Sympotica graecolatina

How to conserve verjuice and other sour juices: Tuesday's food quotation

Agrestae succus: eligitur ex ea & ex succo uvae ... et ... de lemoncellorum succo ... et de succo sumach ... et de succo granatorum ... vasa vitrea, quibus recondi debent, laventur cum vitro trito & foliis scariolae vel foliis persicorum.

1531 Tacuini sanitatis [translated from the Arabic of Ibn Butlan]

When it comes to cabbage, the qunnabit of the Arabs is just like the cappuccio of the Italians: Monday's Latin quotation

Canabit est species caulis nota in Syria, et est habens folia et thyrsos sicut caules, et inter folia ipsius est globus medullaris albus, in cuius [...] sunt sicut semina alba plurima aggregata, et globus praedictus est flos canabit ... et habet similitudinem aliqualem cum specie caulium quae Venetis dicitur capuzzi.

1555 Andreas Alpagus Bellunensis, Glossary to the Canon of Avicenna

Favourite diet of the Caribes or Canibales: Sunday's Latin quotation

Earum terrarum incolae Canibales esse affirmant sive Caribes, humanarum carnium edaces.

Peter Martyr of Anghiera, Decades 8.6

Recipe for eggnog: Saturday's Latin quotation

Sorbitium bonum: conquassa ovorum vitella in paraside, de vino modicum apponendo, post bullias aquam et vinum vel cervesia in aqua et ab igne remove, et impone cum cocleari predicta vitella ovorum, bene movendo.

Tractatus de modo preparandi et condiendi omnia cibaria (ed. Marianne Mulon)

Where to bathe in Rome: Friday's non-foodie Latin quotation

Etrusci nisi thermulis lavaris,
Inlotus morieris, Oppiane.
Nullae sic tibi blandientur undae,
Nec fontes Aponi rudes puellis,
Non mollis Sinuessa fervidique
Fluctus Passeris aut superbus Anxur,
Non Phoebi vada principesque Baiae.
Nusquam tam nitidum vacat serenum:
Lux ipsa est ibi longior, diesque
Nullo tardius a loco recedit.
Illic Taygeti virent metalla
Et certant vario decore saxa,
Quae Phryx et Libys altius cecidit.
Siccos pinguis onyx anhelat aestus
Et flamma tenui calent ophitae:
Ritus si placeant tibi Laconum,
Contentus potes arido vapore
Cruda Virgine Marciave mergi;
Quae tam candida, tam serena lucet,
Ut nullas ibi suspiceris undas
Et credas vacuam nitere lygdon.
Non adtendis, et aure me supina
Iam dudum quasi neglegenter audis.
Inlotus morieris, Oppiane.

Martial, Epigrams 6.42. For the abridged English translation first published in Andrew Dalby's Empire of Pleasures click here

How to prepare caviare: Thursday's Latin quotation

Conditum quod caviare vocant. Ova stirionis exemptis quibusdam nervis qui haec inter erant lota ex aceto aut vino albo in tabulam extendes ut exsiccent.

1475 Platina, De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine

Tiberius's parsimony: Wednesday's Latin quotation

et ut parsimoniam publicam exemplo quoque iuuaret, sollemnibus ipse cenis pridiana saepe ac semesa obsonia apposuit dimidiatumque aprum, affirmans omnia eadem habere, quae totum.

c. 130 Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars Tiberius 34. English translation by Robert Graves: And to set an example in his campaign against waste he often served, at formal dinner parties, half-eaten dishes left over from the day before - or only one side of a wild boar, sliced down the backbone - which, he said, contained everything that the other side did.

The varieties of gum guggul: Tuesday's Latin quotation

... Bactriana, in qua bdellium laudatissimum: alii brochon appellant, alii malacham, alii maldacon, nigrum vero hadrobolon. nascitur et in Arabia Indiaque et Media ac Babylone. aliqui peraticum vocant ex Media.

c. 79 Pliny, Natural History 12.35.

Sabine cheesecakes: Monday's food quotation

circuli, quod mixta farina et caseo et aqua circuitum aequabiliter fundebant. hos quidam qui magis incondite faciebant vocabant lixulas et similixulas vocabulo sabino: itaque frequentia Sabinis.

Varo, On the Latin Language 5.106

The three kinds of aloeswood: Sunday's Latin quotation

Illud etiam noueritis triplex esse aloes genus. Aliud est longe perfectius (huic calampat nomen est): hoc ... ex urbe Sarnau aduehitur ... Est et aliud genus aloes lubam nomine: hoc flumine nescioquo huc comportatur. nouissimo autem bochor nomen est.

