Literary notes about Seasoned (AI summary)
The word "seasoned" is deployed with remarkable versatility in literature, carrying both concrete and figurative connotations. In culinary texts, it is used quite literally to denote food enhanced with a mix of spices, herbs, or liquids—whether describing a dish prepared with garum, vinegar, and various spices ([1], [2], [3]) or instructions to add garlic for additional flavor ([4]). At the same time, "seasoned" conveys the notion of maturity and preparedness; for example, well-aged timber is described as "well-seasoned" ([5], [6], [7]), implying durability and reliability. Moreover, the term extends into the realm of human character, where seasoned men indicate experience and resilience in battle or life ([8], [9], [10]), and language or discourse may be "seasoned with salt," imbuing it with measured wit or wisdom ([11], [12]). This dual usage underscores the word’s capacity to enrich descriptions both in tangible applications and in the portrayal of refined expertise.
- [water seasoned with garum, or even plain salt water].
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - [The beans previously cooked are seasoned with] CRUSHED MUSTARD SEED, HONEY, NUTS, RUE, CUMIN, AND SERVED WITH VINEGAR.
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - Ordinarily the dasheen is boiled or steamed, mashed, seasoned and then stuffed inside of a raw chicken which is then roasted.
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - IF YOU WISH IT MORE SEASONED OR TASTY, ADD GARLIC
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius - He looks as if he were made of well-seasoned wood.
— from The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi - The wood of this tree is excessively hard when seasoned.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark and Meriwether Lewis - [ The writer evidently thought that green, growing wood might also be well seasoned.
— from The Odyssey by Homer - His troops, though seasoned and devoted, were in numbers no match for the legions of his cousin.
— from The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 1 by Emperor of Rome Julian - In the spring of 1814 England had a large army, composed for the most part of seasoned veterans, who were fit for anything and worth millions.
— from The Waterloo Roll Call by Charles Dalton - He was so well seasoned, that it was mere child’s play.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens - Let your speech be always in grace seasoned with salt: that you may know how you ought to answer every man.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete - He also gives him particular advice for his own conduct to his flock, exhorting him to hold to strictness of discipline, but seasoned with lenity.
— from The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Complete