SC - Period Use of Mushrooms

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 12/4/98 4:53:24 PM Eastern Standard Time, THLRenata at aol.com
writes:

<< what varieties of mushroom would have ben used for the
 original recipe back in Richard II's day?  >>

Many of the mushrooms we grow today were used in the middle ages. The common
white ones (Agaricus campestris), portebella, crimini (sp.), morels which were
a favorite of Louis XIII, and truffles (rooted out by trained pigs) come
immediately to mind.

 Other speciesknown to be used were boletas, royal agaric, Jew's Ears
(Auricularia auricula)
 	
	According to Toussssaint-Samat in 'History of Food' mushrooms have been
cultivated since Classical times in beds of horsemanure. In the Middle Ages
one of the preoccupations of alchemists was the study of mushrooms. They hoped
'to discover the secret of creation from them'. 'Nicandes of Cleo in the
second century B.C.E. wrote in 'Theriaca suggests manure between the roots of
fig trees for cultivation and Dioscorides in 'Materia medica' suggets
sprinkling shredded poplar bark over compost.

Other sources of information on cultivation can be found in Corpus 0f
Mushrooms (Pietrandrea Mallioli-1500-77 C.E.) and Theatre d'agriculture et
mesnage de champs (Olivier de Serres, pub. 1600 C.E.). They are also noted by
Avecenna (930-1036 C.E.) and St. Augustine.

Ras
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