SC - bay leaves

[Decker, Terry D.]

>Back on Sept 23, Lord Ras answered Noemi:
>
>><< Are bay leaves period?   I have a vague memory that they aren't. . .
>> Noemi >>
>>
>>Bay=laurel. Yes they are. :-)
>
>Ras, I can't really tell if you are pulling my leg or not with that
>smiley face. And since you were in a discussion of "period" a few
>messages ago let me ask this differently.
>
>Were what we now call bay leaves used as a food flavoring by the
>European cultures before 1600 AD?
>
>Thanks.
>  Stefan li Rous
>  markh at risc.sps.mot.com

I believe you will find bay laurel to be of southern European origin and
used in Greek and Roman cooking in Antiquity.  Giacosa's A Taste of
Ancient Rome has at least one recipe calling for bay berries (if I read
the Latin correctly).

Schivelbusch in Tatses of Paradise quotes a late-medieval account book
on a banquet for forty, "one pound of columbine powder. . .half a pound
of ground cinnamon. . .two pounds of sugar. . .one ounce of saffron. .
.a quarter pound of cloves and grains of guinea pepper(grains of
paradise). . .an eighth of a pound of pepper. . .an eighth of a pound of
galingale. . .an eighth of a pound of nutmeg. . .an eight of a pound of
bay leaves."  Unfortunately the source is not specifically stated.  The
American version of this book is fun, but not much value as a historical
reference (it doesn't even have an index).  Since Schivelbusch is a
historian, it may be a case of diluting the German original for the
American market.

I've seen some other references to bay in period, but I would have to go
dredging to find them, as I did not make note of them.

Bear
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