The Ingredients therefore gather'd and proportion'd, as above; Let the Endive have all its out-ſide Leaves ſtripped off, ſlicing in the White: In like manner the Sellery is alſo to have the hollow green Stem or Stalk trimm'd and divided; ſlicing-in the blanched Part, and cutting the Root into four equal Parts.
Lettuce, Greſſes, Radiſh, &c. (as was directed) muſt be exquiſitely pick'd, cleans'd, waſh'd, and put into the Strainer; ſwing'd, and ſhaken gently, and, if you pleaſe, ſeparately, or all together; Becauſe ſome like not ſo well the Blanch'd and Bitter Herbs, if eaten with the reſt: Others mingle Endive, Succory, and Rampions, without diſtinction, and generally eat Sellery by it ſelf, as alſo Sweet Fennel.
From April till September (and during all the Hot Months) may Guinny-Pepper, and Horſe-Radiſh be left out; and therefore we only mention them in the Dreſſing, which ſhould be in this manner.
Your Herbs being handſomely parcell'd, and ſpread on a clean Napkin before you, are to be mingl'd together in one of the Earthen glaz'd Diſhes: Then, for the Oxoleon; Take of clear, and perfectly good Oyl-Olive, three Parts; of ſharpeſt Vinegar ([67]ſweeteſt of all Condiments) Limon, or Juice of Orange, one Part; and therein let ſteep ſome Slices of Horſe-Radiſh, with a little Salt; Some in a ſeparate Vinegar, gently bruiſe a Pod of Guinny-Pepper, ſtraining both the Vinegars apart, to make Uſe of Either, or One alone, or of both, as they beſt like; then add as much Tewkesbury, or other dry Muſtard grated, as will lie upon an Half-Crown Piece: Beat, and mingle all theſe very well together; but pour not on the Oyl and Vinegar, 'till immediately before the Sallet is ready to be eaten: And then with the Yolk of two new-laid Eggs (boyl'd and prepar'd, as before is taught) ſquaſh, and bruiſe them all into maſh with a Spoon; and laſtly, pour it all upon the Herbs, ſtirring, and mingling them 'till they are well and throughly imbib'd; not forgetting the Sprinklings of Aromaticks, and ſuch Flowers, as we have already mentioned, if you think fit, and garniſhing the Diſh with the thin Slices of Horſe-Radiſh, Red Beet, Berberries, &c.
Note, That the Liquids may be made more, or leſs Acid, as is moſt agreeable to your Taſte.
Theſe Rules, and Preſcriptions duly Obſerv'd; you have a Sallet (for a Table of Six or Eight Perſons) Dreſs'd, and Accommodated ſecundum Artem: For, as the [68]Proverb has it,
Ου ωαντος ανδρος εσιν αρτυσαι καλως.
Non eſt cujuſvis rectè condire.
And now after all we have advanc'd in favour of the Herbaceous Diet, there ſtill emerges a third Inquiry; namely, Whether the Uſe of Crude Herbs and Plants are ſo wholeſom as is pretended?
What Opinion the Prince of Phyſicians had of them, we ſhall ſee hereafter; as alſo what the Sacred Records of elder Times ſeem to infer, before there were any Fleſh-Shambles in the World; together with the Reports of ſuch as are often converſant among many Nations and People, who to this Day, living on Herbs and Roots, arrive to incredible Age, in conſtant Health and Vigour: Which, whether attributable to the Air and Climate, Cuſtom, Conſtitution, &c. ſhould be inquir'd into; eſpecially, when we compare the Antediluvians mention'd Gen. 1. 29--the whole Fifth and Ninth Chapters, ver. 3. confining them to Fruit and wholeſom Sallets: I deny not that both the Air and Earth might then be leſs humid and clammy, and conſequently Plants, and Herbs better fermented, concocted, and leſs Rheumatick, than ſince, and preſently after; to ſay nothing of the infinite Numbers of putrid Carcaſſes of Dead Animals, periſhing in the Flood, (of which I find few, if any, have taken notice) which needs muſt have corrupted the Air: Thoſe who live in Marſhes, and Uliginous Places (like the Hundreds of Eſſex) being more obnoxious to Fevers, Agues, Pleuriſies, and generally unhealthful: The Earth alſo then a very Bog, compar'd with what it likely was before that deſtructive Cataclyſm, when Men breath'd the pure Paradiſian Air, ſucking in a more æthereal, nouriſhing, and baulmy Pabulum, ſo foully vitiated now, thro' the Intemperance, Luxury, and ſofter Education and Effeminacy of the Ages ſince.