1511 Ludovico Varthema, Itinerarium (Latin translation by Archangelus Madrignanus)

Where and from what grapes raisin wine is made: Saturday's Latin quotation

passum a [C]ret[i]co Cilicium probatur et Africum. et in Italia finitimisque provinciis fieri certum est ex uva quam Graeci psithiam vocant, nos apianam, item scripulam, diutius [uvis] in vite sole adustis aut ferventi oleo.

c. 79 Pliny, Natural History 14.81.

Liquor, administered by a lady, calms a Puritan's brain: Friday's lexical quotation

Some time the spirit is so strong with him, it gets quite out of him, and then my mother, or Win, are faine to fetch it againe with Malmesey, or Aqua cœlestis.

1631 Ben Jonson, Bartholmew Fair act 1 scene 3

The Spaniards drink beer before battle: Thursday's Latin quotation

... ut destinata morte in proelium ruerent, cum se prius epulis quasi inferiis impleuissent carnis semicrudae et celiae (sic uocant indigenam ex frumento potionem).

Florus, Short History of Roman Wars 1.34

Poitevin gastronomy: Wednesday's Latin quotation

Itaque Pictavienses in vulgarium esu carnium bovinam avidius amplectuntur ... Caro recens nunc succum exigit pomorum silvestrium, nunc a viminibus pampino coaetaneis ius deposcit extortum, nunc uvarum liquorem desiderat primitivorum.

1198 Radulphus de Diceto, Ymagines historiarum anno 1151

Laganum = crumpet: Tuesday's Latin quotation

... tortamque panis unius, crustulam conspersam oleo; laganum de canistro azymorum.

Exodus [Vulgate translation] 29.23. Wyclif's English translation of 1382: a cake of a loof, a crusted cake spreynde with oyle, a crompid cake, of the leepe of therf looues. Wyclif's revised version, 1388: a tender cake of o loof, spreynde with oile, paast sodun in watir and after fried in oile, of the panyer of therf looues.

The marine fauna of Britain: Monday's food quotation

Et quidem praecipue issicio abundat et anguilla. Capiuntur autem saepissime et uituli marini et delphines nec non et balenae.

731 Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the British People 1.1

Sensuality in the Roman kitchen (2): Saturday-Sunday's Latin quotation

Et tandem ad illam: 'Quam pulchre quamque festiue,' inquam 'Photis mea, ollulam istam cum nati- bus intorques! Quam mellitum pulmentum apparas! Felix et [certo] certius beatus cui permiseris illuc di- gitum intingere.'
Tunc illa lepida alioquin et dicacula puella: 'Dis- cede,' inquit 'miselle, quam procul a meo foculo, discede. Nam si te uel modice meus igniculus afflaue- rit, ureris intime nec ullus extinguet ardorem tuum nisi ego, quae dulce condiens et ollam et lectulum suaue quatere noui.'

Apuleius, Metamorphoses 2.7.3. Translation by Robert Graves (Apuleius, The Golden Ass [Penguin Books, 1950] p. 52): At last I found my voice. 'Dear Fotis,' I said, 'how daintily, how charmingly you stir that casserole: I love watching you wriggle your hips. And what a wonderful cook you are! The man whom you allow to poke his finger into your little casserole is the luckiest fellow alive. That sort of stew would tickle the most jaded palate.'
She retorted over her shoulder: 'Go away, you scoundrel; keep clear of my little cooking stove! If you come too near even when the fire is low, a spark may fly out and set you on fire; and when that happens nobody but myself will be capable of putting the flames out. A wonderful cook, am I? Yes, I certainly know how to tickle a man's ... well, his palate, if you care to call it that, and how to keep things nicely on the boil -- between the sheets as well as on a kitchen-stove.'

Sensuality in the Roman kitchen (1): Thursday-Friday's Latin quotation

Nec tamen domi Milonem uel uxorem eius offendo, sed tantum caram meam Photidem: suis parabat isicium fartim concisum et pulpam frustatim consectam ambacupascuae (?) iurulenta et quod naribus iam inde ariolabar, tuccetum perquam sapidissimum. Ipsa linea tunica mundule amicta et russea fasceola praenitente altiuscule sub ipsas papillas succinctula illud cibarium uasculum floridis palmulis rotabat in circulum, et in orbis flexibus crebra succutiens et simul membra sua leniter inlubricans, lumbis sensim uibrantibus, spinam mobilem quatiens placide decenter undabat. Isto aspectu defixus obstupui et mirabundus steti, steterunt et membra quae iacebant ante.

