“In the time when the French had a decided taste for spices and aromatics, they imagined to vary at will the flavour and perfume of the flesh of fowls. With the paste used to fatten them was mixed musk, anise-seed, and comfits, with other aromatic drugs. A Queen was known to spend 1,500 francs (£60) in fattening three geese, whose livers she wished to render more delicate.”—Parmentier.
THE PIGEON.
The dove, a bird so dear to Venus,[XVII_81] served ambrosia to Jupiter,[XVII_82] and became the interpreter of Dodona’s oracles.[XVII_83] Several nations consecrated it to their gods.[XVII_84] The Jews discovered in it the image of the sweetest virtues,[XVII_85] of beauty, innocence, and purity;[XVII_86] and they sacrificed it to the Almighty, as a burnt offering agreeable to His unspeakable holiness.[XVII_87]
This was because the dove or pigeon (begging pardon, here, for mixing varieties) is to the hawk, according to an expression of a father of the Church, what the lamb is to the wolf,[XVII_88]—a symbol of good by the side of evil, or of a calm and peaceful conscience, as opposed to the sad and agitated criminal. But, alas! the ancient prerogatives of this tender bird, its candour and innocence, could not even preserve it from the fate common to almost everything which breathes. Its delicate flesh—fatal gift of Heaven!—recommended it to the epicure; not for its poetical qualities, but for its delicate flavour; and, after many songs of praise, it was condemned to be roasted.
From the beginning of the heroic ages, pigeons were caught with snares and nets,[XVII_89] in order to feed them, and be able to procure some at once, if required to be served at a repast; for they formed a dainty dish upon the tables of the most fastidious.[XVII_90] Of course they figured in the joyous wedding feast of that opulent Caranus who entertained his guests so sumptuously.[XVII_91]
The Greeks, therefore, used to bring up an immense number of pigeons, and built for them, in the most open situations, charming pigeon-houses, in the form of small towers, models of elegance and cleanliness, where those timid birds found at night a retreat, always fatal to some one amongst them.[XVII_92]
The Romans introduced in these sorts of edifices the most unusual luxury.[XVII_93] Each kind of pigeon had a particular home[XVII_94]—a foolish and expensive taste, which they continually attempted to embellish. It was, however, a profitable speculation for those who knew how to be satisfied with pigeon-houses of more simple appearance. A brace of rather ordinary pigeons did not cost less than 16s.: the finest were sold at £4 a pair. It is even known that L. Axius, a Roman knight, demanded and obtained £6 8s. for two young pigeons intended for a patrician’s table.[XVII_95]
Physicians of that period greatly praised the flesh of these birds; they recommended it to the sick and convalescent.[XVII_96]
Roast Pigeon, with Servilian Seasoning.—Bruise some dill seeds, dried mint, and the root of benzoin; add some vinegar, dates, garum, a little mustard, and oil; stir well; then mix with it some wine reduced to half, and pour the whole on the roasted pigeon.[XVII_97]