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diff --git a/43643-0.txt b/43643-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d2a9f3 --- /dev/null +++ b/43643-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2498 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43643 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 43643-h.htm or 43643-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43643/43643-h/43643-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/43643/43643-h.zip) + + + Images of the original pages are available through + Internet Archive. See + http://archive.org/details/cu31924090142187 + + + + + +FOODS AND CULINARY UTENSILS OF THE ANCIENTS + +Compiled from standard historical works by + +CHARLES MARTYN. + + + + + + + +Published by +The Caterer Publishing Co., +New York + + + + +CONTENTS. + + Page. +"In the beginning"--The coming of the nations 3 + +Assyria and the other kingdoms of the "tawny men" 9 + +Egypt and the Egyptians 13 + +The "vegetable kingdom" of Ancient Egypt 25 + +Greece before the age of luxury 30 + +Rome in the days of her greatest prosperity 39 + +The ancient Jews 49 + +The Chinese 60 + + + + +IN THE BEGINNING. + + +The influence exerted by different foods over the physical and mental +faculties of mankind is so marked as to verify the famous pun of the +philosophic Feuerbach, "Der Mensch ist was er isst" (Man is what he +eats). The advance of civilization has always been accompanied by an +increased knowledge of culinary matters, until cooking has become a +science and its various forms great in number. So in tracing back the +history of foods, culinary utensils and their uses, we of necessity +trace back the history of the world. + +It is of course impossible at this late date to determine what was the +first food of primeval man; ignorant as we are of even the approximate +date of his first appearance and of the manner and means of that +appearance. + +But it is worthy of note that if he had not been endowed with an +intelligence superior to that of the other inhabitants of the globe, his +existence here would have been very brief. Nature provided him with a +body which, in those days, was well nigh useless. His prehensile organs, +his teeth, jaws, feet and nails, did not fit him for overcoming any of +the difficulties entailed by the adoption of most foods prepared by +nature. He could not tear his prey conveniently nor crack many nuts, nor +grub roots, nor graze. His digestive viscera were in the middle age too +bulky and heavy for the rapid movements of the carnivora; they were not +long enough to extract nourishment from raw vegetables. The only foods, +therefore, primarily obtainable by him which he could use to advantage +were fruits and soft-shelled nuts. + +As man, however, advanced in knowledge, his skill in the art of cooking +rendered any or all objects used for nourishment by other mammalia fit +subjects of diet for himself. This may appear a sweeping assertion, but +the statements of reliable travelers prove its truth. The fact should be +carefully considered by those who advocate a diet exclusively of +vegetables, and by those few enthusiasts who preach that man was not +"intended" to be a cooking animal. + +Whatever else may be clouded with doubt, it is certain that man was so +fashioned as to be compelled to eat in order to sustain life! In the +beginning, instinct must have taught him that the consumption of food +was the _sine qua non_ of his existence. + +When was the beginning? + +The Biblical chronology of events prior to the Deluge is not accepted by +scientists. The students of to-day believe, and seek to prove, that the +earth has existed for several million years, and has passed through many +different stages; that animal life was first evolved from the +"inanimate" state of matter; that man is the most highly finished +creature that has as yet been attained in the ascending scale of +evolution, and that he will, in the natural course of events, make place +for a still more nearly perfect being. + +The exact date of the first appearance of man cannot now be ascertained. +Geological research has led to the assertion that he probably existed +thousands of years before the time usually assigned. But if we commence +our history from the last great glacial visitation we find that the +conceded date of its occurrence, about 5,000 years before the birth of +Christ, coincides rather closely with the date of the creation as given +in the book of Genesis. Assuming then that the neolithic, or stone age +followed not only the ice visitation, but the creation (to use a +familiar phrase), the theory of many scientists and the story of the +Bible agree on the one, to us, essential point--the birth of the first +people. + +Horace, in his third satire (first book), gives his views of the first +food of the human race. (At that time, six hundred years before the +Christian era, it was held that man was not created in a perfectly +developed form, but was engendered from beings of a different kind.) He +says: "When first these creatures crawled out of the ground, dumb and +foul brutes, they fought for nuts, first with nails and fists, then with +sticks, and later with weapons made of metal." This coincides with the +deduction made in the third paragraph, that nuts have a just claim to +the title of one of the "first foods." + +These savages must have suffered from exposure to the occasional +inclemency of the weather. To protect themselves, they, being endowed +with an ever-increasing power of reason, resorted to the skins of wild +animals for covering. Failing to obtain a sufficient number from the +carcasses of those which had died a natural death, they conceived the +idea of destroying life in order to obtain the coveted article. They may +not at first have availed themselves of anything but the outer covering, +leaving the flesh to be eaten by other animals or birds, but the flesh +adhering to the hide would soon become offensive from decomposition, and +what is more probable than that their common sense soon directed them to +remove it directly after being stripped from the slaughtered animal? The +teeth of the primitive man were constantly in use for many purposes; so, +in tearing off the pieces of flesh with them, may the first appetite for +meat as food have been acquired. + +It is difficult to determine when food was first subjected to the +influence of heat; it is still more useless to attempt to explain how +the properties of fire were first discovered. It is presumed that the +first fire witnessed by man, was caused by the fall of a meteorite, a +volcanic eruption or a lightning flash. The observation of its peculiar +effects excited the still dormant inventive spirit of the neolithic, and +he essayed the production of it himself. Evidence proves that he first +attained his end by striking pieces of flint against iron pyrites and +letting the sparks fall upon some combustible material, placed +accidentally or intentionally beneath. It is easy to imagine that it was +soon learned that fire would destroy human life and that the pleasing +odor of the burning flesh led to the use of cooked meat as food. + +The cradle of the fathers of the human race was undoubtedly the +southern portion of Asia. They were nomadic in their habits and +satisfied their acquired cravings by hunting and fishing. The stone +floors of the caves in which they made their temporary abodes were +admirably suited to the building of their rude fires. + +Ultimately these neolithics became owners of flocks and herds, usually +of sheep and goats, and moved about from place to place in search of +fresh pastures. Members of these flocks were slain from time to time as +convenience dictated. When for any reason food was scarce, their other +domestic animals, even their dogs, fell a prey to the insatiable +appetite for blood. The forests abounded with living things, now +generally classified under the title of "game," and these also +contributed materially to the food supply. + +No fancy methods of preparing meats or game were then practiced. +Everything was either roasted or cooked by means of hot stones. The +roasting was in all probability accomplished by suspending the whole +carcass of the animal, denuded of the skin, over burning embers, +composed of the limbs of trees broken up into suitable lengths--as +indeed do the gypsies of Europe to the present day. The roasted meat was +at first separated from the body by the hand, later by sharpened sticks +or flint flakes, subsequently by flint knives. There is no evidence of +any metal being used for that purpose before the Deluge. + +Though these first people are known to have partaken freely of the flesh +of animals and of the fruits of trees, both of the nut and pulp +varieties, there is nothing that leads one to believe that fish was used +as an article of food until after the Deluge. + +Turning again to the Scriptures, many interesting things may be noted. +The first mention made of a flesh offering and of the ownership of +domestic animals is in Genesis, when Abel "gave of the firstlings of his +flocks and of the fat thereof," while Cain brought "of the fruits of the +ground." The earliest mention of cooked animal flesh is found in Genesis +8: 21, when Noah offered up "burnt offerings of every clean beast and +every clean fowl" after the Deluge. In the story of the creation, man is +enjoined to sustain life by vegetable food: "Every herb bearing seed, +which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the +fruit of a tree yielding seed" were given to him "for meat." Nothing was +said about the flesh of animals. But, after the Flood, "God blessed Noah +and his sons and said unto them: * * * Every moving thing that liveth +shall be meat for you, even as the green herbs have I given you all +things." + +So in many ways scientists and the Bible agree on the habits of the +neolithics. Both state that the primitive food of man consisted of nuts +and fruits; both mention the subsequent possession of flocks and herds, +and both refer to the knowledge obtained later of the effects of fire on +meat--with the one difference that the evolutionists seek to prove that +the meat so roasted was eaten, while the Biblical man prior to the +Deluge offered it untouched to his Maker. + +Although it is now generally acknowledged that the Deluge was not +universal, it is undeniable that it marked an all-important epoch, for +from it may be said to date the recorded history of the present race of +men. From the posterity of Noah sprang up the principal nations which +have made the world what it is to-day. + + +THE COMING OF THE NATIONS. + +If we accept the biblical chronology of the events which immediately +followed the Deluge, we find that Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham and +Japheth, landed on Mt. Ararat and fixed their habitations in the plains +directly below. A formal division of the earth into three portions was +made by Noah about a hundred years later, when he was still in the prime +of life and when men were beginning to multiply sufficiently to form +colonies and settlements. One portion was assigned to each of his sons +with his posterity. + +The three territories may be roughly classed as the northern, or the +region of the "ruddy men;" the central, the region of the "tawny men," +and the southern, the region of the "blacks." + +To the offspring of Japheth was allotted Garbia (the north)--Spain, +France, the countries of the Greeks, Sclavonians, Bulgarians +and Armenians. The offspring of Shem were given the central +region--Palestine, Syria, Assyria, Samaria, Babel or Babylonia, and +Hedjaz (Arabia). The sons of Ham received the southern division--Teman +(or Idumea), Africa, Nigritia, Egypt, Nubia, Ethiopia, Scindia and +India. + +Various causes scattered the posterities of the three brothers, and +nations were founded in many parts of the world. + +Ultimately six great monarchies were established, Chaldea, Assyria, +Babylonia, Egypt, Media and Persia. + + + + +ASSYRIA AND OTHER KINGDOMS OF THE TAWNY MEN. + + +The territories ruled by Chaldea, Assyria and Babylonia were located +almost entirely on the vast plains of Mesopotamia. Although (or rather +because) these nations were continually at war with one another they may +be considered, for present purposes, as one country. + +Babylonia was the first to be settled, with Nimrod, the mighty hunter, +as its monarch, about 2350 B. C. + +Although Assyria advanced rather more in civilization than the other +two, the constant warfare waged and the varying degrees of supremacy and +subjection held by the three kingdoms necessarily resulted in much +intermingling of their inhabitants and a consequent similarity of +domestic manners and customs as they emerged from barbarism. + +Agriculture soon became the most general industry. Wheat, barley, millet +and sesame were largely raised. Other varieties of pulse and grains were +plentiful also, as well as many excellent fruits, which have since been +transported to our own countries with remarkable success. + +The different grains were ground to varying degrees of fineness between +two stones. The flour or meal was then moistened with water, kneaded in +a dish or bowl, and either rolled into thin cakes or pressed by the hand +into small balls or loaves. + +The wheaten bread was generally preferred, but the poorer classes were +perforce content with the cakes of coarse millet or durrha flour, eaten +with milk, butter, oil or the fat of animals. + +Dates formed an important article of diet amongst the people of Chaldea +and Babylonia, although they do not appear to have been very favorably +regarded by the Assyrians. Date groves flourished in many parts of the +land, and the fruit was dried and pressed into cakes. These with goats' +milk and such vegetables as gourds, melons and cucumbers helped nourish +the great mass of the population. + +Other fruits, some of them found in great numbers, were pomegranates, +grapes, citrons, pineapples, oranges, pears, apples and many small +berries. + +Bread, wine and a kind of honey were made from the fruit of the palm +tree. + +King Sennacherib called Assyria "A land of corn and wine, a land of +bread and vineyards, a land