“ Cookrey, confectionary, &c., like all other
sciences and arts, had their infancy, and did
not arrive at a state of maturity but by slow
degrees, various experiments, and a long
tract of time : for in the infant-age of the
world, when the new inhabitants contented
themselves with the simple provision of
nature, viz. the vegetable diet, the fruits and
production of the teeming ground, as they
succeeded one another in their several pe-
culiar seasons, the art of cookery was un-
known ; apples, nuts, and herbs, were both
meat and sauce, and mankind stood in no
need of any additional sauces, ragoes, &c.,
but a good appetite ; which a healthful and
vigorous constitution, a clear, wholesome,
odoriferous air, moderate exercise, and an
exemption from anxious cares, always sup-
plied them with.
“We read of no palled appetites, but such
as proceeded from the decays of nature by
reason of an advanced old age ; but on the
contrary a craving stomach, even upon a
Cookery Books.
89
death-bed, as in Isaac : nor no sicknesses
but those that were both the first and the
last, which proceeded from the struggles of
nature, which abhorred the dissolution of
soul and body; no physicians to prescribe
for the sick, nor no apothecaries to com-
pound medicines for two thousand years
and upwards. Food and physick were then
one and the same thing.
“ But when men began to pass from a ve-
getable to an animal diet, and feed on flesh,
fowls, and fish, then seasonings grew neces-
sary, both to render it more palatable and
savoury, and also to preserve that part which
was not immediately spent from stinking and
corruption : and probably salt was the first
seasoning discover’d ; for of salt we read,
Gen. xiv.
“ And this seems to be necessary, especially
for those who were advanced in age, whose
palates, with their bodies, had lost their
vigour as to taste, whose digestive faculty
grew weak and impotent; and thence pro-
ceeded the use of soops and savoury messes ;
so that cookery then began to become a
90
Cookery Books.
science, though luxury had not brought it to
the height of an art. Thus we read, that
Jacob made such palatable pottage, that
Esau purchased a mess of it at the extrava-
gant price of his birthright. And Isaac,
before by his last will and testament he
bequeathed his blessing to his son Esau,
required him to make some savoury meat,
such as his soul loved, /.<?., such as was
relishable to his blunted palate.
“ So that seasonings of some sort were then
in use ; though whether they were salt, savoury
herbs, or roots only 3 or spices, the fruits of
trees, such as pepper, cloves, nutmeg ; bark,
as cinnamon 3 roots, as ginger, &c., I shall
not determine.
“ As for the methods of the cookery of those
times, boiling or stewing seems to have been
the principal ; broiling or roasting the next ;
besides which, I presume scarce any other
were used for two thousand years and more ;
for I remember no other in the history of
Genesis.
“ That Esau was the first cook, I shall not
presume to assert ; for Abraham gave order
Cookery Books.
9i
Page 28
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
“ Cookrey, confectionary, &c., like all other sciences and arts, had their infancy, and did not arrive at a state of maturity but by slow degrees, various experiments, and a long tract of time : for in the infant-age of the world, when the new inhabitants contented themselves with the simple provision of nature, viz. the vegetable diet, the fruits and production of the teeming ground, as they succeeded one another in their several peculiar seasons, the art of cookery was unknown ; apples, nuts, and herbs, were both meat and sauce, and mankind stood in no need of any additional sauces, ragoes, &c., but a good appetite ; which a healthful and vigorous constitution, a clear, wholesome, odoriferous air, moderate exercise, and an exemption from anxious cares, always supplied them with.
“We read of no palled appetites, but such as proceeded from the decays of nature by reason of an advanced old age ; but on the contrary a craving stomach, even upon a
Cookery Books.
death-bed, as in Isaac : nor no sicknesses but those that were both the first and the last, which proceeded from the struggles of nature, which abhorred the dissolution of soul and body; no physicians to prescribe for the sick, nor no apothecaries to compound medicines for two thousand years and upwards. Food and physick were then one and the same thing.
“ But when men began to pass from a vegetable to an animal diet, and feed on flesh, fowls, and fish, then seasonings grew necessary, both to render it more palatable and savoury, and also to preserve that part which was not immediately spent from stinking and corruption : and probably salt was the first seasoning discover’d ; for of salt we read, Gen. xiv.
“ And this seems to be necessary, especially for those who were advanced in age, whose palates, with their bodies, had lost their vigour as to taste, whose digestive faculty grew weak and impotent; and thence proceeded the use of soops and savoury messes ; so that cookery then began to become a
Cookery Books.
science, though luxury had not brought it to the height of an art. Thus we read, that Jacob made such palatable pottage, that Esau purchased a mess of it at the extravagant price of his birthright. And Isaac, before by his last will and testament he bequeathed his blessing to his son Esau, required him to make some savoury meat, such as his soul loved, /.<?., such as was relishable to his blunted palate.
“ So that seasonings of some sort were then in use ; though whether they were salt, savoury herbs, or roots only 3 or spices, the fruits of trees, such as pepper, cloves, nutmeg; bark, as cinnamon; roots, as ginger, &c., I shall not determine.
“ As for the methods of the cookery of those times, boiling or stewing seems to have been the principal ; broiling or roasting the next ; besides which, I presume scarce any other were used for two thousand years and more ; for I remember no other in the history of Genesis.
“ That Esau was the first cook, I shall not presume to assert ; for Abraham gave order
Cookery Books.