Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome Part 22

[114] BOILED CARDOONS _ALITER CARDUOS ELIXOS_

[Are served with] PEPPER, c.u.mIN, BROTH AND OIL.

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[115] (COW-) PARSNIPS [?]

_SPONDYLI VEL FONDULI_ [1]

COW-PARSNIPS ARE FRIED [and eaten] WITH A SIMPLE WINE SAUCE.

[1] Tac. _Spondili uel fonduli_ and _Sphon ..._; Tor. as above; Hum. _Spongioli uel funguli_; List., _id._; Sch.

_Sfondili uel funguli_; G.-V. _Sphondyli uel funduli_.

Cf. note to Nos. 46, 121, 122.

[116] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_

BOIL THE PARSNIPS IN SALT WATER [and season them] WITH PURE OIL [1], CHOPPED GREEN CORIANDER AND WHOLE PEPPER.

[1] Tac. _Oleo mero_; Other editors: _Oleo, mero_. V.

The comma is misplaced.

[117] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_

PREPARE THE BOILED PARSNIPS WITH THE FOLLOWING SAUCE: CELERY SEED, RUE, HONEY, GROUND PEPPER, MIXED WITH RAISIN WINE, STOCK AND A LITTLE OIL; BIND THIS WITH ROUX [bring to a boiling point, immerse parsnips]

SPRINKLE WITH PEPPER AND SERVE.

[118] ANOTHER WAY [Puree of Parsnips] [1]

_ALITER_

MASH THE PARSNIPS, [add] c.u.mIN, RUE, STOCK, A LITTLE CONDENSED WINE, OIL, GREEN CORIANDER [and] LEEKS AND SERVE; GOES WELL WITH SALT PORK [2].

[1] Again faulty punctuation obscures the text.

Carefully compare the following: Tac. and Tor.

_Spondylos teres, c.u.minum_, etc. Hum., List. and G.-V.

_S. teres c.u.minum_, i.e. crush the c.u.min. Sch. _S.

tores_--dry, parch!

[2] _Inferes pro salso_--serve with salt pork or bacon, or, instead of--_Salsum_--salt pork. Dann. Well seasoned with salt! Sch. _infares pro salsa_. For further confirmation of _salsum_ cf. ? Nos. 148-152.

[119] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_

BOIL THE PARSNIPS [sufficiently, if] HARD [1] [then] PUT THEM IN A SAUCE PAN AND STEW WITH OIL, STOCK, PEPPER, RAISIN WINE, STRAIN [2]

AND BIND WITH ROUX.

[1] Tor. _praeduratos_; List. _praedurabis_. How can they be hardened? It may perhaps stand for "parboil." We agree with Tor. that the hard ones (_praeduratos_) must be cooked soft.

[2] Tor. and Tac. _Colabis_--strain; List. and G.-V.

_Colorabis_--color. No necessity for coloring the gravy, but straining after the binding with roux is important which proves Tor. correct again. Cf. note 1 to ? No.

73 and note 2 to ? No. 55.

[120] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_ [1]

FINISH [marinate] THE PARSNIPS IN OIL AND BROTH, OR FRY THEM IN OIL, SPRINKLE WITH SALT AND PEPPER, AND SERVE.

[1] Ex G.-V. wanting in Tor. and List. Found in Sch.

also. V. Procedure quite in accordance with modern practice. We envelope the p. in flour or frying batter.

[121] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_ [1]

BRUISE THE BOILED PARSNIPS [scallops, muscular part of sh.e.l.lfish]

ELIMINATE THE HARD STRINGS; ADD BOILED SPELT AND CHOPPED HARD EGGS, STOCK AND PEPPER. MAKE CROQUETTES OR SAUSAGE FROM THIS, ADDING PIGNOLIA NUT AND PEPPER, WRAP IN CAUL [or fill in casings] FRY AND SERVE THEM AS AN ENTReE DISH IN A WINE SAUCE.

[1] V. This formula is virtually a repet.i.tion of ? No.

46, all the more bewildering because of the divergence of the term (Cf. ? No. 115), which stands for "scallops" or the muscular part of any bivalve, at least in the above formula.

The Graeco-Latin word for cow-parsnip is _spondylium_, _sphondylium_, _spondylion_. It is almost certain that the preceding parsnips formulae are in the right place here. They are in direct line with the other vegetables here treated--the sh.e.l.lfish--_spondylus_--would be out of place in this chapter, Book III, The Gardener. All the recipes, with the exception of the above, fit a vegetable like parsnips. Even Lister's and Humelberg's interpretation of the term, who read _spongioli_--mushrooms--could be questioned under this heading, Book III.

It is barely possible that this entire series of formulae, _Spondyli uel fonduli_ (? Nos. 115-121) does belong to Book II among the scallop _hysitia_, though we are little inclined to accept this theory.

Cf. ? No. 122 which appears to be a confirmation of the view expressed above.

XXI

[122] CARROTS AND PARSNIPS _CAROTae ET PASTINACae_

CARROTS OR PARSNIPS ARE FRIED [and served] WITH A WINE SAUCE.

V. Exactly like ? No. 115, which may be a confirmation that _spondyli_ stands for cow-parsnips.

[123] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER_

THE CARROTS [are cooked] SALTED [and served] WITH PURE OIL AND VINEGAR.

V. As a salad. "Italian Salad" consists of a variety of such cooked vegetables, nicely dressed with oil and vinegar, or with mayonnaise. Cf. ? No. 102.