Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists
C. D. Yonge, B.A., Ed.

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And Archestratus, in his Gastronomy, thus speaks of flour and of rolls—

First, my dear Moschus, will I celebrate
The bounteous gifts of Ceres the fair-hair'd.
And cherish these my sayings in thy heart.
Take these most excellent things,—the well-made cake
Of fruitful barley, in fair Lesbos grown,
On the circumfluous hill of Eresus;
Whiter than driven snow, if it be true
That these are loaves such as the gods do eat,
Which Mercury their steward buys for them.
Good is the bread in seven-gated Thebes,
In Thasos, and in many other cities,
But all compared with these would seem but husks,
And worthless refuse. Be you sure of this.
Seek too the round Thessalian roll, the which
A maid's fair hand has kneaded, which the natives
Crimmatias call; though others chondrinus.
Nor let the Tegean son of finest flour,
The fine encryphias be all unpraised.
Athens, Minerva's famous city, sends
The best of loaves to market, food for men;
There is, besides, Erythra, known for grapes,
Nor less for a white loaf in shapely pan,
Carefully moulded, white and beautiful,
A tempting dish for hungry guests at supper.

The epicure Archestratus says this; and he counsels us to have a Phœnician or Lydian slave for a baker; for he was not ignorant that the best makers of loaves come from Cappadocia. And he speaks thus–

Take care, and keep a Lydian in thy house,
Or an all-wise Phoenician; who shall know
Your inmost thoughts, and each day shall devise
New forms to please your mind, and do your bidding.

[p. 186]