ANCIENT COOKERY.

Shannon News, 31 May 1929, Page 1

ANCIENT COOKERY.

WIZARDS OF CULINARY ART IN GREECE AND ROME With the advent of the schools of domestic arts, it would seem that cooking has'regained some of the prestige, that ic commanded in ancient' days amongst the Romans and the Athenians '' Here cooking is regarded as a science" is the slogan displayed on the wall of every kitchen in the present-day schools of cookery. That the ancients raised the culinary art into a science, _ and cooks to the dignity of professorship, is pioved by the numerous descriptions of auciont cooking which Athenaeus .has preserved. This science was looked upon as one of "unrivalled dexterity and refinement." There were writers and poets who found inspiration from it, and many aspirants sought to immortalize their names by the invention of a piquant* sauce or a popular cake. Thus Apicius, whose name is now immortalised and synonymous "with a gorger, was the inventor of cakes called apicians.

A philosopher who was a cook, or a cook who was a philosopher, was'treated with all the d3feren.ee and respect bestowed upon genius. Such a one was Arehestratus, who travelled over land and seas seeking gastronomieal knowledge, collecting table luxuries and making fresh discoveries for the advancement of good eating. His poem, ' Gastrology,' became the creed of the epicures. The first idea expressed in the opening passages of this epic is, "That round a, table delicately spread, 01 three or four, may sit in choice ropy st, or five at most," It was thought amongst this precious circle of Roman gcrnmnds that a repast should not consist of less in number than the Graces, nor of more than the Muses. The art of these ancient cooks appears at times almost to have embraced black magic. Their skill was such that they were able to serve up a whole pig boiled on one side and roasted on the other. The wizard who performed this fc-at defied detection as to where the knife had separated the animal, or how it was contrived t.o stuff the belly with an olio composed of thrushes and other birds, yolks of eggs, and highly spiced minced meats. After much persuasion he was.tempted to hand down to posterity his secret. The animal had been bled to death by a -wound under the shoulder, and after copious effusion the entrails had been extracted and washed in w;inc. It was then hung by the feet, and the prepared stuffing crammed down its throat. One half of the pig was covered with a paste of barley, thickened with wine and oil' and roasted in a small oven zr on a heated table of brass, where it was gently roasted with > much careful bastb'g. When the skin was browned, the other side was boiled. The barfey paste was' removed, and the culinary miracle ready for serving. . Fish from Turnip. Vegetarian cooking was no small part I of their art, and w T ith vegetables they ' could counterfeit the shape and flavour I of either flesh or fish. A story is told how the King of Bythinia, while on some expedition a great distance from the sea, expressed a great longing fo: a smal fish called aphy —a pilchard oi herring, or an anchovy. Out of a tuf ...ip the cook' produced to perfection it& shape, this he "fried in oil, salted, ana veil'powdered it with the grains of a dozen black poppies. This proved an .:.-qiusite piece of deception to His Ma .jesty 's palate, and he praised it to his quests as. a sample of the most excellent fish. Much as one commends all this skill arid knowledge that wont to the cooking of food in those days, one is re ;;!sed by the of.gluttony thai l produced among its patrons. Phil-

x.eneus was one of the'worst offenders. This unpleasant fellow wished that he j.va"?cased the neck of a" evanc so thai lie might be longer. in savouring hi* (Hindus. He used also to gargle his throat with scalding water so that he :;iight accustom it to the performance t< swallowing the hottest dishes. He bribed the cooks to serve everytmng smoking hot so that he might have the glorious advantage over his fellow diners of devouring what he chose before any of the others ventured to touch it. Food was eaten in the fingers. His were trained to hold the hottest"' morsels by his constantly holding them in scalding -water. It may be quite true that civilisation has advanced, and that "cooking is here regarded as a science," but were any of these ancient gentlemen to return to earth hostesses and hotel managers alike would have an anxious time, for one can picture Archestratus, after a visit to the chef, flinging his cloak about him, one hand raised in horror, muttering as he left the kitchen: "Call we this plodding fricasseer a cook! "