following as the Cook in Plautus would deservedly laugh at But how infinitely out-done in this Age of ours by the Variety of so many rare Edules unknown to the Ancients that there 's no room for the Comparison And for Magnificence let the Sallet drest by the Lady for an Entertainment made by Jacobus Catsius describ'd by the Poet * Barl. Eleg. lib. 3. Barloeus shew not at all yet out-doing what we every Day almost find at our Lord Mayor's Table and other great Persons Lovers of the Gardens that sort of elegant Cookery being capable of such wonderful Variety tho' not altogether wanting of old if that be true which is related to us of ‖ Athen. Deip. l. 1. Nicomedes a certain King of Bithynia whose Cook made him a Pilchard a Fish he exceedingly long'd for of a well dissembl'd Turnip carv'd in its Shape and drest with Oyl Salt and Pepper that so deceiv'd and yet pleased the Prince that he commended it for the best Fish he had ever eaten Nor does all this exceed what every industrious Gardiner may innocently enjoy as well as the greatest Potentate on Earth Vitellius his Table to which every Day All Courtiers did a constant Tribute pay Could nothing more delicious afford Than Nature's Liberality Help'd with a little Art and Industry Allows the meanest Gard'ners Board The wanton Taste no Fish or Fowl can chuse For which the Grape or Melon she would lose Tho' all th' Inhabitants of Sea and Air. Be listed in the Glutton's Bill of Fare Yet still the Sallet and the Fruit we see Plac'd the third Story high in all her Luxury So the Sweet †Cowley Garden Stanz 6. Poet whom I can never part with for his Love to this delicious Toil and the Honour he has done me Verily the infinite Plenty and Abundance with which the benign and bountiful Author of Nature has stor'd the whole Terrestrial World more with Plants and Vegetables than with any other Provision whatsoever and the Variety not only equal but by far exceeding the Pleasure and Delight of Taste above all the Art of the Kitchen than ever * Hence in Macrobius Sat. lib. vii c. 5. we find Eupolis the Comedian in his Aeges bringing in Goats boasting the Variety of their Food 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. After which follows a Banquet of innumerable sorts Apicius knew seems loudly to call and kindly invite all her living Inhabitants none excepted who are of gentle Nature and most useful to the same Hospitable and Common-Board which first she furnish'd with Plants and Fruit as to their natural and genuine Pasture nay and of the most wild and savage too ab origine As in Paradise where as the Evangelical †Esa lxv 25. Prophet adumbrating the future Glory of the Catholick Church of which that happy Garden was the Antitype the Wolf and the Lamb the angry and furious Lion should eat Grass and Herbs together with the Ox. But after all latet anguis in herba there 's a Snake in the Grass Luxury and Excess in our most innocent Fruitions There was a time indeed when the Garden furnish'd Entertainments for the most Renown'd Heroes virtuous and excellent Persons till the Blood-thirsty and Ambitious over-running the Nations and by Murders and Rapine rifl'd the World to transplant its Luxury to its new Mistriss Rome Those whom heretofore * Bina tunc jugera populo Romano satis erat nullÃque majorem modum attribuit quo servos paulo ante principis Neronis contemptis hujus spatii Viridariis piscinas juvat habere majores gratúmque si non aliquem culinas Plin. Hist Nat. lib. xviii c. 2. two Acres of Land would have satisfied and plentifully maintain'd had afterwards their very Kitchens almost as large as their first Territories Nor was that enough Entire * Interea gustus elementa per omnia quaerunt Juv. Sat. 4. Forests and Parks Warrens and Fish-Ponds and ample Lakes to furnish their Tables so as Men could not live by one another without Oppression Nay and to shew how the best and most innocent things may be perverted they chang'd those frugal and inemptas Dapes of their Ancestors to that Height and Profusion that we read of †Cicero Epist Lib. 7. Ep. 26. Complaining of a costly Sallet that had almost cost him his Life Edicts and Sumptuary Laws enacted to restrain even