p61  Book II. Minces
Liber II. Sarcoptes​1

1 Tor. Artoptes; Tac. Artoptus. This may have been derived from artopta — a vessel in which bread and pudding are baked. However, Sarcoptes is the better word, which is Greek, meaning "chopped meats."

2 Tac. Ambolatum, and so in Tor. p15, De Ambolato. Cap. IIII. Cf. our note following No. 58.

1 Tor. Sentence wanting in other texts. V. Forcemeats, minced meats, sausage. Tor. Hysitia, from Isicia. This term is derived from insicium, from salsicium, from salsum insicium, cut salt meat; old French salcisse, saulcisse, modern  p62 French saucisse, meaning sausage. This is a confirmation of the meaning of the word salsum — meaning primarily salt meat, bacon in particular. It has survived in modern French terminology in salés more specially petits salés — small rashers of bacon. Salsum has caused much confusion in some later formulae. Cf. notes to Nos. 148, 150, 152.

2 V. fish forcemeats, fish balls, fish cakes and similar preparations.

3 Scallops and oysters wanting in List. and G.‑V.

4 Wanting in List.

V. This formula plainly calls for fish balls braised or stewed in broth. Ordinarily we would boil the fish first and then separate the meat from the bones, shred or chop it fine, bind with cream sauce, flour and eggs; some add potatoes as a binder, and fry.

1 1 G.‑V. lolligine; Tor. loligine, which is correctly spelled.

2 Tac. and Tor. in pulmento tundes G.‑V. fulmento which is wrong. Pulmentum, abbreviated for pulpamentum, from pulpa. It means a fleshy piece of fish or meat, a tid-bit.

3 The original says in liquamine fricatur — fry in l., which is impossible in the sense of the word, frying. Either "frying" here stands for cooking, stewing, braising, poaching, or else the so mysterious liquamen must here mean deep fat. Most likely these fish forcemeat balls were fried in olive oil. Cf. ℞ No. 46.

1 Scilla or squilla, squill, sea-onion, also a crab, cammarus amplus, large lobster, langouste, spiny lobster.

2 The original omits the mode of cooking the fish. A case where it is taken for granted that the shellfish is boiled in water alive. The broth (liquamen) is a thick fish sauce in this case, serving as a binder for the meat, conforming to present methods.

Dann. Fill this into sausage casing. There is no authority for this.

1 From omentum — caul, the membrane enclosing the bowels. Hence "omen." Minced meats wrapped in caul and fried are kromeskis in kitchen terminology.

2 First — an after thought so characteristic in culinary literature, proof enough that this formula originated in a kitchen. The ante tamen of the original belongs to this sentence, not to the next, as the editors have it.

3 Wanting in G.‑V. The original continues without interruption to the next, an entirely new formula.

1 The Original has no title for this dish.

2 List. and G.‑V. here start the next formula, but Tor. continues without interruption. Cf. Note 2 to No. 46.

1 Sch. sfondilis; G.‑V. sphondylis; List. spongiolis. According to Lister, this is a dish of mushrooms, but he is wrong. He directs to remove sinews when mushrooms haven't any, but shellfish have. Torinus is correct. Gollmer makes the same mistake, believing spondyli to be identical with spongioli. He and Danneil take elixata for "choice" when this plainly means "cooked." If one were not sure of either word, the nature of the subject would leave no room for any doubt. Cf. note 1 to Nos. 115‑221.

2 We may find a reason for the combination of these last three distinctly different formulae into one article in the following explanation. It is possible that these dishes were served together as one course, even on one platter, thus constituting a single dish, as it were. Such a dish would strongly resemble platters of "fritures" and "fritto misto" (mixed fried foods) esteemed in France and Italy. We, too, have "Shore Dinners" and other "Combination Platters" with lobster, crabs, scallops, shrimps, mushrooms, tomatoes — each article prepared separately, but when served together will form an integral part of one dish.

The above formulae, though somewhat incomplete, are good and gastronomically correct. A combination of these isicia such as we here suggest would be entirely feasible and would in fact make a dish of great refinement, taxing the magiric artist's skill to the utmost. We would class them among the entremets chauds which are often used on a buffet table or as hot hors d'oeuvres.

1 Wanting in Lister.

2 Fine wheat flour, cream of wheat.

3 Either pepper corns or allspice.

The original leaves us in doubt as to the kind of meat to be used, if any.

1 Tor. lolae floris; Hum.-List. and G.‑V. olei floris — virgin olive oil? — first choice flour? Goll. olive (violet?) flowers; Dann. Olive oil.

The suggestion of oil is plausible because of the lack of fat in chicken meat, but the quantity — 1 lb. — is out of question. Moreover, the binder would be lacking. This is found in the Torinus rendering.

His lolae floris should read lolii — from lolium — darnel rye grass or ray grass which was supposed to have intoxicating qualities, injurious to the eye sight. — Ovid [Fasti, I.691] and Plautus [Miles Gl., 320]. The seeds of this grass were supposed to possess narcotic properties but recent researches have cast doubts upon this theory.

A little butter, fresh cream and eggs are the proper ingredients for chicken forcemeat. Any kind of flour for binding the forcemeat would cheapen the dish. Yet some modern forcemeats (sausage) contain as much as fifty percent of some kind of meal. The most effective is that of the soya bean which is not starchy.

