Aquarium of Vulcan: Jupiter’s brain in a piece of Cytheridian cheese

The English philosopher-physician Thomas Browne (1605-82) possessed refined senses. Along with his perspicacious eyesight and acute olfactory sense he also had a keen sense of taste. His notes on cookery in the ancient world, emphasis upon moderation in diet and experiments in cheese-making are all indicative of his interest in food. His notes on coagulation reveal that he experimented with what is now considered to be a taboo ingredient in cheese-making.

Browne's gastronomical inclinations are evident in his 'Notes on the cooking of the ancients' in which he declares his desire to know more about ancient world cuisine while also believing the food of his day to be superior -

'I wish we knew more clearly the aids of the ancients, their sauces, flavours, digestives, tasties, slices, cold meats, and all kinds of pickles. Yet I do not know whether they would have surpassed salted sturgeons’ eggs, anchovy sauce, or our royal pickles'. [1]

By 'aids of the ancients,' Browne is referring to the condiments, seasonings, and preserves used by ancient cultures to enhance the flavour and preservation of their food. These aids would have included garum, a fermented fish sauce used by the Romans, as well as various herbs and spices. In his short essay his taste-buds object to herbs and spices infested by insects, and his 'stomach turned' from reading in Apicius-

'I certainly, who think it torture to endure fat gnats and put far from my table cumin seed that is musty with bugs, would have had my stomach turned by the sausages, tripe, morsels and coarse greens of Apicius'.

Apicius was the author of a collection of Roman-era cookery recipes De re culinaria (On Cooking). Compiled in the fifth century CE it consists of ten books which discuss the role of the butcher and gardener in cuisine, pulse and legumes, four-legged animals and seafood. Its recipes catered for wealthy Romans and included exotic ingredients such as flamingo.

Favouring once more modern cuisine to that of antiquity Browne also states in his cookery essay-

'Who would not prefer Bologna sausages to a paste of cuttle-fish and squid, or Spanish olla podrida to Apicius’ mince-meat?

Once more consulting his edition of Apicius he noted- 'We are impatient today of the boned chicken Apicius praises and think it food for the toothless'.

Browne's cookery notes includes one of the earliest mentions in Western literature of the Persian prophet Zoroaster (circa 7th/6th centuries BCE) the founder of the Persian religious movement of Zoroastrianism, when stating-

'Zoroaster’s dinner in the desert was known to the ancients as starvation, for it consisted of honey and cheese. Yet honey and cheese fill the sausages of Parthia and Numidia'.

Its with typical wit that Browne concludes his notes on ancient world cuisine thus -

'But when Ibycus in Athenaeus says that ambrosia was nine times sweeter than honey, let the palates of heaven keep their sweet, I prefer a fig from Chios'.

An edition of De re culinaria by Apicius printed in 1541 is listed as once in Browne's library. [2] (frontispiece below)

The ancient Greek Athenaeus (late 2nd/early 3rd CE) is another important source of Browne's understanding of ancient world cuisine. In his day Naucratis was a bustling Egyptian harbour and a dynamic melting-pot of Greek and Egyptian art and culture. Its also the setting of his Deipnosophistae or 'The Banquet of the Philosophers' in which physicians, philosophers, grammarians and parasites discuss topics such as - Baths, Wine, invented words, feasts and music, useless philosophers, precious metals, flatterers, gluttony and drunkenness, hedonism and obesity, women and love, mistresses and courtesans, the cooking of fish and cuisine in general, as well as ships, entertainment, luxury and perfumes.

Book seven of Deipnosophistae focuses on an essential part of the healthy Mediterranean diet, sea food, along with methods of cooking various kinds of fish. In all probability its from his reading of Athenaeus that Browne knew -

'The ancients took great care to keep octopus-head from their tables, while no one in our day would touch it'.

