Food History's topics - tribe.net

Charming article about Southern traditional layer cakes

magpiesflight — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:16:02 GMT

http://tinyurl.com/yl87ecj

From the New York Times, which mostly manages to not be condescending about Southern foodways. Some interesting notes about the origins of some of the recipes mentioned - always cool to see the progression of different recipes across the region / country and how they change. Also: seriously yummy looking, in that "I'd only need one slice a year it's so rich" type way.

posted in Food History - 0 replies

Banana bread

petra — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:35:01 GMT

How and where did banana bread originate?

posted in Food History - 1 reply

Food Inc

Fifi — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:26:39 GMT

Has anyone seen this film yet? If you're not already familiar with the history of commercial food production in the US you might get a bit creeped out but it does a great job of giving an overview of where our food comes from and some of the history of the food and farm industry in the US (it applies equally to Canada and I'd think Australia too).

One of the things that really appeals to me about supporting CSA (community supported agriculture, where you get a weekly box of veggies from a local organic farm) is that they grow heirloom varieties of fruit and vegetables. And the food is much more delicious than supermarket fare too.

posted in Food History - 5 replies

QUINCES?

Katha — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:06:26 GMT

anyone?

recipes?
history?

posted in Food History - 6 replies

healthy/medicinal foods

db — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 07:27:41 GMT

Share some ancient foods of any kind that are healthy or medicinal.

In Japan, one has recently been on my mind & palette: KONNYAKU

>>>Konnyaku is a marvellous health food
It does not have fat, it is rich in dietary fibre and is low in calories. Moreover, it has recently been found that it normalises the level of cholesterol, prevents high blood pressure and normalises the level of sugar in the blood. Because of these scientific findings, it has been perceived as a excellent health food in Japan.

http://www.shakespeare-w.com/english/konnyaku/whatis.html

posted in Food History - 8 replies

Please POST if you want this Tribe to continue!

Melodious — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 10:21:39 GMT

Hi everybody,

I'm the creator and moderator of this Tribe, and though I love it and am very dedicated to the topic of food history, it seems that Tribe in general took a big dive a while back and most people migrated to MySpace or Facebook (for better or worse). Personally, I don't think either of the previously mentioned two social networking sites provide the kind of specialized forums ("tribes" here) that Tribe.net was. But I lost interest in keeping up my moderator duties on this Tribe when people stopped posting, and I pretty much gave up on it.

The reason I'm writing this, however, is that I keep getting, on a weekly basis, notifications in my inbox that someone new has joined this Tribe. But still, no one is posting, so I'm bewildered about it. My question: Are there people out there who are really interested in keeping this Tribe going? If so, I will start posting again. But obviously, I can't do it by myself; if no one posts, there's no reason for this to exist.

It's up to you. Just let me know; I'm OK with it either way, as I have many other things going on in my life. But I still dearly love (and always will) food history. In fact, I'm thinking of diving even deeper into the topic and collaborating on a book or two on the subject.

Peace,

Your Moderator, Melodious

posted in Food History - 6 replies

what is your culture, and what are some indigenous foods?

999 — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 04:18:36 GMT

my background is sicilian and polish, so I eat alot of olive oil, pierogies, summer squash, and grains...

how about you guys?

posted in Food History - 53 replies

Cheese History

HerGilliness — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:34:05 GMT

Ok, I am a total fan of CHEESE. Does anyone here happen to know some history reguarding certain types of cheese.

posted in Food History - 3 replies

Honey ~X-posted~

petra — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 07:20:05 GMT

Does anyone know what honey is used for in spellwork, and what are some good myths and lore about honey? I read that in ancient egypt, men has to promise a woman X amount of honey to have her as his wife....I cannot find the original article on that, does anyone know more about that factoid?

Thank you :)

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Doctor claims that the traditional European medival diet was healthier than ours

Agape — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:08:57 GMT

In this BBC article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7148534.stm

posted in Food History - 4 replies

JAGGERY

Agape — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:41:46 GMT

I am currently reading "Sweetness and Power",and it is absolutely incredible.For those of you who don't know this wonderful book,it is an anthropological and historical look at the causes and effects of the sugar trade.

It has had another effect, one that the author unlikely intended.

Id like to taste sugar like my ancestors tasted it,(complete with the taste of oppression and privelage...well, no, not really...ideally) especially when recreating traditional recipes, where sugar was used more like we'd expect spices to be used,so the subtilties of flavor would be important.
I am interested in finding the closest modern equivalents to what sugar would be like prior to the modern industrial white sugar I am used to.The closer to unrefined the better.The book describes that there were always different degrees of refineing, as well as local variations as to the color and taste.These must have all been all kinds of yummy, and there must(?) be still something that comes close somewhere.
I am also specifically looking for ways of getting a hold of what Ayurvedic physicians are calling "Jaggery" This is touted as a health food in Ayurveda,as was the original sugar imported into the west(however, ANYTHING that was rare and expensive was sold as a wonder drug then) and I'm curious to find what this sort of sugar is experientially.Unfortunately the word Jaggery is now just the Hindu word for refined sugar,and I have no idea what"the original' looked/tasted like.

I have frequented my local Asian mart several times(which stocks mostly Indian foods,as well as Cambodian/Vietnamese food),and I have bought several kinds of sugar for experimenting with.Some, called 'gur' is light amber colored and comes in the shape of a large grapefruit sized cone(and unfortunately loaded in sulphites, it seems,or something else which tastes like that).There are also these dark amber colored bars of "hard candy"(at least thats what the non Chinese part of the label says)that you can break into sugar cube sized chunks with some effort, and these dark brown,commercial charcoal briquette sized nuggets whose label is in Cambodian(i think) which have a very interesting flavor. There is also a "panela' which comes from central america there as well,served in large flat dark brown disks.
I have no idea where to start as to determining which of these,If any, are closest to what the Hindus call medicinal Jaggery,and what were coming into Medieval ports.
Does anybody have any ideas?

posted in Food History - 4 replies

Antique German Cookbook published in 1797

Dang — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 04:14:09 GMT

Sorry I'm so late in getting this up, but I've got this up on eBay right now and Nora (perhaps some of you know her, she's a regular) suggested I post the link here for everyone to check out.

I bought the book several years ago and for the longest time couldn't figure out what it was all about. First I thought it was a house manual because of the words "fur junge frauen, haushalterinnen." The script was very difficult to make heads or tails of since it's so old and different than what we have now (Times New Roman, Ariel, etc), so I just kind of set it aside. Recently the semester ended, I ran out of money and I was in a mad dash to pull together money (still am) and found the book again (after two failed attempts at selling it in an antique store). I sat down and spent quite a bit of time studying the print style and remembering my high school german and finally everything clicked into place. It's a cookbook!!! 600 pages of culinary splendor to be exact!!! It's filled with all sorts of hidden gems. I'm going to take a few good pics with my camera so I can try to make a few dishes from the old country.

Anyway, even if you're not interested in buying it, stop over quick before it sells to check out the pics!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=290192810319&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=019

Thanks,

Dan Gilbert

ps - check out my other auctions too!!!

posted in Food History - 0 replies

Thanksgiving Dinner

tangerine23 — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 17:51:18 GMT

What is your typical Thanksgiving menu? Do you host? How did you decide on what it would be and does it change from year to year?
Finally, what do those foods symbolize for you and your loved ones?

posted in Food History - 5 replies

scurvy and other nutritional deficiencies in the traditional European medieval diet

Agape — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 22:01:05 GMT

Ive had a question or two rattling in my brain.

It would seem to me from my somewhat limited understanding of the foods being eaten by medieval peasants that nutritional deficiencies, particularly scurvy from a lack of available sources of Vitamin C, would be endemic, or at least barely kept at bay by what was available.Some chronic malnutrition would seem to be expected, especially during winter/early spring when there is nothing green left to eat.AND YET these people were doing alot of back breaking work everyday, had a very limited seeming diet,and no obvious deficiency epidemics were reported,so how were they NOT getting deficiencies?What sources of vitamin C would be available, other than green leafys in the Summer months?

When people on a year long ,experimental archeology experiment in an iron age village in England( as reported in the book"Living in the Past') were asked what the craved, they said oddly enough , it wasn't sweet things, but very specifically sour things.This would lead me to hypothesize that the traditional local diet in England(at least as reconstructed) was deficient/low in vitamin C.

Does anybody here have any knowledge/sources of daily/seasonal foods for a "working class" medieval person of any location/period?

posted in Food History - 7 replies

Carl Griffith - The Man. The Myth. The Sourdough. (Food with History)

Alex — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 03:45:40 GMT

Born in 1919, Carl Griffith wrote that his interest in making sourdough bread started when he was "10 years old and learned to make bread in a dutch oven in a hole in the ground," using the sourdough starter his family brought with them when they emigrated west along the Oregon Trail in 1847. According to his friends, before the advent of the internet, Carl would gladly share his family's starter with anyone who asked, but the earliest record of Carl offering his starter to anyone online, is the following post by Carl, made on July 28, 1994 to the Usenet group rec.food.sourdough:

"I have dried and will mail out a bit of the starter that my family brought west on an Oregon Trail wagontrain in 1847 along with instructions to revive it and a few recipes if anyone is interested ????" Carl.

Carl sent his starter to anyone who sent him a self-addressed stamped envelope for the next number of years, until he suffered a stroke in early March of 2000 and died a few weeks thereafter, at the age of 80.

I talked to Charles Perry and Darrell Greenwood to find out more about how the 1847 Oregon Trail Sourdough Preservation Society -- or "Carl's Friends" for short -- and its website came into being after Carl's death.

"It all started as a memorial to Carl," said Charles, while Darrell remarked that "[fellow Usenet member] Dick Adams came up with the idea and made it happen, including getting the website up and running." Charles continued: "We wanted to continue his tradition. There are probably as many reasons or more why we continue as there are participants in the project. Personally, I prefer to live in a world where people are willing to share information or something useful, such as starter, with a stranger who asks."

And that's pretty much what Carl's Friends have been doing for the past six years. Because they're scattered throughout the US, they keep a central post office box, at which a volunteer bundles the requests and forwards them to another volunteer who is then responsible for growing, packaging, and mailing the starter in the provided self-addressed stamped envelopes -- at a rate of up to 50 a week during the winter baking season.