of oil, olives and honey." + +Nature seems indeed, to have blessed her first children with an +abundance of the good things of life! + +It does not appear that the flesh of domestic animals was eaten to any +great extent, and the inference is that it was beyond the means of most +persons, for when warriors, upon an expedition, were able to obtain it +at the expense of others, they freely indulged their appetites. After +their victories they killed and cut up sheep and oxen, and roasted the +joints over the embers of a wood fire. Sometimes they boiled the joints +or the whole body in a huge pot or caldron, over a dead wood fire--on +which, also, pieces of the flesh were fried. + +Amongst the upper classes mutton appears to have been the favorite meat. +Chickens were also considered a great delicacy. + +As the races of those days, with the exception probably of a few people +closely confined in the cities, were great hunters, a plentiful supply +of game was usually obtainable--venison, antelopes' flesh, hares, +partridges, etc. The flesh of the wild boar was also eaten, but there is +no evidence to prove that the animal was domesticated with the intention +of using it for food. + +According to Herodotus, some of the Babylonian tribes ate nothing but +fish, dried in the sun, pounded in a mortar until the fibres would pass +through a fine cloth, and then kneaded into a sort of bread and baked. +At first a prejudice against this species of food seems to have +existed, but later it was held in much esteem. The supply of both fresh +and salt water fish was practically unlimited. + +Locusts were also eaten with great gusto. + +The culinary arrangements and operations are not yet very clearly +defined by the chroniclers. + +The fireplace, built presumably of well-burned bricks, was open at the +top, about two feet in height, and occasionally covering an area of many +square feet. Whether it was of square or cylindrical shape does not +appear. Over the top was set or suspended a large bronze caldron. + +These caldrons were sometimes of great value. They were usually circular +in shape, flat or nearly flat at the bottom, without feet, and furnished +at the rim with ears or rings to receive an arched handle or a hooked +chain. Many belonging to the wealthier classes were embossed with +flowers and otherwise richly ornamented. They were commonly known as +"seething pots." They varied from eighteen inches to five feet in +height, and from two and a half to six feet in diameter. + +Roasting was perhaps the most common mode of preparing meat, but it was +also broiled, slices being cut from the divided joints and transfixed +with wooden spits. + +For delicate operations, a fire of coal was later on made in a portable +brazier. The oven then used was cylindrical in form, much deeper than +wide, and made of fire-burnt bricks or indurated clay. + +In the houses of the wealthy, and the palaces of the monarchs, the +cooks, though usually slaves, were treated with much respect. They were +distinguished by the wearing of a cap (not unlike the tiara of the +reigning sovereign, except that it was devoid of jewels and unsurmounted +by an apex or peak), and they had numerous assistants to relieve them +from all the menial labor. + +The cook's knife, closely resembling the modern two-bladed dagger, was +usually made of bronze, often thickly gilded, with a much ornamented +hilt carved from the hard black wood of the Syrian terebinth. Some, +however, were fashioned from bone, partly covered with metal and adorned +with pins and studs of gold. Others had handles of ivory carved to +represent the foreparts of bulls and other animals, and many were +embellished with precious stones. Quite a number were of copper, with +hollow handles. + +Among the kitchen utensils was a jug with a long neck, an angular +handle, and a pointed bottom. It was usually suspended from a nail or +hook. + +There was also a plentiful and varied supply of vases, large and small, +pitchers for holding water and other liquids, bowls, cups, pans, small +bottles, ladles, jars and funnels--some of pottery and others of bronze, +some of simple form and others elaborately patterned. The funnels were +generally shaped like the wine strainers of to-day. + +Skins were often used for holding both wine and water. + +The dining tables were supported by props with one or several feet, in +the houses of the rich made often of ivory and carved in the form of a +lion or a hero such as Atlas, and among the poor of stone. + +The plates and dishes were of stone, alabaster or bronze. The dishes +were generally made with handles, either fixed or movable, by which they +could be carried or hung on pegs when not in use, and the red unglazed +basins bore inscriptions, in cursive character, running round the +interior in many lines to the bottom. + +The cups, especially those used for wine, were very beautiful. The lower +part was often modeled in the form of a lion's head from which the cup +itself rose in a graceful outward curve. Many of them were of gold and +silver. + +To Assyria is due the birth of the "culinary art" and its gradual growth +to a state closely bordering on perfection. It will be noted that it was +marked also by the manufacture of utensils and vessels far more costly +and elaborate than any in use at the present time. + + + + +EGYPT AND THE EGYPTIANS. + + +The recorded history of ancient Egypt which was, according to Herodotus, +known as Thebes, commences with the reign of Menes, or Menas, who is +supposed to have been its first king. He ascended the throne about 2320 +B. C. + +The growth of civilization among the early Egyptians was much more rapid +than among the people of any contemporary nation. Even in the days of +Abraham and Joseph they had attained to as high a degree of social +culture as during the most glorious periods of their career. In art and +science their advancement was especially marked. + +In her infancy, Egypt contented herself with the pursuits of +agriculture, the chase, and, as the habits of the people became more +settled, the rearing of cattle. + +The domestic oxen were usually of the hump-backed variety. But not only +were the ordinary domestic animals tamed and reared, but also animals +such as gazelles and oryxes. + +Sheep, though, do not appear to have been generally eaten; in some parts +it was, indeed, unlawful to devour them. + +Goats were kept, presumably for their milk, and kids were occasionally +allowed to browse on the vines in order to impart to their flesh a more +delicate flavor. + +Pigs were generally looked upon as unclean, and therefore unfit for +food. The chroniclers show them as used for food at only one festival. +Those represented on the monuments were ugly in the extreme, with long +legs and necks, rough hair, and a crest of bristles running down the +back. + +Beef and goose were more generally eaten than any other kind of animal +food. The flesh of the cow was, though, never consumed on account of its +supposedly sacred character. + +The animals chiefly hunted were the gazelle, wild goat, auk, wild ox, +stag, wild sheep, hare, porcupine and even the hyena. The wild boar is +not represented on the monuments, but it probably thrived in ancient +Egypt, for the country was admirably suited to its habits, as is proved +by its tenancy there at the present date. + +In lower Egypt, people were in the habit of drying and salting birds of +various kinds, such as geese, teal, quail, duck, and some of smaller +size. + +Pigeons were also very plentiful and were much liked, and many of the +wading tribe, as for instance the ardea, were so highly esteemed as to +have been considered choice offerings for the gods. + +The greatest favorite, however, was the Vulpanser, known to us as the +"Egyptian goose," which, with some others of the same genus, was caught +alive and tamed. They were also taken in a wild state to the poulterers' +shops to be displayed for immediate sale, and when not so disposed of +were then often salted and potted in earthenware jars. + +According to Diodorus, the eggs of domestic birds were hatched by the +use of artificial heat furnished by manure. + +Of the wild birds, the "sic sac," a small plover, was often mentioned. + +The river of Egypt was noted for the excellent quality of its fish +(eaten both fresh and salted or dried), many varieties of which seem to +have been peculiar to it. "The Israelites remembered with regret the +fish which they did eat in Egypt freely." + +The kinds most highly regarded were the oxyrhynchus, lepidotus and +lotus. + +The oxyrhynchus is now believed to have been the _mormyrus_ or the +"mizdeh" of the Arabs. It has a smooth skin and a long nose, pointed +downwards. In some districts it was held sacred to Athor. + +The lepidotus may have been the _salmo dentex_ or the binny (_Cyprinis +lepidotus_). As its name implies, its body was covered with long scales. +Its flesh was excellent. + +The lotus, sacred in the region of Latopolis, is supposed by De Pauw to +be the _perca nilotica_. + +Other varieties much liked were: The oulti, to modern palates the best +of all; the nefareh or Nile salmon, which occasionally attained the +weight of one hundred pounds; the sagbosa, a kind of herring; a species +of mullet, the shall, shilbeh byad, kilbel bahr, (the Nile dogfish) a +species of carp, eels, and turtles of the soft-shelled variety. + +[Illustration: Roasting a goose over a fire of peculiar construction. + +(From a tomb at Thebes.)] + +Eels were, though, considered unwholesome in summer (Ibid.). + +Crocodiles were considered sacred in the neighborhood of Lake Moeris and +of Thebes, but were eaten by the natives of the southern frontier. + +The many restrictions imposed by religion and custom on the diet of the +early Egyptians subjected them to much ridicule from the inhabitants of +contemporary nations, especially from the Greeks. Anaxandrides taunted +them in his verses. + +The priests lived solely on oxen, geese, wine, bread and a few +vegetables. Mutton, pork and fish were expressly forbidden them. They +were also warned to abstain from beans, peas, lentils, onions, garlic +and leeks. On fast days they ate only bread and drank only water. + +The people of the higher classes probably ate only two meals a day, as +was the custom with the early Greeks and Romans. The breakfast was +usually served at 10 or 11 a. m., and the dinner or supper in the +evening. + +In the early ages, before men had acquired the art of smelting ore, many +of the culinary utensils of the Egyptians were either of stone or +earthenware. + +Knives were made of flint or stone, and were of two kinds, one broad and +flat, the other narrow and pointed. + +The skins of the goat and gazelle were fashioned into vessels for the +carrying of water, and pans, dishes and vases for kitchen purposes were +made of a red ware--sometimes of a light or yellow tint, sometimes of a +brilliant and polished appearance. + +The Egyptians were acquainted with the use of glass at least as early as +the reign of Sesortasen II. (more than 3800 years ago), and made for it +bottles and other utensils. Some of the former were made from two +thicknesses of glass, enclosing between them bands of gold, alternating +with a set of blue, green or other color. + +As the Egyptians advanced in social culture, the wealthier classes gave +more and more attention to the pleasures of the table. Banquets became +more general and increasingly more elaborate. The sums of money spent on +some of these entertainments were fabulous; they have never since been +equalled in their costly, wasteful magnificence. + +The preparation of a big dinner was in those days a weighty undertaking, +for there were no big hotels to take the burden off the host's +shoulders. Game had to be procured, professionals engaged, extra +attendants hired, etc. + +As all the meat used was freshly slaughtered, the kitchen and the +butcher's department presented an active appearance for many hours +previous to the feast. + +In slaughtering, it was customary to take the ox or other animal into a +courtyard near the house, tie its legs together and throw it to the +ground, to be held in that position by one or more persons while the +butcher prepared to cut its throat, as nearly as possible from one ear +to the other, sometimes continuing the opening downwards along the neck, +the blood being received in a vase or basin to be utilized later in +cooking. The head was then taken off and the animal skinned, the +operators beginning with the leg and neck. The first joint removed was +the right foreleg or shoulder, the other parts following in succession +according to convenience. One of their most remarkable joints, still +seen in Egypt (although nowhere else) was cut from the leg and consisted +of the flesh covering the tibia, whose two extremities projected +slightly beyond it, as seen in the illustration. + +[Illustration: The Tibia, a peculiar Egyptian joint.] + +Servants carried the joints to the kitchen on wooden trays. There they +were washed and prepared for the different processes of cooking. Then +the various cooks were kept busy scouring the utensils, attending to the +boiling, roasting, etc., pounding spice, making macaroni and performing +all the other details of kitchen work. + +The head of the animal was usually given away in return for extra +services, such as the holding of the guests' sticks, but it was +occasionally eaten by the people of the higher classes, the assertion of +Herodotus to the contrary notwithstanding. + +Geese and other tame and wild fowl were served up entire, and fish also +came to table deprived of only the tails and fins. + +Vegetables were cooked in enormous quantities. + +Bronze caldrons of various sizes were used for boiling. They were placed +over the fire on metal stands or tripods or supported on stones. Some of +the smaller vessels, used for stewing meats, were heated over pans of +charcoal. They resembled almost exactly the _magoor_ of modern Egypt. + +The mortars used for the pounding of spices were made of hard stone and +the pestles of metal. + +Most of the bowls, ewers, jugs, buckets, basins, vases and ladles used +in the kitchen were made of bronze alloyed with tin and iron. The usual +proportion of