Apuleius, Metamorphoses 2.7.3. Translation by Robert Graves (Apuleius, The Golden Ass [Penguin Books, 1950] p. 52): I found nobody at home but my charming Fotis who was preparing pork-rissoles for her master and mistress, while the appetising smell of haggis-stew drifted to my nostrils from an earthenware casserole on the stove. She wore a neat white house-dress, gathered in below the breasts with a red silk band, and as she alternately stirred the casserole and shaped the rissoles with her pretty hands, the twisting and turning made her whole body quiver seductively.
The sight had so powerful an effect on me that for awhile I stood rooted in admiration; and so did something else.

The wild foods of Sicily: Wednesday's neo-Latin quotation

Abonda tutta l'isola di bestiame; cioè di boi, uacche, pecore, capre, porci, & di molta caccia di cenghiali, daini, capreoli, lepri, conigli,coturnici, pernici, francolini, & altre specie.

1546 Descrittione dell'isola di Sicilia

Diasatyrion, a Byzantine aphrodisiac: Tuesday's Latin quotation

Diasatyrion: antidotus e satyrio. Valet ad liberorum procreationem venereorumque frequentiorem vsum; imbecillitati renum succurrit & iis qui rem veneream agere haud possunt auxilio est; voluptatem quoque excitat ... Recipit satyrii viridis, dauci satiui radicis, nucis Indicae, pistaciorum eryngii radicis, nucum pinearum, singul. 3.xii; zingiberis, anisi, sinapi albi, linguae auis seminis, sing. 3.v; cinamomi, bulbi seminis, sing. 3.ii.s; moschi grana vii. Satyrii, dauci & eryngii radices in aqua feruefactas & probe fractas ac tandem valde tritas melli immitte, deinde pistacia & nuces pineas repurgatas. Vbi cum melle simul bullierint, postea impone odoramenta, & sublato ab igne lebete, vbi iam melle probe rigata fuerint odoramenta, moschum leuigatum insere. Et rursum iis probe subactis in vasculum ad vsum repone. Datur cum vetere vino aut condito vesperi dormituro.

1623 Leonhart Fuchs, Nicolai Myrepsi Compositiones p. 40

Nux indica = coconut. Lingua avis = ash-tree seed

The use and choice of wine: Monday's Latin quotation

Vinum tibi temperabis et te vino, quod non erit acetosum, turbidum, nouum, acerbum, nigrum, grossum, sed bene digestum, desecatum, aureum, odoriferum et vetustum. Bibe cum sitis et cum cibo. Si fatigatus fueris, non statim bibas, et si necesse fuerit, vinum aqua calida temperatum sumes.

Theodorus Philosophus, Letter to the Emperor Frederick II on Diet (electronic text from Thomas Gloning)

The penance for a wet dream depends on the nutritional state of the offender: Sunday's Latin quotation

Qui uoluntate obsceno liquore maculatus fuerit dormiendo, si ceruisa et carne habundat coenubium, iii noctis horis stando uigilet si sane uirtutis est. Si uero pauperem uictum habet, xxviii. aut xxx. psalmos canet stando suplex aut opere extraordinario pendet.

c. 550 Gildas, De Poenitentia 22. English translation after Ludwig Bieler: One who willingly has been stained by the sexual fluid while sleeping, if the monastery is abundantly supplied with beer and meat, shall perform a standing vigil for three hours of the night if his health is strong; but if it has poor food he shall sing 28 or 30 psalms standing as supplicant, or make it up with extra work.

Augustus liked Valpolicella, but not too much of it: Saturday's Latin quotation

Quotiens largissime se inuitaret, senos sextantes non excessit, aut si excessisset, reiciebat; et maxime delectatus est Raetico.

c. 130 Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars Augustus 77. English translation: He would not go beyond a pint -- if he did, he would throw up. He particularly liked Raetian.

Where, when and why to gather licorice: Friday's Latin quotation

[Glycyrriza] praestantissima in Cilicia, secunda Ponto, radice dulci et hac tantum in usu. capitur ea vergiliarum occasu ... hac diximus sitim famemque sedari; ob id quidam adipson appellavere eam.

c. 79 Pliny the Elder, Natural History 22.24. English translation: The finest licorice grows in Cilicia, the next best in Pontus. The sweet root is the only part that is used. It is gathered at the setting of the Vergiliae [Pleiades, 11 November] ... As said earlier, it alleviates thirst and hunger, whence some call it adipson 'no thirst'.

Ancient Pucinum, modern Prosecco? Thursday's neo-Latin quotation

Et però dirò io che dotato d'eccellentissimi vini è il contado di Goritia, dove si ha ... quel Pucino antico che nasce in Prosecco non molto lontano dal Timavo.