When I asked Charles what was the most distant request they'd received, he replied with the following:

I have not kept track of all the individual countries where we have sent [sourdough starter], but we have mailed to every continent on the globe except Antarctica. In addition to individuals wanting sourdough for their own personal use, we get requests from teachers, county extension agents, and museums to use in demonstrations or exhibits. We have had correspondence from a leader of an Australian commune who was interested in the back-to-nature spiritual aspect of sourdough, from an Asian chef who was having some difficulty with his starter because of the high temperature in his location, and an Austrian food writer who sent us some Hungarian paprika in exchange for the starter.

And now, chances are, somewhere on Earth tomorrow morning, someone will make a loaf of bread (or pancakes or biscuits or coffee cake) with a sourdough starter brought west over the Oregon Trail in 1847 -- all thanks to just one guy, puttering around on Usenet back in some of the earliest days of the user-friendly Internet, wondering if any fellow sourdough bakers wanted to try out his family's very old sourdough starter.

www.carlsfriends.org

posted in Food History - 0 replies

Fetal alcohol syndrome in the Ancient World

Agape — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 22:32:11 GMT

Another question rattling in my brain.....
(this is what you get when you mix a degree in medical anthropology with a history obsession...)
So, Its a common idea among the general public that people in the ancient world drank ALOT of beer and wine, especially in Europe, because the water was tainted and unhealthy.It would then seem that nearly everybody born would by default have been exposed to alot of alcohol in utero,because the mothers would also be drinking booze instead of tainted water.In other circumstances where alcohol was consumed even moderately by mothers, there have been lots of cases of fetal alcohol syndrome.So it would stand to reason that there would have been many many children born with this condition in the ancient world.
However, you dont read reports of lots of slow, retarded children being born, why is that?

Were the alcoholic beverages different/weaker than now, and therefore didn't have an effect?Did the wealthier people ,who were doing all the writing, not have to drink beer because of having access to better water, and therefore did not have sub normal children, so we are seeing errors of what is reported? Or was it that the fetal alcohol children were not considered abnormal enough to write about because everybody was somewhat deficient?

What am i missing here?
Thankyou again for making Tribe awesome

posted in Food History - 5 replies

My All-Time Favorite Historical Food........Yours?

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 02:14:16 GMT

Puttanesca Sauce. "Puttana" has it's own special meaning in both Italian and Spanish. The fact that it originated from hookers in Naples sells itself. Back then it was more than a half hour "wham-slamma-lam", they cooked for you, did your laundry, etc. Hence the mostly non-perishable ingredients. The servers at our restaurant love it when I have to explain this one. Makes as a very chunky, funky "salsa"

My recipe: (Serves 6)

1/4 cup Capers
1/4 cup Kalamata Olives (chopped)
2 Large Tomatoes (Medium Dice)
1 Lemon (Juiced)
1/2 Large Onion (Small Dice)
2 Cloves Garlic (Minced)
5 Large Basil Leaves (Ribboned)
1 Bunch Parsley (chopped)
2 Tbsp. Extra-Virgin(HA!) Olive Oil

Combine all ingredients in an appropriate-sized bowl with a smile on your face, allow to "marry-up" for an hour. Top grilled chicken, pork, or bold flavored fish with the "Streetwalker Sauce" and you can't go wrong!

posted in Food History - 20 replies

Hearth cooking

petra — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 01:19:15 GMT

What are some good recipes that can be cooked/baked in a fireplace?

posted in Food History - 9 replies

Gooey Butter Tarts

petra — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 09:56:05 GMT

Where did butter tarts (or pecan/raisin) tarts originate from? They are sooo good but I can't seem to find any history on them..

posted in Food History - 1 reply

Medieval May Day Feast

Melodious — Wed, 09 May 2007 08:38:55 GMT

I attended a "May Day" fair and feast at my local medieval restaurant (yes, I am lucky enough to have one in my vicinity) last weekend. Here are a few of the standout dishes (the most delicous ones, in my opinion):

* A FRITOR of HERBES (fried herb fritter, vegetarian but rich and decadent)
* A TART IN YMBRE DAY ("Tart for an Ember Day"--a vegetarian onion and current pie, thus appropriate for medieval fast days)
* ROSTE LAMB IN FRESEYES (perfectly cooked lamb in a subtle strawberry sauce that would work well on a number of meat dishes)
* APULMOS (apple sauce with almond milk--surprisingly not vegetarian, as the recipe includes beef broth, but damn tasty)
* CHECONES IN CRITONE (chicken thighs in a sublime almond and pine nut sauce--this one could work for veggie dishes as well)
* PYMENTE (herb-honey wine, heavily spiced and much more interesting than your average mead)

I have recipes for all of these, from a cookbook the restaurant sells (all recipes are from 14th- and 15th-century England), so if anyone is interested in any particular recipe, just let me know and I will post it.

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Medieval Meat Pies

Melodious — Fri, 17 Nov 2006 23:01:57 GMT

Thought I'd post a couple of recipes for medieval meat pies that I've had success with. These are great for the cold-weather holiday season. They're both from a cookbook published by the Bors Hede restaurant in Carnation, Washington (http://www.camlann.org), and are from 14th-15th century England. I've left out the original Old English and the rough translations, so these are just the modern conversions that the restaurant uses. I've also included some personal cooking notes. If anyone tries these, please post your results.

*******************************************
Tartee (Meat & Fruit [Fenberry] Pie)

Pastry for a 9-inch double crust pie
3/4 1b. lean pork loin
3/4 lb. chicken breasts
2 tablespoons butter
2 oz. pitted prunes
4 oz. seedless grapes*
1 egg
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
pinch saffron, crumbled

Preheat oven to to 350 degrees F. Line 9-inch pie pan with pastry. Cut pork and chicken into 1/2-inch cubes. Saute in the butter in a medium frypan until meats turn white. Place meat mixture in pastry-lined pie pan. Cut prunes into sixths and distribute over meats; scatter grapes over meats. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl, mixing well. Pour over meats and fruits in pie pan. Top with other crust; seal and flute edges. Cut 5 or 6 steam vents in top crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

* A recipe in the Menagier de Paris (MP290) suggests substituting other fruits or berries for grapes when grapes are out of season, which inspired us to try fenberries (American cranberries) in place of the grapes.

MY NOTES: This is a standard at the Bors Hede restaurant, and it's delicious. I prefer seedless green grapes over cranberries because I thought they made a more juicy pie, but cranberries are good too. Don't skimp on the fennel seeds; they add a lot of flavor. My one quibble with the recipe is that modern grocery-store "lean pork loin" and chicken breasts are so low-fat that the dish can sometimes end up a bit dry. Try experimenting with higher-fat meats (maybe dark-meat chicken?) or adding some butter or oil. I used a store-bought pie crust and it turned out fine, but I'm sure it would have been even better with a homemade crust.

*******************************************
Mylates of Pork (Pork and Cheese Tart)

1 lb. lean pork loin
1/2 lb. firm cheese, shredded*
1 cup pine nuts
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon each ground pepper and ginger
pinch saffron, crumbled
pinch salt*
pastry for a 9-inch single crust pie
Garnish (optional): 1 tablespoon pine nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line pie pan with pastry. Cut the pork into 1/2-inch dice. Combine pork with shredded cheese and pine nuts in a medium bowl. Beat spices into eggs, then combine with pork mixture, mixing well. Pour into prepared pie shell, smoothing surface. Sprinkle with additional pine nut garnish, if desired. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

* We tested the recipe using Gouda, although any mild but flavorful cheese could be substituted. Depending on the saltiness of the cheese you use, you may wish to omit the additional salt.

MY NOTES: I made this with smoked Gouda and it was sublime. I was lazy again and used a store-bought pie crust. This one has no risk of being dry--I guess the cheese takes care of that. When I made this tart, the smell was so incredible that a stray cat hung out by my front door and wouldn't go away. As much as I hated to part with any of this dish, I just had to give him some, which he appeared to appreciate a great deal. My roommates and friends also gave the recipe high marks.

posted in Food History - 7 replies

18th-Century Virginia

Melodious — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 04:54:45 GMT

Chances are good that this will be just as bad as the usual crap on the Food Network, but it might be worth a look.

Dinner: Impossible
Episode IE0103

AIR TIMES:
February 07, 2007 10:30 PM ET/PT
February 08, 2007 1:30 AM ET/PT
February 11, 2007 4:30 PM ET/PT
February 11, 2007 11:30 PM ET/PT
February 12, 2007 2:30 AM ET/PT

Back in Time: Ye Ol’ Dinner Impossible
Chef Robert Irvine heads back to colonial times when he travels to historic Williamsburg, Virginia, where he has to prepare an 18th-century meal for food historians. Using only methods, tools and ingredients from the 1700s, will Robert be able to complete his task or will it be Dinner: Impossible?

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ie/episode/0,3151,FOOD_28496_48858,00.html

posted in Food History - 6 replies

New tribe- ethnic and traditional foods and food lore

girlmark — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 01:59:48 GMT

I started a new tribe for discussing 'ethnic food' in general, and also for discussing food traditions- what people eat on traditional holidays and other special occasions, food in religious ritual, and anything else related to what the grandma's did besides cook the stuff.
We're vegetarian-friendly over there, too.

I guess it's kinda similar to the theme of this tribe, but we'll see how it develops.

www.tribes.tribe.net/foodtraditions

posted in Food History - 1 reply

What brings you to Food History?

Melodious — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 23:10:27 GMT

We have 38 members now in just two days, which really delights me! If you can spare a few minutes, please tell us what interests brought you to the Food History Tribe.

Also, please feel free to post any topic you think might be related to the history of food or beverages: recipes, websites, photos (you can upload these directly to the our tribe's homepage), questions, excerpts about historical topics, etc.

Thank you from your happy moderator!

posted in Food History - 72 replies

Historical Cookbooks

Melodious — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 19:44:22 GMT

I'm looking for recommendations on published, currently available cookbooks from any historical period (not books on food history, but usable cookbooks).

I have a few standard medieval European cookbooks that have been useful, but I'd like some new ideas.

posted in Food History - 7 replies

food/cookbook bookstore in NYC

f8ted — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 00:30:37 GMT

I once went to a book store in NYC that was entirely devoted to food (food history, cooking, travel, etc.)

Does anyone know the name of it?

Need to replace a cherished book.

thks

posted in Food History - 5 replies

BBC Radio Food Series

Vrederun — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 06:10:36 GMT

I found these interesting topics in the BBC Radio Archives. They are in a format similar to our NPR (All Things considered) programs.

