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Salads (It is an essential requirement)

It is an essential requirement for the body's health that chemical changes shall take place in the blood as to its salts of potash, and soda, for setting free the carbonic acid gas with which these earths are combined. In order to effect such chemical changes Salads, or their equivalents, are needed, otherwise the said gas becomes difficult of excretion, and proves more or less poisonous. John Evelyn, in his quaint Acetaria, or Book of Sallets (1706), puts the matter thus: "We see how necessary it is that in the composure of a Sallet every plant should come in to bear its part without being overpowered by some herb of a stronger taste, but should fall into their place like the notes in music." Therefore it was the comical Magister Cook introduced by Damoxemus, when asked (Atticé) "What harmony is there in meats?" answered, "That very same that a diatesseron, and diapason, have to one another in a consort of music." Again, "Raw Sallets, and herbs have experimentally been found to be the most sovereign diet in that epidemical with us, and almost よい universal contagion, the scorbute, to which we of this nation, and most other Islanders are obnoxious; yet since the Nasturtia (Cresses) are simply, and alone, as it were, the most effectual, and powerful agents in conquering, and expunging that cruel enemy, it were proper to show what remedies there are contained in our magazine of Sallet plants, upon all occasions rightly marshal'd, and skilfully applied." The lesser garden vegetables, put together uncooked in a bowl so as to be temptingly and toothsomely combined, form Salads, which are both salubrious, and appetizing. The Lettuce usually takes the lead therein, Cresses being added, Beetroot, Endive, Spring Onions, Radishes, and sometimes a few fresh, young Dandelion leaves. As such vegetables, when eaten raw, are apt to ferment in the stomach, and as they have very little stimulating power on that organ, some condimentary dressing is usually intermixed with them, as pepper, salt, mustard, etc.; vinegar also is added, not only for its grateful sharpness, but, further, because of its solvent action on the fibrous parts of stalk, leaf, and root, which are otherwise somewhat indigestible. Lucca Oil is considered by most persons a necessary complement, though it tends to prevent access within the stomach of digestive juices to the inner substance of the vegetables, and therefore makes the salad disagree with weakly folk. "Salad Oyl," as Evelyn teaches, "should not be high-coloured, or yellow, but of a pallid olive-green." "Pepper (Piper) being of approved virtue against all flatulency, and generally all crudities whatsoever, is a never to be omitted ingredient of our sallets, provided it be not too minutely beaten (as oft we find it) to an almost impalpable dust; which is very pernicious, and frequently adheres, and sticks in the folds of the stomach, where, instead of promoting concoction it often causes a Cardialgium, and fires the blood; it should therefore be grossly contused only." A French proverb pertinently says:- "Qui vin ne boit après Salade Est en danger d'être malade."

Respecting vinegar, it must be noted that this, as practically a mineral acid, is of fixed composition, and does not undergo disintegration when taken with foods, like the organic acids of fruits, and vegetables; in nearly all of which the potash is combined therewith, and is given off into the blood during digestion. "Sometimes, because of the fruits being acid (though readily disintegrated by the stomach,) I have found it advantageous to throw half a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of potash into a tumblerful of water containing the fresh juice of a lemon, and have even added it to stewed, or baked rhubarb, and to stewed gooseberries ; in these latter it froths like whipped cream, and lessens the demand for sugar, any excess of which is harmful to goutilydisposed persons. But I must conclude my sermon on the potash text by adding that it is quite possible to take too much of this alkaline solvent, especially as a drug from the chemist, which is in any excess depressing to the vital powers" (Thudicum). The Salad Oil must be thoroughly good, quite clear, and transparent, whilst entirely free from any rancid smell, and the paler this oil is the better. Such white deposit as is sometimes seen in Salad Oil is vegetable albumin, which ought to have been refined out, as it prevents the oil from keeping sweet. Lucca Oil, which has a peculiar "nutty" flavour, is the best. One of our historians tells us that in Old English days the life of our ancestors was coloured with a broad rosy English health; but this statement is open to question, since a large consumption of flesh meat, barely qualified by a scant supply of fruit, and vegetables, can scarcely have conduced them to a pure state of their bodily system. As a matter of fact, inflammatory diseases, and skin diseases were rife at those times; there were yet lepers in the land; and, rightly or wrongly, the public generally believed in heroic treatment for warding off sickness ; so the barber-surgeon flourished then, and bleeding, blistering, and cupping were among the common experiences of everyday life. Before the introduction of the Potato, and the extended cultivation, and use, of other garden vegetables which are now common, the need of anti-scorbutics was very widely felt. Herb drinks were religiously taken in the spring to purify the system after the salt meat of the long winter months.