the Pride and Excess of Sallets But so it was not when the Pease-Field spread a Table for the Conquerors of the World and their Grounds were cultivated Vomere laureato triumphali aratore The greatest Princes took the Spade and the Plough-Staff in the same Hand they held the Sceptre and the Noblest †Valeriana That of Lectucini Achilleia Lysimachia Fabius Cicero Lentulus Piso c. à Fabis Cicere Lente Pisis bene serendis dicti Plin. Families thought it no Dishonour to derive their Names from Plants and Sallet-Herbs They arriv'd I say to that Pitch of ingrossing all that was but green and could be vary'd by the Cook Heu quam prodiga ventris that as Pliny tells us non sine pudore not without blushing a poor Man could hardly find a Thistle to dress for his Supper or what his hungry * Mirum esset non licere pecori Carduis vesci non licet plebei c. And in another Place Quoniam portenta quoque terrarum in ganeam vertimus etiam quae refugeant quadrupedes consciae Plin. Hist Nat. l. xix c. 8. Ass would not touch for fear of pricking his Lips Verily the Luxury of the East ruin'd the greatest Monarchies first the Persian then the Grecian and afterwards Rome her self By what Steps see elegantly describ'd in Old ‖ Gra. Falisc Cyneget Was See concerning this Excess Macr. Sat. l. 2. c. 9. sequ Gratius the Faliscian deploring his own Age compar'd with the former O quantum quoties decoris frustrata paterni At qualis nostris quà m simplex mensa Camillis Qui tibi cultus erat post tot serrane triumphos Ergo illi ex habitu virtutisque indole priscae Imposuere orbi Romam caput Neighb'ring Excesses being made thine own How art thou fall'n from thine old Renown But our Camilli did but plainly fare No Port did oft triumphant Serran bear Therefore such Hardship and their Heart so great Gave Rome to be the World 's Imperial Seat But as these were the Sensual and Voluptuous who abus'd their Plenty spent their Fortunes and shortned their Lives by their Debauches so never did they taste the Delicaces and true Satisfaction of a sober Repast and the infinite Conveniences of what well-stor'd Garden affords so elegantly describ'd by the * Horti maximè placebant quia non egerent igni parceréntque ligno expedita res parata semper unde Acetaria appellantur facilia concoqui nec oneratura sensum cibo quae minimè accenderent desiderium panis Plin. Hist Nat. Lib. xix c. 4.
yet less astringent and so harmless that it may safely be eaten raw in Fevers for it allays Heat bridles Choler extinguishes Thirst excites Appetite kindly Nourishes and above all represses Vapours conciliates Sleep mitigates Pain besides the effect it has upon the Morals Temperance and Chastity Galen whose beloved Sallet it was from its pinguid subdulcid and agreeable Nature says it breeds the most laudable Blood No marvel then that they were by the Ancients called Sana by way of eminency and so highly valu'd by the great * Apud Sueton. Augustus that attributing his Recovery of a dangerous Sickness to them 't is reported he erected a Statue and built an Altar to this noble Plant. And that the most abstemious and excellent Emperor †Vopiscus Tacit. For the rest both of the Kinds and Vertues of Lettuce See Plin. H. Nat. I. xix c. 8. and xx c. 7. Fernel c. Tacitus spending almost nothing at his frugal Table in other Dainties was yet so great a Friend to Lettuce that he was us'd to say of his Prodigality Somnum se mercari illa sumptus effusione How it was celebrated by Galen we have heard how he us'd it he tells himself namely beginning with Lettuce in his younger Days and concluding with it when he grew old and that to his great advantage In a word we meet with nothing among all our crude Materials and Sallet store so proper to mingle with any of the rest nor so wholsome to be eaten alone or in Composition moderately and with the usual Oxâ—laeum of Vinegar Pepper and Oyl c. which last does not so perfectly agree with the Alphange to which the Juice of Orange or Limon and Sugar is more desirable Aristoxenus is reported to have irrigated his Lettuce-Beds with an Oinomelite or mixture of Wine and Honey And certainly 't is not for nothing that our Garden-Lovers and Brothers of the