Recipes and Menus of Catherine Dickens, wife of Charles Dickens
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2005_36_tue_03.shtml

Iron Age Cookery ~ PreHistoric Cooking :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2002_03_thu_01.shtml

Cooking Game Meat ~ We No Longer Know How (Not for the sensitive ~ this one is very descriptive)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2003_41_thu_04.shtml

Peasant Cookery ~ Its History from Iceland To Andalusia:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2004_41_tue_03.shtml

posted in Food History - 3 replies

journal

eric — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 15:29:26 GMT

Hey,
The existence of this journal was news to me, anyway. It's "Food and Foodways" "a refereed, interdisciplinary, and international journal devoted to publishing original scholarly articles on the history and culture of human nourishment. By reflecting on the role food plays in human relations, this unique journal explores the powerful...ways in which food has shaped, and shapes our lives..."

If you live near a large, academic library, I'd bet it is there.

posted in Food History - 1 reply

salmon

db — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 05:39:49 GMT

I am sure this is not much of an unkown topic but I thought I would share with you the fact that we had a huge
salmon run this year.

I live in the mountains along the beautiful Nakagawa(Naka river), in Japan. This is the Southern most river in Japan that the salmon climb(about a 100+ miles North of Tokyo.

Of course the most delicious are the females eggs--"ikura". The eggs are washed from their sack with hot tap water. Usually salt and soy and a bit of mirin are mixed in with them to sit for a week in the fridge but they are premium-delicious fresh with some soy and sake and wasabi over a bowl of the fresh harvested rice for a luxurious-"ikura donburi."
The meat from the female is in bad shape and discarded.

The male are kept for their meat. They are cut up and used in a miso stew or covered with a miso paste to keep longer.
The liver is good fried up with tamari & ginger and the sperm is eaten raw, like sashimi, with wasabi.

Many of them are gutted and coated with salt to be hung and dried and eaten during the witner as jerky.
After a month or two of drying, the best is to put them in a smoker for a day.
FABULOUS!
This smoked salmon is delicious as is or used into many creative modern ways of cooking.

No doubt little else has changed for thousands of years.

posted in Food History - 2 replies

What is Muligatawny Soup?

Eva — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:31:22 GMT

What is Muligatawny Soup?

posted in Food History - 7 replies

Rastons: Medieval Stuffed Bread Loaf (Vegetarian and Easy!)

Melodious — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 14:43:06 GMT

This is served as the appetizer at the Bors Hede medieval restaurant I mentioned in my post about medieval meat pies (http://www.camlann.org/), and the recipe appears in that same cookbook, available from the restaurant. This is actually a REALLY EASY dish (despite the long instructions), and very tasty, though I could use some advice on a couple of things (see my notes at the bottom of the recipe). The original instructions look much longer because it calls for making the bread yourself, whereas the adaptation uses a store-bought loaf.

I'm not going to try to type the original Middle English on this one, because it's really long and pretty much unintelligible! I will include the modern English translation and the source, however, as well as the usual practical, converted instructions following.

****************************************************
RASTONS (Stuffed Bread Loaf)
From: Harleian MS. 279, dated 1430-40; Middle English transcribed by Thomas Austin, _Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books_ (London: Early English Text Society, 1888; repr. 1964,

"Take good flour, egg whites, and a little egg yolk; then take warm yeast and put all this together and beat them together with your hand until it is crumbly and thick enough, add enough sugar and then let it rest a while. Then put it in a good place in the oven and let it bake till it is done. Then with a knife cut around the top like a crown and keep the crust that you cut off. Then remove all the crumbs from inside and chop them up with a knife, keeping the sides and all the outside crust whole. Then add clarified butter and mix inside the crumbs and butter together and cover it again with the crust you cut off. Then put it in the oven again for a little while, then take it out and serve it."

1 medium-sized round bread loaf
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut off the top third of the bread in a zigzag pattern (like cutting a jack-o-lantern), making sure you keep the lid whole. Remove the soft bread from the lid and inside the loaf. Make sure the walls of the loaf are thick enough so that the loaf remains sturdy. Tear the soft bread into medium-sized pieces and toss it with the melted butter. Replace the bread pieces in the hollowed-out loaf. Bake the loaf and lid at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes, or until bread is warmed through. Replace the lid before serving, so that that the loaf looks as if it has been uncut.

*Bors Hede restaurant note: We use a sourdough loaf in the inne and add a few currants, and some poppy and fennel seeds to the stuffing mixture.

MY NOTES: This would make a great appetizer or side/bread dish for a holiday table. It is meant to be eaten with the hands, but if your guests are squeamish (it is a bit messy with the butter), you could serve it with spoons. I made it for a vegetarian Thanksgiving potluck, and not much got eaten; I'm guessing because people really didn't know what to make of it. So I think it would be better at a sit-down meal where you could explain the dish and pass it around. You could easily make it vegan by substituting a non-dairy spread or oil for the butter.

Okay, actual cooking notes! I bought a standard round sourdough loaf from Safeway. I failed miserably at cutting out the top in a crown shape. It still worked fine, just didn't look so good. Try it if you're artistic, but it'd be easier to just cut it off in a straight line. The two tablespoons of melted butter seemed far too little to me, in comparison to how I remembered it in the restaurant (very buttery--yum!). Perhaps my loaf was unusually big (which I doubt), or more likely, perhaps I scraped out more of the bread innards than I should have. Regardless, adjust the butter according to your taste, of course. I added quite a lot of the currants, poppy seeds, and fennel seeds--the more the merrier, in my opinion! But I could not get them to stick to the bread. When I mixed it all together, the currants and seeds kept falling to the bottom. Any suggestions? Maybe I just needed even more butter to get them to stick? Or maybe I should have used day-old bread, or toasted the innards, rather than using fresh?

posted in Food History - 1 reply

Anyone know something about the history of Mead?

PuckerButt — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 23:48:37 GMT

tribes » Hobbies & Crafts » Food Geeks » topics »
Fruit Mead: Ambrosia Of The Gods!!!topic posted Fri, June 23, 2006 - 10:08 PM by PuckerButt delete entire topic

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2 Oz. Dried Heather Flowers and Tips
4 Vanilla Beans
2 cups Scottish Yeast and the 2 Cups of Beer it was stored in
2 Oz.Yeast Nutrients

It has just begun to ferment at the rate of one bubble every 30 seconds. Our batch of Dark Heineken got faster than 1 bubble per second! I hope it is ready for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

I tried real hard to get Heather Honey, but had no luck. Can anybody help? I'm willing to pay quite a bit of money for it to be shipped from Scotland. I've read in Buhner's Sacred And Healing Herbal Beers that Pure Heather Blossom Honey is the consistency of Jello, which may account for the confusion over whether the Ambrosia of the Gods was a solid or a liquid.

INSTRUCTIONS:

Liquify fruit in blender.
Mix together all ingredients in a large glass water jug (carboy).
Wait 6 months to 5 Years, freely sampling as it progresses!!
Repeat making recipe and sampling as necessary.

After 6 Months you can begin using Mead in your cooking. It makes a great sauce for beef, lamb, poultry, and pork. Add some cayeene pepper and some Horseradish for a great seafood dip.

posted in Food History - 9 replies

What the British Used to Eat

alias-sid-rumpo — Sat, 12 Feb 2005 16:25:25 GMT

Several of you asked about this, so....

I grew up during the 60s and 70s, and a lot of the food I remember from those days was really horrible. I'm not sure why this was, but maybe it had something to do with the fact that food rationing continued until the early 1950s, leaving the British people with little idea of what food should really be about. Then, we were faced with all kinds of new processed foods at a time when we all had a lot more faith in technology than we do today.

Here, in no particular order, are some of the real horrors that I remember from those days:-

Luncheon Meat
Horrible canned rubbery pink stuff that was supposedly made from pork. I suspect that it used the bits of the pig that nobody would want to eat if they were recognisable.

Fish Fingers
Pulped fish pressed into blocks and covered in breadcrumbs that were always a very strange orange colour. Still popular with kids today, I'm afraid.

Spaghetti
This, of course, always came from a can. It was soft and flabby, and smothered in a sweet tomato sauce. I don't think anyone in the country would have known what to do with real pasta.

School Dinners
I had to eat these for years, and they were disgusting. Always the cheapest cuts of meat, chops that were mostly bone, sausages that were mostly bread, spam fritters, fried fish with a half-inch coating of batter, instant mashed potato (served by a woman with long blonde hair, which was asking for trouble), green cabbage boiled to a pulp. Mind you, the puddings were rather better - bread pudding, bread and butter pudding, semolina and jam, rice pudding, all sorts of sponge pudding with custard - sometimes I think it was only the custard that made my schooldays bearable.
I suppose that I ought to mention school milk. By law, all children were entitled to a third of a pint of milk free every day. Trouble was, in the winter it was often frozen, while in the summer it always seemed to be be well on its way to becoming cheese.

Prawn Cocktail
This seemed to be on the menu at every restaurant in the country in the 70s. Two or three lettuce leaves and a handful of prawns, covered in a sticky pink sauce. I suppose we must have thought it was sophisticated.

Keg Beer
By the mid-70s I was getting interested in beer. This was also the period when the brewers decided that they could make more money by abandoning traditional methods and making us all drink gassy, pasteurised beer. A lot of people still think that that's what beer should taste like.

I don't even want to think about such traditional British delicacies as black pudding, brawn, sweetbreads or tripe.

Of course, my memory could be playing tricks on me, but I don't think it is. If you want to know more about what it was like to be a kid in Britain in those days, try reading "Toast" by Nigel Slater, or Jonathan Coe's novel "The Rotters' Club".

posted in Food History - 29 replies

Wild Boar

Melodious — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 07:36:04 GMT

I cross-posted this from my post to the Kitchen Stadium tribe (about the Iron Chef America TV show). Ignore the stuff about the TV show, unless you're interested in that--I'm mainly curious to hear what anyone on this tribe knows about wild boar. I know there are members of this tribe from Europe and the UK and I'd love to hear any info you have on this subject.

From http://tribes.tribe.net/kitchenstadium/thread/56e50b65-409f-4efc-99db-6617c8c4db7e

I think this ranks as the most interesting "secret ingredient" on Iron Chef America yet. I was very disappointed, however, that the ingredient itself--a very unusual one in modern America--was not discussed at all, nor did any of the dishes reflect the long culinary use of wild boar in Europe and Asia. Where was Alton Brown's usual analysis?