Those several vegetables which have just been particularized as commonly used in making a Salad, do not need to be taken again into detailed consideration, each being already described in its alphabetical place. Endive (Cichorium), and the Dandelion (Taraxacum) are subsidiary for persons disposed to sluggish action of the liver, each being a helpful solvent of bile. The former, a Succory, of two varieties (plain, and curled), is chiefly cultivated for Salad uses in the winter, and spring, "when, as being whited (bleached), they are the more tender, and 66 delicate, very pleasing to the stomach, refreshing the weake, and fainting spirits;" so Gerarde has said. The dwarf white Batavian sort is the more delicate in flavour. The fleshy leafribs of Endive (Cichorium endivia) contain 4 per cent of sugar. Endive is of several sorts, -the white, the green, and the curled. It is distinguished from Chicory by its less bitter taste, and by its annual root. For a purée of Endive: Wash, and remove the outer leaves from one cut Endive; have ready a saucepan only just full enough of fast-boiling salted water; throw the vegetable in, and allow it to cook quickly until tender; then drain it thoroughly, and mince it very finely. Melt one ounce of butter in a stewpan, put in the Endive, and heat it without browning it; dredge a small quantity of flour over it, and stir in one teaspoonful of thick, raw cream; season with a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, a pinch of castor sugar, and a suspicion of grated nutmeg; then colour to a delicate green with juice of spinach, or of parsley. Let the purée simmer gently at the side of the range for about a quarter of an hour. Immediately before dishing it up work in a few tiny lumps of fresh butter; pour out into a hot dish, and serve garnished with triangles of toast, and sprays of fresh parsley." "taraxacin," The Dandelion plant contains chemically inulin (a sort of sugar), gluten, gum, and an odorous resin which specially stimulates the liver. Probably this reputed virtue was at first, in times long past, assigned to the herb mainly according to the doctrine of signatures, because of its bright yellow flowers of a bilious hue. But more modern, and more scientific experience quite vindicates the medicinal claims of this plant (leaf, and root) for remedying an indolent function of the bile-making, and bile-distributing organs, with a disposition to jaundice. The root abounds with a milky juice which is thick, sweet, and albuminous during the winter, but bitter and acrid in summer time; it is at its best for yielding juice in November. A decoction may be usefully made by slicing the root, and boiling one part thereof for fifteen minutes in twenty parts of water, straining this when cool, and sweetening with brown sugar, or honey, if desired. A small teacupful may be taken once, or twice a day. The leaves should be blanched by being covered in the earth as they grow, and are best for a Salad in spring time. The Dandelion root may be serviceably roasted, and ground, so as to be mixed with coffee, making a capital dietetic combination. It has some tendency to provoke urination at night, by reason of which one of its vulgar appellations has been conferred, "Quasi herba lectiminga, et urinaria." Constitutional struma (as it is called), scorbutic tendencies, and scrofula are innate morbid proclivities, more or less identical, and varying in degree; they render their subjects especially liable to tubercular disease, though it is not the case that all the ailments of scrofulous persons are indicative of, or dependent on tubercular deposits. It is against strumous, and scrofulous developments, that many of the fresh herbs employed in Salads are specially beneficial, this being remarkably the case with respect to the various Cresses. The kindred maladies of such a nature to which the Watercress, and its allied plants are antidotal, get the name of scrofula, from the Latin word "scrofa," a burrowing pig, as signifying the destructive mischief done radically to important vital glands within the body by this ruinous undermining hereditary disease. Perhaps the quaint lines which nurses have been long accustomed to repeat whilst fondling the fingers, one by one, of their amused babes, bear a sly meaning which imports this bugbear of a scrofulous taint. The said familiar distich runs thus as each finger, when handled in its turn, is personated as a fabulous little pig: "The first small piggy doesn't feel well; the second one hastens the doctor to tell; the third little pig has to hunger at home; and the fourth little pig can of dinner eat none; then the fifth little pig, with a querulous note, cries, 'Weak! weak! weak!' from its poor little throat." 66 Ægrotat multis doloribus porculus ille :

