Our viands

Mushrooms, which have always been so highly esteemed, were formerly known only in the wild state, but of late years their cultivation has been attempted with great success, and they are becoming every year more abundant, tons being sent to market that have been grown in prepared beds. In France and Germany many strange and highly- coloured mushrooms, which we should reject, are freely eaten, but they are always inspected before being allowed to be offered for sale, and I am informed that an onion is always boiled with them, and if this becomes black, the whole contents of the pot is thrown away as poisonous. It is certain that we often reject as unwholesome and dangerous many varieties of mushroom which might be eaten with impunity, but the frequent illnesses and sometimes fatal cases of poisoning which have from time to time occurred through PULSE AND CABBAGE 239 deleterious fungi, render people over-cautious in eating those which are really wholesome and highly nutritious. Among these may be reckoned the puff-balls, which were formerly regarded as very poisonous, but are now known to be delicious and wholesome when gathered young, cut into slices and fried, but when they are at all yellow inside they should not be eaten. It was formerly believed that all mushrooms grown under a fig-tree, well manured and watered, were wholesome. Truffles, so highly belauded by all cooks for their excellent flavour, are underground mushrooms, found by the help of dogs or pigs. They grow principally under elms, and were as much prized by the Romans as by modern cooks. Anciently they were served with meat, gravy, wine, skirrets, pepper, and honey, but Avicenna says they were peeled, cut in pieces, cooked in salt and water, and dished up with oil, benzoin, and spices. Leo Africanus says the Arabs cook them in milk. They are now chiefly used as a flavouring in various dishes. The giant mushroom, known as the vegetable beefsteak, is by many looked upon as equal in flavour to real beefsteak. CHAPTER XIX SALADS AND SEASONINGS HAVING now passed in review most of the vegetables commonly seen on an English dinner-table, it remains only to mention two or three plants grown chiefly for salads, which on the Continent form an indispensable adjunct to the dinner-table, and although less commonly used in England, are still in great request during the summer months. First and foremost among salad plants is the lettuce, of which there are two principal varieties, the cabbage and the cos ; of these the latter is the crispest and best, but the little tender cabbage lettuce is the first to appear in the market, and was doubtless that earliest cultivated in England, as the name of cos applied to the other variety shows that it came to us originally from Cos or some of the neighbouring Greek islands. There is a variety called Bath cos, which is perhaps best of all, and is distinguished by a brownish tinge on the leaves and stalks. When lettuces are scarce and almost unattainable, their place is supplied by endive, of which also two varieties appear in the market, one with very much divided feathery leaves, and the other, in which the leaves are longer and plain. Both these are bleached for the table, and, with the addition of what is known as small salad, that is, mustard 240 SALADS AND SEASONINGS 241