SC - Butter-oops

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Uduido at aol.com wrote:

> personas of our type would have rarely consumed butter and it would have
> rarely reared it's head on the Feast table of any self-respecting nobleman.
> it is still my opinion that bread would have been "spread" with the much
> tastier olive oil. In fact, I'm mon a quest to find the info on this
> particular subject.

This situation may have something in common with the recent
fish-outside-of-Lent thread. I suspect one possibility might be that
butter is something that the lower classes would have eaten whenever
possible, while the rich, feeling that they had to resort to it on fish
and/or fast days, might conceivably avoid it on those days when things
like "greasy seme" of meat might be available. Certainly several recipes
call for butter to be included, possibly as a substitute for other oils
or fats. Sawgeat and Hanoney come to mind, both of which are egg dishes,
which COULD indicate that these are non-meat-day dishes (at least
sawgeat, when butter is used instead of sausage, falls into this
category).  

 "Bread and butter" is a common item in the Current Middle
> Ages, agreed. So aren't chickens . But chickens were not a "common" food
> during the Middle Ages and I have run across no primary references citing the
> existence of "bread and butter". It is also my contention that bread was
> almost universally dipped in broths,etc. (e.g. "sops") thus negating the
> widespread use of any spread being necessary.

One possibility (if remote) is that spreading bread with a topping might
be something that was done, not while at a feast day table, but rather,
say, on a hunting trip. (Or possibly, while gambling all night long ; 
)  ) I believe the original Welsh dish of toasted cheese (not the effete
Digby version, but the real thing, being merely good fat cheese roasted
before the fire in slices) was served on toasted bread. Whether this was
then eaten out of hand I don't know.

> I would welcome any further tho'ts or info in this area.

Ol' sieve-head is at it again. I can't place the reference; I just read
this a couple of weeks ago. I believe it was part of an Englishman's
account of life in a Heugenot village in southern England, and it makes
a reference to certain alien habits of the folk of the village: among
them was the habit of giving the children bread smeared thickly with raw
butter in the Flemish fashion.

Does this ring a bell for anyone?

Adamantius