I'm not up on the history of wild boar in Asia, but I know that it was considered prize game in medieval Europe, though I think it may now be considered a pest there (after all, it really is just a wild and very dangerous form of pig). Out of curiosity, I did some Google searches and learned that the wild boar is not native to the New World, but was introduced by Europeans and ultimately crossbred with domestic pigs, so "wild boar" in the Americas is probably not what you would have seen centuries ago in Europe and Asia.

I found this very recent Austin, Texas newspaper article about this episode, which Iron Chef fans might enjoy (it puts to rest the question of whether the contestants know the ingredients in advance--they knew it would be one of three):
www.austin360.com/food_drin...nchef.html

I also found the wild game farm in Texas that supplied the wild boar for this episode:
www.brokenarrowranch.com/Artic...ar.htm

If their website is to be believed, this ranch practices sustainable and humane methods. But I uncovered something else, a bit disturbing, in my brief Internet forays on this topic. Apparently there are a number of private hunting "resorts" in the southern United States and Canada that set up wild boar to be shot by trophy hunters. This type of "sport" is hardly news, and as a carnivore, I'm not questioning hunting, nor am I ignorant as to where my meat comes from. But am I the only one who finds this troubling?

This one in Ontario is pretty loathsome:
www.bigtusks.com/

Especially bad is this part of their "FAQ":
"Q: What happens if I just can't get the wild boar?
A: Have faith in yourself! But, should you feel you may require assistance, WildBoar Reserve can guarantee your success. We have trained boar dogs, if/when requested, to find the wild boar for you. When a wild boar is found you can take it while it is distracted by the barking dogs. The dogs guarantee you'll get your wild boar."

I know boar dogs were used in medieval Europe, and yes, I know bow hunting was done then, but aren't we in the 21st century? Do we really need to make an animal suffer like this these days just so some wannabe "big-game hunter" can hang a pair of tusks on his wall?

Here's another one that made me positively ill, from south Texas:
www.huntinfo.com/hht/

Perhaps this is why Alton Brown didn't discuss the ingredient on the show--too likely to cause controversy? I will cross post to the Food History and Ethical Carnivore tribes as well, to get more input. I'm open to any opinions on this subject; I'm just curious about it.

posted in Food History - 16 replies

Myth: Medieval Food Was Rotten

Melodious — Fri, 11 Mar 2005 13:03:00 GMT

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:

http://home.comcast.net/~iasmin/mkcc/MKCCfiles/MedievalFoodFactFantasy.html

http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD/spice-use-art.html

posted in Food History - 10 replies

fermentation

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 20:33:32 GMT

this is my favorite part of food history. Does anyone have any good resources on the history of this amazing and diverse form of food storage/treatment?

posted in Food History - 10 replies

Recipes for Poor Folks in the '60s and '70s

Melodious — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 23:17:00 GMT

I'm housesitting for some friends and just found a gem among their cookbook collections. It's a self-published, fundraiser cookbook from the female congregation of a church in a small town in the Appalachians of Tennessee. The copyright says 2002, but I'd say all the recipes date from the 1960s or 1970s (or earlier).

I was highly entertained by what I found there, and a bit shocked at the same time. I grew up in the Great Lakes/Midwestern U.S. in this period, so some of it was familiar, but this was pretty extreme even for my lowbrow tastes. It is a pretty comprehensive cookbook, covering everything from appetizers to desserts, and yet there was virtually no fresh produce of any kind, and the only meat to be found was ground beef and canned ham (and an occasional chicken breast or pork chop). The most prevalent ingredients in the recipes were canned and dried soups (especially cream of mushroom), canned fruits and vegetables, dried herbs and spice mixes (especailly onion flakes and garlic powder), Velveeta, beef and chicken boullion cubes, Saltine and Ritz cracker crumbs, mayonnaise, Crisco, Cool Whip, Jello, food coloring, and Tang (yes, Tang!).

I understand that these people were probably dirt poor, but don't the poverty-stricken usually go for cheap produce like onions, potatoes, lettuce, etc.? There was hardly a single item of fresh produce to be found in this 200-page book, and absolutely none of the hundreds of recipes were truly homemade--all contained numerous processed ingredients like those mentioned above. And there were certainly none of those Southern U.S. traditions you hear about all the time, like barbecued meat, fried chicken, collard greens, sweet potatoe pie, etc. Everything was made from a mix or a can.

Can anyone shed any light on this? Did the U.S. processed/canned food industry have such a big influence in this period that it destroyed even the time-honored traditions of Southern cooking? Seems like a rival for the bad foods of the British past, to be sure.

posted in Food History - 16 replies

spam, wonderful spam

eric — Sat, 23 Sep 2006 16:08:43 GMT

(with apologies to the Monty Python people). A post on a bumped thread here got me to wondering. Does anyone know much of the history of the development of Spam - based cuisine in the South Pacific?

posted in Food History - 3 replies

I'll take things I know for a thousand please Alex....

Arne — Sat, 09 Sep 2006 16:03:40 GMT

I have recently learned that the word "salary" comes form latin, as Roman soldiers where paid with salt.........

Hmmmmmmm, could I please be paid in Saffron and Chantrelles? Or beer?

posted in Food History - 0 replies

the ur-beers

eric — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 06:12:18 GMT

So, I was trying to remember something that I read, maybe in "Gastronomica" about pombe beer and remembering the segment on Tony Bourdain's series (the one just prior to "No Reservations") where he's in rural Mexico drinking this local fermented slime stuff and I was wondering:
How many early cultures _lacked_ an indigenous fermented beverage made from a grain or starchy storage crop? How many truly unique, indigenous "beers" (sensu lato) are there? What about cultures - like those of the subarctics - where cultivated starch crops didn't exist? All of those fermented milk products are bacterial ferments and lack alcohol, I guess...

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Favorite Food History Link

grinningrose — Sat, 22 Jul 2006 00:48:05 GMT

Hi,

I'm Katie and I'm new here. I've been going through the list archives, reading the posts and enjoying them immensely. But I noticed that one of my all time favorite food sites hasn't been mentioned yet, so I thought I'd share. It's www.historicfood.com, lots of beautiful photos of some really interesting foods.

Enjoy!

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Chocoflan

FeralCat — Tue, 20 Jun 2006 01:03:54 GMT

Anyone know anything about chocoflan?

Anyone know if there are recipes out there that do not use cake mixes?

Where is it popular?

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Diced onions

Arne — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 11:16:04 GMT

Good day everyone,
Here is a video of a Chef Tip.Over the years people have told me that this is one thing that has made their kitchen experieince easier.

Enjoy.
http://www.news-cast.com/foodandbeverage/TheChefGroup/index.html

Chef Arne' Kitchen
http://tribes.tribe.net/chefarne

posted in Food History - 1 reply

Crabs!?!

Arne — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 14:07:35 GMT

Hi There I am a new member thought you might like this story.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/science/national/2006/06/20/crabs-invasive.html

Chef Arne

posted in Food History - 2 replies

<in Russia caviar was once used to clarify broth...

8a — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 00:56:17 GMT

and Lobster, in fact, was once an East Coast staple of those in debt...>

interresting Nytimes article about changing value of some food through the last century:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/11/magazine/11food.html

Here is the text:

Food
The Way We Eat: Market Value

Article Tools Sponsored By
By AMANDA HESSER
Published: June 11, 2006

When it comes to food, the principles of supply and demand do not always apply. Food is about the senses, and its value is determined by something less rational. Rarity may put a special gloss — and price — on some foods, but so will fashion and the perennial need for new flavors.
Skip to next paragraph
Kiyoshi Togashi

Readers’ Opinions
Forum: Cooking and Recipes

For example, monkfish was once considered trash fish in New England. In the 1970's, it was rumored that unscrupulous scallop processors would cut rounds from the tails, bleach, bread and freeze them and sell them as ersatz scallops. Then American fishery stocks began declining at the same time that interest in Continental cuisine was growing. "As people became more worldly and looked up to France as the guiding light with food," said Jasper White, the chef and owner of Summer Shack, which has four locations in the Northeast, "people started taking monkfish seriously." Some began calling it "poor man's lobster." (If you poach monkfish and sniff the liquid, you'll understand why.) It now sells for up to $20 a pound in New York City.

Better the poor man's lobster than the blind man's scallop.

Lobster, in fact, was once an East Coast staple of those in debt. When the food writer and former Times reporter Nancy Harmon Jenkins was young, her mother would dismiss her complaints about her family's thriftiness by saying: "Poor, child! Why, we were so poor when I was growing up that all we had to eat was salt fish and lobster." In the early 20th century, impoverished Mainers subsisted on what was at hand, choking down that lobster.

"The reality is that it's subsistence if you can get it," said Sandra Oliver, the editor of Food History News. "It's a valuable food if you can sell it."

Fashion has always been a powerful and unwieldy influence on a food's value. It was less than a century ago that New York's top restaurants served terrapin — a small turtle — as if it were foie gras. And even 20 years ago the idea of paying to eat sea urchin seemed as ridiculous as paying for bottled water.

Likewise, there was a time in Italy when white truffles were eaten as a vegetable, like peas. And in Russia, caviar was once used to clarify broth.

Leeks have had more ups and downs than Al Gore. In Rome, they were prized by Nero, who ate them to improve his singing voice. Later, in Britain, they came to symbolize the proletariat: in Jane Grigson's "Vegetable Book," a salad of leeks dressed with vinaigrette and chopped egg was called "poor man's asparagus." But by the early 20th century, leeks were revived once more, this time by a French chef in America, who put them into a chilled potato soup, added cream and sold them under the more palatable guise of vichyssoise. Now they're just sort of. . .leeks.

A nifty name can change a food's fortunes (which may explain why the suet-and-raisin pudding that the British call spotted dick has never taken hold here). Before squid became calamari, fishermen would often leave it on the docks for the sea gulls. The Patagonian toothfish didn't seem toothsome until it became Chilean sea bass. And stocks of dogfish were nearly wiped out not once but twice, though only after the fish became known first as rock salmon and later as Cape shark.

Then there is the bell-cow effect. Jasper White, who had grown up being told to throw back the spiny sea robins that fouled his lines (actually, to kill them first, then throw them back), learned that the fish were an essential flavor component in bouillabaisse and eventually added them to his pot. "That was four summers ago," he said. "We were buying it for 40 cents a pound." A handful of Boston chefs followed suit. "Within two years, they got it up to $2 a pound."

