Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome Part 57

[392] BOILED HARE _ALITER LEPOREM ELIXUM_

DRESS THE HARE; [boil it]. IN A FLAT SAUCE PAN POUR OIL, BROTH, VINEGAR, RAISIN WINE, SLICED ONION, GREEN RUE AND CHOPPED THYME [a sauce which is served on the side] AND SO SERVE IT.

Tor. continuing without interruption.

[393] SPICED SAUCE FOR HARE _LEPORIS CONDITURA_

CRUSH PEPPER, RUE, ONIONS, THE HARE'S LIVER, BROTH, REDUCED WINE, RAISIN WINE, A LITTLE OIL; BIND WITH RUE WHEN BOILING.

Tor. _id._

[394] SPRINKLED HARE _LEPOREM (PIPERE) SICCO SPARSUM_ [1]

DRESS THE HARE AS FOR KID a LA TARPEIUS [? No. 363]. BEFORE COOKING DECORATE IT NICELY [2]. SEASON WITH PEPPER, RUE, SATURY, ONION, LITTLE THYME, MOISTEN WITH BROTH, ROAST IN THE OVEN; AND ALL OVER SPRINKLE HALF AN OUNCE OF PEPPER, RUE, ONIONS, SATURY, 4 DATES, AND RAISINS.

THE GRAVY IS GIVEN PLENTY OF COLOR OVER THE OPEN FIRE, AND IS SEASONED WITH WINE, OIL, BROTH, REDUCED WINE, FREQUENTLY STIRRING IT [basting the hare] SO THAT IT MAY ABSORB ALL THE FLAVOR. AFTER THAT SERVE IT IN A ROUND DISH WITH DRY PEPPER.

[1] Tac., Tor. _succo sparsum_.

[2] We have no proof that the ancients used the larding needle as we do (or did) in our days. "Decorate" may, therefore, also mean "garnish," i.e. marinate the meat in a generous variety of spices, herbs, roots and wine.

It is noteworthy that this term, "garnish," used here and in the preceding formulae has survived in the terminology of the kitchen to this day, in that very sense.

[395] SPICED HARE _ALITER LEPOREM CONDITUM_

[The well-prepared hare] COOK IN WINE, BROTH, WATER, WITH A LITTLE MUSTARD [seed], DILL AND LEEKS WITH THE ROOTS. WHEN ALL IS DONE, SEASON WITH PEPPER, SATURY, ROUND ONIONS, DAMASCUS PLUMS, WINE, BROTH, REDUCED WINE AND A LITTLE OIL; TIE WITH ROUX, LET BOIL A LITTLE LONGER [baste] SO THAT THE HARE IS PENETRATED BY THE FLAVOR, AND SERVE IT ON A PLATTER MASKED WITH SAUCE.

IX

DORMICE _GLIRES_

[396] STUFFED DORMOUSE [1]

_GLIRES_

IS STUFFED WITH A FORCEMEAT OF PORK AND SMALL PIECES OF DORMOUSE MEAT Tr.i.m.m.i.n.gS, ALL POUNDED WITH PEPPER, NUTS, LASER, BROTH. PUT THE DORMOUSE THUS STUFFED IN AN EARTHEN Ca.s.sEROLE, ROAST IT IN THE OVEN, OR BOIL IT IN THE STOCK POT.

[1] _Glis_, dormouse, a special favorite of the ancients, has nothing to do with mice. The fat dormouse of the South of Europe is the size of a rat, arboreal rodent, living in trees.

Galen, III, de Alim.; Plinius, VIII, 57/82; Varro, III, describing the _glirarium_, place where the dormouse was raised for the table.

Petronius, Cap. 31, describes another way of preparing dormouse. Nonnus, Diaeteticon, p. 194/5, says that Fluvius Hirpinus was the first man to raise dormouse in the _glirarium_.

Dormouse, as an article of diet, should not astonish Americans who relish squirrel, opossum, muskrat, "c.o.o.n,"

etc.

END OF BOOK VIII

_EXPLICIT APICII TETRAPUS LIBER OCTAUUS_ [Tac.]

{Ill.u.s.tration: t.i.tLE PAGE

Schola Apitiana, Antwerp, 1535}

{Transcription:

SCHOLA APITIANA, EX OPTIMIS QVIBVSDAM authoribus diligenter ac nouiter constructa, auth.o.r.e Polyonimo Syngrapheo.

ACGESSERE DIALOGI aliquot D. Erasmi Roterodami, & alia quaedam lectu iucundissima.

Vaeneunt Antuerpiae in aedibus Ioannis Steelsij.

I. G. 1535.}

APICIUS

Book IX

{Ill.u.s.tration: WINE PITCHER, ELABORATELY DECORATED

"Egg and bead" pattern on the rim. The upper end of handle takes the form of a G.o.ddess--Scylla, or Diana with two hounds--ending in acanthus leaves below the waist. On the curved back of handle is a long leaf; the lower attachment is in the form of a mask, ivy-crowned maenad (?). Ntl. Mus., Naples, 69171; Field M., 24048.}

{Ill.u.s.tration: CACCABUS

Stewpot, marmite, without a base, to fit into a hole of stove. The flat lid fits into the mouth of the pot. Found in Pompeii. Ntl. Mus., Naples, 74806; Field M., 24171.}

BOOK IX. SEAFOOD

_Lib. IX. Thala.s.sa_