Ille rogat fratri medicum proferre salutem :

Debilis ille domi mansit vetitus abire:

Carnem digessit nunquam miser porculus ille: 'Eheu,' ter repetens, Eheu,' perporculus, 'Eheu,' Vires exiguas luget plorante susurro."

About Norfolk the digits are called popularly "Tom Thumbkin," 66 Willy Wink-in," "Long Gracious," "Betty Bodkin," and "Little Tit."

In Cogan's Haven of Health (1589) it was told that "Lettuce is much used in Sallets in the summer tyme, with vinegar, oyle, and sugar, and salt, and is formed to procure appetite for meats, and to temper the heate of the stomach, and liver." For a simple "Salade à la Francaise": Separate the Lettuce, leaf from leaf, and wash them very thoroughly; shake them in a Salad basket, and dry them lightly on a soft serviette; then tear the leaves into pieces of a proper size; rub the inside of the Salad bowl with a split clove of garlic; put the Salad presently into the bowl, dusting it with a little salt, and a little white pepper; next add oil, and vinegar (one tablespoonful of the oil to two of the vinegar; mix lightly, and thoroughly with the hands (not with fork, spoon, or knife), and let the Salad be served at once for immediate use." As a preliminary to the above, after picking away all the decayed, or damaged leaves, the Lettuce parts, when well washed, should stand for about fifteen minutes in salted water, and then be left for a few hours in fresh water, changed at intervals. Likewise for "Salade d'Orange": "Proceed in the same way, but rub the inside of the Salad bowl with a split onion, squeezing out the juice as thoroughly as practicable; add the Salad, and accompaniments as above; then add a quarter of a clove of garlic (finely minced), a large orange freed completely from skin, pith, and pips, and torn into small pieces; mix assiduously, and finally add from three to six drops of tabasco, (a sauce made spicy with Jamaica Pepper and Clove-Cassia,) mix again, serve, and your guests will rise up, and call you blessed." Gerarde has said about the Lettuce: Being in some degree laxative, and aperient, the Lettuce is proper for hot, bilious dispositions." And Parkinson adds: "Lettuce eaten raw, or boyled, helpeth to loosen the belly; and the boyled more than the raw." 66 The Germans wax enthusiastic over the charms of Kertoffelen Salade, also over their famous Beetroot Salad, "Rotte Ruben Salade." For the Spanish Salad (Gaspacho), this is made with bread, and vegetables, the bread-crumbs being soaked in water, or broth, and squeezed rather dry in a cloth; then salt is added, also olive oil, some red, or green pimentoes, some tomatoes, and vinegar. In Spain this Salad is eaten with a spoon made out of an excavated crust of bread, if a permanent spoon is not at hand. It should be noted that the vinegar here is a mistake, because it would hinder digestion of the starches in the bread; fresh lemon-juice should be substituted. Sir Thomas Browne, in Religio Medici, declared: "I could digest a Salad gathered in a churchyard as well as in a garden. I wonder not at the French with their dishes of frogs, snails, and toadstools; nor at the Jews for locusts, and grasshoppers; but being amongst them make them my common viands, and I find they agree with my stomach as well as theirs; at the sight of a toad, or viper I find in me no desire to take up a stone to destroy them." Charles Lamb, by contrast, gave the preference to more solid, and substantial meals. "My appetites," said he, "are too high for the Salads which (according to Evelyn) Eve dressed for the Angel: my gusts too excited to sit a guest with a Daniel at his pulse." 66 The Cowslip, and the Primrose, by reason of the delicate flavours which their petals afford, whilst the colours are attractive, find frequent admission now-a-days into Salads at refined tables. Furthermore, the curative virtues which these flowers respectively supply may be thus brought to bear in a pleasant, palatable way. Already we have given some consideration to the Cowslip. Both it, and the Primrose contain a fragrant volatile oil, together with "mannite," and a somewhat acrid principle, "saponin." Alfred Austin, Poet Laureate, counsels to "make healing salve with Primroses." "Primrose tea," says Gerarde, "drunk in May is famous for curing the phrensie." Count Nesselrode, the venerable Russian diplomatist, who never grew old," when asked what was the secret cause of his prolonged youth, replied, "Flowers, and muisc," both of which he cultivated with enthusiasm. Primrose blossoms are quieting to the nerves, and will allay spasm, besides tending to the promotion of sleep. They go well with the Lettuce in a Salad for supper. Whilst the petals are fresh they possess a honey-like odour, and a sweetish taste; when collected and dried, they become of a greenish colour. In Devonshire an odd superstition is attached to these flowers: if only a few are brought by anyone into the house for the first time in the early spring, the good wife will say, "Whot a vüle yu be tü bring in tü, or dree Primrosen! Now us shant av no chickun vur a brave while, and they that be a-hatched 'll die ov tha gaps." But if a large bunch of Primroses had been gathered, and brought in, the results with regard to chicken hatching, and rearing, would have been quite satisfactory; so goes the rural belief. "Pale Primroses That die unmarried ere they can behold Bright Phœbus in his strength."