Short ribs took a similar rags-to-riches path. As steaks became cheaper and more widely available in the 1970's, lesser cuts like short ribs, which are fatty and require long cooking, were nearly driven out of the market. For years almost no one ate them — which put the cut in a perfect position to be rediscovered by Mario Batali and a few other top chefs who would elevate their menu price into the realm of a luxury food.
Chefs have been spinning peasant fare into gold for centuries. Darra Goldstein, the editor of Gastronomica, observes that the charlotte — a layered confection that originated in the 18th century — was "a pudding of leftovers." In the early 19th century, the chef Antonin Carême gave it a makeover. He swapped the bread for ladyfingers and added cream, and soon it was being served on bone china.

Some lowly foods may always remain a bargain. A recipe for "poor man's pudding" in "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook" contains nothing more than rice, milk, molasses, cinnamon, salt and butter. (No rich woman would have her cook use an unrefined sugar like molasses in her pudding.) In the 1970 revised edition of "The James Beard Cookbook," Beard featured virtually the same recipe (without crediting Farmer), but even he couldn't turn it into the next pot de crème.

The only true luxury foods remain those that are actually scarce: wild Atlantic salmon, hand-harvested oysters, wild herbs and game. Though hard to find, these delicacies are available to all comers in the wild, if you know where and how to procure them. But since most of us don't, we'll happily, even blindly, spend our savings on them — and apparently anything else deemed delicious, novel and valuable.

posted in Food History - 1 reply

lime rickey?

andy — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 14:14:42 GMT

just moved to eastern massachusetts and am wondering about the history of this regional food.. anyone know more than i do?

posted in Food History - 0 replies

a period of inspiration, a region of imagination?

thecook — Mon, 06 Feb 2006 21:16:02 GMT

so i just thought id have a look on tribe as last night after a six month tour of the planet i decided i wanted to do my MA on food history incorporating my not-cook book. having done some work on medieval food and created quite a few new dishes based on the period i was scouting about for new ideas.so guess what? i came up with early nordic and the foods of the vikings... quite a challenge for a vegan me thinks? im intereted because my family is partly sweedish and i spend most summers in denmark... so why the hell not? anyway i not fully set on this yet, i want to play around with ideas.

so peeps! im interested, do ppl here have particular periods of history or regions or takes on their interest in food history? i remember i used to do theme banquets around historical periods... such as french revolution and austro-hungarian empire nights. all mixed up with cabaret and entertainments...

however i became interested in north european medieval food... then middle eastern medieval foods.. then a combination... just facinated with the movement of foods, ingredients, spices that happened at the time. the changes in foods that have happened since and where we are going next.

so anyone wanna share some of their inspirational historical referencing?

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Historical odes to Curry and a picture

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 02:02:07 GMT

A scan from a 1970s French cook book belonging to my mom.
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y253/echuta66/curry.jpg

Homage to Curry 1
"Curries, with their vast partitioned platter of curious condiments to lackey them, speak for themselves. They sting like serpents, stimulate like strychnine; they are subtle, sensual like Chinese courtesans, sublime and sacred, inscrutably inspiring and intelligently illuminating, like Cambodian carvings."

The very late, but still infamous, Aleister Crowley, London

Homage to Curry 2
"Curries well spiced, but not hot, used in moderation, stimulate digestion, nourish a man's body, and exalt his souL"

From an ancient Hindu religious book

Homage to Curry 3
In 1780 the first commercial curry powder appeared and in 1846 its fame was assured when William Makepeace Thackeray wrote a ‘Poem to Curry’ in his ‘ Kitchen Melodies’.

Curry

Three pounds of veal my darling girl prepares,

And chops it nicely into little squares;

Five onions next prures the little minx

(The biggest are the best, her Samiwel thinks),

And Epping butter nearly half a pound,

And stews them in a pan until they’re brown’d.

What’s next my dexterous little girl will do?

She pops the meat into the savoury stew,

With curry-powder table-spoonfuls three,

And milk a pint (the richest that may be),

And, when the dish has stewed for half an hour,

A lemon’s ready juice she’ll o’er it pour.

Then, bless her! Then she gives the luscious pot

A very gentle boil - and serves quite hot.

PS - Beef, mutton, rabbit, if you wish,

Lobsters, or prawns, or any kind fish,

Are fit to make a CURRY. ‘Tis, when done,

A dish for Emperors to feed upon.

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Indigenous Scottish Foods

Ben — Sat, 04 Feb 2006 23:09:06 GMT

Seeing how everyone here is well versed in historic food, perhaps I'm hoping someone can help with my question.

What food items are native to Scotland?

I'm aware of the Scottish traditional meals generally surrounding meats, dairy, oats, and root vegetables. However, being that I'm vegan, and I enjoy trying to whip up original or semi-original dishes, it would be nice to know what else commonly grew in Scotland in yesteryear.

My ancestors came largely from the British Isles(English, Irish, and Scottish) with some also coming from Germany, and possibly Holland. As tasty as world cuisine is, sometimes I really have a craving to make things with flavours that my forefathers might have had (even though they probably ate them as sides with their butter battered leg of lamb).

So, to reiterate, anything edible, that traditionally grew in Scotland, say before 1700, and is not animal related (oils, nuts, grains, veggies, fruit, herbs, and spices) would be great.

Here is my list so far and hopefully others can add:

Grains:

Oats
Barley
Rye
Wheat

Nuts:

I've heard all nuts were imports?

Oils:

Olive Oil?

Veggies:

Carrots
Parsnips
Potatoes
Turnips
Leeks
Onions
Rhubarb
Kale
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Burdock Root
Rape Root
Garlic
Carageen
Dulse
Celery
Hawthorn Berries

Fruit:

Apples
Plums
Pears
Strawberries
Sloes
Raspberries
Tayberries
Brambles

Herbs:

Stinging Nettle
Parsley
Thyme
Coriander
Dill
Opium Poppy
Summer Savoury
Rosemary?

Spices:

Salt
Pepper
Ginger
Cinnamon
Cloves
Nutmeg
Mace
Sage

Sweetners:

Honey
Treacle (molasses)

Thanks in advance.

posted in Food History - 4 replies

Super Bowl bloggin

celebrity foods — Wed, 01 Feb 2006 18:32:58 GMT

Apparently, blogs are surpassin tv ads in popularity according to the advertising rags.

I put together a post on the History of Super Bowl Foods for one of my employers-related blogs if anyone wants to check it out. Was the only thing about "game day" I found interesting.....

You can see the post at http://celebrityfoodsalumni.blog.com

What do ya think 'bout blogs surpassin tv ads? I say YES!

posted in Food History - 0 replies

Turkish Delight

Melodious — Tue, 20 Dec 2005 06:38:42 GMT

If you have seen the new movie "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," or have any substantial memories of the C.S. Lewis book by the same name (from "The Chronicles of Narnia" series), you may be curious about the sweet treat called "Turkish delight," which plays such an important role in the story.

Here's a little blurb from the "Turkey Travel Planner":
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/TravelDetails/Food/TurkishDelight.html

And here's a very interesting thread from the "Comfort Food Cottage" tribe, including a recipe that I'm going to try:
http://comfortfoodcottage.tribe.net/thread/1caf648e-da89-42a0-ac57-75c6e712a985

If anyone's interested, I'll let you know how it turns out.

posted in Food History - 11 replies

chai!

chaimama — Sun, 01 Jan 2006 19:04:29 GMT

i am a chai baba, and brewing chai for everyone keeps me strong and healthy. ancient medicine promotes well-being. chai spices are warming, energizing, invigorating and anti-viral. perfect for winter. great for digestion. excellent aromatherapy. added bonus: many of the spices in chai are excellent aphrodesiacs!

don't buy oregon chai! it's mass produced, loaded with sugar and not at all healthy for your body (or the planet).

look for a local chai to drink, blend your own spices together or visit our website www.heartsongchai.com.... our web site has LOTS of good info. on the spices we use and their medicinal properties.

in joy!

posted in Food History - 1 reply

A Message from your Moderator

Melodious — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 08:58:14 GMT

I just wanted to offer a warm welcome to all the newbies on the tribe--we've grown a lot!

Great to see all the diverse interests here, too. I was stuck dealing with a virus-ravaged computer for a while, but now I'm free, free at last! So expect to see more posts from yours truly.

Anyone want to start another thread about their holiday "food history" memories from childhood?

posted in Food History - 0 replies

cheese / friendly bacteria

johnuxb5 — Sun, 13 Nov 2005 08:02:49 GMT

As I've begun to start making my own cheese at home, I'm delightedly surprised at how much this tradition has hardly changed at all for the past 1,000 years or so.

I found a number of interesting facts about cheese making in my research. The bacteria that is named Bulgarinus (<-- I may have that spelled wrong) was 'discovered' after some 18th century observers noticed that Bulgarians 1) ate alot of yougurt, and 2) lived very long. It was about this time that yogurt in Europe moved pretty rapidly across albania, greece and eventually into north africa, where it has a very permanent home now.

Upon reading about the bacteria that make cheese, I'm surprised that it is the particular bacteria in cheese that give them their distinct flavours. Famous varieties (gouda, Roguefort, Stilton, etc...) are the perveyors of strains of specific bacterium that have been kept alive and constant for centuries.

As an overview, the process makes so much sense... acidity is added to milk, then bacteria activated by renet (naturally found in the secondary stomach of most livestock, now made artifically with equally good results), milk coagulates, salt prevents spoilage, aging adds character to the cheese's flavour, wax seals the cheese to preserve. It's a rather ingenious way that was developed to preserve milk protein for a LONG time.

I'm finding this return backwards (baking my own bread, now making my own cheese, preserving my own local fruit) has me researching older and older sources to find out how all this was done.

Any thoughts on the wonders or friendly spores and bacteria?

posted in Food History - 8 replies

Robber steak from the book Dracula -

Tue, 08 Nov 2005 02:11:09 GMT

Doing some research on this dish, I discovered that it’s a fictional one invented by Bram Stoker himself but not unlike something that would have been eaten in the Austro Hungarian Empire of the time.

