p73  Book III. The Gardener
Liber III. Cepuros

1 Nitrium. Method still in use today, considered injurious to health if copper vessel is used, but the amount of copper actually absorbed by the vegetables is infinitesimal, imperceptible even by the taste. Copper, to be actually harmful would have to be present in such quantity as to make enjoyment impossible.

1 V. Ad ventrem, "for the belly," simple home laxative.

2 V. This sentence in Torinus only. Possibly a contraction of the foregoing formula, No. 66.

3 V. minutas, "small," i.e., young.

1 V. Roots of the fern herb.

2 Although these instructions for vegetable dinners are rather vague, they resemble primitive chartreuses — fancy vegetable dishes developed by the Carthusian monks to whom flesh eating was forbidden. Elsewhere in Apicius we shall find the chartreuse developed to a remarkable degree.

1 This formula wanting in Tor.

2 V. Ingenious method to skin tender root vegetables, still in vogue today. We remove the skin of tender young root vegetables, carrots, beets, etc., by pla­cing them in a towel, sprinkling them with rock salt and shaking them energetically. The modern power vegetable peeler is really built on the same principle, only instead of salt (which soon melts) carborundum or rough concrete surfaces are used, against which surfaces the vegetables are hurled by the rotary motion; often enough, too much of the skin is removed, however.

1 G.‑V. Betacios; their B. Varrones. Probably named for Varro, the writer on agriculture.

2 Roots on the order of parsnips, salsify, oysterplant.

1 1 V. "new," i.e., cook leeks in a separate sauce pan; not together with the celery, which, as the original takes for granted, must be cooked also.

2 V. We would leave the honey out, make a cream sauce from the stock, or, adding bouillon, tie same with a little flour and butter, and would call the dish Stewed Celery and Leeks. The ancient method is entirely rational because the mineral salts of the vegetables are preserved and utilized (invariably observed  p76 by Apicius) which today are often wasted by inexperienced cooks who discard these precious elements with the water in which the vegetables are boiled.

1 V. Must be dried before boiling because the cold water clinging to the stalks is likely to chill the boiling water too much in which the asparagus is to be cooked. Apicius here reveals himself as the consummate cook who is familiar with the finest detail of physical and chemical changes which food undergoes at varying temperatures.

The varying editions all agree: asparagos siccabis; Schuch, however, says: "For the insane siciabis I substitute siciabis, isiciabis, prepare with sicio [?] and cook." He even goes on to interpret it cucabis from the Greek kouki, cocoanut milk, and infers that the asparagus was first cooked in cocoanut milk and then put back into water, a method we are tempted to pronounce insane.

2 V. Backwards! G.‑V. rursum in calidam; Tac. rursus in aquam calidam; Tor. ac rursus. . .

This word has caused us some reflection, but the ensuing discovery made it worth while. Rursus has escaped the attention of the other commentators. In this case rursus means backwards, being a contraction from revorsum, h.e. reversum. The word is important enough to be observed.

Apicius evidently has the right way of cooking the fine asparagus. The stalks, after being peeled and washed must be bunched together and tied according to sizes, and the bunches must be set into the boiling water "backwards," that is, they must stand upright with the heads protruding from the water. The heads will be made tender above the water line by rising steam and will be done simultaneously with the harder part of the stalks. We admit, we have never seen a modern cook observe this method. They usually boil the tender heads to death while the lower stalks are still hard.

Though this formula is incomplete (it fails to state the sauce to be served, also that the asparagus must be peeled and bunched, that the water must contain salt, etc.) it is one of the neatest formulae in Apicius. It is amusing to note how the author herein unconsciously reveals what a poor litérateur but what a fine cook he is. This is characteristic of most good practitioners. One may perfectly master the vast subject of cookery, yet one may not be able to give a definition of even a single term, let alone the ability to exactly describe one of the many processes of cookery. Real poets often are in the same predicament; none of them ever explained the art satisfactorily.

3 G.‑V. add to the formula callosiores reddes — give back [eliminate] the  p77 harder ones. This sentence blessings to the next article. And Torinus, similar to Humelbergius, renders this sentence ut reddas ad gustum calliores — to render the harder ones palatable — the squash and pumpkin namely — and we are inclined to agree with him.

1 Cf. note 3 to No. 72.

2 List. Ut coloretur — to give it color; Tor. ut ius coletur — from color — to strain, to filter. Cf. also note 2 to No. 55.

Thayer's Note:

a A reminder that "pumpkin" and "squash", here and thruout, are approximations. Both are New World plants, and some other type of gourd was meant.