tin was 12 per cent. and iron 1 per cent., although +occasionally the amount of tin was as high as 15 (Ibid.) and as low as 6 +per cent. + +[Illustration: Slaves boiling meat and stirring fire.] + +Simpula, or ladles, were commonly made of bronze (often gilded), with +the curved summit of the handle, which served to suspend the ladle at +the side of the tureen or other vessel, terminating in the likeness of a +goose's head (a favorite Egyptian ornament). + +Small strainers or collanders of bronze were also used, though for +kitchen purposes they were made of strong papyrus stalks or rushes. + +The spoons were of various forms and made from ivory, wood and divers +metals. In some the handle ended in a hook, by which when required they +were suspended on nails. The handles of others were made to represent +men, women or animals. Many were ornamented with lotus flowers. + +Skins were also used for holding wine and water. + +The roasting was performed over fire burning in shallow pans. These were +regulated by slaves, who raised them with pokers and blew them with +bellows worked by the feet. + +Though the Egyptians, except when impelled by the desire for extravagant +display, partook sparingly of all but one or two meats, they were fond +of a great variety of cakes and dainty confections. The more elaborate +forms of pastry were mixed with fruits and spirits, and shaped to +represent animals, birds and human beings. + +The plainer rolls were generally mixed and shaped by hand and sprinkled +with seeds before baking. At other times, though, they were prepared +from a thinner mixture, first well kneaded in a large wooden bowl (the +feet often being used for this purpose), and then carried in vases to +the chief pastry cook, who formed it into a sort of macaroni upon a +metal pan over the fire, stirring the mixture with a wooden spatula, +whilst an assistant stood ready with two pointed sticks to remove it +when sufficiently cooked. + +Wine and water were placed in porous jars and fanned until cool. The +water was purified by the use of paste of almonds (as it is, indeed, at +the present day). + +In the meantime, the reception room had been arranged for the guests. +Chairs or stools were placed in rows or groups, extra carpets and mats +strewn about, flowers put in and around vases and the house decorated in +every other conceivable manner. + +When guests began to arrive, they were first received in the vestibule +by the attendants, who presented them with bouquets, placed garlands of +lotus upon their heads and sometimes collars of lotus around their +necks. To those who had come from a distance, they offered water and +rinsed their feet. They then anointed their heads with sweet-smelling +unguents and offered them wine and other beverages. During these +proceedings the visitors were generally seated on the mats. + +[Illustration: A black and white slave waiting upon a lady.] + +After having received these attentions, the ladies and gentlemen +intermingled and passed on to the main apartment, where the host and +hostess received them and begged them to take their seats on the chairs +and fauteuils which had been arranged for them. Here more refreshments +were handed around and more flowers offered, while the guests, generally +in couples, but sometimes in groups, conversed with one another. Music +was next commonly introduced, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The +performers in both acts were professionals and the dancing girls nearly +if not quite naked. Sometimes at the same party there would be two +bands, which we may suppose played alternately. Pet animals, such as +dogs, gazelles and monkeys, were also often present (Ibid.). + +On some occasions the music, dancing and light refreshments constituted +the whole of the entertainment, but more generally the proceedings +described formed only the prelude to the more important part to follow. +The stone pictures show us round tables loaded with a great variety of +delicacies, such as joints of meat, geese, duck and waterfowl of +different kinds, cakes, pastry, fruits, etc., interspersed amongst the +guests. + +These tables could be more accurately described as low stools supporting +round trays. The stool or pillar was often in the shape of a man, +usually a captive, who bore the slab on his head. The whole was made of +stone or some hard wood. It was not often covered with linen, but was +from time to time cleansed with a moist rag or cloth (Homer). + +The dishes were probably handed round by the attendants and the guests +helped themselves with their hands, as knives and forks were then +unknown and the spoons that were manufactured do not seem to have been +used for eating. The guests took as much as they could hold in their +hands and, after eating, dipped them in water or wiped them in napkins +which, it will be observed, the waiters carried. Beer and wine were +supplied to quench the thirst. + +As individual cups were not usually seen, the women were presented with +the desired beverage in silver vases, and the men with it in hand +goblets, which after being drained were returned to the attendant. Women +and men both imbibed freely and drunkenness was a universal and +fashionable habit of both sexes. + +When the country was in the zenith of her power and magnificence, the +drinking goblets were of gold, silver, glass, porcelain, alabaster and +bronze. They varied also in form, some plain in appearance, others +beautifully engraved and studded with precious stones. Heads of animals +often adorned the handles, the eyes frequently composed of various +gems. Many were without handles, while others were so shaped as to more +properly come under the name of beakers and saucers. The beakers were +frequently made of alabaster with a round base, which prevented their +maintaining an upright position without additional support; and when +empty they were turned downwards upon their rims. The saucers, which +were of glazed pottery, were ornamented with lotus and fish carved or +molded on their concave surface. + +Many of the vases have never yet been surpassed in daintiness of +ornamentation. The most remarkable were those fashioned from porcelain +which was made of a fine sand or grit, loosely fused and covered with a +thick silicious glaze of a blue, green, white, purple or yellow color. +The blue tints obtained have never been equalled in modern times. + +Herodotus tells us that, after the heavier part of a banquet, it was the +custom to have a man carry round a coffin containing a wooden image in +exact imitation of a corpse. Showing this to each of the revelers, the +bearer would say: "Look upon this and then drink and enjoy yourself, for +when dead you will be like unto this." A rather weird observance, which +might be traced back to the death of Osiris. + +If the phrases are correctly reported, we must suppose the figure, +brought in after the eating was ended and when the drinking began, was +for the purpose of stimulating the guests to still greater conviviality. +But if that were the case when Herodotus visited Egypt it must have been +originated with a very different intention. The Egyptians were too much +inclined to excesses in eating and drinking, both men and women +(Herodotus and Plutarch), and the priests probably endeavored to thus +check their too riotous mirth without personally interfering. Plutarch +said concerning it: + +"The skeleton which the Egyptians appropriately introduce at their +banquets, exhorting the guests to remember that they shall soon be like +him, though he comes as an unwelcome and unseasonable boon companion, +is nevertheless in a certain degree seasonable, if he exhorts them not +to drink too deeply or indulge only in pleasures, but to cultivate +mutual friendship and affection and not to render life, which is short +in duration, long by evil deeds." + +[Illustration: EGYPTIAN PARTY. (From a Tomb at Thebes.) + +Host and hostess receiving presents. Dancing girls. Slaves waiting on +guests. Placing collars of lotus around their necks. Slaves preparing +bouquets. Scribe. Butchers cutting up ox. Carrying trays of meat. Man +clapping hands and singing. Guitar player. Harpist. Slave carrying head +and haunch. Stick custodian rewarded.] + +After the skeleton, there was sung a doleful song in honor of Maneros, +whose identity is clouded by traditional disputes. + +Next, music and songs of more mirthful character were resumed. Sometimes +jugglers, male and female, were hired for the occasion. They amused +their audience with ball tossing, turning somersaults, leaping and +wrestling. Occasionally, games, resembling our draughts or checkers, +served to amuse those present (Ibid.), but as a rule the fumes of wine +prevented any such quiet occupation, and the festival in many cases +ended with a most riotous carousal. + +The foregoing is probably a true picture of a banquet in ancient +Egypt--except that, according to some writers, the diners were seated on +the floor and ate from very low stools or tables. + +Yet, in spite of all, the moral code of the early Egyptians was purer +than that of contemporary nations. And commerce and war carried abroad +the advanced thoughts, great learning and luxurious tastes of these +ancient people, to be the foundations in after years of divers +civilizations, amongst them our own. + + + + +THE "VEGETABLE KINGDOM" OF ANCIENT EGYPT. + + +The vegetable kingdom of ancient Egypt may be roughly divided into four +great classes--trees and shrubs, esculent plants, grains and artificial +grasses. + +Of the first named, the most important food providing trees were the +doom and date palms, the sycamore, tamarisk and mokhayp or _myxa_. + +The doom palm (_Cucifera Thebaica_) grows abundantly throughout all +upper Egypt. It is a very picturesque tree which, unlike its +date-bearing sister, spreads out into numerous limbs or branches, +reaching an elevation of about thirty feet. Its wood is more solid than +that of the date tree, and was found to be very serviceable for the +building of boats, etc. + +The blossoms are of two kinds, male and female. The fruit, which is +developed from the female blossom, grows in large clusters, each fruit +attaining the size of a goose's egg, although the nut within the fibrous +external envelope is not much bigger than a large almond. The flavor of +the nut is peculiarly sweet, resembling our ginger bread. It was eaten +both in a ripe and unripe condition--in the latter it has about the +texture of cartilage; in the former it is harder, and has been compared +to the edible portion of the cocoanut. + +The date palm is too well known to need any general description. Two +kinds, however, flourished--the wild and the cultivated. The wild +variety grew from seeds, and often bore an enormous quantity of fruit. +Sir G. Wilkinson is authority for the statement that a single bunch has +been known to contain between 6,000 and 7,000 dates, and as it is a +common thing for a tree to bear from five to twenty-two bunches, the +average total is often from 30,000 to 100,000 dates per tree. The fruit +is, though, small and of poor quality, and consequently it is not often +gathered. + +The cultivated variety was grown from off-shoots selected with care, +planted out at regular intervals and abundantly irrigated (Ibid.). It +began to bear in five or six years and continued productive for sixty or +seventy. + +Besides the amount of nourishing food furnished and the value of the +wood of the date palm, an exhilarating drink was made from its sap and +brandy or _lowbgeh_, date wine and vinegar from the fruit without much +difficulty. + +The fruit of the sycamore (_Ficus sycamorus_) ripens in June. Although +it was much esteemed by the ancients, it has been denounced by moderns +as insipid. + +The mokhayt (_Cardia myxa_) grows to the height of about thirty feet, +commencing to branch out at a distance of twelve feet from the ground, +with a diameter at the base of about three feet. Its fruit is of a pale +yellow color, inclosed in two skins. Its texture is viscous and its +taste not very agreeable. It was used extensively as a medicine, and was +also, according to Pliny, made into a fermented liquor ("Ex myxis in +Aegypto et vina fiunt"). + +Among other fruit trees and shrubs may be mentioned the fig, +pomegranate, vine, olive, peach, pear, plum, apple, carob or locust +(_Ceratonia siliqua_), persea, palma, christi or castor oil plant, nebk +(_Rhamnus Nabeca_), and the prickly pear or _shok_. + +The persea (_Balanite Aegyptiaca_) is a bushy tree or shrub which under +favorable circumstances reaches an altitude of eighteen or twenty feet. +Its bark is of whitish color, its branches gracefully curved, its +foliage of an ashy gray hue. Its lower branches are supplied with long +thorns; on its upper branches grows the fruit, which resembles a small +date in general character. Its exterior consists of a pulpy substance +of subacid flavor; its stone is large for the size of the fruit, and +incloses a kernel of yellowish-white color and an oily, rather bitter +flavor. Both the exterior and the kernel were eaten. + +The nebk or _sidr_ is another fruit of the date variety. It was eaten +raw, or the flesh, detached from the stone, was dried in the sun. It +enjoyed the reputation of being a sustaining as well as agreeable +article. + +The most common fig was that known to the Romans as "cottana," and by +the modern Arabs as "qottaya." + +The olives grown were large and fleshy, but contained little oil. + +Vines were undoubtedly much cultivated, in spite of the assertion of +Herodotus to the contrary. The bunches of grapes, when intended for +immediate consumption, were, after being gathered, placed in flat open +baskets. When intended for the wine press they were closely packed in +deep baskets or hampers, which were carried to the shed or storehouse on +men's heads or by means of shoulder yokes. The juice was extracted by +treading or squeezing in a bag. + +The juice of the grape was sometimes drunk in its fresh condition +(Genesis), but fermentation was usually awaited, and the wine was then +stored away in vases or amphorae of elegant shape, closed with stoppers +and hermetically sealed with moist clay, pitch, gypsum or other similar +substances. + +The