Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome

BROTH, WINE AND VINEGAR; [mix and] PLACE ALL IN A SAUCE PAN; THE FINELY CHOPPED CONDIMENTS WITH OIL ADDED, PUT ON THE STOVE TO BE COOKED; WITH THIS FLAVOR THE PEAS WHICH MUST BE SMOOTH; AND IF THEY BE TOO HARSH [in taste] ADD HONEY AND SERVE [4]. [1] List. _Pisa Vitelliana_--named for Vitellius, ninth Roman emperor, notorious glutton, according to Hum. who says that V. invented this dish: _ab auctore Vitellio Imperatore luxui deditissimo_. But Tor. differs; his _pisum uitellinum_ stands for peas with yolks--_vitellum_--yolk, (also calf) dim. _vitellinum_; Tac. _v----am_. Cf. {Rx} No. 193. [2] Tor. sentence wanting in other texts. [3] _lias_--to make a purée by crushing and straining. Tor. _lævigabis_, from _levigo_--meaning the same. [4] If Vitellius never invented any other dish than this one, his gluttony was overrated. As a gastronomer he may be safely relegated to the vast multitude of ill-advised people whose craving for carbohydrates (which is perhaps pathological) causes them to accumulate a surplus of fat. This was fatal to Vitellius and his faithful court baker who is said to have stuck to his master to the last. The poor emperor's _embonpoint_ proved cumbersome when he fled the infuriated mob. Had he been leaner he might have effected a "getaway." He was dragged through the streets and murdered, Dec. 21 or 22, A.D. 69. [190] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER PISAM SIVE FABAM_ WHEN [the peas or beans are] SKIMMED MIX BROTH, HONEY, MUST, CUMIN, RUE, CELERY SEED, OIL AND WINE, STIR [1]. SERVE WITH CRUSHED PEPPER AND SAUSAGE [2]. [1] G.-V. _tudiclabis_; Tor. _misceas_. [2] _cum isiciis_--bits of forcemeat. [191] ANOTHER WAY _ALITER PISAM SIVE FABAM_ WHEN [the peas or beans are] SKIMMED FLAVOR THEM WITH CRUSHED PERSIAN [1] LASER, BROTH AND MUST; POUR A LITTLE OIL OVER AND SERVE. [1] Parthian, from _Parthia_, a country of Asia. [192] A TEMPTING DISH OF PEAS _PISAM ADULTERAM _[1]_ VERSATILEM_ THIS ADROIT, TEMPTING DISH OF PEAS IS PREPARED IN THIS MANNER: [2] COOK PEAS; BRAINS OR SMALL BIRDS, OR BONED THRUSHES, LUCANIAN SAUSAGE, CHICKEN LIVERS AND GIBLETS--ALL OF WHICH ARE PUT IN A SAUCE PAN;