Sallet have been so exceedingly Industrious to cultivate this Noble Plant and multiply its Species for to name a few in present use We have the Alphange of Montpelier crisp and delicate the Arabic Ambervelleres Belgrade Cabbage Capuchin Cross-Lettuce Curl'd the Genoa lasting all the Winter the Imperial Lambs or Agnine and Lobbs or Lop-Lettuces The French Minion a dwarf kind The Oak-Leaf Passion Roman Shell and Silesian hard and crimp esteemed of the best and rarest with divers more And here let it be noted that besides three or four sorts of this Plant and some few of the rest there was within our remembrance rarely any other Salleting serv'd up to the best Tables with unblanch'd Endive Succory Purselan and indeed little other variety Sugar and Vinegar being the constant Vehicles without Oyl but now Sugar is almost wholly banish'd from all except the more effeminate Palates as too much palling and taking from the grateful Acid now in use tho' otherwise not totally to be reproved Lettuce boil'd and Condited is sometimes spoken of 35. Limon Limonia citrea mala exceedingly refreshing Cordial c. The Pulp being blended with the Juice secluding the over-sweet or bitter See Orange 36. Mallow Malva the curl'd emollient and friendly to the Ventricle and so rather Medicinal yet may the Tops well boil'd be admitted and the rest tho' out of use at present was taken by the Poets for all Sallets in general Pythagoras held Malvae folium Sanctissimum and we find Epimenides in * De Legib. Plato at his Mallows and Asphodel and indeed it was of old the first Dish at Table The Romans had it also in deliciis ¶ Hor Epod. 11. Malvae salubres corpori approved by * De Simp. Medic. L. vii Galen and †Lib. ii cap. 3. Dioscorides namely the Garden-Mallow by others the Wild but I think both proper rather for the Pot than Sallet Nonius supposes the tall Rofea Arborescent Holi-hocks that bears the broad Flower for the best and very ‖ Exoneraturas Ventrem mihi Villica Malvas Attulit varias quas habet hortus Opes Mart. Lib. x. And our sweet Poet Nulla est humanior herba Nulla magis suavi commoditate bona est Omnia tam placidè regerat blandéque relaxat Emollitque vias nec sinit esse rudes Cowl Plan. L. 4. Laxative but by reason of their clamminess and Lentor banished from our Sallet tho' by some commended and eaten with Oyl and Vinegar and some with Butter Mercury Bonus Henricus English Mercury or Lapathum Vnctuosum See Blitum 37. Melon Melo to have been reckon'd rather among Fruits and tho' an usual Ingredient in our Sallet yet for its transcendent delicacy and flavor cooling and exhilarating Nature if sweet dry weighty and well-fed not only superior to all the Gourd-kind but Paragon with the noblest Productions of the Garden Jos Scaliger and Casaubon think our Melon unknown to the Ancients which others contradict as yet under the name of Cucumers But he who reads how artificially they were Cultivated rais'd under Glasses and expos'd to the hot Sun for Tiberius cannot well doubt of their being the same with ours There is also a Winter-Melon large and with black Seeds exceedingly Cooling brought us from abroad and the hotter Climates where they drink Water after eating Melons but in the colder after all dispute Wine is judg'd the better That it has indeed by some been accus'd as apt to corrupt in the Stomach as do all things else eaten in excess is not deny'd But a perfect good Melon is certainly as harmless a Fruit as any whatsoever and may safely be mingl'd with Sallet in Pulp or Slices or more properly eaten by it self with a little Salt and Pepper for a Melon which requires Sugar to commend it wants of Perfection Note That this Fruit was very rarely cultivated in England so as to bring it to Maturity till Sir Geo. Gardner came out of Spain I my self remembring when an ordinary Melon would have been sold for five or six Shillings The small unripe Fruit when the others are past may be Pickl'd with Mango and are very delicate 38. Mint Mentha the Angustifolia Spicata Spear-Mint dry and warm very fragrant a little press'd is friendly to the weak Stomach and powerful against all Nervous Crudities The gentler Tops of the Orange-Mint enter