Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets

by John Evelyn

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

158 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1699

About the author

John Evelyn was an English writer, gardener and diarist.

Evelyn's diaries or Memoirs are largely contemporaneous with those of the other noted diarist of the time, Samuel Pepys, and cast considerable light on the art, culture and politics of the time (he witnessed the deaths of Charles I and Oliver Cromwell, the last Great Plague of London, and the Great Fire of London in 1666). Over the years, Evelyn’s Diary has been over-shadowed by Pepys's chronicles of 17th-century life. Evelyn and Pepys corresponded frequently and much of this correspondence has been preserved.

Reviews

[Sem · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Potato. The ſmall green Fruit (when about the ſize of the Wild Cherry) being pickled, is an agreeable Sallet. But the Root being roaſted under the Embers, or otherwiſe, open'd with a Knife, the Pulp is butter'd in the Skin, of which it will take up a good Quantity, and is ſeaſoned with a little Salt and Pepper. Some eat them with Sugar together in the Skin, which has a pleaſant Crimpneſs. They are alſo ſtew'd and bak'd in Pyes, &c."

Not to speak of boiled and mashed. Everything you might need to know about salads should you find yourself in the 17th century.

[Avis Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Evelyn was a true original. Writing in the 1600s, he wrote a whole string of odd books, and his diary is as highly regarded as Samuel Pepys'. A gourmet, this book is about the making of salads, and has to be one of the earliest works ever written on the subject.