1585 Matthioli, Commentary on Dioscorides p. 821.

You like rancid flavours, you drink retsina: Wednesday's food quotation

Capparin et putri cepas hallece natantis
et pulpam dubio de petasone voras,
teque iuvant gerres et pelle melandrya cana,
resinata bibis vina, Falerna fugis.

c. 103 Martial, Epigrams 3.77

Cures for constipation: Tuesday's Latin quotation

... si dura morabitur alvus,
mitulus et viles pellent obstantia conchae
et lapathi brevis herba, sed albo non sine Coo.

c. 30 BC Horace, Satires 2.4

The fruits of Syria: Monday's Latin quotation

Syria praeter hanc peculiares habet arbores: ... in ficorum ... caricas et minores eiusdem generis, quas cottana vocant, item pruna in Damasco monte nata et myxas, utramque iam familiarem Italiae. e myxis in Aegypto et vina fiunt.

c. 79 Pliny the Elder, Natural History 13.51

Spiced wines and medieval scansion at Waldere's feast: Sunday's Latin quotation

His et sublatis aliae referuntur edendae
atque exquisitum fervebat migma per aurum ...
et pigmentatus crateres Bachus adornat:
illicit ad haustum species dulcedoque potus.
Waltharius cunctos ad vinum hortatur et escam.

c. 930 Ekkehard I, monk of St Gall, Waltharius 298 ff.

The four systems for training vines high: Saturday's Latin quotation

iugorum genera fere quattuor, pertica, harundo, restes, vites: pertica, ut in Falerno, harundo, ut in Arpano, restes, ut in Brundisino, vites, ut in Mediolanensi ... Primum genus quod dixi maxime quaerit salicta, secundum harundineta, tertium iunceta aut eius generis rem aliquam, quartum arbusta ubi traduces possint fieri vitium, ut Mediolanenses faciunt in arboribus quas vocant opulos, Canusini in harundulatione in ficis.

36 BC Varro, On Agriculture 1.8.2.

How to invite a friend to lunch in Latin and Greek: Friday's Graeco-Latin quotation

Si tibi suaue est, hodie prae me prande frugaliter: vino bono domestico utimur. = An sy idif estin, simeron par emu aristison chrisimos. yno calo yciaco chrometa.

c. 200 Hermeneumata Monacensia [sometimes attributed to Pollux] p. 214 Goetz. For reconstruction in Greek script click here

Regimen for improving male sexual performance: Thursday's Latin quotation

curavi diligentius noxiosissimum corpus, balneoque praeterito modica unctione usus, mox cibis validioribus pastus, id est bulbis cochlearumque sine iure cervicibus, hausi parcius merum.

c. 66 Petronius, Satyrica 130. English translation: I took rather special care with my (very tiresome) body, skipping the hot bath and applying just a little oil; then I took some relatively strengthening foods, I mean grape-hyacinth bulbs and snails' necks served without sauce, and I swallowed some neat wine, but not too much.

Health benefits of the alcoholic drinks of the north: Wednesday's Latin quotation

Ceruisa bibendo uel medus et aloxinum quam maxime omnibus congruum est ex toto, quia ceruisa qui bene facta fuerit beneficium praestat et rationem habet sicut et ptesanae quae nos facimus alio genere.

c. 520 Anthimus, Letter on Diet 15. English translation: It is on the whole extremely appropriate for all to drink beer and mead and vermouth, because a well-made beer is beneficial for the same reason as barley-water, though we make that in a different way.

Some names of beer in ancient Europe: Tuesday's Greek quotation

Those who have no vines ... have imitated wine by preparing other seeds or fruits or combining roots ... The Egyptians drink zythos, the Paeonians kamon, the Celts kerbesia, the Babylonians sikera.

c. 200 Sextus Julius Africanus, Kestoi 1.19.21. For the Greek text click here 

In eastern Europe they make a wine from sorbs: Monday's Latin quotation

Hic noctem ludo ducunt, et pocula laeti
fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea sorbis.

29 BC Vergil, Georgics 3.379-380

Equine source of the Prussians' food and drink: Sunday's food quotation

Sembi vel Pruzzi ... carnes iumentorum pro cibo sumunt, quorum lacte vel cruore utuntur in potu, ita ut inebriari dicantur.

1076 Adam of Bremen, History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen 4.18. Translation by Francis J. Tschan (1959):
The Sembi or Prussians ... take the meat of their draft animals for food and use their milk and blood as drink so freely that they are said to become intoxicated.

The smoked cheese of Velabrum is the best: Saturday's Latin quotation

Caseus fumosus: Non quemcumque focum nec fumum caseus omnem, sed Velabrensem qui bibit, ille sapit.