well into our Composition or are grateful alone as are also the other sorts with the Juice of Orange and a little Sugar 39. Mushroms Fungi By the * Cic. ad Attic. Orator call'd Terrae by Porphyry Deorum filii without Seed as produc'd by the Midwifry of Autumnal Thunder-Storms portending the Mischief they cause by the French Champignons with all the Species of the Boletus c. for being as some hold neither Root Herb Flower nor Fruit nor to be eaten crude should be therefore banish'd entry into our Sallet were I to order the Composition however so highly contended for by many as the very principal and top of all the rest whilst I think them tolerable only
the Composition of Mustard as are also the thin Shavings mingled with our cold Herbs And now before I have done with this Root for an excellent and universal Condiment Take Horse-Radish whilst newly drawn out of the Earth otherwise laid to steep in Water a competent time then grate it on a Grater which has no bottom that so it may pass thro' like a Mucilage into a Dish of Earthen Ware This temper'd with Vinegar in which a little Sugar has been dissolv'd you have a Sauce supplying Mustard to the Sallet and serving likewise for any Dish besides 52. Rampion Rapunculus or the Esculent Campanula The tender Roots eaten in the Spring like those of Radishes but much more Nourishing 53. Rocket Eruca Spanish hot and dry to be qualified with Lettuce Purcelain and the rest c. See Tarragon Roccombo See Onions 54. Rosemary Rosmarinus Soverainly Cephalic and for the Memory Sight and Nerves incomparable And tho' not us'd in the Leaf with our Sallet furniture yet the Flowers a little bitter are always welcome in Vinegar but above all a fresh Sprig or two in a Glass of Wine See Flowers 55. Sage Salvia hot and dry The tops of the Red well pick'd and wash'd being often defil'd with Venomous Slime and almost imperceptible Insects with the Flowers retain all the noble Properties of the other hot Plants more especially for the Heád Memory Eyes and all Paralytical Affections In short 't is a Plant endu'd with so many and wonderful Properties as that the assiduous use of it is said to render Men Immortal We cannot therefore but allow the tender Summities of the young Leaves but principally the Flowers in our cold Sallet yet so as not to domineer Salsifax Scorzonera See Vipergrass 56. Sampier Crithmum That growing on the Sea-Cliffs as about Dover c. not only Pickl'd but crude and cold when young and tender and such as we may Cultivate and have in our Kitchin-Gardens almost the Year round is in my Opinion for its Aromatic and other excellent Vertues and Effects against the Spleen Cleansing the Passages sharpning Appetite c. so far preferrable to most of our hotter Herbs and Sallet-Ingredients that I have long wonder'd it has not been long since propagated in the Potagere as it is in France from whence I have often receiv'd the Seeds which have prosper'd better and more kindly with me than what comes from our own Coasts It does not indeed Pickle so well as being of a more tender Stalk and Leaf But in all other respects for composing Sallets it has nothing like it 57. Scalions Ascalonia Cepae The French call them Appetites which it notably quickens and stirs up Corrects Crudities and promotes Concoction The Italians steep them in Water mince and eat them cold with Oyl Vinegar Salt c. 58. Scurvy-grass Cochlearia of the Garden but especially that of the Sea is sharp biting and hot of Nature like Nasturtium prevalent in the Scorbute A few of the tender Leaves may be admitted in our Composition See Nasturtium Indicum 59. Sellery Apium Italicum and of the Petroseline Family was formerly a stranger with us nor very long since in Italy is an hot and more generous sort of Macedonian Persley or Smallage The tender Leaves of the Blancht Stalk do well in our Sallet as likewise the slices of the whiten'd Stems which being crimp and short first peel'd and slit long wise are eaten with Oyl Vinegar Salt and Peper and for its high and grateful Taste is ever plac'd in the middle of the Grand Sallet at our Great Mens Tables and Praetors Feasts as the Grace of the whole Board Caution is to be given