ages. The warriors of Homer had no want of them, so great was their
skill in cutting up the enormous pieces placed before them.[XV-54]
Ulysses acquired a reputation by his dexterity in this art; and it is
more than probable that his martial companions also distinguished
themselves by this kind of merit.
As soon as luxury had introduced into Greece that effeminate kind of
existence which only permits certain men to be engaged in the painful or
repulsive details of every-day life, _bouthutes_, or bullock
slaughterers, became indispensable; and of them the meat was bought by
the pound--weighed in the scale as now.[XV-55]
The Romans had, at first, butchers who dealt in the same way, and who
continued to do so for a long time; but they afterwards employed the
following most extravagant method. The buyer shut one of his hands; the
seller did the same; each of them suddenly opened the whole or a few of
his fingers. If the fingers were even on each side, the seller had the
price he pleased; if they were odd, the buyer gave his own price. This
was called _micare_.[XV-56] The mication was suppressed in the year 360,
by a decree of Apronianus, which is worth quoting, because it points out
in a clear and precise manner the attributions of the Roman butcher, and
the system of sale since followed:--
“Reason and experience have proved to us, that it is of public utility
to suppress the practice of mication for the sale of cattle, and that it
is more advisable to sell by weight than to trust to a game with the
fingers. We, therefore, ordain that, after the weight of the animal is
ascertained, the head, feet, and tallow, shall belong to the butcher who
has killed, prepared, and cut it up: this shall be his wages. The skin,
flesh, and entrails, shall belong to the master-butcher who is to retail
it. In this manner, the buyer and seller will know the weight of the
meat on sale, and each will find this method to his advantage. * * * We
will and decree that this ordinance be executed for ever, under pain of
death.”[XV-57]
There were at first, in Rome, two corporations or colleges of butchers:
one had to take care that the city was always sufficiently supplied with
oxen, calves, and sheep:[XV-58] the other was to provide that immense
capital with the quantity of hogs necessary;[XV-59] and it would be
difficult to form an idea of the number consumed by the Romans. Every
day a distribution was made to the people, by Valentinian’s order, of
24,086 pounds and eight ounces of pork; to this amount, already
considerable, must be added the truly prodigious daily sale; for the
entire population, from the highest to the lowest, were all passionately
fond of this kind of food.[XV-60]
The obligations and privileges of these two corporate bodies were nearly
the same as those of the bakers.[XV-61] The children could not, under
any pretext whatsoever, abandon the trade of their fathers, without
DESCRIPTION OF PLATE No. VIII.
SCALES AND WEIGHTS.--The ancients had several species of scales.
No. 1. A common scale, with two basins, and a movable weight, which
is made in the form of a head, covered with the pileus, because
Mercury had the weights and measures under his superintendence.
This ornamented scale is engraved on a stone in the gallery of
Florence.
No. 2. The Roman scale, beautifully made, with one tray, several
hooks, and the movable weight, in the shape of a shell.
No. 3. Common heavy weight.
No. 4. The Roman weights had the form of a sphere, partly cut above
and below; the greatest number of those which still subsist are of
basalt. The number of ounces, or of pounds, is commonly engraved on
the top, or inlaid with silver. All round it are inscriptions with
the name of the temple where they were preserved after they had
been stamped, together with the name of the prince, or the præfect
before whom the standard mark was made.
On No. 4, is “D. N. Honori. Aug. Domini nostri Honorii Augusti;”
and on No. 5, “Temp. Opis. Aug.,” or the temple of Opis Augusta.
