Refinements of 17th-Century Vegetable Cooking Choose the largest asparagus, scrape them at the bottom, and wash Cook them in some water, salt them well, and do not let them overcook When done, let them drain, and make a sauce with some good fresh butter, a little vinegar, salt, and nutmeg, and an egg yolk to bind the sauce; take care that it doesn’t curdle Serve the asparagus well garnished with whatever you like La Varenne, Le Cuisinier franỗois, 1655 by reason of its soporifous quality, lettuce ever was, and still continues the principal foundation of the universal tribe of Sallets, which is to cool and refresh, besides its other properties [which included beneficial influences on morals, temperance, and chastity”] We have said how necessary it is that in the composure of a sallet, every plant should come in to bear its part, without being overpower’d by some herb of a stronger taste, so as to endanger the native sapor and virtue of the rest; but fall into their places, like the notes in music, in which there should be nothing harsh or grating: And though admitting some discords (to distinguish and illustrate the rest) striking in all the more sprightly, and sometimes gentler notes, reconcile all dissonancies, and melt them into an agreeable composition — John Evelyn, Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets, 1699 At the end of the 20th century, several developments in the industrialized world brought renewed attention to plant foods, to their diversity and quality One was a new appreciation of their importance for human health, thanks to the discovery of trace “phytochemicals” that appear to help fight cancer and heart disease (p 255) Another was the growing interest in exotic and unfamiliar cuisines and ingredients, and their increasing ...some herb of a stronger taste, so as to endanger the native sapor and virtue of the rest; but fall into their places, like the notes in music, in which there should be nothing harsh or grating: And though... admitting some discords (to distinguish and illustrate the rest) striking in all the more sprightly, and sometimes gentler notes, reconcile all dissonancies, and melt them into an agreeable composition — John Evelyn, Acetaria: A Discourse of. .. — John Evelyn, Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets, 1699 At the end of the 20th century, several developments in the industrialized world brought renewed attention to plant foods, to their diversity and quality One was a new