of a small red Worm often lurking in these Stalks as does the green in Fennil Shallots See Onion 60. Skirrets Sisarum hot and moist corroborating and good for the Stomach exceedingly nourishing wholsome and delicate of all the Root-kind not subject to be Windy and so valued by the Emperor Tiberius that he accepted them for Tribute This excellent Root is seldom eaten raw but being boil'd stew'd roasted under the Embers bak'd in Pies whole sliced or in pulp is very acceptable to all Palates 'T is reported they were heretofore something bitter See what Culture and Education effects 61. Sorrel Acetosa of which there are divers kinds The French Acetocella with the round Leaf growing plentifully in the North of England Roman Oxalis the broad German c. but the best is of Green-Land by nature Cold Abstersive Acid sharpning Appetite asswages Heat cools the Liver strengthens the Heart is an Antiscorbutic resisting Putrefaction and imparting so grateful a quickness to the rest as supplies the want of Orange Limon and other Omphacia and therefore never to be excluded Vide Wood-Sorrel 62. Sow-thistle Sonchus of the Intybus-kind Galen was us'd to eat it as Lettuce exceedingly welcome to the late Morocco Ambassador and his Retinue 63. Sparagus Asparagus ab Asperitate temperately hot and moist Cordial Diuretic easie of Digestion and next to Flesh nothing more nourishing as Sim. Sethius an excellent Physician holds They are sometimes but very seldom eaten raw with Oyl and Vinegar but with more delicacy the bitterness first exhausted being so speedily boil'd as not to lose the verdure and agreeable tenderness which is done by letting the Water boil before you put them in I do not esteem the Dutch great and larger sort especially rais'd by the rankness of the Beds so sweet and agreeable as those of a moderate size 64. Spinach Spinachia of old not us'd in Sallets and the oftner kept out the better I speak of the crude But being boil'd to a Pult and without other Water than its own moisture is a most excellent Condiment with Butter Vinegar or Limon for almost all sorts of boil'd Flesh and may accompany a Sick Man's Diet. 'T is Laxative and Emollient and therefore profitable for the Aged and tho' by original a Spaniard may be had at almost any Season and in all places Stone-Crop Sedum Minus See Trick-Madame 65. Succory Cichorium an Intube erratic and wild with a narrow dark Leaf different from the Sative tho' probably by culture only and for being very bitter a little edulcorated with Sugar and Vinegar is by some eaten in the Summer and more grateful to the Stomach than the Palate See Endive 66. Tansy Tanacetum hot and cleansing but in regard of its domineering relish sparingly mixt with our cold Sallet and much fitter tho' in very small quantity for the Pan being qualified with the Juices of other fresh Herbs Spinach Green Corn Violet Primrose-Leaves c. at entrance of the Spring and then fried brownish is eaten hot with the Juice of Orange and Sugar as one of the most agreeable of all the boil'd Herbaceous Dishes 67. Tarragon Draco Herba of Spanish Extraction hot and spicy The Tops and young Shoots like those of Rochet never to be secluded our Composition especially where there is much Lettuce 'T is highly cordial and
friendly to the Head Heart Liver correcting the weakness of the Ventricle c. 68. Thistle Carduus Mariae our Lady 's milky or dappl'd Thistle disarm'd of its Prickles is worth esteem The young Stalk about May being peel'd and soak'd in Water to extract the bitterness boil'd or raw is a very wholsome Sallet eaten with Oyl Salt and Peper some eat them sodden in proper Broath or bak'd in Pies like the Artichoak but the tender Stalk boil'd or fry'd some preferr both Nourishing and Restorative â—9 Trick-Madame Sedum miâ—us Stone-Crop is cooling and moist grateful to the Stomach The Cimata and Tops when young and tender dress'd as Purselane is a frequent Ingredient in our cold Sallet 70. Turnep Rapum moderately hot and moist Napus the long Navet is certainly the most delicate of them and best Nourishing Pliny speaks of no fewer than six sorts and of several Colours some of which were suspected to be artificially