SC - Seasonal Foods

[Mark Schuldenfrei]

  What are some good on-line sources for information on which foods
  would be available in period at a certain time of the year?  What
  can folks tell me about what they know on the topic?

Hmmm, two thoughts.

One, Castelvetro is organized by what is in season.  Check that.  I'd
probably check Gerard's Herbal (betting it mentions what grows when), but I
am not that familiar with it.

However: if you are doing this in modern world places, and with a real
budget, I'd suggest that you go by what *you* can get in season, not what
*they* could.

For that, check for the many free pamphlets that come from USDA and the
like.  I have a few at home, that I sometimes use.  Or, call your local
grocer/supermarket and ask them what will be in season that week, and what
they expect to carry.

Also, I'd set your cut off earlier.  2 PM for dinner at 6 PM is too small a
window.  Perhaps you'd be better off if you had a provisioner working with
you.  Have them call you from the store (with their list in hand, with
quantities sufficient to cook for one table's worth).  Tell them "9 tables"
and let them run with it.

(I find that a trip through the supermarket takes me 45 minutes to an hour
by myself, and longer if I have to check out unusual quantities of food:
like one dozen chickens.  If I am right, with transport time, you'd have to
allow about 1.5 to 2 hours of time for food to purchase and arrive.  Give
yourself a little extra time to unpack, sort, organize and actually cook.)
  
  But that list somehow seems incomplete to me.  Were there times of
  year for cheese?  certain types of cheeses?  What about things like
  rice/barley/bulgar - any limits on the time of year for that?  when would
  wine have been made so that it would have been available?  since grapes
  are on here, does that mean it was just the start of the season?

Fresh cheeses, I suspect, would be a summer/fall thing, when animals are
lactating.  Aged cheeses any time. Stored grains last a long time, modulo
vermin.   Wines were served with little aging, mostly, as far as I can tell,
for MOST of period.  With later period exceptions involving more aging.

	Tibor
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