Winter's Tale.

A "Salade des Violettes" is a delicious dish, fit for the table of Apicius, or Lucullus : "Take Batavian endive, finely-curled celery, a sprinkling of minced parsley, a single olive, and the petals of a couple of dozen blue Violets; these several ingredients are to be mixed with the purest olive oil, salt, and pepper, being the only other condiments; add a dash of Bordeaux wine, and a suspicion of white vinegar." Lately, because of a marvellous cure (as reported) of desperate cancer by the outward application of Violet leaves made into infusion, this herb has acquired a resuscitated renown. The case was that of Lady Margaret Marsham, sister to the present Earl of Romney. Her throat had become completely closed by an obstructive malignant growth, and all food had to be administered by artificial means below. Under the continued use of Violet stupes day, and night, the growth gradually subsided, and ultimately disappeared. Far back in 1586 "the whole work of that famous Chirurgeon, Master John Vigo, gave directions 'how to cure cancer.' The prescription (for purgation of the matter antecedent) included confection of Violets, as likewise does the prescription which is 'to take away the matter conjunct." This is a much older herbal than that of Culpeper. For making a syrup of sweet Violets: "To one pound of sweet Violet flowers, freshly picked, add two and a half pints of boiling water; infuse these for twenty-four hours in a closed china vessel; then pour off the liquor, and strain it gently through muslin; afterwards add double its weight of the finest loaf sugar, and make it into a syrup, but without letting it boil.

Reference has been made previously to a "Rosebud Salad," as invented at Chicago. And again, a "Nasturtium Salad" is palatable, elegant, and anti-scorbutic. "Shred a lettuce finely, and mix with it some freshly-gathered, young, succulent Nasturtium leaves, together with two hard-boiled eggs cut into quarters; place them in a Salad bowl, and dot with Nasturtium flowers; serve with fresh lemon-juice, or with whatever other dressing is preferred." Lord Beaconsfield said that Primroses make a delicious Salad; and because of this the flower has become associated for ever with his name. A century ago many other materials were introduced into Salads, which are not thought of now for the purpose, such as Fennel, Marsh-Mallow tops, Hops, Wild Marjoram, Elder Flowers, Asparagus, and Nettle. Tennyson makes Lynette ask her scullion :- "What knowest thou of flowers, except belike To garnish meat with?" 66