best brands came from Anthylla (Athenaeus), Marestis (Pliny and +Strabo), and the tract about Lake Marea. Sebennytic, Thebaid and Coptos +also produced light, wholesome wines. + +The esculent plants consisted of both wild and cultivated varieties. +Those most in demand were the byblus or papyrus, the Nymphaea lotus, +lotus coerulea and the Nymphaea nelumbo (called by Pliny "colocasia" and +also "cyamon"). + +The papyrus grew luxuriantly in ancient Egypt, especially in the marshy +districts of the Delta, although it is no longer found in the country. +The pith of the upper and middle portions of the tall, smooth, +triangular-shaped reed was used for paper, but that of the lower portion +and the root were regarded as an edible delicacy. According to +Herodotus, it was prepared for the table by being baked in a closed +vessel. + +The Nymphaea lotus, which resembles our white water lily, was also a +product of the lowlands. The seed vessels were collected and dried, to +be afterward crushed and made into cakes. The rest of the plant was also +eaten cooked or raw, and was said to be of a "pleasant sweet taste," but +nineteenth century palates declare it to be no better than a bad +truffle. The lotus coerulea was merely another variety of the same +plant. + +The Nymphaea nelumbo, which is, by the way, no longer found in Africa, +was called by the Greeks and Romans the "Egyptian bean," and was +regarded by those races as emblematic of Egypt. It did not differ from +the ordinary lotus except in the large dimensions of the leaves and the +size and loveliness of its blossoms. The leaf of the flower varied from +one to one and a half feet in diameter. It had two rows of petals six +inches in length, of a crimson or rose-colored purple, and inside of +these was a dense fringe of stamens surrounding and protecting the +ovary. The fruit developed into a sweet, wholesome nut or almond, +divided into two lobes by a bitter green leaf or corculum (removed +before eating), with a shell shaped like the rose of a watering pot and +studded with seeds (about the size of small acorns and to the number of +twenty or thirty), which projected from the upper surface in a circle +about three inches in diameter. Both the nuts and roots were eaten by +the poorer classes. + +Wheat and barley were grown in all the provinces in the valley of the +Nile, as were also, though to a lesser extent, rice, millet, pulse, +peas, beans, lentils, hommos (_Cicer arietinum_), gilban (_Lathyrus +sativus_), carthamus, lupins, bamia, jigl (_Raphanus sativus_--Linn., +Herodot., Pliny), simsin, indigo, cassia, senna, colocynth, cummin (the +seeds of which were used for bread), durrha, coriander, cucurbitae, +onions, cucumbers, leeks, etc. + +The onions were mild and of an excellent flavor. Nicerates quotes Homer +as authority for the statement that they were much relished when eaten +with wine. + +According to Diodorus, children and even some grown persons lived at +that time solely on roots and esculent herbs, eating them both raw and +cooked. + +The bread or cake used in the homes of the wealthy was made from wheaten +flour; those one degree lower in the social scale made use of barley +meal, and the poorer classes ate bread of the durrha (Holcus sorghum) +flour. + + + + +GREECE BEFORE THE AGE OF LUXURY. + + +It is impossible within these pages to tabulate with absolute +correctness any hard and fast menu as the diet of the ancient Greeks, as +it varied greatly according to the products of the several parts of the +diversified country over which they ruled, but one can by the process of +elimination arrive at fairly satisfactory generalities. + +The principal food of the poorer classes was bread. It was not a very +appetizing kind, however, as it usually consisted of a simple dough of +barley meal moistened with water, or, occasionally, poor wine. It was +eaten without cooking or any further preparation. This was the universal +food of the Spartans. + +The middle and wealthy classes partook, though, of baked wheaten bread, +which was called by Homer "the strength of life." + +All other kinds of food, with the exception of sweet cakes, cheese and a +few vegetables and fruits, were at first considered (save by the +inhabitants of the cities) as luxuries--somewhat as even now amongst +old-fashioned people in Scotland, the term "kitchen" is applied to all +edible articles other than dry bread. + +Of sweet cakes there were many kinds. They were flavored with various +seeds and sweetened with honey. Sugar, though, if known at all, was used +only for its medicinal properties. + +Cheese was eaten mixed with wine or honey and salt. + +Dried figs and grapes were much liked, especially by the Athenians, and +olives were even then pickled for a relish. + +The vegetables that were formerly cultivated are not easily +distinguished by the names applied to them by different writers, but it +is certain that lettuce, cabbage, peas, beans, vetches, leeks, onions, +parsley and thyme were grown, as well as truffles and mushrooms. +Vegetables were eaten in the form of soup, served on hot dishes with +sauce or dressed as salad. + +In the numerous towns large quantities of fish were sold. The salt water +were more generally preferred than the fresh water varieties, although +especial favor was bestowed on the eels that were obtained from Lake +Copais in Boeotia. There grew up early in history a heavy trade in fish +from the Black Sea and even from the coasts of Spain. + +Although frequent mention is made of fish, cheese and vegetable markets, +a meat market seems to have been almost unknown. From this and also from +the fact that the word which designated butchers' meat also signified +"victim," it may be concluded that oxen were primarily slaughtered only +at sacrificial feasts. + +The flesh of the hare was more highly esteemed than that of any other +kind of four-footed game. Of wild birds the thrush was most relished. + +Pheasants and woodcock were plentiful, and quails were made to act as +combatants for the edification of the Grecian youth. + +Domestic fowls and eggs were common. + +Butter was seldom made, as it was considered unwholesome, olive oil (as +at the present time) being used in its place. + +Although the Greeks were fond of water as a beverage, the difficulty of +obtaining it of good quality, combined with the tremendous production of +wine, made the latter the national drink. It was, however, seldom drank +in an undiluted condition, and the Northerners, who were in the habit of +drinking it neat, were denounced as unappreciative barbarians. But this +is not very strange, as the large amount of fir resin which is still +added to most Greek wines, makes them too strong and bitter for the +civilized palate to drink unless tempered by water. + +The first juice extracted from the press before treading was set apart +as choice wine, the pressed grapes being then used for the making of the +commoner variety or vinegar. + +The wine was often boiled and mixed with salt for exportation, and +aromatic herbs and berries were added to impart different flavors. It +was then placed in earthenware jars sealed with pitch. + +The various kinds may be roughly classed by colors. The black was the +strongest and sweetest; the white was the weakest, and that of golden +color was dry and very fine in flavor. + +The wines grown in the districts of Lesbos, Chios, Sikyon, and Phlios +were the most esteemed. Age was considered when estimating the value of +wine, but the preference for any special year of vintage seems to have +been unknown. + +Even in those early days epicures whenever possible cooled their jars +with snow before pouring out the wine. + +Cow's milk was not liked, but the first milk of goats and sheep was +often drank, although more generally used for the manufacture of cheese. + +The morning meal seldom consisted of more than bread dipped in wine and +water, resembling closely the morning coffee of the Continent. The +principal meal of the very early Grecians, as in the case of nearly all +young nations, was served about noon, but as civilization advanced, the +hour grew later, until 5 o'clock became most popular, a light luncheon +then being served in the middle of the day. + +Although Homer represents his chiefs as being always ready to sit down +and gorge themselves with meat, the Grecian gentleman was not a disciple +of "high living" or indolence. He desired and appreciated the charm of +sober conversation and intellectual stimulus. Homer recognized this when +he said, "Nor did the mind of any stand in want of an equal feast." + +The social instincts and the warmth of feeling amongst the Hellenic race +made dinners and festival events of every day occurrence, and caused +them to fill a prominent part in the lives of all, but the diet of the +Homeric age was wonderfully simple (in those early days the most +elaborate dinners consisted of only two courses--the first of meat, +usually roasted sheep, oxen or pigs, and vegetables; the second of +cakes, sweetened with the honey of Hymettus, and dried and fresh +fruits), for appetites were held subordinate to the love of music and +the dance. + + + "* * * Nor can I deem + Aught more delightful than the general joy + Of a whole people, when the assembled guests, + Seated in order in the royal hall, + Are listening to the minstrel, while the board + Is spread with bread and meats, and from the jars + The cup-bearer draws wine and fills the cups. + To me there is no more delightful sight." + + (Plato.) + + +Invitations were generally given a few days in advance by the host in +person in the market or any other place of common sojourn. + +Unlike the Egyptians, the Grecians made their toilets and anointed +themselves before arriving at their host's house. + +But before eating, + + + "* * * In a bowl + Of silver, from a shapely ewer of gold, + A maid poured water o'er the hands and set + A polished table near them." + + +Then, if any had traveled from a distance, their feet were bathed in +perfumed water and wine. + +Meanwhile the male attendants were not idle-- + + + "* * * Some in the bowls + Tempered the wine with water, some cleansed + The table with light sponges and set + The banquet forth and carved the meats for all." + + +A separate table was in those days usually provided for each guest, +though the rule was not strictly observed. + +In some cases, diners-out were accompanied and attended by their own +servants. In a few districts in modern Greece this is still habitual. + +Chairs and stools were generally used as seats, the custom of reclining +on couches not being introduced until a later date. + +As napkins were then unknown, the guests wiped their fingers on towels +and in pieces of specially prepared dough, which were thrown under the +table after being used. + +There were spoons (of metal, often of gold--Athenaeus), but hollow +pieces of bread were generally used in their stead. + +The carver presided at a table and cut the meats into small pieces, as +individual forks and knives were then unknown. The portions were usually +of uniform size, although any very honored person was presented with +larger or choicer morsels. + +The diluted wine was then transferred by ladles to the drinking cups or +beakers, to be distributed by boy servants. The first cup was handed +from one to another of the guests untouched as a sort of salutation. + +It was not customary to drink before the meal had been served. + +Bread was handed round in little baskets woven from slips of ivory. + +Moderation was universally observed. It was deemed gluttonous to linger +long over a repast, and contemptible to imbibe too freely of wine. + + + "* * * When the calls of thirst + And hunger were appeased, the diners thought + Of other things that well become a feast. + Song and the dance." + + +But here again all ribaldry was debarred. Tender hymns and rhapsodies +were sung to the accompaniment of the harp by trained singers, who were +seated at special tables on silver-mounted thrones. + +Games of various kinds usually followed, and with conversation filled +out the time until the gathering dispersed. + +House picnics were much in vogue: + + + "* * * * Meantime came + Those who prepared the banquets to the halls + Of the great monarch. Bringing sheep + And strengthening wine they came. Their wives, who on their brows + Wore snowy fillets, brought the bread, and thus + Within the halls of Menelaus all + Was bustle setting forth the evening meal." + + +Among the dining room utensils should be mentioned the various baskets +of copper, silver, gold and ivory wire; vessels for mixing wine, usually +of silver, but sometimes of the more precious metal, and cups of +elaborate design and costly workmanship. + +[Illustration: Drinking vessels: Bowls, beakers and rhyta.] + +The cups were of various shapes and sizes. The "depas" had two handles +and was made of wood, thickly covered with gold studs. Another, the +"kypellon," was broad and shallow, made of various metals, usually gold. +The "phiate" was very similar in appearance to the kypellon. The +"kotyle" was so small as to merely hold "a scanty draught, which only +wet the lips, but not the palate." + +The "sykphos" and "kissybion" were simple wooden cups in use amongst the +peasantry. They were usually made of the wood of the cypress. + +Skilled cooks were seldom regularly employed on the domestic staff. They +usually congregated in the market places and when any particular +occasion necessitated their services they were hired by the day. As also +nowadays they generally represented several nations, and they gained in +social importance as the love of luxury gradually overcame the custom of +simple fare. + +The regular staff of household servants, slaves in fact, were under the +management of a general steward, himself a slave, who attended +personally to the buying and superintended the details of all the other +departments. + +[Illustration: Wine jugs or oinochoai.] + +But besides these private dinners, occasion often brought about banquets +on a much larger scale, sometimes in honor of religion or of death. + + + "* * * There upon the ocean's side + They found the people offering coal black steers + To dark haired Neptune. On nine seats they sat, + Five