1931 The Art of Drinking More by Dexter Mason

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 [ 5 ]