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There are many myths about medieval European food, but one of the most persistent is that a heavy amount of spice was used to disguise the taste of rotten meat (since they didn't have refrigeration).
There are numerous reasons why this idea is illogical, but here are a few:
1. The vast majority of meat was consumed by the very wealthy, and this class of people certainly had the means to avoid rotten meat.
2. Medieval Europeans had many ways to preserve meat, and selling rotten meat was punishable by law.
3. There have been plenty of cultures around the world who ate meat and did not have refrigeration, and they found ways around this problem without dosing everything in heavy spices.
4. Spices were used as status symbols by the nobility (the only people we have medieval recipes from), since it took a lot of money to import them. Also, spices were not as potent after taking so long to reach Europe, so larger proportions had to be used.
5. This myth appears to have been created by British Victorians, who were not known to have the most (ahem) flavorful food, and who were very fond of distancing themselves from those "primitive" medieval folk.
Here are a couple of interesting sites on this topic:
home.comcast.net/~iasmin/m...ntasy.html
www.florilegium.org/files/FO...-art.html
There are numerous reasons why this idea is illogical, but here are a few:
1. The vast majority of meat was consumed by the very wealthy, and this class of people certainly had the means to avoid rotten meat.
2. Medieval Europeans had many ways to preserve meat, and selling rotten meat was punishable by law.
3. There have been plenty of cultures around the world who ate meat and did not have refrigeration, and they found ways around this problem without dosing everything in heavy spices.
4. Spices were used as status symbols by the nobility (the only people we have medieval recipes from), since it took a lot of money to import them. Also, spices were not as potent after taking so long to reach Europe, so larger proportions had to be used.
5. This myth appears to have been created by British Victorians, who were not known to have the most (ahem) flavorful food, and who were very fond of distancing themselves from those "primitive" medieval folk.
Here are a couple of interesting sites on this topic:
home.comcast.net/~iasmin/m...ntasy.html
www.florilegium.org/files/FO...-art.html
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Re: Myth: Medieval Food Was Rotten
Sat, September 17, 2005 - 1:04 PMGood points!
Also if you look at a lot of Medieval recipes they used a lot of spices and fruit combinations that we don't use too much today.
Look below:
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Conies (rabbit) in syrup
Conies in syrup. Take conies and boil them well in good broth. Take Greek wine and do there-to with a portion of vinegar and flour of cinnamon, whole cloves, cubebs whole, and other good spices, with currants and ginger pared and minced . Take up the conies and cut them in pieces and cast them into the syrup, and boil them a little in the fire, and serve it forth.
INGREDIENTS:
* Whole rabbit - it may be easier to obtain this in pieces, but the original recipe calls for whole rabbit; however, since the rabbit is cut into pieces early on in the recipe, there really should be no difference in the final product if whole or pieced rabbit is used at the beginning.
* Gode Broth - the term "good broth" really was generic and implied the use of any decent broth that happened to be on hand. You may use our recipe, or any other that you prefer.
* Wine - Greek wine was a sweet wine that actually came from Italy, so any sweet, Italian-style wine will do for this.
* Vinegar - red wine vinegar may be the most appropriate.
* Spices: cinnamon, whole cloves, whole cubebs, and any other period spice which you prefer.
* Currants
* Fresh ginger root, minced
DIRECTIONS:
Boil the rabbit in broth until just done (do not overcook). Remove from broth and let cool. (Save the broth for later use.) Cut the rabbit into serving-size pieces. In a large pot, combine the wine, vinegar, spices, currants, & ginger; bring to a boil. Add the rabbit pieces and return to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to cook for several more minutes, until the currants have plumped and the ginger has become tender. Remove the rabbit; place the meat in a serving dish and cover with the sauce & currants. Serve it forth!
This sauce should be "poynaunt" like many similar medieval sauces - in other words, a sort of sweet and sour. The sweet will be coming from the wine and the juice released by currants as they cook, so be sure that the amount of sour vinegar you add is not overwhelming and that the tartness matches the sweetness. The fresh ginger will also impart a nice fiery bite, so be careful of the amount used.
Note: substitute chicken for rabbit and make this dish "Checonys in Cyrip." -
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Cubebs
Tue, October 24, 2006 - 10:29 AMThat sounds really good.
I'm not sure I can find cubebs, would caper berries be a reasonable substitution? -
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Re: Cubebs
Wed, October 25, 2006 - 4:10 AM -
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Re: Cubebs
Fri, October 27, 2006 - 3:04 PMI have an article on spice use and rotten meat... it is one of my peaves about the myths of the time period.
www.florilegium.org/files/FO...-art.html
and other disscusions on the origin of said myth are here
www.florilegium.org/files/FO...-msg.html
Xaviar
and true about black peppercorns... except cubebs are sweeter... I much prefer them... any major city should have a spice store... or perhaps I was spoiled living near NYC... Health food stores may carry them as well..
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Re: Cubebs
Fri, October 27, 2006 - 4:43 PMPenzey's doesn't have them but there is a place in Seattle that does
www.worldspice.com/ -
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Re: Cubebs
Fri, October 27, 2006 - 10:30 PMHey, Xaviar, the first link you posted is the same one I posted in my original post in this thread, below. I didn't know you were the author, though--kudos for that, it's a great piece!
And thanks, Eric, for the link to the Seattle spice store--I've heard of them before but need to get off my lazy butt and go down there. -
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Re: Cubebs
Sat, October 28, 2006 - 1:21 PMthanx...it was kinda a medocrie piece... It needs some work that I never got around to doing... been working on a book, so havent had time for rewrites... glad you liked it...
have fun with the cubebs... just turned my younder bro in law on them (12) he loves them more than regular pepper now..
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Re: Cubebs
Fri, November 3, 2006 - 3:23 AMI just stumbled across a lengthy but very interesting piece about medieval spices, written by a professor at the University of Toronto: eh.net/coursesyllabi/...nro/SPICES1.htm
The author discusses the bad meat myth, but goes much further in analyzing the costs and demand for spices in medieval Europe, including an unusual section comparing the uses of spice in medieval Europe to Indian food. He even has a table at the end of the article, showing the wages for an average 15th-century craftsman and breaking down what spices, foodstuffs, and textiles would have cost him at the time. -
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Re: Cubebs
Fri, November 3, 2006 - 5:44 PMthis is a wonderful link, Melodious! Thanks for sharing! I didn't really get a chance to read the whole thing yet, but printed it for my honey, who is a raving lunatic when it comes to Dutch history, and enjoys a running gag at Ren faires about having just brought a new load of cinnamon and other spices for sale into 'port'. The currency exchange table will bear intense study too.
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Re: Cubebs
Sat, November 4, 2006 - 2:44 PMthanx I saved it to read it later this eve. I just wish he had listed his works cited... I wrote him and asked for it... hopefully he will answer, but he isnt listed in the directory for the college any longer... musta got a better job...lol
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