ary practice and traditions
make of such terms as _pette de nonne_ as found in many old French
cookery books, or of the famous _suttelties_ (subtleties)--the
confections once so popular at medieval weddings?

The ramifications of the _lingua coquinaria_ in any country are
manifold, and the culinary wonderland is full of pitfalls even for the
experienced gourmet.

REACHING THE LIMIT

Like in all other branches of ancient endeavor, cookery had reached a
state of perfection around the time of Apicius when the only chance
for successful continuation of the art lay in the conquest of new
fields, i.e., in expansion, generalization, elaboration and in
influence from foreign sources. We have witnessed this in French
cookery which for the last hundred years has successfully expanded and
has virtually captured the civilized parts of the globe, subject
however, always to regional and territorial modifications.

This desirable expansion of antique cookery did not take place. It was
violently and rather suddenly checked principally by political and
economic events during the centuries following Apicius, perhaps
principally by the forces that caused the great migration (the very
quest of food!). Suspension ensued instead. The heirs to the ancient
culture were not yet ready for their marvelous heritage. Besides their
cultural unpreparedness, the cookery of the ancients, like their
humor, did not readily appeal to the "Nordic" heirs. Both are so
subtle and they depend so much upon the psychology and the economic
conditions of a people, and they thus presented almost unsurmountable
obstacles to the invaders. Still lo! already in the fifth century, the
Goth Vinithaharjis, started to collect the Apician precepts.

OUR PREDECESSORS

The usefulness in our days of Apicius as a practical cookery book has
been questioned, but we leave this to our readers to decide after the
perusal of this translation.

If not useful in the kitchen, if we cannot grasp its moral, what,
then, is Apicius? Merely a curio?

The existing manuscripts cannot be bought; the old printed editions
are highly priced by collectors, and they are rare. Still, the few
persons able to read the messages therein cannot use them: they are
not practitioners in cookery.

None of the Apician editors (except Danneil and the writer) were
experienced practising gastronomers. Humelbergius, Lister, Bernhold
were medical men. Two serious students, Schuch and Wuestemann, gav