On Food and Cooking

quickly became the most popular spice of the
ancient world. In Rome, lettuce was served at
both the beginning and end of meals, and fruit
as dessert. Thanks to the art of grafting
growing shoots from desirable trees onto
other trees, there were about 25 named apple
varieties and 35 pears. Fruits were preserved
whole by immersing them, stems and all, in
honey, and the gastronome Apicius gave a
recipe for pickled peaches. From the Roman
recipes that survive, it would seem that few
foods were served without the application of
several strong flavors.
When the Romans conquered Europe they
brought along tree fruits, the vine, and
cultivated cabbage, as well as their heavy
spice habit. Sauce recipes from the 14th
century resemble those of Apicius, and the
English lettuce-free salad would also have
been quite pungent (see box, p. 251).
Medieval recipe collections include relatively
few vegetable dishes.