And here ſhould not be forgotten, that wholſome, as well as agreeable ſort of Bread, we are [42]taught to make; and of which we have eaten at the greateſt Perſons Tables, hardly to be distinguiſh'd from the beſt of Wheat.
Let the Turneps firſt be peel'd, and boil'd in Water till ſoft and tender; then ſtrongly preſſing out the Juice, mix them together, and when dry (beaten or pounded very fine) with their weight of Wheat-Meal, ſeaſon it as you do other Bread, and knead it up; then letting the Dough remain a little to ferment, faſhion the Paſte into Loaves, and bake it like common Bread.
Some roaſt Turneps in a Paper under the Embers, and eat them with Sugar and Butter.
71. Vine, Vitis, the Capreols, Tendrels, and Claſpers (like thoſe of the Hop, &c.) whilſt very young, have an agreeable Acid, which may be eaten alone, or with other Sallet.
72. Viper-graſs, Tragopogon, Scorzonera, Salſifex, &c. tho' Medicinal, and excellent againſt the Palpitation of the Heart, Faintings, Obſtruction of the Bowels, &c. are beſides a very ſweet and pleaſant Sallet; being laid to ſoak out the bitterneſs, then peel'd, may be eaten raw, or Condited; but beſt of all ſtew'd with Marrow, Spice, Wine, &c. as Artichoak, Skirrets, &c. ſliced or whole. They likewiſe may bake, fry, or boil them; a more excellent Root there is hardly growing.
73. Wood-Sorrel, Trifolium acetoſum, or Alleluja, of the nature of other Sorrels.
To all which might we add ſundry more, formerly had in deliciis, ſince grown obſolete or quite neglected with us: As among the nobleſt Bulbs, that of the Tulip; a Root of which has been valued not to eat, but for the Flower (and yet eaten by miſtake) at more than an hundred Pounds. The young freſh Bulbs are ſweet and high of taſte. The Aſphodil or Daffodil; a Sallet ſo rare in Heſiod's Days, that Lobel thinks it the Parſnep, tho' not at all like it; however it was (with the Mallow) taken anciently for any Edule-Root.
The Ornithogalons roaſted, as they do Cheſtnuts, are eaten by the Italians, the wild yellow eſpecially, with Oyl, Vinegar, and Peper. And ſo the ſmall tuberous Roots of Gramen Amygdaloſum; which they alſo roaſt, and make an Emulſion of, to uſe in Broaths as a great Reſtorative. The Oxylapathum, us'd of old; in the time of Galen was eaten frequently. As alſo Dracontium, with the Mordicant Arum Theophraſti, which Dodonæus teaches how to Dreſs. Nay, divers of the Satyrions, which ſome condited with Sugar, others boil'd in Milk for a great Nouriſher, now diſcarded. But what think we of the Cicuta, which there are who reckon among Sallet Herbs? But whatever it is in any other Country, 'tis certainly Mortiferous in ours. To these add the Viola Matronalis, Radix Lunaria, &c. nay, the Green Poppy, by most accounted among the deadly Poyſons: How cautious then ought our Sallet-Gatherers to be, in reading ancient Authors; leſt they happen to be impos'd on, where they treat of Plants, that are familiarly eaten in other Countries, and among other Nations and People of more robuſt and ſtrong conſtitutions? beſsides the hazard of being miſtaken in the Names of divers Simples, not as yet fully agreed upon among the Learned in Botany.
There are beſsides ſeveral remaining, which tho' Abdicated here with us, find Entertainment ſtill in Foreign Countries: As the large Heliotrope and Sun-flower (e're it comes to expand, and ſhew its golden Face) which being dreſs'd as the Artichoak, is eaten for a dainty. This I add as a new Diſcovery. I once made Macaroons with the ripe blanch'd Seeds, but the Turpentine did ſo domineer over all, that it did not anſwer expectation. The Radix Perſonata mounting with their young Heads, Lyſimachia ſiliquoſa glabra minor, when freſh and tender, begins to come into the Sallet-Tribe. The pale whiter Popy, is eaten by the Genoueſe. By the Spaniards, the tops of Wormwood with Oyl alone, and without ſo much as Bread; profitable indeed to the Stomach, but offenſive to the Head; As is alſo Coriander and Rue, which Galen was accuſtom'd to eat raw, and by it ſelf, with Oyl and Salt, as exceedingly grateful, as well as wholſome, and of great vertue againſt Infection. Pliny, I remember, reports it to be of ſuch effect for the Preſervation of Sight; that the Painters of his Time, us'd to devour a great quantity of it. And it is ſtill by the Italians frequently mingled among their Sallets. The Lapatha Perſonata (common Burdock) comes now and then to the beſt Tables, about April, and when young, before the Burrs and Clots appear, being ſtrip'd, and the bitterneſs ſoaked out, treated as the Chardoon, is eaten in Poiverade; Some alſo boil them. More might here be reckon'd up, but theſe may ſuffice; ſince as we find ſome are left off, and gone out, ſo others be introduc'd and come in their room, and that in much greater Plenty and Variety, than was ever known by our Ancestors. The Cucumber it ſelf, now ſo univerſally eaten, being accounted little better than Poyſon, even within our Memory, as already noted.
To conclude, and after all that has been ſaid of Plants and Salleting, formerly in great eſteem, (but ſince obſolete and quite rejected); What if the exalted Juice of the ancient Silphium ſhould come in, and challenge the Precedency? It is a [43]Plant formerly ſo highly priz'd, and rare for the richneſs of its Taſte and other Vertues; that as it was dedicated to Apollo, and hung up in his Temple at Delphi; So we read of one ſingle Root brought to the Emperor Nero for an extraordinary Preſent; and the Drug ſo eſteem'd, that the Romans had long before amaſs'd a quantity of it, and kept it in the Treaſury, till Julius Cæſar rob'd it, and took this away, as a thing of mighty value: In a word, it was of that Account; that as a ſacred Plant, thoſe of the Cyrenaic Africa, honour'd the very Figure of it, by ſtamping it on the Reverſe of their [44]Coin; and when they would commend a thing for its worth to the Skies, Βατ-ου σιλφιον,