FISH.
But first of all one ought to take account
Both of the rhina and leiobatus,
Known for his spacious back. Still before all
Give me a roasted crocodile to eat,
Fresh from the oven, a most dainty dish
For all the children of Ionia.
113. There is next the scarus, or char. Aristotle says that this fish has serrated teeth, and is a solitary fish, and carnivorous; and that it has a small mouth, and a tongue which does not adhere closely to the mouth, and a triangular heart of a whitish colour and with three lobes; and that its gall and spleen are black, and that of its gills one is double and one single; and that it alone of all fish chews the cud. And that it delights in seaweed for food, on which account the fishermen use seaweed as a bait to catch it with. And it is in season in the summer. And Epicharmus, in his Hebe's Wedding, says—
We fish for spari, and for scari too,
Whose very dung may not be thrown away.
But Seleucus of Tarsus, in his treatise on Fishing, says that the scarus is the only fish which never sleeps; by reason of which it is not easily caught, even by night. But this may be the case on account of its timid nature. And Archestratus says, in his Gastronomy,—
Seek now a scarus, fresh from Ephesus,
And in the winter season eat a mullet
Caught in the waves of sandy Teichioussa,
A village of Miletus, near the Carians,
The crooked-footed Carians.
And in another part he says—
Wash and then roast the mighty scarus which
Comes from the sea that laves Chalcedon's walls:
That too is good which near Byzantium swims,
With back as broad as a large oval shield.
Take him and cook him whole as I shall tell you.
Sprinkle him o'er with oil and grated cheese,
Then place him in the oven hanging up,
So as to escape the bottom, and then roast him,
And sprinkle him with salt and cummin seed
Well mix'd together; and again with oil,
Pouring out of your hand the holy stream.
Nicander of Thyatira says that there are two kinds of scari; and that one is called the onias, and the other the æolus.