tinged But with us the yellow is preferr'd by others the red Bohemian But of whatever kind being sown upon the Hot-bed and no bigger than seedling Radish they do excellently in Composition as do also the Stalks of the common Turnep when first beginning to Bud. And here should not be forgotten that wholsome as well as agreeable sort of Bread we are * Philos Transact Vol. xvii Num. 205. p. 970. taught to make and of which we have eaten at the greatest Persons Tables hardly to be distinguish'd from the best of Wheat Let the Turneps first be peel'd and boil'd in Water till soft and tender then strongly pressing out the Juice mix them together and when dry beaten or pounded very fine with their weight of Wheat-Meal season it as you do other Bread and knead it up then letting the Dough remain a little to ferment fashion the Paste into Loaves and bake it like common Bread Some roast Turneps in a Paper under the Embers and eat them with Sugar and Butter 71. Vine Vitis the Capreols Tendrels and Claspers like those of the Hop c. whilst very young have an agreeable Acid which may be eaten alone or with other Sallet 72. Viper-grass Tragopogon Scorzonera Salsifex c. tho' Medicinal and excellent against the Palpitation of the Heart Faintings Obstruction of the Bowels c. are besides a very sweet and pleasant Sallet being laid to soak out the bitterness then peel'd may be eaten raw or Condited but best of all stew'd with Marrow Spice Wine c. as Artichoak Skirrets c. sliced or whole They likewise may bake fry or boil them a more excellent Root there is hardly growing 73. Wood-Sorrel Trifolium acetosum or Alleluja of the nature of other Sorrels To all which might we add sundry more formerly had in deliciis since grown obsolete or quite neglected with us As among the noblest Bulbs that of the Tulip a Root of which has been valued not to eat but for the Flower and yet eaten by mistake at more than an hundred Pounds The young fresh Bulbs are sweet and high of taste The Asphodil or Daffodil a Sallet so rare in Hesiod's Days that Lobel thinks it the Parsnep tho' not at all like it however it was with the Mallow taken anciently for any Edule-Root The Ornithogalons roasted as they do Chestnuts are eaten by the Italians the wild yellow especially with Oyl Vinegar and Peper And so the small tuberous Roots of Gramen Amygdalosum which they also roast and make an Emulsion of to use in Broaths as a great Restorative The Oxylapathum not us'd of old in the time of Galen was eaten frequently As also Dracontium with the Mordicant Arum Theophrasti which Dodonaeus teaches how to Dress Nay divers of the Satyrions which some condited with Sugar others boil'd in Milk for a great Nourisher now discarded But what think we of the Cicuta which there are who reckon among Sallet Herbs But whatever it is in any other Country 't is certainly Mortiferous in ours To these add the Viola Matronalis Radix Lunaria c. nay the Green Popy by most accounted among the deadly Poysons How cautious then ought our Sallet-Gatherers to be in reading ancient Authors lest they happen to be impos'd on where they treat of Plants that are familiarly eaten in other Countries and among other Nations and People of more robust and strong Constitutions besides the hazard of being mistaken in the Names of divers Simples not as yet fully agreed upon among the Learned in Botany There are besides several remaining which tho' Abdicated here with us find Entertainment still in Foreign Countries As the large Heliotrope and Sun-flower e're it comes to expand and shew its golden Face which being dress'd as the Artichoak is eaten for a dainty This I add as a new Discovery I once made Macaroons with the ripe blanch'd Seeds but the Turpentine did so domineer over all that it did not answer expectation The Radix Personata mounting with their young Heads Lysimachia siliquosa glabra minor when fresh and tender begins to come into the Sallet-Tribe The pale whiter Popy is eaten by the Genouese By the Spaniards the tops of Wormwood with Oyl alone and without so much as Bread profitable indeed to the Stomach but offensive to the Head As is also Coriander and Rue which Galen was accustom'd to