“There are many odd things to put down, and, lest who reads them may fancy that I dined too well before I left Bistritz, let me put down my dinner exactly. I dined on what they called "robber steak"--bits of bacon, onion, and beef, seasoned with red pepper, and strung on sticks, and roasted over the fire…”

I have translated the recipe thusly:

Thread on either wooden or metal skewers chunks of good steak which have been previously cut up. Take pieces of fatty bacon and cut into small squares and also thread these along with pieces of onion cut up in squares. This resembles a Japanese yakitori chicken kabob more than anything.

In a baking pan place the skewered meat and marinate with a mixture of salt and pepper, crushed garlic (to ward of the vampires – very important!), olive oil, and some hot Hungarian paprika. Marinate this as long as you want and then grill over charcoal or broil. I would serve this with a rice pilaf or some flat bread. Cold crisp beer feels like the best beverage to accompany this, but Bram Stoker says that:
“The wine was Golden Mediasch, which produces a queer sting on the tongue, which is, however, not disagreeable.”

posted in Food History - 1 reply

Neolithic Noodles

Deux_Chevaux — Wed, 12 Oct 2005 22:18:44 GMT

One thing about noodles, they have a hellava shelf life!

http://www.livescience.com/history/051012_neolithic_noodles.html

posted in Food History - 4 replies

Kim's Curry - by way of Kipling

Sat, 01 Oct 2005 18:35:01 GMT

Kim’s Good Beggar Vegetable Curry

Kim
By Rudyard Kipling

Excerpt from chapter one:

“Now, mother, a little rice and some dried fish atop - yes, and some vegetable curry.'

A growl came out of the back of the shop, where a man lay.

'He drove away the bull,' said the woman in an undertone. 'It is good to give to the poor.' She took the bowl and returned it full of hot rice.

'But my yogi is not a cow,' said Kim gravely, making a hole with his fingers in the top of the mound. 'A little curry is good, and a fried cake, and a morsel of conserve would please him, I think.'

'It is a hole as big as thy head,' said the woman fretfully. But she filled it, none the less, with good, steaming vegetable
curry, clapped a fried cake atop, and a morsel of clarified butter on the cake, dabbed a lump of sour tamarind conserve at
the side; and Kim looked at the load lovingly…

'Thus do we beg who know the way of it,' said he proudly to the lama, who opened his eyes at the contents of the bowl. 'Eat now and - I will eat with thee. Ohe, bhisti!' he called to the water-carrier, sluicing the crotons by the Museum. 'Give water here. We men are thirsty.'

My interpretation of this literary recipe:

2 Potatoes cut up in medium chunks
1 Cauliflower broken up into florets
Green beans, sliced roughly
Fresh spinach, a handful (optional)
1 small tomato chopped
1 chopped onion
1 clove of garlic mashed
Ginger, fresh and grated – only a little
Turmeric, a good pinch
Cumin
Coriander
Cayenne, a pinch
Butter or ghee
Cilantro, chopped
garam masala, a pinch

In butter cook the onions adding the garlic and ginger. Add spices and cook them for about 30 seconds. Add the remaining vegetables and toss around in the curry mixture for a couple of minutes. Add water, season with salt and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Stir in garam masala and cook for a minute or so. Top with chopped cilantro. Serve in a bowl with steaming hot basmati rice, naan, and a lump of chutney, tamarind or otherwise. Chopped cashews are good added atop to this curry.

Recommendations:

Kim and his chela would drink water. I would drink a cold beer – English or Indian like Kingfisher.

Read the book Kim by Kipling or any other Kipling books or watch the movies “The Man Who Would Be King” with Sean Connery or Heat & Dust, A Passage to India, or The Jewel In the Crown.

posted in Food History - 0 replies

Bridging the east and the west, Europa meets Samarkand. Tomatoes and coriander – Korean dumplings and rice.

Sat, 24 Sep 2005 07:48:13 GMT

Automatic writing
http://orsay.tribe.net/tribe/upload/photo/7d1/7ad/7d17ad49-7ebe-48a2-acd5-84209dec9739

Bridging the east and the west, Europa meets Samarkand. Tomatoes and coriander – Korean dumplings and rice.

Russian winter - we have taken refuge in a book cased hideaway listening to radio Moscow playing Scheherazade.

Plush cushions and Persian rugs spread out to resemble the fabric of the land – undulating, plains of wheat meeting arid sand dunes and then desert but we quench our thirst sampling her wodka and later drinking hot tea from a golden samovar sweetened with rose hip jam and all the time looking into her gray blue eyes as she takes off her soft Cossack boots and unfastens the clasps that holds her golden Viking hair, descendant of the Rus she is -
her soul never left the Byzantine beauty of her ancestors as she bends over to fetch the book she will read to me.

It is cold – we eat simply – potato soup with dill – black bread and butter. Remember Stone Soup?

The boyish playfulness of Peter and his wolf come to mind. I start to hum it, I am suddenly ten and innocent again. I remember back to my mother long ago – I was in bed and she bought me toast and butter – I dipped it in my hot cocoa and I saw the swirls as the fat melted yellow puddles in deep brown comforting milk.

I look out the window - it is night and the snow falls - she reads to me from Pasternak, a Thousand and One Nights, and The Bhagavad-Gita, she then switches to Larousse - then she describes meals of old – figs and yogurt - wine and sturgeon – tandoor hot – glowing red -lavash and lamb.

Again with the multi – cultural interaction of the old and the new, the French nuances, and her people, the horsemen, lost - never mind history - and the vulgarities of the sweaty secularism that Marx bought and destroyed both souls and lives - we live in a new age now – sure I am a Marxist – like in Chico, Harpo, and Groucho!

She is my Anastasia – lost and extinct, ancient and romantic but she also belongs to the east – displaced a long time ago – her soul is immortal – I found her wandering like white Russian hobos in Shanghai - the European amongst the central Asian bazaar – lost and looking for closure.

I had another dream – she the White Russian – it was 1920 and we sat just outside the Forbidden city – Peking – not that bey-jing nonsense of new – we sat and ate overlooking majestic pond with white lanterns floating in the water – dipping meat in hot stock drinking hot rice wine, red lacquered everything – soon we must go – escape - ravishing she looked in her Mongol cap and riding boots – tough but femme her blonde hair showing - again the romantic lost in Asia. It was a dream of course…I think I drank tea infused with slight jasmine taste.

She can now read her Coptic texts openly – study them – she dreams of the desert and its holy-lands - there is so much hidden in her lands both in her body and the actual lands of her birth - I discover her treasures that night and when we sleep - she dreams of vast sands and deserts adjacent to snowy mountains with hidden truths and camels caravans and routes leading more east or south – Gurdjieff and meetings with remarkable men - we listen to the Procession Of The Sardar by Ippolitov-Ivanov.

We enter a secluded courtyard - a bird sings and faint sounds of a fountain are heard.

Polychrome blue domes we see and we are alone again snug and feasting just the two of us on a vast platter with a mound of basmati rice intertwined with almonds and sultanas topped with fragrant lamb in cumin spice - of course we drink the pomegranate juice which stains her lips red like the Betel juice and I taste them – we finish with sweet mint tea.

The great game was once played here they say – I think it is still played there – my love for her is like a great game cept this time no one dies and we kiss and eat and drink and she feeds me the jam with the essence of roses and tells me stories of that lost city she always dreams about –

I marvel and fall deeply in love with her again - her hair smells of roses - actually everything is smelling of roses - I sleep as it snows outside - and the colors are rose colored in my dreams again.

posted in Food History - 0 replies

Gallery of Regrettable Food

Melodious — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:47:28 GMT

I highly recommend this website for some easy laughs:

http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/index.html

It features hilarious photos from cookbooks of the '40s through '70s, with very funny modern commentary.

posted in Food History - 13 replies

What do we think about Sushi?

Sun, 24 Jul 2005 08:15:04 GMT

What is your favorite Sushi, sahimi, robata grill etc?

posted in Food History - 15 replies

A Monastery Meal

Sat, 17 Sep 2005 20:09:27 GMT

Actually there is some truth to the ending of the story - pirates maybe did attack San Juan Capistrano in Orange County - then part of the Spanish empire around 177? and there is really the legend of the headless Spanish ghost! Capistrano around the old Mission IS kind of spooky at night BTW. The imaginary monastery I place not in SJC but actually around the Laguna Beach area over looking the Pacific. This takes place in a California not past or present but of the imagination.

A Monastery Meal on a Balmy Moon Filled Night

We arrived at the monastery very late, although to our surprise, a meal was enthusiastically being prepared for us by our hosts - the tired, but hospitable monks.

We were ushered in with the usual warmth and concern for our well being, and as we strode in through the heavy wooden doors – the doors one usually has to bang long and hard to gain access, we were quickly and thankfully liberated of the baggage that made the trek up the hill such an ordeal.

We sat on rustic but sturdy wooden chairs in a white stuccoed refectory. We looked out from the open window to a moon filled night that was pregnant with the smell of herbs or some evening blossoming flowers from the garden below.

The place was situated next to the ocean so we were positively assaulted with the essence of a healthy salty sea mist. That sea mist, for those who don’t know, is the kind that usually stimulates the appetite. It reminded me of my childhood vacations in Bermuda – pinkish sand all over, swimming in the tranquil azure waters, and being called out of the sea by my mom who in one had held a towel and in the other a steaming bowl of chowder, or bisque infused with a liberal dousing of Bermudian hot pepper sherry sauce. Ah, youth.

At the monastery our audible senses were also treated to the almost meditative sounds of waves crashing against the beach, the sounds of whatever fauna – insects, or otherwise, which made the rocky cliffs and dunes their homes. It was too late to be treated to the traditional monastery experience of monks reading some ancient text during the meal, but our culinary experience there was more than satisfactory.

To further embellish the picture of what we experienced while looking out at the balmy night, the moon was full and it reflected upon the ocean. It was really amazing as I looked out the window and saw the beach below, deserted mostly for the evening and the reflection of the moon hitting the waves as they crashed ashore.

The interior of the dining area was simply decorated with the traditional long monastery table, several wrought iron candle holders, a sideboard or buffet - laden with neatly stacked bowls, a tapestry or two on the wall – depicting a medieval interpretation of the Old Testament and some forgotten morality tale of long ago.

Our simple but delicious meal consisted of the following:

A pitcher of very cold mineral water alongside a bottle of a very good but youngish ruby red wine that was sweet and could’ve been considered grape juice. It reminded me of sweet Jewish Passover wine – thick and opaque. Weird and wonderful as it tasted we didn’t mind – the wine was delicious if a little bit concentrated, so we diluted it (with great success) with a bit of the water.