In total the 15 books of 'Banquet of the philosophers' mention almost 800 authors. Over 2,500 separate works in total are cited in it, making it a valuable source of numerous works of Greek literature which otherwise would have been lost. Athenaeus must have been one of Browne's favourite reads for he wrote a short essay in which he displays an uncommon familiarity with the ancient Greek author. A 1612 edition of Athenaeus's Deipnosophistae, or 'The Banquet of the Philosophers' edited by the Swiss philologist Isaac Casaubon is listed as once in Browne's library. [3]

Floris van Dyck, Still Life with Fruit, Nuts and Cheese, 1613, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands.

Browne viewed the cultivation of a sophisticated palate along with gluttony as morally reprehensible. In a combination of morality and medical advice he warns of the danger of developing an over-refined palate in his late advisory Christian Morals-

'The luxurious emperors of old inconsiderately satiated themselves with the dainties of sea and land, till, wearied through all varieties, their reflections became a study unto them, and they were fain to feed by invention: novices in true Epicurism ! which, by mediocrity, paucity, quick and healthful appetite, makes delights smartly acceptable; whereby Epicurus himself found Jupiter’s brain in a piece of Cytheridian cheese, and the tongues of nightingales in a dish of onions'. [4]

Browne's obscure imagery of 'Jupiter's brain in a piece of Cytheridian cheese' is made clearer in his noting of diet in antiquity- 'They abstained from all heads in which the senses flourish, while yet they called any delicacy ‘Jove’s brain'. His addition of an explanatory footnote - 'Cerebrum Jovis a delicious bit', suggests he may well have had cheese in mind !

The Greek philosopher Epicurus who lived from 341-270 BCE in Athens, Greece reputedly once asked a friend to send him some Cythnian cheese, so that when he wishes he may give himself an expensive treat. Browne alludes approvingly to this modestly of diet in the form of low-fat feta cheese in his encyclopaedia Pseudodoxia Epidemica thus-

'Who can but pity the virtuous Epicurus, who is commonly conceived to have placed his chief felicity in pleasure and sensual delights, and hath therefore left an infamous name behind him?........That he was contented with bread and water, and when he would dine with Jove, and pretend unto epulation, he desired no other addition then a piece of Cytheridian cheese'. [5]

Browne's allusion to 'Cytheridian' cheese (an idiosyncratic spelling of Cytherian) alludes to the Greek Ionian island of Cytherea, long renowned for its light, sheep's milk cheese known as Feta cheese (top header photo). His interest in Epicurean philosophy, in particular the idea of finding delight in simple pleasures such as a piece of Cytheridian (Cytherian) cheese serves to illustrate the true meaning of Epicureanism. Early Christians however saw the philosophy of Epicurus as threatening to their newly-formed religion, primarily because it rejected divine intervention in human affairs. Christians viewed Epicurus' teachings as hedonistic and atheistic and conflicting to their own beliefs about original sin, divine providence, and the importance of suffering. Browne is one several 17th century European authors who strived to rehabilitate Epicurus, recognising his emphasis upon moderation as compatible to Christian values.

Cheese in Literature

The importance of Cheese in human culture is evident in its being mentioned in the World's oldest literature. According to Greek mythology, the art of making cheese was given as a gift to men by the Olympian Gods. In Homer's Odessey the utensils required and the process in making cheese are described thus-

And all his vessels, pails and hammered buckets he used for milking,were brimming full of whey...... Then down he squatted to milk his sheep and bleating goats. And half of the fresh white milk he curdled quickly, set aside in wicker racks to press for cheese. [6]

In the Biblical book of Job (circa 500 BCE) the righteous man who experiences severe trials and afflictions laments to God -

'Remember that you moulded me like clay/Will you now turn me to dust again?/Did you not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese'. [7]

Coagulation

In his notebook observations on coagulation Browne speculates on how to make cheese more nutritional - 'Whereby whey & cheese might be made more medical'. In his notes on coagulation an essential element in cheese-making, he experiments with an ingredient considered to be taboo today. Its no vulgar titillation to take a closer look at Browne's experiments with breast milk. His notebooks clear express his intent to formulate a 'more medical' cheese, and he endeavoured to do so by experimenting with breast-milk. Alhough he correctly believed breast milk possesses medical benefits he did not know as we do today of the health hazards associated with sharing body fluids. Browne noted -

'Many coagulums there are in nature & though we content our selves in one in the running of milk, yet many will perform the same.... The runnett of cows is strong, for it coagulates the milk, but the runnett of cows as we have tried in several woman's milk will not coagulate the same'. [8]

'Womens milk will not coagulate with common runnet. Trie whether the milk of nurses that are conceived may be runne'.