hundred on each seat; nine steers were slain + For each five hundred there." + + +There was also a great difference between the foods of the ordinary +people and that of the heroes described in the classics. According to +Homer, who was probably guilty of exaggeration, the athletes consumed +enormous quantities of various meats (roasted or broiled, by the +way--never boiled), which comprised their entire diet with the exception +of wine and bread. Beef, mutton, venison, and especially pork, were +mentioned. + + + "He spake and girt his tunic round his loins + And hastened to the sties in which the herds + Of swine were lying. Thence he took out two + And slaughtered them and scraped them, sliced the flesh + And fried it upon spits and when the whole + Was roasted, brought and placed it reeking hot, + Still in the spits and sprinkled with white meal." + + +Fish and cheese were only considered worthy of the athletic when animal +flesh was scarce. Nor were these giants possessed of very fastidious +palates. + + + "* * * * At the fire + Already lie the paunches of two goats + Preparing for our evening meal, and both + Are filled with fat and blood." + + "* * * * As one turns and turns + The stomach of a bullock filled with fat + And blood before a fiercely blazing fire + And wishes it were done * * * *." + + +The hospitality of the early Grecians was unbounded. The high moral and +social standard of the masses of the people rendered it possible to +extend greater courtesy towards strangers than would have been deemed +prudent in later days. Every stranger or traveller who knocked at the +door of a residence was sure of a welcome. No questions were asked him +until he had been generously entertained in every feasible manner, for +he stood under the protection of Zeus Xenios, guardian of the guest. + +This lavish friendliness was probably caused by, or was perhaps itself +the cause of, the scarcity of hostelries of reputable character. A +spirit of compassion also existed, as it was then considered an ill +fortune that made one journey far from home. + +As the centuries of increasing wealth and power relaxed the rigidity of +the morals of these ancient inhabitants of Greece, the love of luxury +gradually supplanted the absorbing desire for intellectual enjoyment +which had at first raised them so far above the people of the +neighboring territories. Gluttonous devotion to the table, in +conjunction with numerous vices, undermined the physical as well as the +moral constitution, and the country which had astounded the ages with +the valor of its sons, which had proved invulnerable to numerous martial +forces, succumbed to the influence of sensual tastes and passions, +suggested by the idleness of worldly success. And as their worship of +their palates grew, the trained cook obtained an even greater influence +until his position became one of extreme importance, and was so recorded +by the poets and dramatists of the time. + +Little difference, in fact, was there between the habits of the latter +day Greeks and the Romans in the days of their great wealth, for Grecian +luxuries and Grecian habits were the models that Rome took as its +models, so we will pass on to the next chapter, inferentially describing +the former while depicting the latter. + + + + +ROME IN THE DAYS OF HER GREATEST PROSPERITY. + + +The food of the early Romans resembled to a great extent that of the +Greek heroes (their national dish was pulmentarium, a porridge made of +pulse), but to avoid repetitions we will pass over the first centuries +of Roman history, choosing as our subject Rome in the days of +prosperity. + +It should, however, be mentioned that Greece never attained such +enormous wealth as Rome, and that even in her greatest recklessness she +was more refined. Goethe said that in the days of their highest +civilization the Romans remained parvenus; that they did not know how to +live, that they wasted their riches in tasteless extravagance and vulgar +ostentation--but it must be remembered that, whereas the civilization of +the nineteenth century is industrial, that of Rome was militant, and to +that should be attributed the fact that some of the simplest means of +comfort were then unknown. + +Many moderns are inclined to doubt the assertions made concerning the +countless riches and marvellous expenditures of those days. They read +with skepticism the writings of Juvenal, Seneca and the elder Pliny. +But, though in some cases exaggeration was doubtless resorted to, +sufficient proof remains to convince the observing mind that the wealth +of the Roman far surpassed the wildest dreams of the richest man of the +present day. The ruins of the Colosseum and of the baths of Caracalla, +two structures raised solely for pleasure, impress us with their +stupendous magnificence, and even the twentieth century has failed to +equal the palaces of the nobles. + +Moreover, it must be remembered that the wealthy Roman owned many +mansions. Each of the larger ones was a miniature city, sheltering a +small army of slaves. The buildings were surrounded by parks, vineyards, +woods and artificial lakes. The atria and peristyles were embellished +with valuable paintings and statues. The walls and ceilings of the +chambers were decorated with gold and precious stones. Nowhere else, +recorded in the history of the world, with the possible exception of the +palaces of the Incas, has gold ever been so lavishly used. On the +furniture and ornaments alone, millions were expended. A single cup of +murra brought 1,000,000 sesterces ($40,000). A small citrus wood table +cost a similar sum--yet Seneca owned 500 of them, an outlay on that +class of furniture alone of $20,000,000. + +All Italy was covered with the country residences of the patricians. +They were found in numbers on the coast of Campania, the Sabine hills +and the lakes of the North. + +The most esteemed members of the household staff were the coqui (cooks) +and the pistores (fancy bakers). They often amassed large fortunes from +their salaries and the many presents they received. All the other +servants (who were usually slaves) were under the jurisdiction of a +headman, an _atriensis_. + +The first meal (_ientaculum_) was light, consisting ordinarily of bread +and wine with honey, dates, olives or cheese. At the prandium (their +_déjeuner à la fourchette_, which took the place of their noon dinner of +former days), meats, vegetables, fruits, bread and wine were provided. +After the second meal, the meridiato (or in modern language, the siesta) +was enjoyed, as it is in the Italy of this century--although, unlike the +sleepy town we know, business Rome then never slept. + +After the short midday rest came games and exercises. The youth betook +themselves to Campus Martius. The older members of the family made use +of the sphaeristerium, a private gymnasium and ball room, which was +found in every house. With it were connected the private baths. + +The cena, the principal meal, commenced at 3, 4 or 5 o'clock in the +afternoon. Seldom less than four hours were spent at table. Pliny, the +elder, who was considered a very abstemious man, sat down to his meal at +4 o'clock, and remained there "until it began to grow dark in summer and +soon after night in winter," at least three hours. The amount of food +consumed would be incredible were it not for the explanation recorded by +Seneca, "Edunt ut vomant; vomant ut edunt." + +The dinner menu given below was of a very ordinary affair: + + + _Gustus._ + + Sorrel + Lettuce + Pickled Cabbage and Gherkins + Radishes, Mushrooms, etc. + Oysters + Sardines + Eggs + + + _First Course._ + + Conger Eels + Oysters + Two kinds of Mussels + Thrushes on Asparagus + Fat Fowls + Ragout of Oysters and other Shellfish with black and white Maroons. + + + _Second Course._ + + Shellfish and other Marine Products + Beccaficos + Haunches of Venison + Wild Boar + Pastry of Beccaficos and other Birds. + + + _Third Course._ + + Sow's Udder + Boar's Head + Fricassee of Fish + Fricassee of Sow's Udders + Various kinds of ducks + Roast Fowl + Hares + Sausages + Roast Pig + Peacocks + + + _Fourth Course._ + + Pastry in wonderfully elaborate forms and colors + Pirentine bread + + + _Fifth Course._ + + Fruits and wines. + + +The "gustus," or appetizer, was also variously known as the "gustatio." +A favorite drink served with it was a mulsum of Hymetian honey and +Falernian wine. + +Toothpicks made from the leaves of the mastich pistachio were in common +use. + +All the dishes were carved at the sideboards by expert carvers who were +trained in schools by practice on jointed wooden models. + +Salt was much used in the flavoring of dishes and also to mingle with +sacrifices. + +[Illustration: A Roman bakery.] + +Fowls were fattened in the dark. Ducks and geese were fed on figs and +dates. Pigs were cooked in fifty different ways. Boars were cooked +whole; peacocks with their tails. Sausages were imported from Gaul. + +Vitellius and Apicius feasted on the tongues of flamingoes, and +Elagabalus on their brains. + +The greater the waste at a dinner, the more absurd the extravagance, the +more successful it was deemed. This idea was carried out in every +department. A mullet of ordinary size was cheap--one that was rather +heavy easily brought 6,000 sesterces ($240.00). + +[Illustration: Frame work of a Roman dining couch.] + +In order to lengthen the time, jugglers, rope-dancers, buffoons and +actors were introduced between courses. Beautiful Andalusian girls +charmed the dinners with their voluptuous dances. Even gladiators were +engaged. Games of chance concluded the entertainment when the condition +of the revellers permitted. + +At any large affair, an archon, or toastmaster, was selected by ballot +or acclamation. His duty it was to regulate the proportions of water and +wine and the size of the cups in which it was served. It was usual to +commence with the smallest and end with the largest. + +At the table, the somber togas were exchanged for gay-colored garments +(_syntheses_), and the shoes for sandals. Some of the more ostentatious +changed their costumes several times during the progress of a meal. The +head and breast were sometimes wreathed with flowers and ornaments. + +The tables first used were of quadrangular shape--three sides being +decorated for the guests and the fourth left vacant to facilitate the +movements of the attendants. They, however, were soon supplanted by +small tables of marble, bronze or citrus. These and a large sideboard +supported an amount of heavy gold and silver utensils. + +The diners reclined on costly sofas, inlaid with tortoise shells and +jewels, and the lower parts decked with embroidered gold. The pillows +were stuffed with wool and covered with gorgeous purple. The cushions +which supported the elbows were covered with silk stuffs, often marked +to designate the places of the various guests. + +Three people occupied each sofa. The lowest place on the middle sofa was +the seat of honor. + +The room or hall was illuminated by lamps and candles, set on individual +and very expensive stands or massed in candelabras of great +magnificence. The oils and fats used for illumination were diluted with +substances which under the influence of heat gave forth odors of great +fragrance. + +Each guest brought his own napkin. + +Ivory-handled knives were manufactured, but seldom used, as the +reclining position rendered the spoons (_ligulae_) more convenient. + +The dessert was arranged on the sideboards under the supervision of the +pistor and structor before the meal commenced. + +A nomenclator was the regular employe of every patrician. His sole +office was to prompt his master on the names of his guests and clients, +or hangers-on. + +Much care was devoted by the wealthy to their private stores of wines. +They were sealed in jars or bottles of baked clay, with labels attached +bearing the year of the consulship during which they were made. Some old +wines were very expensive. That of Campania was considered the best. The +Caecuban Falernian was very good. He was pitied who was forced to drink +the Vatican! + +[Illustration: A banquet in the days of ancient Rome (original taken +from a stone carving excavated from the site of Pompeii).] + +Greek wines were popular and were found in many Roman cellars. + +In winter, wine was heated with water, honey and spices in a caldarium, +a vessel fitted with a small charcoal furnace, closely resembling the +Russian samovar. + +Being unable to sensibly decrease their riches by ordinary methods, many +novel ideas were put in use, often at great expense. + +Nero constructed in his golden house a vaulted ceiling which turned +continuously on its axis. + +At a banquet given by Otho, tubes of gold and silver suddenly protruded +from various parts of the hall and sprinkled perfumes on the assembly. + +Petronius describes a rather fanciful affair given by Trimalchio. + +After the company had taken their places and young Egyptian slave girls +had bathed their hands and feet in scented snow water, there was placed +on the table a gold salver, inlaid with tortoise shell, in the middle of +which stood an ass of bronze bearing silver panniers, one filled with +white and the other with black olives. On his back sat a Silenus pouring +from a wineskin the favorite sauce the _garum_; at one side were +sausages on a silver gridiron, under which were plums and red +pomegranate kernels to represent glowing coals, and placed around were +trays bearing vegetables, snails, oysters and other appetizers. + +When that course had been removed, another dish was brought in, of which +the central feature was a hen of carved citrus wood with expanded wings, +brooding over a nest of peafowls' eggs. These eggs were handed around on +silver egg-spoons weighing each more than half a pound. When the shells +were broken, some of the guests were horrified to find within them +half-hatched chicks; but on closer inspection these proved to be +beccaficos cooked in egg sauce. + +As the plates were being removed, a chorus of Oriental beauties chanted +their strange songs. A slave by accident let fall a silver dish; he +stooped to pick it up--the atriensis boxed his ears and bade him sweep +it out with the other