[Illustration: _Pl. 8._]
incurring the entire loss of their share in the common benefit allowed
by the college. And, be it remembered, this trade was very lucrative, so
much so that those who followed it in Rome always enjoyed a degree of
opulence which sometimes caused the people to murmur. They elected from
among themselves a chief, who judged their differences; he was, however,
subordinate to the præfect of Rome.[XV-62]
The members of the two corporations cut, weighed, and retailed the meat;
they had under them working butchers, who killed, skinned, and trimmed
the animals, and then brought them each one to the shop of his
master.[XV-63]
In the sequel, the two colleges met, and formed one. Subsequently, under
the reign of Nero, which seemed at the beginning to promise the most
brilliant prospect, the principal market for butchers became an edifice
equal in magnificence to the Baths, the Circus, and
Amphitheatres.[XV-64] Eventually it was found necessary to erect two new
buildings, on account of the increasing extent of the city and its
inhabitants.[XV-65] The Roman butchers sold both fresh and salt meat,
like our own of the present day. It is not necessary to enter into any
explanation respecting the first; as to the second, their method of
preparation was somewhat different from the way we manage it now:--The
animals they intended to salt were kept from drinking anything on the
eve of the day they were to be killed. They boned the meat, and
sprinkled it lightly with pounded salt; then, after having well dried
off all dampness, they again sprinkled some more salt, and placed the
pieces, so as not to touch each other, in vessels which had been used
for oil or vinegar. They poured sweet wine over, covered the whole with
straw, and strewed snow all round, in order to make the meat better and
more tender.[XV-66]
When the cook wanted to extract the salt, he first boiled the meat well
in milk, and afterwards in soft water.[XV-67]
The flesh of various animals was also well preserved without salt. The
only thing necessary was to cover each piece with honey, and to place it
in a vessel hermetically closed, hung in a cool place. This operation
was usually performed in winter, and succeeded equally well with meat,
either cooked or raw.[XV-68]
The following are some of the statutes of the pork butchers in France,
during the middle ages:--
No one was to cook pork if it was not “_sufficient_, or had not good
marrow.”
No one could make “sausages of anything but pork.”
No one could sell “black puddings, for it is a perilous viand.”[XV-69]
The French word _charcutier_ (pork butcher) is derived from _caro
cocta_, _chair cuite_ (cooked meat).
The numerous regulations concerning the butchers in France during the
14th century rendered it difficult to carry on the trade:--
Prohibition to buy cattle except in the markets.
Prohibition to buy pigs fed by barbers or oil dealers.
Prohibition to kill cattle not a fortnight old.
Prohibition to kill cattle on the eve of fast days.
Prohibition to sell stale meat.
Prohibition to keep meat more than two days in winter, or more than one
day and a-half in summer.
Prohibition to sell meat by lamp light or candle light.
The regulations respecting the cleanliness of the slaughter houses and
the shambles were very long and very severe.[XV-70]
A butcher in Paris kept but one single kind of meat, in the 14th
century. Pork was sold only at Sainte-Geneviève, mutton at
Saint-Marceau, veal at Saint-Germain, and beef at the market of the
Châtelet.[XV-71]
Philip Augustus gave statutes to the butchers of Paris in the year 1182.
He enjoined them to observe the Sabbath, and permitted them to work on
the other days, with the exception of the great festivals.[XV-72]
The regulations imposed upon them in the 17th century are to the effect,
that they shall not keep the fat from one week to another; that they
shall not mix the different kinds of suet; and, lastly, that they shall
not have more than three shops, and shall not allow the blood to run in
the streets.[XV-73]
XVI.
ANIMALS.
THE PIG.
If intelligence, strength, or graceful beauty of form were to decide
what rank this numerous class of animals--which has contributed its
quota to the triumphs of the culinary art--should occupy on our tables,
the pig, with its vile and stupid ugliness, its depraved habits, and its
waddling obesity, would be banished for ever from the farm-yard and
larder in every civilised nation of the world.
But, in refusing to it brilliant external qualities, Nature, by a wise
compensation, has conferred on it others much more solid; and this
quadruped, so despised during its life-time, does not fail after its
death to conciliate the constant favour of rich and poor--of the man
indifferent to the attractions of good cheer, and of the Sybarite, ever
attentive to enlarge its domain.
Pliny, the naturalist, places the pig one degree below the scale of
beings. Apicius, the cook, gives it a marked preference over all meats
which passed through his skilful hands. From this, it will easily be
understood that the pig presents itself first in this survey of the
animal diet of those nations who have transmitted to us an account of
their gastrophagic exertions.
History shows us this animal variously appreciated by different
countries. Certain people consecrated it, when living, to their
divinities most in vogue; others honoured its image--a symbol, they
thought, of the quiet happiness of states; a small number abhorred it,
and the greater part found it excellent eating.