1 1 V. Colocasia Antiquorum belonging to the dasheen or taro family, a valuable tuber, again mentioned in No. 172, 216, 244 and 322. Cf. various notes, principally that to No. 322. Also see U. S. Dept. of Agr. Farmer's Bulletin No. 136, p2. This is a "new" and commercially and gastronomically important root vegetable, the flavor reminding of a combination of chestnuts and potatoes, popularilyº known as "Chinese potatoes" which has been recently introduced by the United States Government from the West Indies where it received the name, Dasheen, derived from de Chine — from China.

2 Tor. continues without interruption into the next formula.

Thayer's Note:

a The text is usually made to read cariotam, not date wine but just plain date: which to me makes more sense in the context: dates and nuts ground together, with liquids to moisten them.

1 V. Baking the fruit reduces the water contents, renders the purée more substantial. G.‑V. Tritas — mashed. Tor. connects tritas up with pepper, hence it is doubtful whether this dish of pumpkin is mashed pumpkin.

1 Tor. Vinum vel oleum; List. vinum, mel, oleum.

1 List. Citrini — a lemon or cucumber squash.

2 Tor. Silerem; List. sil, which is hartwort, a kind of cumin or mountain fennel.

1 Usually cucumbers are parboiled in water and then finished in broth; most often after being parboiled they are stuffed with forcemeat and then finished in broth.

1 1 Tor. bis obligabis — tie twice — for which there is no reason, except in case the sauce should curdle. List. oleo elixabis — fry in oil — obviously wrong, as the materials for this stew are already cooked. Sch. ovis obligabis — bind with eggs — which is the thing to do in this case.

Same as 84; which confirms above theory. It is quite possible that melons were eaten raw with this fancy dressing. Many people enjoy melons with pepper and salt, or, in salad form with oil and vinegar. Gourds, however, to be palatable, must be boiled and served either hot or cold with this dressing.

1 Tor. Garum; List. Oenogarum.

2 Liquamen — depending upon the mode of serving the mallows, hot or cold.

1a 1b Including, perhaps, cauliflower and broccoli.

2 List. Cimae & Coliculi. Nunc crudi cum condimentis nunc elixati inferentur. Served sometimes raw with dressing, sometimes boiled.

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

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  p81 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.

1 Tor. Coliculi assati — sauté, fried; (Remember: Choux de Bruxelles sauté) 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.

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 sauté in butter; the chestnuts parboiled, peeled, and finished in stock with a little sugar or syrup, tossed in butter 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.

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 finishing the sentence here. G.‑V. continue et eximes., which is the opening of the next sentence, and it makes a difference in the formula.

1 Tor. in primis — first; List., G.‑V. in prunis — hot embers.

1 Tor. Porros in bacca coctos; List. in cacabo — cooked in a casserole; Sch. bafa embama — steeped, marinated (in oil); G.‑V. in baca coctos. Another way to read this: baca et faba — 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.

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

1 Sentence in Tor.; wanting in List. et al.

2 List. No mention of beets is made in this formula; therefore, it may belong to the foregoing leek recipes. V. This is not so. Here the noun is made subject to the first verb, as is practiced frequently. Moreover, the mode of preparation fits beets nicely, except for the flour to which we object in note 3, below. To cook beets with leeks, spices and wine and serve them (cold) with oil and vinegar is indeed a method that cannot be improved upon.

3 Tac., Tor., List., G.‑V. uvam passam, Farinam — raisins and flour — for which there is no reason. Sch. varianam — raisin wine of the Varianian variety; Bas. Phariam V. inclined to agree with Sch. and Bas.

V. Add bay leaves, cloves, pepper grains, sliced onion and a little sugar, and you have our modern pickled beets.

1 Tac. Olisera; Tor. Olifera (sev mauis olyra) Tor. is mistaken. Hum., List. Olisatra; (old MS. note in our Hum. copy: "Alessandrina uulgò") from olusatrum — olus — pot herbs, cabbage, turnips. G.‑V. Holisera, from holus, i.e. olus and from olitor one who raises pot herbs.

1 i.e. Persian laser; List. laser, Parthicum; (the comma makes a difference!) Sch. particum — a part.

2 Tac., Tor., vel acetum; List. G.‑V. mel, acetum. Another comma; and "honey" instead of "or". V. We doubt this: the vinegar is an alternative, for it takes the place of the more expensive Persian laser (which was an essence of the laser root, often diluted with vinegar).

