Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/428

* COOKE. 368 COOKEB,^. London and ^Yest Dravton. He was knighted in 1869. COOKEKY. The art of preparing food for the table. Foods are cooked by the application of heat, and according to the manner in which the heat is applied the principal processes of cooking are termed boiling, stewing, steaming, braising, baking, roasting (grilling or broiling), frying, and sauteing. The cli'ect of proper cook- ing is to render food more wholesome and palata- ble than it can possibly be in the raw slate. History. Cooking, in one form or another, has been practiced since immemorial times, and the knowledge we possess of the ancient modes of cooking presents some interest in connection with the study of the customs and habits of the past. The Egyptians, it is said, were gi-eat 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 centre 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. There appears to have been considerable difl'erenee as to the man- ner in which good eating was appreciated in dif- ferent parts of Greece. After the Homeric age of simplicity, in which roast and boiled meats seem to have sufficed the kingly table, a diver- sity of preparation was attained in cooking, and a certain epicureanism displayed in the quality, seasoning, and method of dressing food. The names of many authors of cookery-books are pre- ser%'ed in the writings of Athenaeus, that of Archestratus, who is called the guide of Epi- curus 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 varieties were sought after. Archestratus writes of "a boiled torpedo done in oil and wine, and fragrant herbs, and some thin grated cheese" (oh- (jratiit). 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 that we find recorded. The Greeks boiled and roasted the llesli of sheep, pigs, lambs, and goats. They had poultry, small birds, :ind game, and sausage made of lilood, par- taking of the character of black puddings {Blut- ivurst ). The bread of Athens was the most cele- brated in Greece; it was sometimes home-made, but chiefly bought in the market, and pre- pared in great variety, as pan-loaves, rolls, sweet loaves, etc. The bread eaten by the poorer classes was made of barley, and was sometimes flavored with oil, honey, poppy- seed, etc. Athenian cheese cakes were also famous; and there were 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 cab- bage, onions, lettuce, and so on. In the Greek house there was no regular cook, Uiough in the establishments of the wealthy sev- eral women were kept to attend to the kitchen. The women in general saw to the requirements of the table, and even the mistress of the house was not idle. Cooks stood in the market in Athens, ready to be hired for particular occasions; the most celebrated were those of Sicily ; they were probably persons of some importance. In the early days of Rome a gruel made of lentils, and called puis, was the principal food of the people, and with gieen and other vegetables was, till later times, the usual fare of the infe- rior classes — meat being u.sed but sparingly. By degrees, however, a taste for better eating crept in ; and after the Asiatic conquests luxury was imported. Lucullus introduced habits of epi- cureanism after his return from Asia ; the gour- mand Apicius earned for himself an enduring name. The wealthy Romans were fond of ele- gant service at their tables, and studied carefully the quality of the viands that were placed before them. With them, as with the Greeks, fish was a necessary as well as a luxury; they took much trouble to [irocure their oysters, and gave large sums for other fish. We read of a mullet of sLx pounds sold for 8000 sesterces (some .$400). and of the rhombus or turbot from Ravenna being held in high estimation. They seem to have been as clever as the French in preparing surprises, and in carrying out disguises in their dishes. The pistor, who made the bread and pastry, and the structor, who built up artificial figures of fruit or flesh, and who also arranged the dishes, seem to have shared the duties of the cook. We read of dainties, as ring-doves and fieldfares, hares, capons, ducks, peacocks, pheasants, and the livers of geese; also of such a formidable piece de resistance as a "huge boar, surrounded with sucking pigs made in sweet paste, which were distrilnited among the guests." The Romans prepared and cooked their food with oil to a great extent. Their meals probably consisted of two courses and a dessert, the first course being intended to excite an appetite ; the second was a joint, roasted or baked. It was a saying of Varro's that the number of persons at a repast should not be less than that of the Graces (three) nor more than that of the Muses (nine). The Greeks and Romans used honey for the pur- poses for which we xise sugar. Cane-sugar prob- ably was cultivated in China, and its manufac- ture understood there; but the Greeks took it for a kind of concrete honey, and used it only for medicinal purposes. Of ancient British cooking nothing is known; it was probably of an extremely rude description. Hares, poultry, and fish are said to have been forbidden as food. We do not find much mention of the art of cooking in the Saxon chronicles. The Danes and Germans appear to have been great drinkers, and to have paid little attention to the preparation of their eatables. The Nor- mans were more curious in these matters ; some offices among them were held in right of the kitchen. In early English cooking much use was made of the mortar. Oil and lard were used instead of butter. Several English cook-books bear an early date, as The Forme of Cury, by Pegge (1390), and others date as follows:' Sir •T. Elliott's book (15.39); Abraham Yeale's (1575) : and The Widdowe's Treasure (1625). The cooking of France was probably of an im- perfect and rude kind until the introduction of Italian tastes by the princesses of the House of the Medici. The ancient use of oil was modified through the discovery made by the French of dressing meat in its own gravy. In our own day it is universally admitted that the French cook is a true gastronomic artist. We may, if we