WHITING.
The flesh of this gadus is so light that, according to an old French proverb, the “Merlans mangée ne pèsant non plus dans l’estomac que pendus à la ceinture.”[XXI_152] “Whitings weigh no more when eaten than when hung to the girdle.” Nevertheless, the Greeks did not think much of it, and they said that the whiting was only good for those who could not obtain more delicate fish.[XXI_153]
The Romans, less severe or not quite so particular, cooked their whitings with a sauce composed as follows:—put with the fish, in a stewpan, some garum, chopped leeks, cummin, savory, and a sufficient quantity of cooked wine, and some wine slightly diluted; cook it on a slow fire.[XXI_154]