“See! with how vast a body the lobster which is served to your patron fills the dish, and with what fine asparagus it is garnished all round; with what a tail he seems to look down in scorn on the assembled guests, when he comes in raised on high by the hands of the tall slave. But to you is served a common crab, scantily hedged in[221] with half an egg sliced, a meal fit only for the dead,[222] and in a dish too small to hold it. Virro himself drowns his fish in oil from Venafrum; but the pale cabbage set before you, poor wretch, will stink of the lamp. For in the sauceboats you are allowed, there is served oil such as the canoe of the Micipsæ has imported in its sharp prow; for which reason no one at Rome would bathe in the same bath with Bocchor; which makes the blackamoors safe even from the attacks of serpents.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
[Illustration: Dressed Lobster. ] Before a lobster is sent to table take off the large claws, hold each of them firmly with the edge upwards, and with a quick light blow from a cutlet bat or ought else convenient for the purpose, crack the shell without disfiguring the fish. Split the tail open with a very sharp knife and dish the lobster in the manner shown in the engraving, either with, or without a napkin under it. When the soft part of the body is required to mix with the dressing, take it out before it is served, and add it to the _remoulade_, or other sauce with which it is to be mingled. The shrimp _chatney_ of Chapter VI. is a wholesome accompaniment to this fish; which we must remark here should be sparingly eaten, or altogether avoided, by persons in delicate health, and especially at night.
Sources: The passage is from Persius, The Satires of Juvenal, Persius, Sulpicia, and Lucilius: Literally tra, tr. Evans, Lewis, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Acton, Modern cookery for private families of 1845, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — slate cloth, amphora stamp.