Literary notes about CONGEAL (AI summary)
The term "congeal" has been employed in literature both in a literal, culinary sense and as a vivid metaphor for transformation. In ancient cookery texts such as Apicius' works, the term is used to detail the process of allowing mixtures like eggs and fish to set properly, ensuring the right texture and consistency in dishes ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5]). Conversely, literary giants harness the word’s metaphorical weight—John Milton, for example, uses it to evoke the image of foes transformed into stone ([6]), while Rabelais and Verne describe the chilling effects of fear and the natural world, where cold freezes not just liquids but even life’s very essence ([7], [8]). This duality illustrates how "congeal" bridges the concrete actions of culinary arts with the abstract transformations found in poetic and narrative imagery.
- MAY CONGEAL
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - WHEN DONE TO A POINT, ADD [the remaining part of the] SARDINES TO IT, LET IT STAND A WHILE [over a slow fire to congeal] CAREFULLY TURN OVER
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - [3] This dish may be allowed to congeal slowly; if done quickly it may become a dish of scrambled eggs with fish and oysters.
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - [mould or dish] IN A BOILER [steamer, hot water bath, allow to congeal] AND DISH IT OUT
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - [2] EGGS [whip them] AND POUR THEM OVER THE OYSTERS, SO THAT THEY CONGEAL.
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - What was that snaky-headed Gorgon sheild That wise Minerva wore, unconquer'd Virgin, Wherwith she freez'd her foes to congeal'd stone?
— from The Poetical Works of John Milton by John Milton - The sea was starting to congeal everywhere.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne - His joints and members quake, he becomes pale, And sudden fear doth his cold blood congeal.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais
