“At the present day this celebrated seasoning is forgotten in Italy, but in Turkey it is still in use. The inn-keepers of Constantinople preserve in garum the cooked fish not consumed in the day.”—Bosc.
HONEY.
What is sweeter than honey?[XXIII_43] what is more pure,[XXIII_44] or more nourishing?[XXIII_45] It is the milk of the aged, it prolongs their existence,[XXIII_46] and when they descend into the tomb, it still serves to embalm them.[XXIII_47]
Pagan antiquity ascribed the honour of the discovery of this useful substance to the Athenian Aristæus, who taught mankind to feed on it. This valuable service procured him a patent of nobility. He was made a descendant of Bacchus or Apollo.[XXIII_48]
It is not necessary to say that honey was known in the east long before the rise of Athens; it is already mentioned in the first book of the holy writings.[XXIII_49]
It is said that Spain owed its knowledge of this delicious aliment to Gorgor, King of the Curetes, who was polite enough to take some on the occasion of a journey which he made into that country.[XXIII_50] The Peninsula could afterwards furnish this delicacy for the tables of Rome and Italy.
The Greeks esteemed honey most highly;[XXIII_51] they employed it in pastry, and in ragoûts;[XXIII_52] their philosopher, Pythagoras, eat nothing else with his bread, and, as he lived to be ninety years old, he recommended his disciples to follow the same régime.[XXIII_53] They profited by th sage’s counsel, and found themselves all the better for it.[XXIII_54]
A benevolent goddess protected bees, hives, and the honeycomb. She was called Mellona, and a grateful piety offered her honey every new-year’s day.[XXIII_55]
Theophrastus distinguished three kinds of honey: that which the bees extract from flowers, that which comes from the air, and lastly, the honey from reeds.[XXIII_56] We clearly perceive that he means honey, manna, and sugar.