A large piece of freshly baked flat bread – resembling a soft Jerusalem pita or pizza pie sans the sauce. Alongside the bread a dish of sweet yellowish butter that rapidly melted as we slathered it on the hot bread. This, by the way, was not store bought butter.

A variety of olives in a rustic bowl – a dressing of olive oil, bay leaf, and lemon juice with some of its pulp was served up.

A generous slice of a soft cheese – at room temperature, and not unlike a well made brie or camembert.

The aforementioned above could’ve been the meal with no complaints from us – but there was more to come.

For the main course a hearty and healthy bowl of steaming vegetable soup was served up to us. It wasn’t a clear or watery thin broth like consommé, but instead it was more like a “pottage” or a thick soup. Later on I asked the brother who prepared it for the recipe and he enthusiastically wrote it down in detail for me although the very basis of the soup is pure simplicity.

Take as many carrots, parsnips, celery root, onions, garlic cloves, potatoes (Of the Irish and or sweet variety) and boil until soft in water. When the vegetables are fully cooked drain them but reserve the pot liquor which by now has turned into a light stock. With a fork or potato masher in hand, mash the vegetables until a thick puree is formed. To this add bit by bit the reserved vegetable water until everything incorporates. Be sure not to use too much of the vegetable stock lest the soup becomes too diluted. The trick is to create a balance of ingredients that are between the consistency of mashed potatoes and soup. To finish, season the soup with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, a handful of chopped parsley or chervil, and if you so desire, a moderate swirl of olive oil on top. Brother also told me that in lieu of the vegetable broth and olive oil one can use a bit of heavy cream, rich milk, and or butter to make it fancier. But since the monks followed a strict dietary code as outlined by their founder many centuries ago they usually omitted the cream – only using it for special feast days once in a blue moon.

A salad course was also served after the soup and it was prepared table side by a jolly monk who enthusiastically chatted with us on a sundry of topics all related to food. He constructed for us this mouth-watering and healthy rough salad.

Several tomatoes coarsely chopped into a ceramic bowl along with a red onion sliced into thin half moons. Some rock salt and cracked pepper was added. Brother then took a clove of raw garlic (don’t plan on kissing or dancing cheek to cheek after eating this salad) and sliced it very thin adding that. One can also use a large clove of elephant garlic which is less potent I suppose, since folks have been know to eat the elephant variety raw. He then took a handful of slightly bitter chicory (which is also known as curly endive) which he roughly shredded and also added it to the bowl along with the zest of a lemon. Some parsley roughly cut with the hands was thrown in as well. He then took the aforementioned lemon and squeezed it, seeds and all (he explained the medicinal value of lemon pits) into the salad finishing off with a splash of thick fruity olive oil from Spain.

For desert a special treat was given us – it was still simple but delicious nonetheless – a pear was taken and when peeled it was poached in a bath of the young wine with a crushed clove and a stick of cinnamon. To top the pear - a little syrup of honey and reduced balsamic vinegar was given to us a small bowl. This was delicious eaten alone or with a little bit of the soft cheese alongside some grapes and cashews.

A soothing mint tea – sweet and satisfying and very much like that of Morocco was the last note to a wonderful meal. This was served to us by our friend the salad making monk who happened to also be the monastery historian.

Brother also detailed some fascinating monastery footnotes. Founded somewhere in the late seventeen hundreds and as old as the American nation itself, the newly built Spanish monastery was the only beacon of light for thousands of miles. Brother also relayed to us the historical account of a buccaneer raid shortly after the monastery was founded. It was fascinating! It appears that a rag tag unit of French or Argentine pirates made their way up the coast in search of gunpowder and rum, and for piratical fun decided to attack the small Spanish garrison along with town that sprouted next door. According to brother, and if you can believe the legend, the pirates successfully plundered the outpost to the dismay of the docile Spanish priests. The small Spanish military contingent was of no use to stop the pirates, and because the raid was a sort of surprise attack – at night – under no moon – the sentries atop the hill failed to fire the big cannons as a means of defense. As you can imagine all sorts of chaos took place as the pirates pillaged the outpost raping and killing as they went along. The Spanish military men were mostly sleeping or inebriated and most of the troop ended up killed in their cots or hammocks. One hapless Spanish soldier, forgetting to don his armor and breastplate was even decapitated by the berserk pirates. The legend goes that to this day, on certain moonless nights a ghostly figure of a Spaniard can be seen roaming the town and monastery gardens looking for his lost head. Other accounts of eyewitnesses even have the specter holding his head walking the streets and back alleys of the town howling mad as he can’t re connect his severed head to his body. Lucky for us the night we decided to stay at the monastery the moon was full!

posted in Food History - 0 replies

let moi

Sun, 24 Jul 2005 05:01:11 GMT

essen
schwrimnp

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Sites for Midieval Foods

Sat, 05 Mar 2005 23:23:53 GMT

Greetings,

For those of you interested in some Historical foods, here are some interesting links.I am fascinated in the Ren Fair and found these sites in exploring.Kinda interesting!

http://www.pineriver.k12.mi.us/ms/medieval/medieval.htm#recipes
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/food_wn.htmlhttp://www.castles-of-britain.com/castlesf.htm
http://www.recipesource.com/misc/medieval/italian-stew1.html

~c~

posted in Food History - 3 replies

WHER'D

Sat, 07 May 2005 04:43:17 GMT

WODKA
QOM FROM?

posted in Food History - 0 replies

"Century of Food" TV documentary

Melodious — Wed, 27 Apr 2005 22:42:21 GMT

I watched "Century of Food" on the Food Network a few days ago, and enjoyed it overall, especially the vintage ads and newsreels. It's about the history of food in the U.S. over the past century.

It airs again on the Food Network this Saturday, April 30, beginning at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern/Pacific), and again on Sunday, May 1, at 4:00 p.m. It consists of two parts, each an hour long, so if you want to watch the whole thing it will run until 6:00 p.m. You can check the schedule (it's listed under "Food Network Specials") at http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_sp

posted in Food History - 0 replies

Easter Hags & Hot Cross Buns

Melodious — Sun, 27 Mar 2005 09:03:47 GMT

While searching for info on Easter food traditions, I found a couple of interesting things. This site on old Swedish folk beliefs about Easter has some great stuff about "Easter hags" who were believed to fly out on their brooms to a place called "Blakulla":

http://www.luth.se/luth/present/sweden/history/folklore/easter.html

And here are some old British beliefs/superstitions about hot cross buns, from the following site:

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/easter/goodfriday.htm

"Hot cross buns baked on Good Friday were supposed to have magical powers. It is said that you could keep a hot cross bun which had been made on Good Friday for at least a year and it wouldn't go mouldy.

"Hardened old hot cross buns were supposed to protect the house from fire.

"Sailors took them to sea with them to prevent shipwreck.

"A bun baked on Good Friday and left to get hard could be grated up and put in some warm milk and this was supposed to stop an upset tummy."

posted in Food History - 0 replies

Swan

LaRubia — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 15:31:24 GMT

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=296172005

posted in Food History - 4 replies

Gorilla/Monkey Bread

Melodious — Sun, 13 Mar 2005 03:00:12 GMT

Does anyone know the origin of the term "gorilla bread" or "monkey bread"? Is it a Southern thing?

"Gorilla bread" was recently featured on an episode of "Paula Deen's Cooking" on the Food Network. Paula visited Jimmy Carter in his hometown of Plains, Georgia and prepared this breakfast pastry for him. It looks REALLY good, but they never explained the origin of the term.

You can see the recipe, a photo of it, and reader reviews here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_25959,00.html

posted in Food History - 0 replies

Foods from the past/1800's and before

Sat, 05 Mar 2005 21:37:34 GMT

Greetings,

I have often worked in kitchens in my lifetime and have learned about how things used to be prepared. Some examples are:

Bubble and Squeek;
like hash browns but are riced or finely chopped potatoes,with a lttle egg, onions fried in a large iron skillet in lard. The skillet is filled to the top and the one side is cooked then flipped over like a giant pancake,The name is derived fromthe sounds it makes while cooking.
the pound cakes or other cakes were much heaveir and denser due ti the amound of eggs. The iron stove or wood ovens were hard to regulate. I have reciepies if anyone would like to have them

A big fancy thing to do for a banquet was to use aspec on dishes, or have them in aspec ( a fore runner of jello)

Fancy puddings were also quite popular ( like the ones at Christmas time,...like todays bomb cakes,,or turffels...lined with lady fingers

I would love to hear more about historical foods, and what they used, and how they were prepared. Thanks,

~c~

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Foodie flicks

Russet66 — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 19:42:23 GMT

In another tribe, the topic of magic -realism came up, and it brought to mind food magic movies.

Then I thought about this tribe...
What's your favourite foodie movies??

Here are some of mine:

Babbette's Feast
Big Night
Like Water for Chocolate
Tampopo

Each brings us a little insight the effect of food on/from a culture. And of course, they sure are yummy movies!

posted in Food History - 9 replies

Controversial foods...

Sun, 26 Dec 2004 23:34:20 GMT

So, any take on controversial foods? Fois Gras? Chilean Sea Bass?

posted in Food History - 34 replies

Quiz on global food etiquette

Melodious — Wed, 16 Feb 2005 10:54:56 GMT

Shockingly, I got a 9 out of 11. Check it out:

http://fekids.com/img/kln/flash/DontGrossOutTheWorld.swf

posted in Food History - 17 replies

Chop Suey Is American

Melodious — Wed, 09 Feb 2005 12:11:08 GMT

I just discovered that the Snopes Urban Legends site (a great source, BTW) has a section on food.

Here's one food-related urban legend that turned out to be true: http://www.snopes.com/food/origins/chopsuey.htm

posted in Food History - 21 replies

New Main Photo

Melodious — Sat, 12 Feb 2005 01:09:13 GMT

I thought maybe we needed a change, so I uploaded a new main photo. It's a painting called "Peasant Wedding" (1568) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Might be a bit too hard to see, though. I will keep looking. Thoughts?

posted in Food History - 1 reply

Jerk or Jerky

FlamingYawn — Mon, 07 Feb 2005 21:14:57 GMT

They must have some common origin as a means of preserving meat. Anyone know any specifics of their origins?

posted in Food History - 3 replies

the reuben sandwich

!!☻♥ — Mon, 17 Jan 2005 19:52:14 GMT

I am a big fan of this sandwich. Does anyone else have a strong reaction to Reuben's either loving or hating them? it is a raelly strange concoction of ingredients. It has always seemed to me that the 1920's & 1930's in America saw the advent of some strange recipe fads, but that's just personal opinion and I don't really have anything cogent to back that statement up wth. for anyone who's interested, here's a URL for a site that talks about the origins of the Reuben:

http://members.cox.net/jjschnebel/threuben.html

When in Seattle, I have to recommend the veggie reuben at the crocodile - yummi! :]

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Kithen gardens

LaRubia — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 18:13:30 GMT

Anyone in to gardening?

