THE PEACOCK.
The peacock comes originally from India: it was there that Alexander the Great saw it for the first time. He was so struck with its magnificent plumage that he forbad all persons, under pain of death, to kill any.[XVII_115]
Oriental princes kept the peacocks which travellers brought them, from time to time, in their aviaries.[XVII_116] It was thus[XVII_117] that a certain king of Egypt received one, of which he thought Jupiter alone worthy; wherefore he sent it in great pomp to the temple of that god.[XVII_118]
These birds were thus known over various parts of the world. Samos, which seems to have been provided one of the first, ornamented its money with their image.[XVII_119] Their reputation soon spread far and wide;[XVII_120] and Athenian speculators sent to that island for peacocks, which were shown to the curious once a month.[XVII_121]
This variety became afterwards an article of commerce, and all wealthy people became desirous to have them. A male and female cost £8 sterling.[XVII_122] But what was that, when delighted eyes could contemplate the charming and lovely colours of the haughty favourite of Juno!
At Rome, the peacock had a prodigious success.[XVII_123] When alive, the Romans praised its beauty; when dead, it appeared on the tables of its enthusiastic admirers.
Quintus Hortensius, the orator, was the first who had them served in a banquet given by him on the occasion of being created an augur.[XVII_124] This gastronomic novelty made an extraordinary sensation at Rome—as might be expected—and the peacock became so much in fashion, that no banquet could possibly be given unless it was embellished by its presence.[XVII_125]
Marcus Aufidius Livio was the first to contrive a sure way to fatten them;[XVII_126] and he succeeded so well that he made prodigious sums every year by the sale of those birds.[J]
Horace preferred them to the finest poultry,[XVII_127] and distinguished amateurs thought that it was not paying much for a young peacock if they could get it for two pounds and three shillings.[XVII_128]
The ridiculous consumption which was made of these birds did not allow of their becoming very common. Tiberius reared some in his gardens; and he condemned to capital punishment a soldier of his guards who had the misfortune to kill one.[XVII_129]
Ultimately, more savoury or more rare dishes took the place of peacocks’ flesh, which then began to be thought hard, unwholesome, and of difficult digestion.[XVII_130] However, it re-appeared in the middle ages at the nuptial festivities of the rich, where one of these birds was served, as if alive, with the beak and claws gilded. To do that well, it was necessary to skin the bird very carefully, and then cook it with aromatics, such as cinnamon, cloves, &c. It was then covered with its skin and feathers, and served without any appearance of having been stripped. This luxury was to gratify the sight: nobody touched it. The peacock was thus preserved for several years without being damaged—a property believed to be peculiar to its flesh,[XVII_131] but which was owing, no doubt, to the aromatics just mentioned.
Peacock of Samos.—Mix some pepper, alisander, parsley, dill flowers, dried mint, and filberts, or fried almonds; bruise them with green smallage[K] and pennyroyal, and mix the whole with wine, honey, vinegar, and garum. Make incisions in the bird, and cover it with this seasoning.[XVII_132]