet herbs and
served with a seasoning of cummin seed, vinegar, and silphium.[XVI-60]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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