The inhabitants of Cyprus abstained from it, in order to offer it to
Venus.[XVI-1] The Cretans loaded it with acorns and all the comforts of
life, because Jupiter was first suckled by a sow in their island.[XVI-2]
The Egyptian priests never allowed a ham to grace their feasts; they
fled at the sight of pigs, unclean beings, whose presence alone defiled
them,[XVI-3] although respected by the whole nation on account of the
services they rendered in turning up the earth, and covering the seeds
thrown upon it.[XVI-4]
The law of Moses forbad the Jews to eat this quadruped, or to touch it
after its death,[XVI-5] and more than once they exposed themselves to
the most frightful torments rather than be defiled by this proscribed
viand.[XVI-6]
Tradition, again, strengthened their religious dread, by interdicting
the faithful from even pronouncing the name of this animal, from looking
at it, or selling it to foreign nations.[XVI-7]
The fear of the frightful malady to which the pig was subject in
Palestine was, perhaps, the cause of this prohibition. Has not a Jewish
doctor observed, that if ten measures of leprosy were to fall in the
world, this unhappy animal would take nine parts for his share.[XVI-8]
However, some theologians of that nation believe that the Messiah whom
they expect will allow them the use of this now odious food.[XVI-9]
Like the Jews, the Phœnicians[XVI-10] and Indians[XVI-11] did not eat
pork. The followers of Islamism also abstained from it, in consequence
of a law of the Koran, which Mahomet borrowed from Moses.[XVI-12]
The Greeks and Romans had very different ideas. They knew that their
gods showed a particular predilection for those altars on which bacon or
swine’s flesh smoked;[XVI-13] they therefore offered this meat in
sacrifice to the Earth, the Lares, to Ceres;[XVI-14] and many a time a
medal struck at Rome perpetuated the remembrance of this solemnity, in
honour of the goddess of harvest.[XVI-15]
The pig, emblem of fecundity with these two nations,[XVI-16] became, on
the banners of Italy, a sign of pardon and peace.[XVI-17] Kings and
princes immolated two on their wedding-day;[XVI-18] and nations subdued
by the Roman arms prostrated themselves before the standard, whose image
promised them the clemency of their conquerors.[XVI-19]
The re-establishment of the succulent quadruped would have been
complete, if the cynical carelessness of its rather inelegant habits had
not caused it to become a symbol of debauchery and profligacy of
manners.[XVI-20]
Hitherto the pig has only figured in a point of view purely historical;
we have not sought to weaken its faults, nor have we made mention of the
qualities attributed to it--for example, that of discovering truffles.
Nevertheless, we ought not to lose sight of the fact, that this animal
has not passed entirely without renown through the centuries which
divide us from the earliest ages of the world. We shall now speak of its
flesh, its exquisite flavour, and the place it occupied in feasts: there
it reigned with honour; there we must follow it, with all that antiquity
has possessed of celebrated men in the science of degustation and good
living.
Nature has created the pig for man’s palate; he is good only to be
eaten; and life appears to have been given to him merely as a sort of
salt to prevent his corrupting.[XVI-21] It is true that he possesses
only a vulgar and purely animal substance; but how good is this
substance, and how high does it deserve to be placed on account of its
delicacy and flavour?[XVI-22]
Such is the praise of which a physician and two philosophers have
thought it worthy.
