““Upon his arrival at Botzen, Montaigne wrote to Francois Hottmann, to say that he had been so pleased with his visit to Germany that he quitted it with great regret, although it was to go into Italy. He then passed through Brunsol, Trent, where he put up at the Rose; thence going to Rovera; and here he first lamented the scarcity of crawfish, but made up for the loss by partaking of truffles cooked in oil and vinegar; oranges, citrons, and olives, in all of which he delighted.””
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
[1] Sentence in Tor.; wanting in List. _et al._ [2] List. No mention of beets is made in this formula; therefore, it may belong to the foregoing leek recipes. V. This is not so. Here the noun is made subject to the first verb, as is practiced frequently. Moreover, the mode of preparation fits beets nicely, except for the flour to which we object in note 3, below. To cook beets with leeks, spices and wine and serve them (cold) with oil and vinegar is indeed a method that cannot be improved upon. [3] Tac., Tor., List., G.-V. _uvam passam_, _Farinam_--raisins and flour--for which there is no reason. Sch. _varianam_--raisin wine of the Varianian variety; Bas. _Phariam_. V. inclined to agree with Sch. and Bas.
Sources: The passage is from Michel de Montaigne, Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete, tr. Cotton, Charles, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Apicius, Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — oxblood cloth, amphora stamp.