103 Martial, Epigrams 13.32. One of the many extracts quoted in translation in Andrew Dalby's Empire of Pleasures. Click here for translation

Clove wine is less desiccating if sugar or licorice are added: Friday's Latin quotation

De vino gariofilorum. Vinum gariofilorum tantum cum suspensione gariofilorum in sacculo positorum pendent in musto infra vegetem; sed est vinum nimis desiccatiuum. & habet virtutem dissoluendi, consumendi, desiccandi, & attrahendi, & valet contra asma antiquum et tussim senum putredinalem ... & confortat digestionem & retentiuam, & facit anhelitum odoriferum. zuccarum autem et liquiritia minuunt de siccitate repentius.

c. 1310 Arnaldus de Villanova, Tractatus de vinis

Aphrodisiac and other properties of salep root: Thursday's Latin quotation

Herba priapiscus. Herbae priapisci radices tundis et imponis: expurgat et cicatrices curant. Herbae priapisci suco oculos inungis et lippitudinem et dolores tollit sine mora. Si quis ad mulierem non potuerit, herbae priapisci radicem (sed et testiculum dextrum qui maior est) teres eum et piperis grana xlvii, mellis uncias iv, in uino optimo medicamen soluis et pondus scripula ix per triduo sumes.
Nomina herbae: a Graecis dicitur satirion, alii cinos <orchis>, alii entaticon, alii eritronion, alii panion, alii serapion, alii orchis, Aegyptii mene, Galli ura, Itali priapiscus, alii testiculos.

Pseudo-Apuleius, Herbarius 15. Source: Antonii Musae de herba vettonica liber; Pseudoapulei herbarius; Anonymi de taxone liber; Sexti Placiti liber medicinae ex animalibus, etc. ed. Ernestus Howald, Henricus E. Sigerist. Leipzig: Teubner, 1927.

Raisin wine and its health benefits: Wednesday's Latin quotation

De vino mellito. Vinum mellitum sic fit. Permittuntur morari vue dulces albe in vite ad solem elevatis foliis donec passentur. & tunc exprimitur mustum ex eis & reponitur, & peruenit dulcissimum ad spissitudinem tendens. Quam dulcedinem suscipit ex magna digestione a sole facta et est nutribile et generatiuum crassitiei & delectabile, maxime tempore hyemis.

c. 1310 Arnaldus de Villanova, Tractatus de vinis

Note: vue = uvae

The health benefits of yogurt, and how to spell it: Tuesday's Latin quotation

...aut acidi lactis genus, Galeno non ignoti, quod ipse oxygalam, isti jugurtham dicunt, nihil requirant præterea. Lac illud diluunt aqua frigidissima, panemque interunt: eoque utuntur in magno æstu & siti. Cujus sane utilitatem nos quoque in magnis caloribus sæpe experti sumus. Cibus is cum palato & ventriculo gratissimus est; tum ad extinguendam vehementiorem sitim vim habet admirabilem. Magna ejus copia passim venalis est, ubicunque sunt Caravasciarai; hoc est (ut dixi) Turcarum diversoria, quemadmodum & aliorum obsoniorum.

1554 Busbecq, Legationis Turcicae Epistulae

How to stop beer going sour: Monday's Latin quotation

[In] ceruisiam uolentem acetare suspende in uas duo uel tria oua uel aliquantulum tritici bene purgati & reformabitur.

1488 Tractatus de vini conservatione

Burdock juice in old wine cures snakebite: Sunday's Latin quotation

Herbae personaciae sucus cum vino veteri, potione data, omnes morsus serpentium vel colubri mirifice sanat ...
Nomina herbae: a Graecis dicitur prosopis, alii bacchion, alii elefantosis, alii elefas, alii nefelion, Itali personacia, alii bardana, alii manifolium, Galli betilolen, Daci riborasta.

Pseudo-Apuleius, Herbarius 36. And for a list of ancient Dacian plant names click here

The appetisers at Cyprian's Feast: Saturday's Latin quotation

Mox infertur gustui cena : convivis sedentibus.
Olus captat Esaias : et Ioanas cucurbitas,
Accepit betas Israel, : mora tincta Ezechiel,
Adam citrum manducavit, : Zacheus sicomora,
Danihel gaudet lupinis, : Pharao peponibus,
Cain cardum lapsus captat, : Eva ficus involat,
Pruna prendit Ananias, : Rachel mala punica,
Bulbos sterilis fert Lia, : Noe letas oleas,
Simeon nucleos capit : et Iesus oxygarum.

Iohannis Diaconi versiculi de cena Cypriani 37-46

Japanese hospitality: Friday's Latin quotation

Cubum ergo primum, deinde uxorem, postremo separatis in aedibus matrem invisimus, honesto comitatu ad regiam usque deducti: & cum benigne accepti sumus ab omnibus: tum vero a matre humanissime, quippe quae non modo potionem nobis misceri iussit a famulis, verumetiam Zacanam (salsamenti genus id est olivarum instar) de more paxillis insertam; suis ipsa manibus honoris caussa porrexit.

