COOKERY. To prepare and soften food by the action of fire, and so to render it fit for digestion by the human stomach, has been a general custom from remote times; and more or less of skill in accomplishing this primary end has been displayed, according to the knowledge, wealth, and refinement possessed by each nation or people.
In ancient times, the occasion of a banquet appears chiefly to have arisen in a sacri fice to the gods, when a part of the victim was brought to the dwelling of the sacrificer, and was cooked for the feast. Birthdays, funerals, and victories were also celebrated in this manner. "The Persians," says Herodotus, "were accustomed to honor, above all others, that day on which they were born, when the rich among them would sacrifice an ox, a horse, or a camel, which they roasted whole in ovens, while the poorer class gave only the smaller animals, as sheep. Yet the Persians were not great eaters of meat, but consumed much sweet food, and did not use salt." The appendages to the higher order of banquets were most magnificent, so that in point of quantity and display they were very expensive. Herodotus says on this head, " that the Greeks who invited Xerxes to supper, all came to the extremity of ruin; and that, wherever he took two meals, dining as well as supping, that city was utterly ruined.
The Egyptians, It is said, were great bread-eaters. Though they possessed wheaten flour of the finest sort, they do not appear to have used it for their common bread, which was made of spelt, or of the center of the lotus dried and pounded. Fish they salted and dried in the sun; quails, ducks, and small birds they salted and ate raw. We read of their roasting and boiling the flesh of the ox. Large flocks of geese and of fowls were kept by them for the use of the table, hence their plan for the artificial hatching of eggs. " Fish was used by all classes except the priests, but the staple food of the people con sisted of vegetables, of which they had a large supply." Ilerodotus mentions their making. beer from barley, which they called lythus. We may still see the form in which their food came to table; ducks, loaves made round, and some biscuits and cakes, which have been taken from Egyptian tombs, arc to be found in the British museum. Apollonius,
who wrote a treatise ou the feasts of the Egyptians, says that they ate in a sitting pos ture. using the very simplest and most wholesome food.
There appears to have been considerable difference as to the manner in which good eating was appreciated in different parts of Greece. The Athenian meals are ridiculed by the comedians for their parsimony. After the Homeric age of simplicity, in which roast and boiled meat seems to have sufficed the kingly table, a diversity of preparation was obtained in cooking, and a certain epicureanism displayed in the quality, seasoning. and method of dressing food. The names of many authors of C. books arc preserved iu the writings of Athenmus; that of Archestratus, who is called the guide of Epicurus in his pleasures, and styled the inventor of made dishes, being the most renowned.
Fish was a principal article of food with all classes of Greeks; but with the wealthier, much skill and delicacy were used in cooking it, and choice and expensive sorts were sought after. Archestratus writes of "a boiled torpedo done in oil and wine, and fra grant herbs, and some thin grated cheese." Fish, stuffed with force-meat and fried, boiled in pickle, baked in fig-leaves soaked in oil, cooked in hot ashes, etc., are among the recipes we find recorded. Large quantities of salt-fish were brought from the shores of the Euxine and the Hellespont; and this, 'with meal, cheese, and onions, was the chief food of the armies and navies when on service. The Greeks boiled and roasted the flesh of sheep, pigs, lambs, and goats. They had poultry, small birds, and game, and sausages made of blood, partakino. of the character of black-puddings. The bread made at Athens was the most celebrated; it was sometimes household, but chiefly bought in the market, and was made in great variety, as pan-loaves, rolls, sweet loaves, etc. The bread eaten by the poorer classes was made of barley, and sometimes flavored with oil, honey, poppy-seed, etc. Athenian cheese-cakes were also famous; and they had honey and sesame-cakes, which, with fresh and dried fruits, as figs, almonds, olives, and nuts, seem to have been partaken of after dinner. They consumed vegetable food also in abundance, and had cabbage, onions, lettuce, and so on.