The Ancient Britons lived chiefly on coarsely-bruised barley mixed with milk. Sheep were unknown ; meat was not much used, and was generally eaten raw. Hares, geese, and fowls were prohibited as food by 8 Buckmaster s Cookery. the Druids. At this early period of our history there was nothing which deserved the name of cooking. With the occupation of the Romans, houses, baths, roads, bridges, and temples were constructed, and for three centuries Britain was the centre of Roman civili- zation and luxury, which, however, left no permanent influence on the domestic life of the country they occu- pied. A Roman banquet was a marvel of gastronomic genius. Lampreys fattened on human flesh, a pig half boiled and half roasted, stuffed with small birds, and so skilfully managed that it was impossible to detect the line which separated the parts, peacocks’ brains simmered in wine, nightingales’ tongues, snail broth, and parrots with onion sauce, were favourite dishes The Greek and Roman soldiers do not appear to have eaten much, if any, meat. The Roman soldier worked harder than the Greek, and his rations were about one pound and a half of bruised barley, and three ounces of linseed or olive oil, and a pint of wine. Cooking in its best sense is not a device to make men eat more than is good for them. This is the abuse of an art which has its origin in the necessities of man. In his lowest civilized condition he must either cook his food or perish; his wants stimulate his faculties — he must do something to live, and iv is this constant conflict with adverse circumstances that develops his intellect and gives him a power over nature. He soon learns that cooking makes his food more palatable and more digestible. With the mission of S. Augustine a great change took place. The art of Agriculture, the earliest of civilized aits, was cultivated with attention. Wheat, barley, Early English Food and Cooking. 9 and rye were sown in . the spring. Ploughs, harrows, rakes, sickles, and flails for thrashing were soon in- vented, and continued in use till within the last half century with little change or improvement. The chief meat of the Anglo-Saxon was pork or bacon, and the swineherd was a necessary servant in every homestead. In autumn he used to drive the pigs into the woods and forests (which were very large and numerous) to fatten on roots, sweet chestnuts, beechnuts, and acorns. Fish, fowls, venison, cabbages, eggs, fresh and salted porpoises were also eaten. The cooking of the Anglo- Saxon was an improvement on that of the Ancient Briton ; he had a greater variety of food ; and boiling and making broth or soups became a popular kind of cooking, although baking and roasting were also prac- tised. The chief cooking utensil was an earthenware pot or pipkin which would stand the fire, and into this pot were put herbs and such vegetables as they could obtain, with bones and pieces of meat; these were simmered over the ashes of a wood fire, and in this way they prepared a stew or soup analogous to hotchpotch, or the pot au feu of the French. Mud huts, with dirt floors and a fire in the centre, were often the residence of Saxon kings. In the halls of the nobility an oak board was placed on tressels and removed after meals. On great occasions it was covered with a cloth richly embroidered.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

The Ancient Britons lived chiefly on coarsely-bruised barley mixed with milk. Sheep were unknown ; meat was not much used, and was generally eaten raw. Hares, geese, and fowls were prohibited as food by Buckmaster's Cookery. the Druids. At this early period of our history there was nothing which deserved the name of cooking. With the occupation of the Romans, houses, baths, roads, bridges, and temples were constructed, and for three centuries Britain was the centre of Roman civilization and luxury, which, however, left no permanent influence on the domestic life of the country they occupied. A Roman banquet was a marvel of gastronomic genius. Lampreys fattened on human flesh, a pig half boiled and half roasted, stuffed with small birds, and so skilfully managed that it was impossible to detect the line which separated the parts, peacocks’ brains simmered in wine, nightingales’ tongues, snail broth, and parrots with onion sauce, were favourite dishes The Greek and Roman soldiers do not appear to have eaten much, if any, meat. The Roman soldier worked harder than the Greek, and his rations were about one pound and a half of bruised barley, and three ounces of linseed or olive oil, and a pint of wine. Cooking in its best sense is not a device to make men eat more than is good for them. This is the abuse of an art which has its origin in the necessities of man. In his lowest civilized condition he must either cook his food or perish; his wants stimulate his faculties — he must do something to live, and it is this constant conflict with adverse circumstances that develops his intellect and gives him a power over nature. He soon learns that cooking makes his food more palatable and more digestible. With the mission of S. Augustine a great change took place. The art of Agriculture, the earliest of civilized aits, was cultivated with attention. Wheat, barley, Early English Food and Cooking. 9 and rye were sown in . the spring. Ploughs, harrows, rakes, sickles, and flails for thrashing were soon invented, and continued in use till within the last half century with little change or improvement. The chief meat of the Anglo-Saxon was pork or bacon, and the swineherd was a necessary servant in every homestead. In autumn he used to drive the pigs into the woods and forests (which were very large and numerous) to fatten on roots, sweet chestnuts, beechnuts, and acorns. Fish, fowls, venison, cabbages, eggs, fresh and salted porpoises were also eaten. The cooking of the Anglo- Saxon was an improvement on that of the Ancient Briton ; he had a greater variety of food ; and boiling and making broth or soups became a popular kind of cooking, although baking and roasting were also practised. The chief cooking utensil was an earthenware pot or pipkin which would stand the fire, and into this pot were put herbs and such vegetables as they could obtain, with bones and pieces of meat; these were simmered over the ashes of a wood fire, and in this way they prepared a stew or soup analogous to hotchpotch, or the pot au feu of the French. Mud huts, with dirt floors and a fire in the centre, were often the residence of Saxon kings. In the halls of the nobility an oak board was placed on tressels and removed after meals. On great occasions it was covered with a cloth richly embroidered.

Buckmaster's cookery