1589 Giampetro Maffei, Historiae Indicae

Justin adds: Cubus: a Japanese title. Zacana: Latinization of the Japanese word sakana "fish.": what exactly was this salsamentum? Paxillus, paxillulus: the normal words for "chopstick" among Jesuit writers of that era.

The perfect sauce for moray eel: Thursday's Latin quotation

his mixtum ius est: oleo, quod prima Venafri
pressit cella; garo de sucis piscis Hiberi;
vino quinquenni, verum citra mare nato,
dum coquitur (cocto Chium sic convenit, ut non
hoc magis ullum aliud); pipere albo, non sine aceto,
quod Methymnaeam vitio mutaverit uvam.
erucas viridis, inulas ego primus amaras
monstravi incoquere. inlutos Curtillus echinos,
ut melius muria quod testa marina remittat.

c. 30 BC Horace, Satires 2.8.45-52. One of the many extracts quoted in translation in Andrew Dalby's Empire of Pleasures. Click here for translation

The difference between silphium and asafoetida: Wednesday's Greek quotation

Silphion: grows in the Syria-Armenia-Media region and in Libya. Its stem, called maspeton, resembles giant fennel; it has leaves like celery; a flat seed, leaf-like, called magydaris ...
The juice is collected by making an incision in the root and the stem. Its quality is shown in being reddish and translucent, myrrh-like and powerfully scented, not greenish, not rough in taste, not readily turning white. The Cyrenaic, even if one just tastes it, at once arouses a humour throughout the body and has a very healthy aroma, so that it is not noticed on the breath, or only a little; but the Median and Syrian are weaker in power and have a nastier smell. Note that the juice may have been adulterated before it dries, by mixing with sagapenon or bean-meal: this can be diagnosed by taste, smell, appearance or by moistening.

c. AD 50 Dioscorides, Materia Medica 3.80.1-6. One of the many quotations from ancient sources in Andrew Dalby's Siren Feasts.

The 'Median silphium' is evidently asafoetida; the 'Libyan' is the true silphium, which (according to Pliny) was by this time nearly extinct. The original Greek text is here

Turmeric and its use in curry: Tuesday's Latin quotation

Curcuma in India tam ad cibum quam ad medecinam adhibetur, Indi enim ... adeo ipsi adsueti sunt ut cum cunctis admiscent condimentis et piscibus, praesertim autem isti quod karri ipsis vocatur.

c. 1690 G. E. Rumphius, Herbarium Amboinense vol. 5 p. 166

If you want to know more about Georgius Everhardus Rumphius and his Ambon Herbal, start here

Decocta 'iced water': Monday's Latin quotation

Iam si tibi ex illo conclamatissimo fontium decocta referatur, videbis in calicibus repente perfusis nivalium maculas et frusta nebularum et illam lucem lubricam poculorum quadam quasi pinguedine subiti algoris hebetatem. tum respondentes poculis potiones, quarum rigentes cyathi siticuloso cuique, ne dicam tibi granditer abstemio, metuerentur.

Sidonius Apollinaris, Letter to Domitius [Letters 2.2]

[Translation from Perseus Digital Library:] If water of our famous springs is served and quickly poured into the cups, one sees snowy spots and clouded patches form outside them; the sudden chill dulls the fugitive reflections of the surface almost as if it had been greased. Such cups restrict one's draughts; the thirstiest soul on earth, to say nothing of Your Abstemiousness, would set lip to the freezing brims with caution.

The chef instructs (without using the f word): Sunday's Latin quotation

Dromo, desquama piscis. tu, Machaerio,
congrum, murenam exdorsua quantum potest.
ego hinc artoptam ex proximo utendam peto
a Congrione. tu istum gallum, si sapis,
glabriorem reddes mihi quam volsus ludiust.

Plautus, Aulularia 398

A spiced wine mix for travellers: Saturday's Latin quotation

CONDITVM MELIZOMVM VIATORIVM: Conditum melizomum perpetuum, quod subministratur per viam peregrinanti: piper tritum cum melle despumato in cupellam mittis conditi loco, et ad momentum quantum sit bibendum, tantum aut mellis proferas aut vinum misceas sed, si vas erit, nonnihil vini melizomo mittas, adiciendum propter mellis exitum solutiorem.

c. 400 Apicius 1.2

Translation (from the forthcoming edition by Sally Grainger and Chris Grocock): A long-lasting honeyed wine, which is served to travellers on the road: you put ground pepper with skimmed honey in a small cask instead of spiced wine and, as required, you pour out as much honey and mix with it as much wine as is to be drunk; but if you use a (thin-necked) vessel, you put a little wine in the honey mixture. Add enough for the honey to pour freely.