I have been reading about Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, chief gardener of the Potager du Roi (king's kitchen garden) at Versailles, and although I do not have 22 acres to mess around with, I'm thinking it would be kind of fun to try and replicate some small version of this at my house.

Here's a website: http://www.slowfood.com/img_sito/riviste/slowine/EN/01/uva1.html

posted in Food History - 8 replies

Is it REALLY true

Mon, 17 Jan 2005 20:20:51 GMT

there was no coffee, peppers, cocoa, or tomatos until after 1492?!
what did the turks drink before then?
how did indians spice their curries before then?
Lady Godiva wasn't associated with chocolate at all!
there was no marinara!

posted in Food History - 19 replies

Seattle Potluck--Date/Time

Melodious — Thu, 27 Jan 2005 14:06:44 GMT

Hey, all you Seattleites (or nearby residents) out there--come to our Food History potluck! Please see previous thread on "Food History Night Seattle" for more details. We would love to have more participants!

We are each bringing a dish from a particular continent or part of a continent, dated 1300-1800. Here's what I have so far:

Melodious: Western Europe
Gerald: Northern Europe
Dieszy: South America
Rachael: North Africa
Deux: West Asia

Let's nail down a date and time, and we can figure out the best place to have it after that. I would like to propose Sunday, February 27. I know this is a month away, but I figured it would be good to have some lead time, and I thought others might want to avoid the Valentine's and Presidents' Day weekends. I would suggest gathering around 4:00-5:00, while it's still light out and we can find our way to wherever we are meeting. Then we can eat, and possibly watch a food-related movie if people are into that.

Please let me know your thoughts on this!

posted in Food History - 4 replies

From memoirs of Mme de Montespan:

LaRubia — Tue, 25 Jan 2005 22:25:44 GMT

French cookery, by common consent, is held to be well-nigh perfect in its excellence; yet the Infanta could never get used to our dishes. The Senora Molina, well furnished with silver kitchen utensils, has a sort of private kitchen or scullery reserved for her own use, and there it is that the manufacture takes place of clove-scented chocolate, brown soups
and gravies, stews redolent with garlic, capsicums, and nutmeg, and all that nauseous pastry in which the young Infanta revels.

Mme de M is referring to Maria Theresa, Wife of Louis XIV, (the Infanta of Spain). Senora Molina is Maria Theresa's companion.

posted in Food History - 3 replies

Food History Night Seattle

The Gerald, UE — Sun, 02 Jan 2005 00:34:01 GMT

What say we get together in the Seattle area for a food history pot-luck, with each person bringing a dish from an era/region? I live in a condo in the Bellevue/Microsoft area and have a cabana available, unless someone else lives in a more central area. But someone must bring Mead!

posted in Food History - 24 replies

Food in History Book

Russet66 — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 19:13:35 GMT

A few months ago I found an interesting book at a rummage sale:

Food in History by Reay Tannahill
first published 1973
ISBN 0-8128-1437-1

It starts all the way back in prehistory, with a short examination of hunter-gatherer dietary regimens, and follows food influences as they travel the globe via trade, etc.

I put the ISBN for you in case you want to search for it at Powell's or another used book seller.

Chow for now!

posted in Food History - 5 replies

Cat Eaters & original Feat Factor

WS Burroughs — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:47:36 GMT

Uh cross post - sorry. Interesting article on eating cats and then, bets on eating.

http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/151_cateaters.shtml

posted in Food History - 2 replies

history of salt

squeeky — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 15:32:20 GMT

i heard that was a good book. trade routes and all.

posted in Food History - 2 replies

Medieval Cooking

Ogden — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 15:42:19 GMT

I have a very good cookbook titled The Medieval Kitchen, by Redon, Sabban and Serventi. I've tried a number of the recipes and they are delicious.

Any other good medieval cookbook recommendations?

posted in Food History - 10 replies

Fun cookbook

The Gerald, UE — Wed, 29 Dec 2004 22:14:10 GMT

While Christmas shopping (all books, except for nephews and nieces under ten who get really LOUD presents) I found a great cookbook entitled The Book Lovers Cookbook. A bibliophile-cum-foodie book with lots of historical references. I gave it to my sister and now have to figure out a way to steal it back. . . hum. . .

posted in Food History - 2 replies

White house cookbook

The Gerald, UE — Sun, 19 Dec 2004 21:12:42 GMT

I have a white house cookbook published in the early 1900's. Would love to get together and try some of the recipies.

posted in Food History - 6 replies

Good-bye Lenin

Russet66 — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 20:51:41 GMT

Have you seen the movie, "Good-bye Lenin?" It's terrific! A major aspect of the plot deals with "food history," specifically the change from what kinds of foods were available before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germany. Members of this tribe are sure to appreciate it!

posted in Food History - 2 replies

History of Potted Meat?

Fri, 24 Dec 2004 06:00:38 GMT

http://www.pottedmeatmuseum.com/viewmeats/!!!-browsemeat.htm

posted in Food History - 1 reply

Vegetarian Heretics

Melodious — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 18:10:54 GMT

After my last meat-laden post (medieval cookbooks do tend to have a lot of meat recipes, since they were designed for the meat-loving nobility), I thought I'd post something which might be of interest to vegetarians. The Cathars, also known as Albigensians, were a religious sect that flourished in southern France in the 12th and 13th centuries. They were declared heretical by the Catholic Church and wiped out quite brutally.

One of the many interesting things about the Cathars is that they were semi-vegetarians--almost vegan--certainly a rarity in medieval Europe, and considered a heresy in itself. The Cathars' diet was not based on the same reasons that modern vegetarians typically have (e.g., health, animal rights, or environmental issues), but rather complicated theological beliefs.

This website has a brief, reasonably good overview on the subject: http://www.languedoc-france.info/12011313_vegetarianism.htm

Here's an excerpt, with an interesting bit I didn't know on medieval beliefs about fish:

"Cathars, or at least Parfaits and trainee Parfaits, refused to eat animal products - not only meat but also milk, cheese and eggs. In this, they resembled modern day vegans, except that they did eat fish. (The justification was that fish, as they believed, did not reproduce sexually and so could not imprison a soul as other animals could).

That fish reproduced asexually was a genuine belief common in the Middle Ages. The same error underlay the Catholic practice of eating fish on fast days. This practice is still alive in the Roman Church, and a vestige of the same error is the common practice of serving fish on Fridays - Fridays having been traditional fast days. (Incidentally, the Roman Church classified such divers animals as beavers and barnicle geese as fish with the happy consequence that their fast day diets were not as boring as they might otherwise have been)."

(Note: "Parfait" means "Perfect," a sort of Cathar priestly class.)

posted in Food History - 8 replies

Welcome to Food History!

Melodious — Sat, 18 Dec 2004 10:39:23 GMT

Please introduce yourself and tell us about any relevant interests you have.

My fascination with food history began when I taught medieval and Renaissance European history a few years ago and threw a couple of dinner parties for some of my students. Visits to a local medieval restaurant (the real deal, not one of those awful chains) sealed the deal, and I've been trying out recipes ever since. I also have an interest in kitschy food from the '50s to '70s.

posted in Food History - 3 replies

Michaela Roessner's books

kryscat — Sun, 19 Dec 2004 02:28:17 GMT

There are a few fiction books by Michaela Roessner set largely in the kitchens of Rennaisance Italy. Anyone else heard of them? The Stars Dispose and The Stars Compel are the first two...

posted in Food History - 1 reply

Food History's topics - tribe.net

Charming article about Southern traditional layer cakes

Banana bread

Food Inc

QUINCES?

healthy/medicinal foods

Please POST if you want this Tribe to continue!

what is your culture, and what are some indigenous foods?

Cheese History

Honey ~X-posted~

Doctor claims that the traditional European medival diet was healthier than ours

JAGGERY

Antique German Cookbook published in 1797

Thanksgiving Dinner

scurvy and other nutritional deficiencies in the traditional European medieval diet

Carl Griffith - The Man. The Myth. The Sourdough. (Food with History)

Fetal alcohol syndrome in the Ancient World

My All-Time Favorite Historical Food........Yours?

Hearth cooking

Gooey Butter Tarts

Medieval May Day Feast

Medieval Meat Pies

18th-Century Virginia

New tribe- ethnic and traditional foods and food lore

What brings you to Food History?

Historical Cookbooks

food/cookbook bookstore in NYC

BBC Radio Food Series

journal

salmon

What is Muligatawny Soup?

Rastons: Medieval Stuffed Bread Loaf (Vegetarian and Easy!)

Anyone know something about the history of Mead?

What the British Used to Eat

Wild Boar

Myth: Medieval Food Was Rotten

fermentation

Recipes for Poor Folks in the '60s and '70s

spam, wonderful spam

I'll take things I know for a thousand please Alex....

the ur-beers

Favorite Food History Link

Chocoflan

Diced onions

Crabs!?!

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lime rickey?

a period of inspiration, a region of imagination?

Historical odes to Curry and a picture

Indigenous Scottish Foods

Super Bowl bloggin

Turkish Delight

chai!

A Message from your Moderator

cheese / friendly bacteria

Robber steak from the book Dracula -

Neolithic Noodles

Kim's Curry - by way of Kipling

Bridging the east and the west, Europa meets Samarkand. Tomatoes and coriander – Korean dumplings and rice.

Gallery of Regrettable Food

What do we think about Sushi?

A Monastery Meal

let moi

Sites for Midieval Foods

WHER'D

"Century of Food" TV documentary

Easter Hags & Hot Cross Buns

Swan

Gorilla/Monkey Bread

Foods from the past/1800's and before

Foodie flicks

Controversial foods...

Quiz on global food etiquette

Chop Suey Is American

New Main Photo

Jerk or Jerky

the reuben sandwich

Kithen gardens

Is it REALLY true

Seattle Potluck--Date/Time

<in Russia caviar was once used to clarify broth...