Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/44

24 sea-hedgehogs, raw oysters, and asparagus; then came a fat fowl, more oysters and shell-fish with dates, roebuck, and wild boar. The third course was made up of wild boar's head, ducks, a compôte of river birds, hare, and cakes resembling our modern Yorkshire pudding.

Here is a Roman receipt called "Pig with Stuffing":—

"Clean out interior of pig and fill with the following stuffing. Pound an ounce of pepper, honey, and wine, make it hot; break a dry biscuit into bits and mix. Stir with a twig of green laurel and boil until the whole is thickened. Fill the pig with this; skin, stop up with paper, and put it into the oven to bake."

Receipts for boar and pig are numerous, for pork was a passion with the Romans. They would feed their pigs on figs and cook them with fifty different savours, for the Roman "cook was a poet."

Their fancy bread contained oysters, and was sold at about three shillings a peck loaf. Nor must it be forgotten that the Romans introduced into this country cherries, peaches, pears, mulberries, figs, damsons, medlars, quinces, walnuts, and vines. They likewise brought over