fragments. + +Wine of rare virtue and great age was then brought in and distributed +with almost obtrusive extravagance. + +The first heavy course again surprised many of those who were present. +It consisted apparently of the most ordinary dishes and joints. But +these proved to be merely cleverly designed covers, which on being +lifted, disclosed roasted pigs, field fares, capons, noble bartels and +turbots. In the centre was a plump hare which, by the addition of a pair +of wings, had been made to resemble a Pegasus. The carving was done in +the presence of the diners and to the strains of slow music. + +Next came a huge boar roasted whole, with two palm twig baskets filled +with dates, hanging from his tusks. By his side were eight small pigs, +cleverly molded in paste, which were presented to guests as remembrances +of the occasion. + +Following the boar was a large swine, also cooked whole. After much +acclamation, the carver was about to do his work, when with a look of +disgust he announced that it had not been disemboweled. The cook was +called and severely chided. He feigned regret and made many excuses; +then seizing a heavy knife, ripped the animal open, letting fall into +the dish a mass of sausages and rich puddings. + +After the pig had been carried away and while the dessert was being +placed on the table, the ceiling opened and a silver hoop descended +bearing gold, silver and alabaster phials of essences, silver and jewel +coronets and many other things of similar character. + +The pastry had been made to resemble shellfish, field fares, etc. +Quinces were stuck full of almonds to imitate sea urchins. + +Surrounded by flowers was a figure of Vertumnus, with its bosom piled +with fruits. The guests were invited to help themselves, and the +pressure of their hands on the fruit caused a shower of the daintiest +perfume. + +When all had partaken to repletion of the goods served, the spirit of +Bacchus was given full sway, half nude dancers and singers threw off all +restraint, and there were enacted scenes of riotous carousing for which +Rome in its decadence became notorious. + +A weird dinner was once given by the Emperor Domitian. He invited a +number of senators and knights to dine with him at a late hour. When +they arrived they found that the banquet room had been draped in somber +black. At each seat had been placed a tombstone bearing the inscription +of a diner and naked black slaves danced weird dances and served up +funeral viands on black dishes. When the company had been dismissed, its +members found that all their slaves had disappeared and unknown bearers +carried them to their homes. Each found on his return a message and a +souvenir awaiting him--a silver tombstone bearing his name. + + + + +THE ANCIENT JEWS. + + +Readers will find recorded in this chapter many things which are matters +of general knowledge, but this, they will readily understand, is +unavoidable when treating on the customs of so well known a people as +the Jews and drawing on the Bible for much of the information given. As +the facts drawn from the Scriptures have though been supplemented by the +results of the researches of many eminent travelers and writers, it is +hoped that the combination will be found worthy of the time expended on +its perusal. + +The Mosaic dietary laws which for more than three thousand years formed +the text of important social and religious observances among the +inhabitants of the chosen kingdom were the outcome of a comparison of +the regulations and practices of contemporary nations. Whether the +system was compiled in the interest of humanity or health, it remains +true that it has proved itself to be one of the best economic regimes +ever made public. If for no other reason, the life of the ancient Jew is +especially interesting to those who study the foods of men, past and +present--although it must be admitted that the precepts they compiled +were more conducive to sound digestion than some of the practices they +followed! + +The diet of the ancient Jews consisted at first, as did that of all the +pioneers of the human race, of but a few articles of food. But, though +meat was not consumed in large quantities, writers err when they +describe the food of Orientals as being light and simple. Orientals did, +and do, make use of an inordinate amount of grease in cooking. Eggs and +rice were, whenever circumstances permitted, saturated with fat or oil +and meats and vegetables were frequently simmered in fat before being +stewed. It was not unusual for a family of six or seven persons to +consume an average of two hundred pounds a year, and some of their +compounds would have ill suited delicate stomachs. + +Bread, as in all ancient countries, constituted the greater part of the +food of the middle and lower classes. In Leviticus, Psalms and Ezekiel, +reference is made to the "staff of bread." It was most generally eaten +after being dipped into cheap wine or weak gravy. + +The fresh green ears of wheat were often eaten without cooking, the +husks being rubbed off by hand. The grain was, though, more usually +roasted in a pan after being carefully sorted over, and it was sometimes +bruised and dried in the sun, to be afterwards served with oil. + +"Kibbe" was a mixture composed of cracked wheat, boiled and dried, +beaten up with meat, onions, spices and the nut of a species of pine. + +Wheat was also ground by women in hand mills formed of two stones, the +under one fixed and the upper movable. + +The middle classes ate meat, vegetables, fruit or fish also, but always +as supplementary dishes to the staple article, bread. + +Although in the earliest days the mistress and daughters of the house +did the baking, female servants were later employed by the wealthier +families. In Jerusalem indeed professional bakers, men, became so +numerous that a section of the town bore the title of "Bakers' Street." + +The flour used in the manufacture of the common bread was mixed with +water or milk and kneaded with the hands in a small wooden bowl or +trough. Except in cases of great haste, leavening was then added. The +dough was allowed to stand for several hours, sometimes for the whole +night, in moderate heat. It was next rolled out and cut into circular +pieces about eight inches in diameter and three-quarters of an inch in +thickness. These were occasionally punctured and soaked with oil. + +[Illustration: A portable oven of the Jews and Egyptians. + +(From an old Egyptian drawing.)] + +A more delicate kind of bread was twice kneaded before baking, and +stimulating seeds were added to it. Various varieties of thin cakes were +also baked every day and biscuits of substantial character were +furnished for travelers. + +The professional bakers did their work in fixed, specially constructed +ovens, but portable ovens were usually found in private houses. They +were in the shape of stone or metal jars about three feet in height, and +were heated from the interior with wood, dried grass or flower stalks, +the cakes being placed on the ashes or the exterior sides of the oven +after the fire had burned down. + +In other cases, a hole dug in the ground formed the oven, the sides +being covered with clay and the bottom with pebbles. Again, sometimes +the cakes were cooked on heated stones or by the more primitive method +of laying them directly on burning logs, or between two layers of dried +dung (then lighted and burned). + +Some also baked the cakes in pans with oil and ate them whilst hot with +honey, or cooked them in such thin layers that they crumbled in the +fingers. + +Figs were eaten fresh and dried. Pomegranates, mulberries, sycamore +figs, citrons and apples were widely cultivated. Grapes were eaten raw +or made into fruit cake (which possessed distinctly stimulating +qualities). Similar cakes were also made of raisins, dates and +figs--which were compressed into bricks, and when hardened could be cut +up only by the use of an axe! + +The bunches of grapes often attained a weight of twelve pounds. + +Walnuts were plentiful. Oranges were introduced at a later date. + +Among the vegetables grown were lentils (which were boiled and eaten +with butter oil or fat and pepper), leeks, onions, beans, barley, +lettuce, endive, purslane and other herbs. Vegetables were usually +boiled as potage. + +The spices most in favor were cummin, dill, coriander, mint, mustard and +salt. Cummin was threshed with a rod and with salt served as a sauce. + +Pistachio nuts and almonds were popular as whets. + +Salads were extensively known. + +Honey was used in some cakes as a substitute for sugar. It was also +eaten raw or with other articles of food, even fish. + +Various artificial productions made from fruits and the exudations of +trees and shrubs bore the title of honey, the best known of which was +the boiled down juice of the grape, then called "d'bash," known to +modern Arabs as "dibs." + +"Butter and honey" and "milk and honey" are in Biblical language +synonyms of the diet of prosperity. + +The butter then used differed from our own product inasmuch as the hot +sun to which the cream was exposed when being churned rendered the +completed article more liquid. Even to-day in some parts of the Orient +the butter served to visiting Europeans has to be manufactured +especially for them from cold cream. + +Cheese consisted of coagulated buttermilk, dried until hard and then +ground. + +Oil was made from various vegetables, but that of the olive was most +esteemed. + +Wine and water were carried in vessels made of the skins of goats, kids +or other clean animals. After the animal had been killed, the head, feet +and tail were cut off and the body was drawn out of the skin, which was +then tanned (acacia bark being sometimes called into service). The hairy +part of the skin formed the exterior of the vessel, the legs and the end +of the tail being sewn up. When filled, the neck was tied up. + +An ox skin was used to make a "gerba" which formed a storage chamber for +large quantities of liquor. One of average size contained sixty gallons. + +The milk of cows, sheep, camels and goats was drank. When fresh it was +known as "khalab," when sour as "khema." The latter was used in the +composition of salads and for cooking meats, etc. + +A strengthening beverage was made by heating milk over a slow fire and +then adding a small piece of old khema or other acid to make it +coagulate. Much of this was bottled and kept for future use. It was the +universal refreshment offered strangers and the ancient Jew, like the +modern Arab, refused to accept payment for it. + +The other drinks of the people were barley water; sherbet (made by +partially dissolving fig cake in water); pomegranate wine; beer made +from barley with herbs such as the lupin and skirret; honey, date, fig, +millet and grape wines and a drink made by placing raisins in jars of +water and burying them until fermentation had taken place. Water was +imbibed in large quantities after meals. + +Vinegar was made by mixing barley with wine, or soured wine was used. + +The prohibition expressed in the ninth chapter of Genesis against animal +blood as an article of diet was repeated with detailed instructions in +Leviticus. Instead of devoting a large amount of space to recounting the +regulations there expressed, it will perhaps be better to make only a +general classification of them. + +There were interdicted: _Sheretz haaretz_, creeping things; _sheretz +haof_, winged insects, with the exception of the fully developed locust; +of _sheretz hamayim_, creatures dwelling in water, those which were not +provided with fins and scales; of the feathered species those which were +not furnished by nature with the implements with which to clean +themselves; of the quadrupeds and animals of the chase those that did +not chew the cud or were not provided with split hoofs. + +The fat parts of animals were also reserved for the altar and temple +offerings. + +Special interdictions were announced against dead or injured animals; +though these did not extend to strangers. In the New Testament, these +laws are also mentioned as applying to healthy animals that had been +strangled or killed in any manner other than that prescribed. + +In a word, the Mosaic laws prohibited the use of any flesh that was +diseased, bruised or rendered unwholesome by the presence of too much +blood and also of the flesh of animals that were not cleanly in habits, +diet or body. + +Oxen were not eaten when older than three years. + +It is not necessary to give here the oft-repeated methods of Jewish +butchery, as they have been of late so frequently described--and highly +endorsed--by medical and scientific men. + +Fresh fish (eaten generally broiled) appears to have been the principal +article of diet in the environs of the Sea of Galilee. The Jews, +however, were not well versed in the character of the different species. +They roughly classed them as big, small, clean and unclean. + +Salt fish also was imported into Jerusalem. + +Locusts were considered to be but meagre fare, but they were eaten +salted, dried and roasted with butter in a pan. + +An ordinary kitchen was equipped with a range, a heavy caldron, a large +fork or flesh hook, a wide, open metal vessel for heating water, etc., +two or more earthenware pots and numerous dishes. + +The kid, lamb or calf, killed on the advent of a holiday or in honor of +a guest, would sometimes be roasted or baked whole, but it was usually +cut up and boiled in a caldron filled with water or milk and set over a +wood fire, the scum being taken off from time to time and salt and +spices added. + +The meat and broth were served up separately or together as desire might +dictate. + +The principal meal was held in the early evening, although occasionally +noon was chosen for a big banquet. + +The early Hebrews seated themselves on the ground when partaking of a +meal; but their descendants soon succumbed to the example of the +Egyptians and adopted the reclining couch, which was universally used in +the time of Christ. + +The first reference we have to the change in custom is found in the book +of Amos, where the prophet rebukes those who "lie upon beds of ivory." +Ezekiel also inveighs against one who "sat on