[1] The texts fail to state that the whites, yolks, onions, vinegar and oil must eventually be combined into a dressing very similar to our own modern vinaigrette; for decorative and other gastronomic reasons the separate treatment of the whites and the yolks is both ingenious and excellent, and is very often practised in good kitchens today.
[189] PEAS OR BEANS À LA VITELLIUS PISAM VITELLIANAM SIVE FABAM [1]
PEAS OR BEANS WITH YOLKS ARE MADE THUS: [2] COOK THE PEAS, SMOOTHEN [3] THEM; CRUSH PEPPER, LOVAGE, GINGER, AND ON THE CONDIMENTS PUT HARD BOILED YOLKS, 3 OUNCES OF HONEY, ALSO 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. ℞ 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].