How to salt a ham: Friday's Latin translation

Pernas sallire sic oportet in dolio aut in seria: cum pernas emeris, ungulas earum praecidito. salis romaniensis moliti in singulas semodios; in fundo dolii aut seriae sale sternito, deinde pernam ponito, cutis deosum spectet; sale obruito totam; deinde alteram insuper ponito, eodem modo obruito; caueto ne caro carnem tangat; ita omnes obruito. ubi iam omnes composueris, sale insuper obrue, ne caro appareat; aequale facito. ubi iam dies quinque in sale fuerint, eximito omnis cum suo sale; quae tum summae fuerint, imas facito eodemque modo obruito et componito. post diem omnino XII pernas eximito et salem omnem detergeto et suspendito in uento biduum; die tertio extergito spongea bene, perunguito oleo, suspendito in fumo biduo; tertio die demito, perunguito oleo et aceto commixto, suspendito in carnario: nec tinia nec uermes tangent.

160 BC Cato, On Farming 162. An extract from Cato On Farming (text, new translation and commentary) : click here for a translation of this recipe

A good minestrone: Thursday's Latin quotation

Sic fac ministrum pro Romanis. recipe iecorem et pulmonem capritti buliti, et fac inde parvas pecias, et pone illas in lacte amigdolatis cum bono brodio et bonis speciebus et fac illa insimul modicum bulire. Et erit bonum.

c. 1430 Johann von Bockenheim, Registrum Coquine 9

See Bruno Laurioux, 'Le registre de cuisine de Jean de Bockenheim, cuisinier du Pape Martin V' in Mélanges de l'Ecole Française de Rome vol. 100 (1988) pp. 709-760.

What women used to drink: Wednesday's Latin quotation

antiquae mulieres maiores natu bibebant loream aut sapam aut defretum aut passum … passam nominabant si in uindemia uuam diutius coctam legerent eamque passi essent in sole aduri; uino addito <uel> lorea passum uocare coeperunt.

Varro, Life of the Roman People fragment 39

How to make kumiss: Tuesday's Latin quotation

Ipsum comos, hoc est lac iumentinum, fit hoc modo. Extendunt cordam longam super terram ad duos palos fixos in terra, et ad illam cordam ligant circiter horas tres, pullos equarum quas volunt mungere. Tunc stant matres iuxta pullos suos et permittunt se pacifice mungi. Et si aliqua est nimis indomita, tunc accipit unus homo pullum et supponit ei permittens parum sugere, tunc retrahit illum, et emunctor lactis succedit. Congregata ergo multitudine lactis, quod est ita dulce sicut uaccinum, dum est recens, fundunt illud in magnum utrem siue bucellam, et incipiunt illud concutere cum ligno ad hoc aptato, quod grossum est inferius sicut caput hominis et cauatum subtus: et quam cito concutiunt illud, incipit bullire sicut vinum nouum, et acescere siue fermentari, et excutiunt illud donec extrahant butirum. Tunc gustant illud; et quando est temperate pungitiuum bibunt: pungit enim super linguam sicut vinum raspei dum bibitur. Et postquam homo cessat bibere, relinquit saporem super linguam lactis amygdalini, et multum reddit interiora hominis iucunda, et etiam inebriat debilia capita: multum etiam prouocat urinam.

1253 William of Rubruck, Itinerarium

[Translation by Peter Jackson:] Comos -- namely, mare's milk -- is made in the following way. They stretch above the ground a long rope between two stakes stuck in the soil, and around the third hour tether to the rope the foals of the mares they intend to milk. Then the mares stand beside their foals and let themselves be milked peacefully. In the event of any of them proving intractable, one man takes the foal and puts it underneath her to let it suck a little, and then withdraws it while the milker takes its place. So having collected a large quantity of milk, which when fresh is as sweet as cow's milk, they pour it into a large skin or bag, and set about churning it with a club which is made for this purpose, as think at the lower end as a man's head and hollowed out. As they stir it rapidly, it begins to bubble like new wine, and to turn sour or ferment, and they keep churning it until they extract the butter. Next they taste it, and when it is moderately pungent they drink it. While one is drinking it, it stings the tongue like râpé wine, but after one has finished drinking it leaves on the tongue a taste of milk of almonds. It produces a very agreeable sensation inside and even intoxicates those with no strong head; it also markedly brings on urination.

Buy this translation:

Olives as apéritif at Trimalchio's dinner: Monday's food quotation

in promulsidari asellus erat Corinthius cum bisaccio positus, qui habebat olivas in altera parte albas, in altera nigras.

