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TIPPLE AND SNACK
ic~l ~atisfaction
than any other---except perhaps
drmkmg. The savage did not cook; he ate herbs
and fruits and nuts, or went hungry. Only when
one ascends the scale does eating become more
varied, is fire used, and is food shared with others
in conversation and in gay spirits.
"Xerxes introduced the luxuries of the East into
Greece, and by the time Alexander was welding the
civilized world, cookery, touched by Attic wit and
taste, had become a high art. Why, otherwise, did
the Romans vie with one another in obtaining Greek
cooks? The Romans made the error, however, of
keeping their cooks enslaved. Thus the art of the
gourmet in the Italian peninsula never reached the
peaks of the Attic Symposia. After passing through
the ostentatious displays of Lucullus, Roman cookery
degenerated into extravagant orgies, only to die out
entirely with the inroads of the barbarians. Who
was it made the remark that he salted a piece of raw
meat, placed it between the saddle and the horse,
and after riding for a certain .distance on the horse,
claimed he had a dish fit for the gods? Things
culinary have changed-thank God!"
"Ah, those were sad days for the stomach, my
friend," remarked Morisot. "Mais voyons, I see the
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