SC - RECIPE CHALLENGE II

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Hi! G. Tacitus Adamantius at this end...

Elizabeth (Betty Cook) wrote:
 
> Adamantius writes:
> >
> >Somebody raised the point that it was unclear as to whether "clowes
> >gilofre" meant cloves, the spice, or the clove pink gillyflower.
> >Actually, the point was rammed down my throat that I was an idiot for
> >even considering that the spice might have been intended, but that is
> >neither here nor there...
> >
>  Period (and modern) French for cloves is "girofle"; a clove is "un clou de
> girofle"; given
> how much of period English cooking comes from French, I can't see why
> anything but the spice would be meant.

That was pretty much the impression I got. The source of the recipe in
question contains a number of recipes calling for flowers, but almost
invariably, when flowers are specified, the name of the flower is
preceded by "Leaves of..." or "Flowers of..." or some such. Also, while
the flower appears to have been so named after the spice, I've never
seen it referred to in English as "clove gillyflowers", or, for that
matter, girofle or gilofre. In other words, with the exception of the
modern English term "Clove Pink", all other period references to the
flower seem to omit the term "Clove" in any form. So, when "clowes
gilofre" are called for, rather than gilofres or girofles, I'm inclined
to interpret this as a reference to dem ol' Spicy Nails.

Adamantius
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