66 Petronius, Satyrica 31

Ordering water to mix with your wine: from a Latin-Greek phrasebook. Sunday's Latin quotation

Misce mihi calidum. noli fervente neque tepidum sed temperatum ... mitte recentem; adic merum.
Cerason my thermon mi zeston mite chliaron alla sinceraston ... bale neron, prostes acraton.

c. 200 Hermeneumata Monacensia [sometimes attributed to Pollux] p. 218 Goetz. For reconstruction in Greek script click here

The gastronomic wealth of Ireland: Saturday's food quotation

Hibernia ... diues lactis ac mellis insula, nec uinearum expers, piscium uolucrumque sed et ceruorum caprearumque uenatu insignis.

731 Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People 1.1

Chester and its dairy products: Friday's Latin quotation

Cestra legionum civitas dicitur ... Regio farris et maxime tritici ... ieiuna et inops, pecorum et piscium ferax. Incolae lac et butirum delitias habent; qui ditiores sunt carnibus vivunt, panem ordeitium et siligineum pro magno amplectuntur.

1140 William of Malmesbury, History of the Bishops of England p. 308 Hamilton

Recipe for hare: Thursday's Latin quotation

Leporis vero si novellae fuerint, et ipsi sumendi in dulci piper habentem, parum cariofilum et gingiber, costo et spicanardi vel folio. [MS A adds: Leporem licet comedere et bona est pro dissenteria.]

c. 500 Anthimus, Letter on Diet no. 13. Click here for a translation

The dinner that Septicius Clarus missed: Wednesday's Latin quotation

C. Plinius Septicio Claro suo s.
Heus tu! promittis ad cenam, nec uenis? Dicitur ius: ad assem impendium reddes, nec id modicum. Paratae erant lactucae singulae, cochleae ternae, oua bina, halica cum mulso et niue (nam hanc quoque computabis, immo hanc in primis quae perit in ferculo), oliuae betacei cucurbitae bulbi, alia mille non minus lauta. Audisses comoedos uel lectorem uel lyristen uel (quae mea liberalitas) omnes. At tu apud nescio quem ostrea uuluas echinos Gaditanas maluisti.

c. AD 96 Pliny the Younger, Letters 1.15. What did Septicius Clarus miss, and what did he enjoy instead? Click here for a translation

Cure for a cough: Tuesday's Latin quotation

Salis quantum intra palmam tenere potest qui tussiet in potionem cervisae aut curmi mittat et calidum bibat cum dormitum vadit, neque postea loquatur, sed tacitus somnum capiat; cito sanabitur, si hoc vel triduo fecerit.

c. 400 Marcellus of Bordeaux, De Medicamentis 16.33. Click here for a translation

Archive of prescriptions

Snack for Augustus: Monday's Latin quotation

Dum lectica ex regia domum redeo, panis unciam cum paucis acinis uuae duracinae comedi.

Augustus, Letters [quoted by Suetonius, Life of Augustus 76]. Click here for a translation

Possibly the first imputation of brewer's droop: Sunday's Latin quotation

When the emperor Valens besieged Chalcedon in AD 365, the citizens insulted him from the walls:
... e muris probra in eum iaciebantur et iniuriose conpellebatur ut sabaiarius: est autem sabaia ex ordeo uel frumento in liquorem conuersis paupertinus in Illyrico potus.

c. 400 Ammianus Marcellinus, History 26.8.2

What kind of net? A gooseberry net! Saturday's Latin quotation

Flopsa, Mopsa, Cauda Linea qui erant cuniculae bonae et parvae, secundum semitam iverunt ut rubos carperent. Sed Petrus, qui erat improbissimus, statim ad hortum Domini McGregor cucurrit et se sub portam pressit. Primo lactucam et fabas Gallicas, et tum nonullos raphanos edit. Et tum, nauseans vero, ivit ut apium peteret. Sed circum finem formae cucumerum, Domino McGregor ipsi occurrit! Dominus McGregor erat in suis manibus et genibus et brassicas novellas serebat, sed exsiluit et cucurrit ad Petrum agitans rastrum et clamans, "Siste, fur!" Petrus vehementissime territus est; per hortum totum se praecipitavit, nam oblitus erat ubi esset porta. Alterum calceum inter brassicas et alterum inter mala terrae amisit. Eis amissis, quattuor cruribus cucurrit et celerius ivit ut, credo, effugiturus omnino fuerti nisi infeliciter in rete cururrisset et fibulis magnis in sua veste captus esset.

1987 E. Peroto Walker (translator): Beatrix Potter, Fabula de Petro Cuniculo. See World English

Where to find your lamprey: Friday's Latin quotation

Lampreda anguillae multum assimilis; brevior tamen est et foramina utrinque sub aure habet. In cisalpina parvae, in Hetruria mediocres, Romae ex Tyberi permagnae capiuntur.

1475 Platina, De honesta voluptate et valetudine