eat raw and by it self with Oyl and Salt as exceedingly grateful as well as wholsome and of great vertue against Infection Pliny I remember reports it to be of such effect for the Preservation of Sight that the Painters of his Time us'd to devour a great quantity of it And it is still by the Italians frequently mingled among their Sallets The Lapatha Personata common Burdock comes now and then to the best Tables about April and when young before the Burrs and Clots appear being strip'd and the bitterness soaked out treated as the Chardoon is eaten in Poiverade Some also boil them More might here be reckon'd up but these may suffice since as we find some are left off and gone out so others be introduc'd and come in their room and that in much greater Plenty and Variety than was ever known by our Ancestors The Cucumber it self now so universally eaten being accounted little better than Poyson even within our Memory as already noted To conclude and after all that has been said of Plants and Salleting formerly in great esteem but since obsolete and quite rejected What if the exalted Juice of the ancient Silphium should come in and challenge the Precedency It is a * Plin. H. Nat. Lib. xix cap. 3. xx c. 22. See Jo. Tzetzes Chil. vi 48. xvii 119. Plant formerly so highly priz'd and rare for the richness of its Taste and other Vertues that as it was dedicated to Apollo and hung up in his Temple at Delphi So we read of one single Root brought to the Emperor Nero for an extraordinary Present and the Drug so esteem'd that the Romans had long before
Complexions Moreover In Gathering Respect is to be had to their Proportions as provided for in the Table under that Head be the Quality whatsoever For tho' there is indeed nothing more wholsome than Lettuce and Mustard for the Head and Eyes yet either of them eaten in excess were highly prejudicial to them both Too much of the first extreamly debilitating and weakning the Ventricle and hastning the further decay of sickly Teeth and of the second the Optic Nerves and Sight it self the like may be said of all the rest I conceive therefore a Prudent Person well acquainted with the Nature and Properties of Sallet-Herbs c. to be both the fittest Gatherer and Composer too which yet will require no great Cunning after once he is acquainted with our Table and Catalogue We purposely and in transitu only take notice here of the Pickl'd Muriated or otherwise prepared Herbs excepting some such Plants and Proportions of them as are of hard digestion and not fit to be eaten altogether Crude of which in the Appendix and among which I reckon Ash-keys Broom-buds and Pods Haricos Gurkems Olives Capers the Buds and Seeds of Nasturtia Young Wall-nuts Pine-apples Eringo Cherries Cornelians Berberries c. together with several Stalks Roots and Fruits Ordinary Pot-herbs Anis Cistus Hortorum Horminum Pulegium Satureia Thyme the intire Family of Pulse and Legumena or other Sauces Pies Tarts Omlets Tansie Farces c. Condites and Preserves with Sugar by the Hand of Ladies tho' they are all of them the genuine Production of the Garden and mention'd in our Kalendar together with their Culture whilst we confine our selves to such Plants and Esculenta as we find at hand delight our selves to gather and are easily prepar'd for an Extemporary Collation or to Usher in and Accompany other more Solid tho' haply not more Agreeable Dishes as the Custom is But there now starts up a Question Whether it were better or more proper to Begin with Sallets or End and Conclude with them Some think the harder Meats should first be eaten for better Concoction others those of easiest Digestion to make way and prevent Obstruction and this makes for our Sallets Horarii and Fugaces Fructus as they call 'em to be eaten first of all as agreeable to the general Opinion of the great Hippocrates and Galen and of Celsus before him And therefore the French do well to begin with their Herbaceous Pottage and for the Cruder a Reason is given * Mart. Epig. lib. xi 39. Prima tibi dabitur Ventri Lactuca movendo Vtilis Poris fila resecta suis And tho' this Custom came in about Domitian's time †Athen. l. 2. Of which Change of Diet