SC - Irish period recipes??
Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net
Thu Nov 6 13:38:10 PST 1997
And it came to pass on 5 Nov 97, that Tyrca at aol.com wrote:
> I would really love to know as well. I want to know what they ate
> before corned beef and potatoes. I want to feed it to my family, if
> possible.
AFAIK, there are no period Irish cookbooks. It is possible to learn
something of what the early Irish ate. Historical accounts, such as
lives of various saints, mention various foods. Saint Brigit was a
dairymaid, for example, and miraculously produced endless quantities
of butter on at least one occasion. I believe that Gerald of Wales'
_History and Topography of Ireland_ discusses food a bit, but I can't
find my copy.
Looking through _The Illustrated Archaeology of Ireland_, I find the
following foods mentioned:
Mesolithic: Irish hare, wild pig, thrush, pigeon, eel, salmon, trout,
hazelnuts
Neolithic: cattle, sheep/goats, pigs, wheat, barley, fish, deer,
wildfowl, nuts, berries, crab-apples
Bronxe Age: flax (oil)
Iron Age: Oats, rye
Unfortunately, the book has almost nothing to say about food in the
periods that are of greater interest to us. I would assume that the
Vikings and later, the Normans, introduced some of their foodstuffs
to Ireland.
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
mka Robin Carroll-Mann *** harper @ idt.net
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