'September. Tried in Mrs. Livist suspected to bee with child & it coagulated indifferently, butt much better than any other cleere woman & this was tried with disadvantage when the conception must be new....'

His experiment with Mrs. Livist's milk suggests that hormonal changes during pregnancy might have affected its coagulation properties, and he noted that it worked better than milk from other women who weren't pregnant, despite the potential disadvantage of the conception being recent.

'Mrs Kings milk , October 23 (1650) would not runne, but only curdled in small roundles like pin heads, as vinegar will curdle milk'. [9]

Browne encountered varying degrees of success with different women's milk in his experiments. Mrs. King's milk didn't react as expected, producing small curds instead of coagulating properly. His comparison to vinegar's effect on milk suggests he was trying to understand why this happened.

Breakfast Piece with Cheese and Goblet Jacob Foppens van Es (Flemish, c. 1596 – 1666)

Coagulation in alchemy

Browne's coagulation notes includes a query in which coagulation is viewed as an alchemical stage in the formation of planet Earth, 'the first masse' at the Creation, stating-

'Whether the first masse were butt a coagulation wherby the water & earth lay awhile together, & the watery or serous part was separated from the sole and continuating substance'.

In alchemy, coagulation represents the process of materializing the subtle, spiritual essence into a tangible form. This stage is often associated with the formation of the Philosophers' Stone, where the alchemist's inner transformation manifests outwardly. Coagulation is also linked to the concept of manifestation, where thoughts and intentions take on physical form, illustrating the alchemical idea that the inner world shapes the outer reality. The alchemical maxim Solve et coagula represents the dual process of breaking down (solve) and reassembling the material and spiritual essence (coagula). This fundamental alchemical maxim may be equated to the symbolism and polarity of Cancer-Capricorn. It's a crucial maxim in understanding the transformative nature of alchemy equal to the commonplace lead to gold quest of both spiritual and proto-chemistry.

Little-known Browne

Remarkably, in chapter z of Pseudodoxia Epidemica Browne writes of cooking cheese -

'If we provide ourselves with about a Selibra or half pound of the Cheese, entitulated Duplex Glocestrius, or Double Gloucester; and then go on to cut the intrinsic caseous Matter into tenuous Segments or Laminæ; and, positing such Segments within the coquinary commodity distinguished by Culinarians as the Furnus Bataviæ or Dutch Oven, submit the same to the Fire, until by the action of the Caloric they become mollified unto Semiliquidity: whereupon, if we diffuse the caseous fluid on an Offula of Bread, the Superfices whereof hath been previously torrefied, and then Season the same with a slight aspersion of the Sinapine, Piperine, and Saline Condiments, or with Mustard, Pepper, and Salt, we shall find that the Sapor and Fragor thereof differ in no wise from the Gust and Odour of the Edible we had præ-attained from the Covent Garden Coenatorium; and consequentially that the Welsh Rabbit is not, as the Vulgar Pseudodox conceiteth, a species of Cuniculus vernacular to Wales, but as was before predicated, simply a Savoury and Redolent Scitamentum or Rarebit, which is much existimated by the Cymri or Welsh people, who, from time prætermemorial, have been cognized as a Philocaseous or Cheese-loving Nation. [10]

Today, the most famous promoter of cheese is the the Northern-accented inventor Wallace whose pet beagle is Gromit. Wallace's favourite cheese is Wensleydale. Wensleydale was originally produced from a monastery of French Cistercian monks once resident in northern England in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. However, this style of cheese fell to low production during the early 1990s, but its popularity was revitalized by frequent references to it in the Wallace & Gromit series.