Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome Part 19

_CYMAS ET CAULICULOS_ [2]

[Boil the] SPROUTS; [1] [season with] c.u.mIN [3], SALT, WINE AND OIL; IF YOU LIKE [add] PEPPER, LOVAGE, MINT, RUE, CORIANDER; THE TENDER LEAVES OF THE STALKS [stew] IN BROTH; WINE AND OIL BE THE SEASONING.

[1] Including, perhaps, cauliflower and broccoli.

[2] List. _Cimae & Coliculi. Nunc crudi c.u.m condimentis nunc elixati inferentur._ Served sometimes raw with dressing, sometimes boiled.

[3] c.u.min or carraway seed is still used today in the preparation of the delicious "Bavarian" cabbage which also includes wine and other spices.

[88] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_

CUT THE STALKS IN HALF AND BOIL THEM. THE LEAVES ARE MASHED AND SEASONED WITH CORIANDER, ONION, c.u.mIN, PEPPER, RAISIN WINE, OR CONDENSED WINE AND A LITTLE OIL.

Very sensible way of using cabbage stalks that are usually thrown away. Note the almost scientific procedure: the stalks are separated from the leaves, split to facilitate cooking; they are cooked separately because they require more time than the tender greens.

Our present method appears barbarous in comparison. We quarter the cabbage head, and either boil it or steam it. As a result either the tender leaves are cooked to death or the stems are still hard. The overcooked parts are not palatable, the underdone ones indigestible. Such being the case, our boiled cabbage is a complete loss, unless prepared the Apician way.

[89] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_

THE COOKED [1] STALKS ARE PLACED IN A [baking] DISH; MOISTEN WITH STOCK AND PURE OIL, SEASON WITH c.u.mIN, SPRINKLE [2] WITH PEPPER, LEEKS, c.u.mIN, AND GREEN CORIANDER [all] CHOPPED UP.

[1] Tor. _Coliculi a.s.sati_--_saute_, fried; (Remember: _Choux de Bruxelles saute_) List. _elixati_--boiled.

G.-V. _Cauliculi elixati_.

[2] Tor. _Superasperges_; G.-V. _piper asperges_.

Sounds like a salad of cooked cabbage. The original leaves us in doubt as to the temperature of the dish.

[90] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_

THE VEGETABLE, SEASONED AND PREPARED IN THE ABOVE WAY IS STEWED WITH PARBOILED LEEKS.

[91] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_

TO THE SPROUTS OR STALKS, SEASONED AND PREPARED AS ABOVE, ARE ADDED GREEN OLIVES WHICH ARE HEATED LIKEWISE.

[92] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_

PREPARE THE SPROUTS IN THE ABOVE WAY, COVER THEM WITH BOILED SPELT AND PINE NUTS [1] AND SPRINKLE [2] WITH RAISINS.

[1] The nuts should not astonish us. The French today have a delicious dish, _Choux de Bruxelles aux Marrons_--Brussels Sprouts with Chestnuts. Sprouts and chestnuts are, of course, cooked separately; the lightly boiled sprouts are _saute_ in b.u.t.ter; the chestnuts parboiled, peeled, and finished in stock with a little sugar or syrup, tossed in b.u.t.ter and served in the center of the sprouts.

The Apician formula with cereal and raisins added is too exotic to suit our modern taste, but without a question is a nutritious dish and complete from a dietetic point of view.

[2] Tor. _Superasperges_; G.-V. _piper asperges_.

X

[93] LEEKS _PORROS_

WELL MATURED LEEKS [1] ARE BOILED WITH A PINCH OF SALT [2] IN [combined] WATER AND OIL [3]. THEY ARE THEN STEWED IN OIL AND IN THE BEST KIND OF BROTH, AND SERVED.

[1] Tor. _Poros bene maturos_; G.-V. _maturos fieri_.

[2] One of the rare instances where Apicius mentions salt in cookery, i.e., salt in a dry form. _Pugnum salis_--a fist of salt--he prescribes here. Usually it is _liquamen_--broth, brine--he uses.

[3] Tor. is correct in finis.h.i.+ng the sentence here.

G.-V. continue _et eximes._, which is the opening of the next sentence, and it makes a difference in the formula.

[94] ANOTHER WAY TO COOK LEEKS _ALITER PORROS_

WRAP THE LEEKS WELL IN CABBAGE LEAVES, HAVING FIRST COOKED THEM AS DIRECTED ABOVE [1] AND THEN FINISH THEM IN THE ABOVE WAY.

[1] Tor. _in primis_--first; List., G.-V. _in prunis_--hot embers.

[95] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER PORROS_

COOK THE LEEKS WITH [laurel] BERRIES [1], [and otherwise treat them]

AND SERVE AS ABOVE.

[1] Tor. _Porros in bacca coctos_; List. _in cacabo_--cooked in a ca.s.serole; Sch. _bafa embama_--steeped, marinated (in oil); G.-V. _in baca coctos_. Another way to read this: _baca et fabae_--with beans--is quite within reason. The following formula, 96, is perhaps only a variant of the above.

Brandt: with olives, referring to No. 91 as a precedent.

[96] LEEKS AND BEANS _ALITER PORROS_

AFTER HAVING BOILED THE LEEKS IN WATER, [green string] BEANS WHICH HAVE NOT YET BEEN PREPARED OTHERWISE, MAY BE BOILED [in the leek water] [1] PRINc.i.p.aLLY ON ACCOUNT OF THE GOOD TASTE THEY WILL ACQUIRE; AND MAY THEN BE SERVED WITH THE LEEKS.

[1] Apicius needed no modern science of nutrition to remind him of the value of the mineral salts in vegetables.

XI

[97] BEETS _BETAS_

TO MAKE A DISH OF BEETS THAT WILL APPEAL TO YOUR TASTE [1] SLICE [the beets, [2] with] LEEKS AND CRUSH CORIANDER AND c.u.mIN; ADD RAISIN WINE [3], BOIL ALL DOWN TO PERFECTION: BIND IT, SERVE [the beets] SEPARATE FROM THE BROTH, WITH OIL AND VINEGAR.