SC - period salads

[Lenny Zimmermann]

On the questions about salads in period I can only offer what I have
on Renaissance Italian styles. I had posted a couple of months ago
what Castelvetro wrote on salads, so I will not repeat that again. (If
you really want that post I can e-mail it privately for those who had
not seen it.) That was just slightly post period (1614) and probably
quite relevant for a late 16th century salat. He does list lettuce
varieties of capucina and romana (or Cos) lettuce. Purslane and endive
appear to be popular lettuce-like substitutes or additions for use in
salads.

So, now I will pull it back to Platina (Venice, Italy, 1475).In his
"On Honest Indulgence and Good Health" he covers a bit on lettuce
stating that there are several varieties available and that
Lacticaulis, Sessilis and Crispa are the best. (All lettuce is
considered cold and damp, for those that care). He also lists
goat-lettuce and Serralia lettuce. He states that lettuce can, and
often is, eaten plain with a sprinkle of ground salt, a little oil and
a little more vinegar. "There are those who add a little mint and
parsley to this preparation, so that it does not seem too bland". I'll
skip the bit about cooking lettuce.

Platina then goes on to endive, which he considers a type of lettuce.
It is also prepared in the same way as lettuce. He also lists a wide
variety of other raw leafy vegetables and how to prepare them, but our
interest is more on:

"On preparing a salad of several greens.
A preparation of several greens is made with lettuce, bugloss, mint,
catmint, fennel, parsley, sisymbrium, origan, chervil, cicerbita which
doctors call teraxicon, plantain, morella, and several other fragrant
greens, well washed and pressed and put in a large dish. Sprinkle them
with a good deal of salt and blend with oil, then pour vinegar over it
all when it has sat a little; it should be eaten and well chewed
because wild greens are tough. This sort of salad needs a little more
oil than vinegar. It is more suitable in winter than in summer,
because it requires much digestion and this is stronger in winter."

For those of you who think you can better figure out the ingredients
from the original Latin:

"CONDITUM Padodopum.
It item cenditu pandodopu ex lactuca: buglesso: meno: ceripholio:
cicerbita: qua teraxicon: laceda: qua arnaglossam medici uocat:
morella: foeniculi flore: ac plersiq; alus odoriferis herbis: bene
lotis: expressisq; pa tina ampla requnut: sale perfuso ubi paululum
resederit: eau? syluatica durities comedenda: ac bene dendibus
coterenda sunt. Hoc coditu plusculu olei & minus aceti requirit. Hieme
magis q aestate conuenit: qa plus concoctionis: quae hieme valida est
requirit."

My copy is tough to read and I don't know Latin, so assume any
transcription errors above are mine.

On a related note about the boiled onions, Platina says this about
preparing onions, for those that might be interested:

"The onion is also cooked under the ashes and coals until all the
rawness is steamed out of it; when it has cooled it is chopped finely
and put in a dish with salt and oil and defrutum, or rolled in must.
There are those who also sprinkle the onion with pepper or cinnamon."

Castelvetro in 1614 wrote this of onions:

"Cooked onions: When there are no spring onions, we make a salad of
roasted onions seasoned with crushed pepper. This is tastier and more
wholesome than eating them boiled. Onions without pepper are excellent
for clearing up the sort of bad cough that lingers after a cold."

I hope that some of you find that useful!


Honos Servio,
Lionardo Acquistapace, Barony of Bjornsborg, Ansteorra
(mka Lenny Zimmermann, San Antonio, TX)
zarlor at acm.org
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