a stately bed with a table +prepared before it." + +Each couch seated from three to five persons, and the women usually +dined with the men. + +The meat and vegetables were sometimes served in one large dish, into +which each in turn dipped his bread, but on other occasions portions +were placed on individual plates. + +Many events were made excuses for festivals. + +The "mishteh" was a drinking party, which in the apostolic age was +called a "komos" and was often the occasion of gross licentiousness. + +The cups used were modelled after those made by the Egyptians. The "cup +bearer" or butler held a very important position in a rich man's +household. + +During times of fasting or sorrow, all meats, wines, etc., were +eschewed. They were called the "bread of desires." + +Prison fare consisted of bread or pulse and water. + +The vine or apples of Sodom, the "Dead Sea fruits that tempt the eye, +but turn to ashes on the lips" of which Josephus wrote and Moore and +Byron sang, are worthy of more than passing notice. They have caused a +great deal of discussion among scientists and travelers who have +differed in their opinions as to the identity of the fruit or plant +mentioned. + +[Illustration: The colocynth--"the Dead Sea fruits."] + +As the _ecbalium elaterium_, with variations in name, it has been +described by Dioscorides, Theophrastus, Pliny, Celeius, Rosenmuller, +Winner and Gesenius; as the _cucumbis prophetarium_, and _solanium +sodomaeum_ by others; as the _asclepias procera_ by Burckhardt, Irby, +Mangles and Dr. Robinson. Among still other disputing writers may be +mentioned Pococke, Hasselquist, Seetzen, Elliot and Chateaubriand. + +Michaelis, Oedman, Dr. J. D. Hooker and the Rev. W. Houghton agree that +Josephus referred to the fruit of the colocynth (_citrullus +colocynthis_) which resembles an orange in appearance, and when dry will +burst on pressure with a crashing noise. + +[Illustration: Tamarix Gallica--The Manna plant of the Scriptural +desert.] + +The varying opinions may be ascribed to the fact that in the south of +Palestine are found several members of the gourd tribe, as well as the +fruits of several shrubs and trees, which under certain conditions +answer very closely to the descriptions afforded us of the "Dead Sea +Fruits," although the colocynth is the only one that answers them in +every way. + +The palm tree, once so plentiful in Judaea, is now rare and in the +vicinity of Jericho is extinct, the last one having died a few years +ago. + +All readers of the Scriptures remember the important part which manna +played in the history of the Jews. The manna which is at the present day +known in the Arabian desert through which the Israelites passed is +collected in June from the tarfa or tamarisk shrub (_Tamarix Gallica_). +According to Burkhardt, it drops from the thorns on to the sticks and +leaves which cover the ground and must be gathered early in the day or +it will be melted by the heat of the sun. Its fall is said to be caused +by the punctures made by insects. The Arabs cleanse, boil and strain it +and put it up in leather bottles, and thus prepared it will retain its +virtues for several years. It is used in the place of honey or +butter--it is never eaten alone. It is abundant only in wet seasons, and +in a very dry year it is not found at all. It is not exactly peculiar in +character, as there are several shrubs in India and Syria. + +[Illustration: Salvadora--The arboreous Mustard Plant of Palestine.] + +Niebuhr discovered at Mardin, in Mesopotamia, on the leaves of a tree, a +species of _capparis_, a kind of manna which appears during the months +of July and August, being most plentiful in wet seasons. If shaken off +before sunrise, it is pure white in color. If let remain, it collects +until very thick, and the leaves are then gathered and steeped in +boiling water until the manna floats to the top like oil. This is called +by the natives _manna essemma_, heavenly manna. + +Burkhardt found in the valley of Jordan a similar gum on the leaves and +branches of the tree gharrob (a species of oak), which fell to the +ground in drops of brown-gray dew. Its taste at first was sweet, but +after a day's exposure to the elements became acrid. + +The manna of European commerce is exported from Calabria and Sicily. It +drops from punctures made in a species of ash by an insect resembling +the locust. It is fluid at night, but begins to harden in the morning. + +The manna of Scripture, which was the sole support of the Israelites for +forty years, must be regarded as miraculous, as (1) manna is under +ordinary circumstances stimulating rather than sustaining, (2) the +season in which it is found does not extend over a term of more than +three or four months, (3) it is found only in small quantities compared +to the enormous amount--15,000,000 pounds a week--which would have been +necessary to provide each member of the Israelite camp with the rations +mentioned, (4) a double quantity certainly does not fall on the day +preceding the Sabbath and (5) no natural product ceases at once and +forever. + +The mustard plant mentioned in the Gospels may have been either the +common mustard plant which grows to a large size in the Orient, or it +may have been the _Salvadora persica_, an arboreous plant of abundant +foliage, the seeds and leaves of which have a distinct flavor of +mustard. + + + + +THE CHINESE. + + +It would be foolish to publish any strict dietary code as descriptive of +the food of the people of the vast region generally known as the Chinese +Empire, for apart from the difference in the products of the various +sections of that diversified country, it must be remembered that the +numerous tribes, which when amalgamated centuries ago formed the Empire, +have retained most of their original customs, owing partly to the +paucity of transportation facilities and the consequent impediments to +an interchange of ideas, partly to the conservative nature of the people +and partly to the influence of climate and surroundings. Furthermore, +as, excepting a few fruits which are of comparatively recent +introduction, such as the pineapple, the foods of Chinamen to-day +closely resemble the foods of Chinamen four thousand years ago, it will +not be necessary in this volume to keep very strictly apart the past and +the present. + +Until quite recently it was customary to regard the Chinese as +uncivilized and degraded heathens who voraciously devoured all kinds of +vermin and other miscellaneous tit-bits which to most people of the +Western Hemisphere are repulsive even in suggestion, hence it may be +well to repeat here that, although it remains true that cats, dogs and +rats occasionally serve as articles of food, this happens only when +provisions are scarce or among the very poor, who (as in all civilized +countries), linger always on the threshold of starvation. + +The Chinese, in spite of the doleful tales of some writers, are on the +whole a well fed race. Beef and mutton are not plentiful except in the +north, but hogs, poultry and fish, with vegetables, fruits and rice are +within the reach of a majority of the population. Wrote a Chinese sage: +"The scholar forsakes not his books nor the poor man his pig." +Furthermore, in the preparation of their national dishes the Chinese +cooks (especially those in the cities and in the households of the rich) +display a high degree of skill. + +Wheat, several varieties of rice and sweet potatoes are grown in all +parts of the Empire, and barley, sorghum, cabbages, beans and other +vegetables and sugar cane are also raised in large quantities. + +Rice is seldom ground except when made into cakes. + +The sorghum, or hauliang (extensively cultivated in the north), is not +used as in America for the manufacture of sugar, but the seeds are +ground and made into a coarse bread or used for the preparation of some +brands of whiskey. + +Sweet potatoes are sliced into coarse strips and dried in the sun. It +is, though, considered a sign of extreme poverty to be seen eating them +at any meal other than a lunch or hurried repast. + +Of the vegetables, the petsae or white cabbage is the most widely +cultivated. + +Beans grow luxuriantly. Fully one-half of the crop is crushed for the +sake of the oil, the residue being pressed into bricks and used as a +fertilizer. + +"Bean curds" is a very popular dish, especially for breakfast. The beans +are ground to a flour, which is passed through three strainers of +coarse, medium fine and very fine linen. This is boiled for an hour over +a slow fire until the proper consistency is obtained. + +Salted beans form quite an important article of commerce. Four catties +of beans are put in a jar with one catty of salt, half a catty of ginger +and a few taels of almonds and spices. The jars are then sealed and left +untouched for about a month. + +A more novel way is to put the beans in earthenware jars filled with +very clear spring water, changing the water every four hours. In seven +days tender shoots have appeared and the beans are then sold as a +delicacy. + +Peanuts are grown for the sake of their oil. + +Hsiang-yu is a fragrant oil made from peanuts and beans, which is used +for the toilet and by the poor for cooking. Castor oil answers the same +purposes. + +The juice of the sugar cane is extracted by crushing the stalks in two +perpendicular cylinders, kept in motion by a yoke of buffalos, the juice +being received in a tub placed beneath. Lime is added to the juice and +it is then immediately boiled. + +[Illustration: A Chinese poulterer's shop.] + +Within the limits of Chinese territory are found almost all known +varieties of fruits, some of which are indigenous to it. + +The whampee is a yellow skinned fruit about the size of a grape which +hangs in clusters from the glossy-leaved trees which produce it. The +flavor is tart and its three or four stones are of a greenish color. + +The li-chi has a rough red exterior. Inside is a white film which +incloses a watery translucent pulp of a sweetish taste and a brownish +black ovoid stone. + +The lo-quat is a species of medlar. + +Oranges, ginger, etc., are preserved in sugar. + +Ducks are raised in almost incredible numbers. Their eggs and those of +fowls are frequently hatched by artificial heat. + +Eggs that have been preserved in lime for several, sometimes a great +many, years are much esteemed. After a quarter of a century, the yellow +assumes a dark brown color and the whites have the appearance of meat +jelly--strange though it may seem, they are really excellent in that +condition. + +All foods served at a genuine Chinese dinner are previously cut into +minute particles. The large roast pieces which adorn the tables at +dinners given in seaport towns to foreigners of note are placed there +merely in deference to the customs of the guests. + +[Illustration: A Chinese dinner party.] + +Rice and soup are brought on to the table in large vessels from which +individual saucers are filled. Other dishes are partaken of by all +present directly from the common bowl. + +It is considered a token of hospitality on the part of the host or +friendliness on the part of an acquaintance to take an especially choice +piece of meat or vegetable from the bowl and to place it on the plate or +in the mouth of a fellow diner. + +The two chopsticks are both held in the right instead of separately in +each hand as ordinarily believed. They are maintained by the thumb and +ring finger and manipulated by the index and middle fingers. One stick +remains motionless, the other is so manoeuvred as to entrap with ease a +morsel of meat or even the smallest grain of rice. + +The sticks (square at the top and round for the rest of their length) +are made of bamboo or more precious woods, ivory or silver. On the upper +portions, poems and pictures are often engraved. + +Spoons are used for liquids. + +[Illustration: Chopsticks and bowl.] + +An ordinary meal among the middle classes consists of eight dishes--two +vegetables, eggs, fish, shell fish, bird and two meats (pork and goat; +or, in some parts of the north, mutton and beef). + +With this will be served a large tureen of soup with rice, the latter +taking the place of bread. + +When eating rice, the bowl is raised by the left hand to a close +proximity to the mouth and the rice is rather scooped than picked up. + +The importance which is attached to rice as a life-sustaining article +may be judged from the exclamation of a Chinese sailor when he was +informed that it was held in but secondary repute in America. Throwing +up both hands with an expression in which were combined horror and pity, +he cried: "Oh, the sterile region of barbarians which produces not the +necessaries of life; strange that the inhabitants have not long ago died +of hunger!" + +Two good meals a day, the customary number, and a light luncheon, will +in the average native home represent the expenditure of about ten cents +in American money. + +Wine is served only on special occasions. + +The hotels in the large cities are distinguished by titles as in this +country, though the Chinese proprietor gives freer rein to his +imagination, choosing such titles as "Cum Lee" (Golden Profits), "Cut +Shing" (Rank Conferring Hotel), the "Cut Sing" (Fortunate Star), etc. +They are often comparatively tall structures and are usually clustered +together in one quarter of the town. + +[Illustration: A Chinese distillery.] + +The ground floor of the ordinary hotel is reserved for the proprietor's +apartments and the kitchen. The first floor contains one public and +several private dining-rooms; and the second and upper floors are +divided into sleeping apartments--the partitions of which are so thin +that even a whispered conversation is intelligible to a party in the +adjoining room. + +There is not much comfort to be obtained in the villages, and the +accommodations are worse in the south and central districts than in the +north and Mongolia. + +The country caravansary is built in the form of a quadrangle with the +walls, in the North, of mud or clay. + +In the one public room, the traveler perforce mingles with cattle +drovers and muleteers, but the private apartments are fairly +comfortable. + +The stables are usually