IX-162] It is a pity that no one preserved the seed of so remarkable a vegetable, which no doubt was only to be found in Judea.
We cannot, however, affirm that the gastronomic eccentricity of some Roman epicure did not dream of a monstrous feast, in which he may have offered to his guests an elephant à la Troyenne on a silver dish, made purposely for the occasion.
And it seems to me, my friends, that that fine epicure would not have scrupled to quote from the Omphale of Ion the tragedian, and to say-- For I must speak of a yearly feast As if it came round every day.
The epicure Archestratus says this; and he counsels us to have a Phoenician or Lydian slave for a baker; for he was not ignorant that the best makers of loaves come from Cappadocia.
The second course offered equally delicate substitutes for the usual dainties, and the most fastidious epicure might have been more than satisfied with the entremets.
Yours is simply a gourmand, mine is an epicure as well.
An epicure in all things, he had attained to a sort of self-worship, which would have been sublime if applied to the First Cause of all that is beautiful.
Thus, with the selfishness of an epicure and the tastes of a savant, he surrounded himself with the most luxurious elegance.
Now the transformation was complete; Gilbert had no longer before him the timid, easy soul who trembled before a frown, the epicure in quest of agreeable sensations, the vain artist ingeniously begging eulogies.
The endive may be omitted, but for a real epicure procure it if possible; they are served in France on the best of tables, and are quite worthy of that honour.
The epicure delights in eating raw oysters; and while this satisfies his appetite, it is also understood that the raw oyster virtually is assimilated without taxing the digestion.
But he thought it was very bad indeed, and his quarrel with Newman was that this unregulated epicure had a sadly insufficient perception of the bad.
There can be no better proof of the hankering epicure that is hidden in every man's temperament, waiting for a signal from some divine confederate that he may safely peep out.
Sir Thomas was a rapid little man, and quite an epicurein the use of that luscious monosyllable.
Serenely full, the epicure would say, Fate can not harm me, I have dined to-day!
An o'ergorged epicure to the last morsel That stuffs him to the throat-gates, is no more.
Nay, I will venture to go farther, it is being in some degree epicures: for what could the greatest epicurewish rather than to eat with many mouths instead of one?
By the same rule, what is more relished by our noble epicure than a dry sandwich or a coarse crust of bread and cheese at a farmhouse after a hard day's sport?
Epicure Mammon is the most determined offspring of its author.
Sir Samson Legend, in Love for Love, is such another lying, overbearing character, but he does not come up to Epicure Mammon.
On our return, we found a sirloin of moose roasted to a turn, a stake of bear-meat broiled on the coals, a stew of jerked venison, and as pleasant a dish of fried trout and pork as an epicure could desire.
Apropos of which, I may hint that no epicure ever yet put a knife to an apple, and that an orange should be peeled with a spoon.
Thus an epicure will eat even macaroni with his fingers; and as sucking asparagus is more pleasant than chewing it, you may, as an epicure, take it up au naturel.
Illustration] [Illustration] III Then the Epicure With fine and greedy taste for porridge.
Until a joint cooked by this method has been tasted, the epicure has no idea of the exquisite flavour and delicacy which await him.