1 V. 2 sextarii; Tor. choenicem, cenlicem; List. calicem.

2 choenices? — left in doubt.

This seems to be a chicken broth, or essence for a sauce or perhaps a medicine. Torinus mentions the chicken meat, the others do not.

The original without interruption continues to describe the isicium simplex which has nothing to do with the above.

1 A measure, 15 Attic drachms.

2 liquamen.

3 Tor. pectines, alias peces hydrogaro conditi; List. sales; G.‑V. faeces.

4 V. The formula is unintelligible, like No. 51 and others, perhaps just another example of medicinal cookery, dishes not only intended to nourish the body but to cure also certain ills. Authors like Hannah Wolley (The Queen-like Closet, London, 1675) and as late as the middle of the 18th century pride themselves in giving such quasi-Apician formulae.

1 List. and G.‑V. Pheasant.

2 Wanting in the above. Dann. Crane fourth.

Isicia, like in the foregoing formula, commences to become a generic term for "dishes."

1 Tor. multa ab alieno; Brandt amulata ab aheno; List. amylata — French: liés. Ab aheno — out of the pot.

2 French, for a mixture of wheat or rice flour with fats or liquids to thicken fluids. Amylum, or amulum which hereafter will occur frequently in the original does not cover the ground as well as the French term roux. The quality of the "binder" depends upon the material at hand. Sometimes the fat and flour are parched, sometimes they are used raw. Sometimes the flour is diluted with water and used in that form.

3 List. and G.‑V. sorbendum; Tor. subruendum.

1 Tor. cammarum, which should read caricarum — wine of Carica figs.

2 V. the Roman equivalent for "singe," "monkey," "Affe," — (the vulgo French is literally translated into and in actual use in other languages) caramel color made of burnt sugar to give gravies a palatable appearance. Cf. No. 73.

The reference by the original to "which the Romans call 'color' " indicates, according to Brandt, that this formula is not of Roman origin but probably a translation into Latin from a Greek cookery book.

This is an interesting suggestion, and it could be elaborated on to say that the entire Apicius is not of Roman origin. But why should the Greeks who in their balmy days were so far in advance of Rome in culinary matters go there for such information?

It is more likely that this reference to Rome comes from the Italian provinces or the colonies, regions which naturally would look to Rome for guidance in such matters.

1 G.‑V. oryzam; Tor. ditto (and on margin) oridam; Hum. oridiam legendum orindam — a kind of bread. Dann. and Goll. rice flour.

In a general way the ancient formula corresponds exactly to our present chicken fricassée.

1 V. We peel almonds in the same manner; the white clay treatment is new to us.

G.‑V.: and — which is confusing.

2 The original: confractum — crushed, but what? G.‑V. pepper, for which there is neither authority nor reason. A wine sauce would go well with it or crushed fruit. List. and Goll. Breadcrumbs.

3 This is a perfectly good pudding — one of the very few desserts in Apicius. With a little sweetening (supplied probably by the condensed wine) and some grated lemon for flavor it is quite acceptable as a dessert.

Ex Torinus, not mentioned by the other editors. The sense of this word is not clear. It must be a recipe or a chapter the existence of which was known to Torinus, for he says: "This entire chapter is wanting in our copy."

1 G.‑V. Vulvulae Botelli; Sch. Vulvulae isiciata; Tor. De Vulvulis et botellis. See note No. 3.

2 V. "Entrées" out of respect for the ancients who used them as such; today we would class such dishes among the "hors d'oeuvres chauds."

3 V. Vulvula, dim. for vulva, sow's matrix. Cf. vulva in dictionary. Possible, also possible that volva is meant — a meat roll, a croquette.

4 V. Combinations of chopped nuts and pork still in vogue today; we use the green pistachios.

5 V. The casings which were filled with this forcemeat may have been the sow's matrices, also caul. The original is vague on this point.

1 V. Botelli, or botuli, are sausage of various kinds; (French, Boudin, English, Pudding). Originally made of raw blood, they are in fact, miniature blood sausage. The absence of meat in the present formula makes me believe that it is not complete, though hard boiled yolk when properly seasoned and mixed with the right amount of fat, make a tasty forcemeat for sausage.

2 Tor. Botellum sic facies ex oui; Sch. and G.‑V. sex ovi — the number of eggs is immaterial.

3 Dann. Calf's Sweetbreads.

4 Goll. Thus crudum — raw blood. Thus or tus is either frankincense or the herb, ground-pine. Dann. Rosemary. Hum. Thus crudum lege jus crudum — jus or broth which would make the forcemeat soft. There is no reason for changing "thus" into "jus!"

5 G.‑V. Adicies liquamen et vinum, et sic coques. Tor. & vino decoquas.

V. Lister's interesting remarks about the makers of these sausages are given in the dictionary. Cf. Longano.

V. The directions are vague enough, but one may recognize in them our modern brain sausage.

Tor. and Tac. Serve with pheasant gravy. In the early editions the following formula which thus ends is wanting.

V. In Tor. and in the earliest edition this formula has been contracted with the preceding and made one formula.