HERB - herbal books

[tbean@one.net.au]

Hi everyone, today I am sending you a recipe for one of my favourite Medieval 
Herbal products, Troches. These are a mix between herbal cough drops and a 
bunch of squashed up grass. But if you make them with nice tasting herbs they 
taste great.

Troches
“Being beaten and made up into trochisches, or little flat cakes, it is 
reported to be a good amorous medicine…”
Gerard: 195-196.
Also, take the same meal and the juice of arsesmart and make thereof a paste 
and lay it to thy ears, and it shall kill the worms within them, or if thou 
make a cake and eat.”
An Herbal 1525: 40.
“…And some also beating it make it into Trochiscks for ye laying up, & soe they 
use it.”
Dioscoridies: 440.
“But it behoves them that beat them when they are green to make them into 
trochisckes, & having dried them to lay them up in store, & so to use them.”
Discoridies: 456.
“They are made thus: At night when you go to bed, take two drams of fine gum 
tragacanth; put it in a gallipot, and put half a quarter of a pint of distilled 
water...the next morning you shall find it in such a jelly as the physicians 
call mucilage. With this you may make a powder into a paste, and that paste 
into cakes called troches.”
Culpeper: 296.

Troches are a type of lozenge. The gum is used to hold the herb in a solid 
form. If used with just herb it is very difficult to keep all the herb 
together. So we use some sugar as both a sweetener and to help hold the mixture 
together. Gum Tragacanth is used in this way in many of the jellies that were 
used in period. For example Spurling, in Elinor Fettiplace’s recipt Book uses 
Gum Tragacath in her recipie for Quince Jelly. The quantities we use in making 
the Troches was originally based on this recipe. The sugar was then reduced to 
the minimum amount required to bring the mixture to a workable paste.

Soak 1 tsp of Gum Tragacanth in water (enough to cover it) over night. Stir 
frequently. 
In the Morning add 150ml of boiled water plus as much herb as you can mix into 
the mixture. Add sugar until the mixture is thick and not too runny. Put this 
in trays and let dry. It may take several days. Cut it up into squares and use 
as cough lozenges.

This makes a lot of troches. (Bliss and I are, afterall making these to sell) 
if you do not want to make so many I suggest using about 1/4 of a teaspoon of 
gum Tragacanth. 
Play with this recipe before you need it for anyting. When it is humid it can 
take this a long time to dry out, it can also take a long time if it is cold. I 
really like these because they are something that we just don't have today.

When finished troches are very herby (it takes a lot of herb to make them) they 
are quite chewy and you can't really suck on them because all that happens is 
you get a whole lot of leaf all over your teeth. If you make them with a nice 
tasting herbs it tastes great great.


The Herbs
Peppermint
“All the sortes of Myntes in the Garden doe bothe comforte the stomache, and 
helpe digestion.”
Earth Garden Herbal: 98. Thomas Hyll 1568

“Mint is marvelous wholesome for the stomach.”
Gerard: 154-155.

Peppermint is used for calming digestive upsets, for vomiting during pregnancy 
and managing fevers.
Mills: 165-166.

(This one tastes revolting and was not a good seller so we don't use it now).
Lemon Balm
“also it helpeth the tooth-ache, the mouth being washed with the decoction…”
Dioscorides

“...makes the heart merry and joyfull, and strengthened the spirits.”
Gerard: 155-156.

Modern uses of Lemon Balm include use in states of anxiety, calming the 
nervous    system and the digestive system.
Mills: 136-137.

I think Licquorice may be quite good for those with a really sweet tooth, but I 
think herbal Licquorice tastes revolting. It is 50 times sweeter than suger and 
I just can't handle that much sweet plus using the sugar to make the troches 
anyway.

References

Campion, K. Vegetarian Encyclopedia. Leopard Books, UK. 1995.

Culpeper’s Complete Herbal  1653 Wordsworth    Reference UK. 1995
 
Gunther, RT. Ed.  The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides 512AD, Englished by John 
Goodyer 1655.   
Hafner Publishing Co. USA. 1959.

Healy, JF. Ed.  Pliny the Elder: Natural History, a   selection. 77 AD. Penguin 
Books. UK. 1991

Hoffmann, D. The New Holistic Healer.  Element Inc. USA. 1991.

Mills, S. The A-Z of Modern Herbalism. Thorsons Publishers Ltd. UK. 1989.

Ody, P. The Complete Medicinal Herbal. Dorling Kindersley Ltd. UK. 1993.

Ordronaux, J. Ed. Regimen Sanitatis Salernitaunm: Code of Health of the School 
of    Salernum. 1530,  JB. Lippincott and Co. UK 1870.

Pyles, T. and Larcky, S. Ed. An Herbal 1525. Scholars’ Facsimiles and Reprints. 
USA 1978.

Shakespeare, W. The complete works of William Shakespeare Spring Books, London

Smith, K.V.The Illustrated Earth Garden Herbal. McPhersons Printing Group. 
Australia 1994.

Woodward, M. Ed.  Leaves from Gerard’s Herball. 1597, Dover Publications. USA 
This Ed. 1969.



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