used, and cream and butter still weren’t.
Sauce Recipes from Ancient Rome
...the bulb [of garlic] with the leaves he
kept and dipped in water, then dropped into
the round hollow stone. On it he sprinkled
some grains of salt, and as the salt
dissolved added hard cheese, then heaped
on the herbs he had gathered [parsley, rue,
coriander], and with his left hand wedged
the mortar into his shaggy groin; his right
hand first mashed the pungent garlic with
the pestle, then pounded everything so as
to mix the juices evenly. Round and round
went his hand; gradually the original
ingredients lost their own properties and
one color emerged from several, not
wholly green, since the milky fragments
held out, nor shining milky white, being
variegated by all the herbs.... he poured in
some drops of olive oil and on top added a
tiny drop of pungent vinegar, and once