3 List., G.‑V., oleum modice: fervere; Tor. & oleum, quae modice fervere facias. Again note Lister's punctuation here and in the foregoing notes. The misplaced commas and colons raise havoc with the formulae everywhere. Torinus, who in his preface complains that his authority has no punctuation whatsoever and thereby indicates that it must have been a very ancient copy, (at least prior to the 1503 Tac. ed.) is generally not far from the mark. It is also doubtful that the variants are by him, as is claimed by List. In this instance, indeed, Tor. is again correct.

 p84  1 Tor. ad delitias — delightful.

2 V. Presumably served cold, as a salad; cf. No. 122.

Sch., G.‑V. Rafanos; Raphanos agria, — a kind of horseradish; Plinius [XXVI.72]: h.e. raphanus sylvestris.

1 in pultario. The pultarius is a pot in which cereals were boiled; from puls — porridge, pap.

1 Tor. ne . . . exarescat, the difference in the meaning is immaterial.

1 Tor. ac sylvestres; V. German, Feldsalat.

2 Tor. parantur; wanting in other editions.

3 Liquamine, here interpreted as brine.

4 Tac., Sch., et al. a manu; Tor. vel manu — because eaten with the hand.

5 Tor. vel in patina.

1 Tac., List., Sch., et al. adversus aegritudinem.

Barthius: Quam aegritudinem? etc., etc.

Tor. plurifarias!

Reinsenius: ad arcendum morbum, etc., etc.

 p86  Hum. scilicet quamcunque hoc est . . . etc., etc., etc.

G.‑V. si voles.

V. This innocent little superstition about the curative qualities of the female nettle causes the savants to engage in various speculations.

Nettles are occasionally eaten as vegetables on the Continent.

Thayer's Note:

a There's nothing astrological about this: the sun is in Aries in early spring; nettles are young and tender then.

1 Hum. pro lactucis uere Tor. p. l. accipiunt; G.‑V. p. l. vero (separated by period) — all indicating that endives are a substitute for lettuce when this is not available.

2 Cf. ℞ No. 27, also Nos. 22 and 23.

1 Tor. sic; Hum. agri l.; Tac. id.; Sch. and G.‑V. have acri as an adjective to vinegar, the last word in the preceding formula.

2 List. and Hum. continuing: "And this salad will not hurt you"; but Tor., Sch. and G.‑V. use this as a heading for the following formula.

1 Tac. and Tor. Ne lactucae laedant [take it] cum zingiberis uncijs duabus, etc. Hum., List., G.‑V. cumini unc. II. They and Sch. read the cum of Tac. and Tor. for cumini, over­looking the fact that the recipe later calls for Aethiopian or  p87 Syrian cumin as well. This shifts the weights of the various ingredients from the one to the other, completely upsetting the sense of the formula.

2 Goll. ignores this passage completely. V. This is another of the medical formulae that have suffered much by experimentation and interpretation through the ages. It seems to be an aromatic vinegar for a salad dressing, and, as such, a very interesting article, reminding of our present tarragon, etc., vinegars. To be used judiciously in salads. Again, as might be expected, the medicinal character of the formula inspires the medieval doctors to profound meditation and lively debate. Cf. ℞ Nos. 34 and 108.

V. Precisely as we do today: French dressing and hard boiled eggs. We do not forget pepper, of course. Perhaps the ancient "briny broth" contained enough of this and of other ingredients, such as fine condiments and spices to make the dressing perfect.

1 Tac. and Tor. vel; List., Sch., G.‑V. mel — honey — which would spoil this fine vinaigrette or cold fines herbes dressing. However, even nowadays, sugar is quite frequently added to salad dressings.

2 Gollmer claims that this dressing is served with cooked cardoons, the recipe for which follows below. This is wanting in Tor.

1 Tac. Spondili uel fonduli and Sphon. . .; Tor. as above; Hum. Spongioli  p88 uel funguli; List., id.; Sch. Sfondili uel funguli; G.‑V. Sphondyli uel funduli.

Cf. note to Nos. 46, 121, 122.

1 Tac. Oleo mero; Other editors: Oleo, mero. V. The comma is misplaced.

1 Again faulty punctuation obscures the text. Carefully compare the following: Tac. and Tor. Spondylos teres, cuminum, etc. Hum., List. and G.‑V. S. teres cuminum, i.e. crush the cumin. 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.

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.

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.

1 V. This formula is virtually a repetition of ℞ No. 46, all the more bewildering because of the divergence of the term (Cf. ℞ No. 114), 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 shellfish — 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. 114‑121) 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.

V. Exactly like ℞ No. 115, which maybe a confirmation that spondyli stands for cow-parsnips.

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.

1 Ex Tor. wanting elsewhere.

2 Tac. coliorum; Tor. cuminatum colicorum; List. c. coloratum — colored; G.‑V. c. colorium.