seâ— Plut. iv Sympos 9. Plinii Epist 1. ad Eretrium 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they anciently did quite the contrary ‖ Virg. Moreto Gratáque nobilium Lactuca ciborum But of later Times they were constant at the Ante-coenia eating plentifully of Sallet especially of Lettuce and more refrigerating Herbs Nor without Cause For drinking liberally they were found to expell and allay the Fumes and Vapors of the genial Compotation the spirituous Liquor gently conciliating Sleep Besides that being of a crude nature more dispos'd and apt to fluctuate corrupt and disturb a surcharg'd Stomach they thought convenient to begin with Sallets and innovate the ancient Usage * Hor. Sat. l. 2. Sat. 4. Nam Lactuca innatat acri Post Vinum Stomacho For if on drinking Wine you Lettuce eat It floats upon the Stomach The Spaniards notwithstanding eat but sparingly of Herbs at Dinner especially Lettuce beginning with Fruit even before the Olio and Hot-Meats come to the Table drinking their Wine pure and eating the best Bread in the World so as it seems the Question still remains undecided with them †Mart. Ep. l. v. Ep. 17. Claudere quae coenas Lactuca solebat avorum Dic mihi cur nostras inchoat illa dapes The Sallet which of old came in at last Why now with it begin we our Repast And now since we mention'd Fruit there rises another Scruple Whether Apples Pears Abricots Cherries Plums and other Tree and Ort-yard-Fruit are to be reckon'd among Salleting and when likewise most seasonably to be eaten But as none of these do properly belong to our Catalogue of Herbs and Plants to which this Discourse is confin'd besides what we may occasionally speak of hereafter there is a very useful * Concerning the Use of Fruit besides many others whether best to be eaten before or after Mealâ— Published by a Physician of Rochel and render'd out of French into English Printed by T. Basset in Fleetstreet Treatise on that Subject already publishâ—d We hasten then in the next place to the Dressing and Composing of our Sallet For by this time our Scholar may long to see the Rules reduc'd to Practice and Refresh himself with what he finds growing among his own Lactuceta and other Beds of the Kitchin-Garden DRESSING I Am not ambitious of being thought an excellent Cook or of those who set up and value themselves for their Skill in Sauces such as was Mithacus a Culinary Philosopher and other Eruditae Gulae who read Lectures of Hautgouts like the Archestratus in Athenaeus Tho' after what we find the Heroes did of old and see them chining out the slaughter'd Ox dressing the Meat and do the Offices of both Cook and Butcher for so * Achilles Patroclus Automedon Iliad ix alibi Homer represents Achilles himself and the rest of those Illustrious Greeks I say after this let none reproach our Sallet-Dresser or disdain so clean innocent sweet and Natural a Quality compar'd with the Shambles Filth and Nidor Blood and Cruelty whilst all the World were Eaters and Composers of Sallets in its best and brightest Age. The Ingredients therefore gather'd and proportion'd as above Let the Endive have all its out-side Leaves stripp'd off slicing in the White In like manner the Sellery is also to have the hollow green Stem or Stalk trimm'd and divided slicing-in the blanched Part and cutting the Root into four equal Parts Lettuce Cresses Radish c. as was directed must be exquisitely pick'd cleans'd wash'd and put into the Strainer swing'd and shaken gently and if you please separately or all together Because some like not so well the Blanch'd and Bitter Herbs if eaten with the rest Others mingle Endive Succory and Rampions without distinction and generally eat Sellery by it self as also Sweet Fennel From April till September and during all the Hot Months may Guinny-Pepper and Horse-Radish be left out and therefore we only mention them in the Dressing which should be in this manner Your Herbs being handsomly parcell'd and spread on a clean Napkin before you are to be mingl'd together in one of the Earthen glaz'd Dishes Then for the Oxolcon Take of clear and perfectly good Oyl-Olive three Parts of sharpest Vinegar ‖ For so some pronounce it V. Athenaeum