Columella Salad and Green and Baian Beans

Apicius knew a thing or two about meat and desserts, but the great Columella had a good eye for salads. I heard that he left the career of a tribune to become a good farmer of numerous fields. Who better to judge vegetables than the farmer himself?

COLUMELLA SALAD

Put savory in the mortar with mint, rue, coriander, parsley, sliced leek, or, if it is not available, onion, lettuce and rocket leaves, green thyme, or catmint. Also pennyroyal and salted fresh cheese. This is all crushed together. Stir in a little peppered vinegar. Put this mixture on a plate and pour oil over it.

A salad is perfect as a light gustum dish when the master desires to take a quick lunch alone. It is also quite simple to make. It can calm the stomach after many meals of rich foods.

I admire Columella for his emphasis on the simple. When I'm in the kitchen plucking the feathers from yet another exotic bird, I can see why he longed for a time when rich and poor ate the same food and meals had not yet become a part of the neverending status contest. Food is just food, really.

BEANS

Cook beans with Liquamen, oil, leek and spices. Serve.

I have gathered that beans, like wild boar, are another status food. The master always is certain to ask me to season and dress the beans "beyond recognition" when I am preparing them for his family or for guests. Plain beans are commonly eaten in poorer families, so it is important for a man of his wealth and status not to lower himself to puls. At times he will serve them to his less important guests, but will still ask that I prepare them so they are unrecognizable.

I do not prepare beans very often, and even less often now, for my master is beginning to consider the teachings of the Pythagoreans as rewritten by Aristotle.