The pig furnishes a strong and somewhat heavy kind of food;[XVI-23]
wherefore wrestlers were recommended to eat much of it, and Galen
advised it to persons who worked hard, or used violent exercise.[XVI-24]
But it was not necessary to recommend to the Greeks a meat of which they
were so fond. Look over the long work of Athenæus--he everywhere extols
it, everywhere speaks of it with fresh complacency, and in pompous
terms.[XVI-25]
An Athenian, renowned as a man of taste and for the refined elegance of
his table, would have thought his reputation lost had he not offered to
his guests fat _andouilles_, sausages, pigs’ feet, and pork cutlets;
above all, he was careful not to forget salted and smoked hams--the
honour of the banquet, and the delight of the human race.[XVI-26]
The Macedonian, Caranus, invited twenty of his best friends to his
wedding, and gave them a feast, of which gastrophagic annals have
preserved the remembrance. Each guest received from his munificence a
flagon and crown of silver, a crown of gold, and vases of the same
precious metal. What shall we say of the dishes displayed at this
meeting of learned epicureans? Composed by the art of the most skilful
cooks, struck with admiration, they ate and relished, whilst unexpected
wonders unceasingly solicited their fatigued, yet not satiated,
appetites; when at last appeared an immense silver dish, on which was
displayed an entire roasted hog, whose vast sides concealed a multitude
of quails and other small birds, _tétines de truie_, relishing yolks of
eggs, oysters, and a host of shell fish, prepared with that scientific
regard for gastric energy which considerably increases its
power.[XVI-27]
Macedonia possessed a particular species of pig, greatly envied by the
rest of Greece. Certain individuals of this giant race acquired enormous
proportions, and King Eumenes used to give as much as sixty-four pounds
sterling for one of these animals, provided it measured four feet seven
inches in height, and as much in length.[XVI-28]
It will be easily understood that the cooks vied with each other, to see
who could form unheard-of combinations with the succulent pieces which
these enormous pigs furnished. They disguised the taste and form in a
thousand different ways, and the most experienced palate was always the
dupe of these exquisite deceptions. Thus Titius Quintus, a clever
amateur, being enraptured with the number and astonishing variety of
dishes which his host caused to be served, at Chalies in Etolia, what
was his surprise when the amiable Amphytrion smilingly told him that he
had eaten nothing but pork![XVI-29]
Rome, be it observed, knew how to follow the example of Greece; and, in
the hands of its skilful cooks, the flesh of this heavy animal was often
transformed into delicate fish, ducks, turtle doves, or capons.[XVI-30]
But the masterpiece of these great artists--the _ne plus ultra_ of their
fertile imagination--was the hog _à la Troyenne_, so named because from
the depth of its inside issued battalions of thrushes, myriads of
ortolans, and fig-peckers (becaficoes)--an ingenious image of those
armed cohorts inclosed in the horse of Troy.[XVI-31] Everywhere the
sumptuous dish is cited, but nothing is said of the manner in which it
was prepared. The curious will perhaps be thankful to find that this
omission is here repaired:--
The animal is artistically bled under the shoulder. When all the blood
has flowed, the intestines are drawn out by the throat, and washed for a
long time with wine, taking care to pass it through them. The pig is
then hung up by the feet, and washed also with wine. An excellent gravy
must be prepared beforehand, with meat hashed small and well peppered,
with which you stuff the intestines, and then force them back into their
place by the throat. Pour in at the same time a great quantity of gravy,
and fill the animal with small game. Half of the pig is afterwards
covered with a thick paste of barley meal, wine, and oil. It is then put
into a portable oven, on a small metal table, where it is roasted by a
slow fire. When the skin has assumed a fine colour it is withdrawn, and
boiled on the other side; the paste covering is then entirely removed,
and the pig _à la Troyenne_ may be served.[XVI-32] The Romans reared a
great number of these animals, and also procured many from foreign
countries, especially from Arcadia, which produced some of extraordinary
size. Varro relates that in this part of the Peloponnesus he was shown a
pig so fat that it was impossible for the animal to make the least
movement; and that a mouse had settled on its back with her young
family, softly ensconced in the fat, where they fed at the expense of
the careless animal.[XVI-33]
Rome adopted, with a kind of gastronomic rage, the preparations and
_ragoûts_ celebrated in Greece.[XVI-34] The Trojan pig never failed to
appear on tables renowned for their luxury;[XVI-35] and sucking pigs
were eaten in such profusion, that the censors were obliged to interdict
their use. Alexander Severus renewed this prohibition.[XVI-36] The large
pigs stuffed with game (an expensive delicacy of patrician tables) also
called forth new sumptuary laws,[XVI-37] which only provoked disdain,
and which fashion soon rendered obsolete.
We hardly dare mention a strange dish, in great request among the rich
and luxurious, who alone could procure it. The first preparation
consisted in stifling the young before they were littered.[XVI-38] Thank
Heaven, this culinary atrocity could not survive an epoch without
parallel, perhaps, in the history of human follies, by we know not what
refinement of incredible gluttony, of frightful depravity, and atrocious
cruelty, which, together, prepared the downfall of the Roman colossus.