attached to the building, with large compounds +for sheep or cattle. Some of the larger establishments boast separate +quadrangle stables, while some of the smaller have none at all, the +animals being hitched to troughs or racks in the centre of the +quadrangle. + +[Illustration: A Chinese restaurant.] + +The beds (_cangues_) are shaped like furnaces. The occupant, protected +by a thick coverlet, reclines on the top of a stratum of chunam or +asphalt, with an opening similar to the door of a furnace, in one of the +perpendicular sides, by means of which a small fire is in cold weather +built directly beneath the bed. + +The poorer travelers sleep in the public hall. + +In some cities are khans which act as depots for the goods of traveling +merchants, who are boarded and lodged without charge until they have +disposed of their stock, the landlord then receiving a small percentage +of the sales. + +The proprietor of a public inn is compelled to furnish the authorities +each month with a list of the persons whom he has lodged or fed, and +women are not received at all in the public hotels in the South. + +The restaurants in the cities are often quite large, running to two and +three stories in height. + +On the ground floor is the kitchen. On the first floor at the head of +the first staircase is the public dining room where a good cheap meal +can be obtained, and on the second and third floors are the private and +more select chambers. In each room is a bill of fare. + +An ordinary first class restaurant dinner comprises from ten to thirty +dishes, and for any special occasion a hundred or more are often served. + +Below is the menu of a dinner which, if served to eight or ten persons +at a good public city restaurant, would cost about seventy-five cents +per head. + + + Fried Ham + Gizzards + Grated meat Grilled + Dried shrimps + Preserved eggs + + Four kinds of dried fruits + Four kinds of fresh fruits + + Fat duck + Shark's fins + Swallowsnest soup + Meats + + Salted chicken + Shellfish + Meats + Oysters + + Mushroom morels (called "Ears of the Forest"). + Rice of Immortals (a species of mushrooms). + Tender sprouts of bamboo + + Fish + Meats + + +The diners are usually seated at square tables in groups of eight. + +Chinese whiskey or wine is served in small double-handled cups, which +are constantly replenished by the attendants from vessels resembling +silver coffee pots. Pipes of tobacco are also passed around at +intervals. + +Before eating, the host or most prominent guest pours out a libation. +His table companions follow his example and all bow politely to each +other. + +[Illustration: Chinaman spearing fresh water turtles.] + +Pastry is brought on between courses. If salt, a cup of chicken broth; +if sweet, almond milk is furnished with it. + +No napkins are provided, pieces of coarse brown paper being used in +their stead. + +The last is a sort of "trial of appetite" course. It consists of large +dishes--sometimes eight or ten arranged in pyramid form--and the ever +forthcoming refusal to partake of it announces the termination of the +meal. + +The attendants then bring in towels and bowls of hot water. They immerse +the towels in the water, and after wringing them out present them to the +guests in the order of their importance. + +On special occasions the water is scented with otto of roses. + +One habit of the attendants which is especially surprising to the novice +is that as their labors during the meal increase the temperature of +their bodies, the waiters divest themselves of the greater part of their +clothing! + +One restaurant in Canton which caters for the cheaper class of trade, +feeds on an average five thousand persons daily. Each patron is served +with portions of regular size, and allowance is made for any pieces +which he may not eat. + +The tea saloons are divided into two large rooms furnished with stools +and tables. Cakes, preserved fruits and tea are served. The cups are +usually covered so as to prevent the aroma of the tea from evaporating. + +"Dog and cat" restaurants consist of one large public apartment, with +the entrance to the dining room through the kitchen. + +Soup stalls are found on the street corners of the cities. They sell +luncheons of fish, pork, soups, vegetables, fried locusts, etc., from +one to two cents. + +The oven, or, to speak more accurately, the baking apparatus, of the +average establishment is somewhat singular. It consists of a furnace +resembling a copper in shape, built in the center of an outhouse. The +hollow part (which is shallow) is filled with charcoal. A lid, which +fits the aperture, is so suspended by chains from the beams above as to +be capable of elevation or depression. Upon this lid, pastry and cakes +are placed and kept directly above or at any distance from the fire, +according to the heat desired. + +The bakers often manufacture their bread without the use of shortening +of any description. + +A very popular cake consists partially of mincemeat. The baker before +commencing to make it, places a pile of dough on one side and opposite +it a heap of mincemeat--a mixture of pork, sugar, spices, etc. He then +pulls off a piece of dough, rolls it into a ball, flattens it, covers it +with the meat, rolls it into a ball again, shapes it into a ring and +flattens it by a stroke of the hand into a cake of definite size and +thickness. + +Among other dainty dishes of Chinaland are the "t'ien ya tzu," a species +of delicately flavored fat duck; "feng chi," salted chicken; a dish of +amber gelatine; a salad of bamboo shoots; "huo t'ui," a dainty ham of +the appearance of veal; "yü ch'ih," shark's fins, and "hai li tzu," +devilled oysters with mushrooms. + +Other items are salted earthworms, pigeon's eggs, pounded shrimps; +bird's nest soup, a gelatinous article; beches de mer (sea slugs), water +beetles and silkworms, the last named fried in oil after they have made +their cocoons. + +A much admired soup, prepared for an imperial feast, was of blood and +mare's milk. + +Oysters are very cheap in winter, selling at from five to six cents per +pound. + +The following receipts may be of interest as literal translations from a +genuine Chinese cook book: + + + _Steamed Shark's Fins._ + + Take the sun-dried shark's fins, place in a cooking pan, add wood + ashes and boil in several waters. Then take out and scrape the + roughness from the fins. If not clean, boil again and scrape again + until clean. Then change the water and boil again. Take out and + remove the flesh, keeping only the fins themselves. Boil again and + put in spring water. The frequent changing of the water is + necessary to take out the lime taste. Put the fins into the soup + and stew until quite tender. Dish in a bowl, placing crab meat + below and a little ham on top. + + + _Chicken with the Liquor of Fermented Rice._ + + Bone a chicken and steam until just right; take out and let cool, + then cut into thin slices. Next, take gelatinous rice which has + been fermented with yeast and water; cook this for two hours, add a + little of the juice expressed from fresh ginger, soy, sesamum and + oil. Mix together with peanut oil. Dish and add fragrant herbs. + + + _Genii Ducks._ + + Take a fat duck; open and clean. Take two mace of salt, rub it both + outside and inside and put into an earthen dish. Take one cup of + fan spirits and put (the cup with the spirits) inside the + duck--only the vapor of the spirits is wanted. Steam over water + until quite tender, then lift out the wine cup and put the bird + into a bowl. + + +The most common native liquor are "suee chow," a rice brandy; "shas +chin," an impure alcohol made from kauliang or sorghum; "huary chin," a +yellow wine made from millet, and various spirits extracted from plums, +apples, pears, etc. All liquors are drunk hot, and some of them are +steeped with spices or the leaves of flowers. + +Although spirits are plentiful and cheap, drunkenness is rare. + +Tea, of course, is consumed by all classes. + +A curious custom annually observed is the propitiatory offering to the +God of the Kitchen, who is worshipped in all parts of China, and who is +supposed to report his observations to the Pearly Emperor Supreme Ruler. + +[Illustration: Family Offering to the Kitchen God.] + +He is represented in each kitchen by a slip of white or red paper +(changed each year as a rule) bearing his name and title and sometimes +his portrait, pasted on the wall in some convenient part of the room. + +Among the better classes the kitchen god is also known as the +superintendent or inspector of good and evil. + +On the evening of the twenty-third day of the twelfth month a special +sacrifice is made in his honor by about sixty per cent. of the +population. Meats, cakes, fruits and wines are offered with candles, +incense, mock money, etc., and all members of the family then kneel +reverently before his representation and bow their heads in homage. + +On the evening of the twenty-fourth those who have not participated in +the ceremonies of the previous day, make a vegetable offering in a +similar manner. + +[Illustration: A Chinese kitchen boat.] + +Many of the wealthier classes make both offerings on the twenty-third. +The poorest use only incense and candles. + +The numerous sailing vessels on the rivers and lakes are as well fitted +to supply the wants of the traveler as the hotels on shore. + +The houseboats and some of the passenger boats rely for their meals on +the kitchen boats, which are really admirably managed. + +The fishing boats make use of a very primitive heating apparatus--a +large boiler in an earthenware furnace set in a part of the deck, +serving as the general cook book. + +A great many pages might be covered by treating on the curious +festivities which celebrate so many occasions, but they have been so +often described in other works that a description of them here would +perhaps savor too much of needless repetition. + + + + +_Other Works from the Book Department of THE CATERER_ + + +Martyn's Menu Dictionary + +Price $1 + + (_130 pages, two columns to a page, cloth bound._) + +The most complete dictionary of menu, culinary and food terms ever +published. More than _five thousand items_. In two sections: +French-English and English-French. The first section includes also about +600 wine names with brief descriptive notes and both parts list a number +of German words with English and French translations. + + +How to Make Money in a Country Hotel + +Price $2 + + (_200 pages, printed on the finest paper and handsomely bound)._ + _Third edition._ + +The reason for the great success of this work is probably to be found in +the fact that the author does not content himself with merely advising +"greater economy," or "better business methods"--instead he gets right +down to a practical hold of the subject and shows _how_ to economize and +how to increase one's trade. + + +The Financial Side of Hotel Keeping + +Price $2 + + (_300 pages, handsomely printed and bound._) _Second Edition._ + +This book is entirely different from any other work on the hotel +business. The main "story" takes up the matter of location, investment, +equipment, etc., the "financing" of the business after starting, and +many points touching on policy, organization, etc., and the management +of the back part of the house. Following this is a series of papers on +the restaurant business. + + +The Wine Steward's Manual + +Price $1 + + (_108 pages, illustrated, cloth bound._) + +A handy volume on the care and service of wines, with contributions from +the highest authorities. + + +Foods and Culinary Utensils of the Ancients + +Price 50 cents + +Compiled from standard historical works. Seventy-two pages, well +illustrated. + + +Dainty Dishes + +Price (cloth bound) $1 + + By Adolphe Meyer, author of "The Post-Graduate Cookery Book," "Eggs + and How to Use Them," etc. + +A book of specially "dainty dishes" which offers many opportunities to +vary the daily bill of fare or the banquet or ball supper menu--usually +without adding anything to the cost and sometimes at smaller expense. + + +The Post-Graduate Cookery Book + +Price (cloth bound) $2 + + By Adolphe Meyer, for 11 years chef of the exclusive Union Club, + New York. + + (_Nearly 300 pages. About 1,000 receipts._) + +"The Post-Graduate Cookery Book" is a work containing matter +supplementary to, or in advance of, the regular standard works on +cookery and kindred matters. + +It has a special intrinsic value to the purchaser, for it contains a +large number of receipts for special dishes which have never appeared in +print elsewhere. Some of these receipts are new, others are for special +dishes which have helped to enhance the reputations of famous +establishments both in Europe and this country. + + +Eggs and How to Use Them + +Price $1 + + By Adolphe Meyer, Author of "The Post-Graduate Cookery Book," etc. + (_Third Edition._) + + (_150 pages, cloth bound._) + +About 600 receipts, classified as "poached, shirred, molded, omelettes, +etc., etc.," and with titles in both French and English. + + +Fables of the Hotel Profession and Poems of Good Cheer + +Price 50 cts. + + _A dainty little volume of 88 pages, bound in gilt lettered cloth._ + +The "Fables" (by Charles Martyn) are little stories of the hotel +business, which "hit off," in semi-humorous manner, many typical +characters and conditions. + +"Poems of Good Cheer" (by Frank W. Doolittle) is a title made generously +broad to cover a number of verses on the hotel business, those engaged +in it and the good things dispensed. + + +THE CATERER PUBLISHING CO., +Established 1893. NEW YORK. + +Publishers of THE CATERER, the "monthly text book" of the hotel, club +and high-class restaurant business. Subscription price, $2 a year; $1.25 +for six months. + +THE CATERER keeps its readers informed on everything that is new in the +hotel, club and high-class restaurant business--new ideas in service, +reports of special occasions (such as banquets, etc.), new items of +equipment, new points in system, etc. Every issue also contains a +variety of other matter of general interest, "what's happening among our +subscribers," etc.--all written in entertaining style. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 43643 *** |