“On the tray stood a donkey made of Corinthian bronze, bearing panniers containing olives, white in one and black in the other. Two platters flanked the figure, on the margins of which were engraved Trimalchio’s name and the weight of the silver in each. Dormice sprinkled with poppy-seed and honey were served on little bridges soldered fast to the platter, and hot sausages on a silver gridiron, underneath which were damson plums and pomegranate seeds.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
662. INGREDIENTS.--To every lb. of suet allow 2 lbs. of lean beef; seasoning to taste of salt, pepper, and mixed spices. _Mode_.--Clear the suet from skin, and chop that and the beef as finely as possible; season with pepper, salt, and spices, and mix the whole well together. Make it into flat cakes, and fry of a nice brown. Many persons pound the meat in a mortar after it is chopped ( but this is not necessary when the meat is minced finely.) _Time_.--10 minutes. _Average cost_, for this quantity, 1s. 6d. _Seasonable_ at any time.
Sources: The passage is from Petronius Arbiter, The Satyricon — Complete, tr. Firebaugh, W. C., free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Beeton, The Book of Household Management of 1861, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — plum cloth, boar stamp.