Besides this disgusting dish, much was thought at Rome, as well as at
Athens, of pig’s head, spare-rib, hams, and bacon. Seven other parts
occupied the second rank--these were the ears, feet, foreloin, fillet,
cheek, intestines, and blood.[XVI-39]
Westphalia supplied sumptuous tables with much-esteemed hams; but those
of Sardinia, Catalonia, and Cantabria were, nevertheless,
preferred.[XVI-40] They were sometimes served at the beginning of a
repast, in order to excite the appetite; and also often at the close, in
order to re-animate its extinguished ardour, and provoke new
libations.[XVI-41] One of the most ancient geoponics teaches how to
prepare, salt, and smoke hams;[XVI-42] for the inhabitants of the
country, and the lower classes in the cities, showed a singular taste
for this delicate meat, which the Gauls (great amateurs of
pork)[XVI-43] sent them at a low price, with an enormous quantity of
pickled pork, _andouillettes_, and sausages.[XVI-44]
This last preparation, very celebrated in Lucania,[XVI-45] served as a
means of livelihood to a great number of Roman women, who also employed
themselves in making excellent black puddings, in imitation of those
eaten in Greece.[XVI-46]
Bacon was then of great utility, as in the present day, though oil
superseded it in the concoction of a host of dishes. Bacon for a long
time served almost as the exclusive food of the Romans,[XVI-47] before
their unruly luxury had given it up to the soldiers and
proletarians.[XVI-48] It was also found in all public houses,[XVI-49]
where the populace habitually gorged themselves with pork,
vegetables,[XVI-50] and hot water.[XVI-51]
The ancients salted the pig, in order to preserve it; but Apicius taught
them a very simple process for the use of epicures, which advantageously
replaced common brine. You take middling-sized pieces of pork, cover
them entirely with a sort of paste, composed of salt, vinegar, and
honey, and place them in vessels which you close carefully.[XVI-52]
We will now indicate some of the dishes most in vogue prepared with
pork--a meat so much esteemed by the Greeks and Romans, and in which
they believed themselves to have discovered fifty different
flavours,[XVI-53] or fifty parts, each possessing a distinct taste from
the other.
_Apician Pork._--Roast a fine young sucking pig; and whilst a slow fire
gently embellishes it with a golden colour, pound, with pepper and
alisander, some coriander seed, mint, and rue. Then pour over it some
wine, honey, garum, or gravy; mix with care these different ingredients,
and pour this seasoning on your roast, as soon as you have taken it from
the spit or oven.[XVI-54]
_Macedonian Pork._--Choose, among a number of large and fine sucking
pigs, the one which appears to you the most worthy of the culinary
sacrifice. Draw it by the upper part; clean it well, and fill it with
chicken sausages chopped small, the flesh of thrushes, ortolans, and
pork; add Lucanian sausages, dates without stones, raisins, and
afterwards, mallow, beet, leeks, parsley, coriander, whole pepper, and
pine nuts; add eggs, and a good quantity of well-peppered gravy. Bake
it, having previously scored the back of the animal, so that it may be
basted with its own gravy. When a delightful odour shall then warn you
that it is done, cover it, before serving, with a relishing mixture of
pepper, rue, garum, or gravy, to which you must add wine, honey, and a
little oil.[XVI-55]
_Stuffed Sucking Pig._--The intestines are drawn out by the throat, and
an opening made under the skin. You then fill with stuffing a bladder,
to the neck of which is securely fixed a long and narrow tube, which
will convey to every part the somewhat liquid substance which you will
express from the bladder. The opening is then closed with parchment sewn
to the skin. It is hardly necessary to say that this operation should be
performed in several places.
Let us now see to the inside. Crush pepper, alisander, wild marjoram,
and a little benzoin root; mix with this, garum or gravy, cooked brains,
raw eggs, flour, and pork gravy; the whole must be boiled on a slow
fire, and the pig filled with it, also with little birds, pine nuts,
whole pepper, and garum. It now only remains to place it in the oven,
watch over the cooking, baste it with gravy, and serve.[XVI-56]
_Aristoxenic Ham._--Take a fresh ham, salt it, and smoke it two days;
then rub it with a mixture of oil and vinegar, and hang it to the
ceiling.[XVI-57] Some days after you must boil it with a great quantity
of figs and three bay leaves; then take off the skin, make incisions in
the flesh, and fill them with honey. Finally, prepare a paste of flour
and oil, with which cover the ham; put it into the oven, and withdraw it
only when this crust is completely done.[XVI-58]