to be a nest of them, took some home and cooked them,
leaving the rest in the sand, but returning in a day or two
for the remainder, found instead a number of lively young
crocodiles, which would go far to prove that there is very
little to choose between turtles' eggs and those of the
crocodile, and probably those of snakes and lizards would
be equally palatable if prejudice did not interfere with
their consumption.
The Chinese are credited with a fondness for eggs half-
rotten, but that is hardly to be believed when we remember
the evil odour attached to them in this condition; they
may, however, enjoy them with the chick in, even as many
people will eat the young bees in the honey-comb, for it is
possible to imagine that a half-hatched chicken may be
palatable, but rotten eggs are certainly an abomination,
which no gastronomic peculiarities could render endurable
to a civilised taste, although they may not be worse than
some other half-rotten comestibles which commend them-
selves to some palates. The Australians, when they find the
eggs of the brush-turkey or the jungle-hen, make a hole in
them lengthways, and lay them in hot ashes, and when they
boil, eat the contents by means of a brush made of cane,
with the end chewed. Should there be chicks in the eggs,
as is often the case, they take them out, broil them on the
ashes, and eat them after the other contents.
A bird, perhaps of the same species as the brush-turkey,
and known in China as the Tabon, lays a very large egg in
the sand of the sea-shore, leaving it to be hatched by the
heat of the sun. These eggs are carefully sought, and are
said to be best when stale, or with young birds in them.
CHAPTER IX
DAIRY PRODUCE
How shall we estimate the debt we owe to the man or
woman who first thought of domesticating the useful cow
for the sake of her milk ? How early in the world's history
that domestication took place it is impossible to say, but
we know that the Egyptians appreciated the bovine race so
highly that they worshipped the bull Apis, and it would
not be hard to trace a similar worship through many other
ancient nations, to the Hindoos of the present day.
The Egyptians probably made butter and cheese, as we
do : certainly the Hebrews did, for the references to butter
and cheese in the various books of the Old Testament are
numerous. 'Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and
curdled me like cheese ? ' says Job ; and in another place
he speaks of 'brooks of honey and butter.' Butter was
one of the delicacies which Jael set before Sisera, and
ten cheeses of milk was the present which Jesse sent by
the hand of his son David to the captain of that thousand
of Saul's army in which his brethren were serving. It is
of course possible that this butter and these cheeses were
made of the milk of sheep or goats, but in enumerating
the presents sent to David by Barzillai, cheese of kine is
especially mentioned, and from the proverb which says,
119
120 OUR VIANDS
' Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter,' we may
conclude that both butter and cheese were known to the
ancients in much the same form as we have them now.
Our viands
1893Page 57
Presented as published in 1893. 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
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to be a nest of them, took some home and cooked them,
leaving the rest in the sand, but returning in a day or two
for the remainder, found instead a number of lively young
crocodiles, which would go far to prove that there is very
little to choose between turtles' eggs and those of the
crocodile, and probably those of snakes and lizards would
be equally palatable if prejudice did not interfere with
their consumption.
The Chinese are credited with a fondness for eggs half-
rotten, but that is hardly to be believed when we remember
the evil odour attached to them in this condition; they
may, however, enjoy them with the chick in, even as many
people will eat the young bees in the honey-comb, for it is
possible to imagine that a half-hatched chicken may be
palatable, but rotten eggs are certainly an abomination,
which no gastronomic peculiarities could render endurable
to a civilised taste, although they may not be worse than
some other half-rotten comestibles which commend them-
selves to some palates. The Australians, when they find the
eggs of the brush-turkey or the jungle-hen, make a hole in
them lengthways, and lay them in hot ashes, and when they
boil, eat the contents by means of a brush made of cane,
with the end chewed. Should there be chicks in the eggs,
as is often the case, they take them out, broil them on the
ashes, and eat them after the other contents.
A bird, perhaps of the same species as the brush-turkey,
and known in China as the Tabon, lays a very large egg in
the sand of the sea-shore, leaving it to be hatched by the
heat of the sun. These eggs are carefully sought, and are
said to be best when stale, or with young birds in them.
CHAPTER IX
DAIRY PRODUCE
How shall we estimate the debt we owe to the man or
woman who first thought of domesticating the useful cow
for the sake of her milk ? How early in the world's history
that domestication took place it is impossible to say, but
we know that the Egyptians appreciated the bovine race so
highly that they worshipped the bull Apis, and it would
not be hard to trace a similar worship through many other
ancient nations, to the Hindoos of the present day.
The Egyptians probably made butter and cheese, as we
do : certainly the Hebrews did, for the references to butter
and cheese in the various books of the Old Testament are
numerous. 'Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and
curdled me like cheese ? ' says Job ; and in another place
he speaks of 'brooks of honey and butter.' Butter was
one of the delicacies which Jael set before Sisera, and
ten cheeses of milk was the present which Jesse sent by
the hand of his son David to the captain of that thousand
of Saul's army in which his brethren were serving. It is
of course possible that this butter and these cheeses were
made of the milk of sheep or goats, but in enumerating
the presents sent to David by Barzillai, cheese of kine is
especially mentioned, and from the proverb which says,
119
120 OUR VIANDS
' Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter,' we may
conclude that both butter and cheese were known to the
ancients in much the same form as we have them now.