SC - Spices in cooking [was Jamaican Jerk (was jerked meat)]

[Par Leijonhufvud]

On Wed, 15 Jul 1998, The Cheshire Cat wrote:

>    Excuse me for sounding a little uneducated here, but wasn't the rancid
> meat the reason for all the spices and stuff.  At least that's what I
> thought and what I seem to remember from Primary School (mind you, for
> quite a while I fervently believed that EVERYTHING in the world had it's
> beginnings either in Hong Kong or Taiwan)
> Does anyone know if that is the case, and if not, what the reason is fopr
> all the spices.  My uneducated punt is that it would be a show of how
> wealthy the family was since I also seem to remember that spices were
> fairly expensive.  Comments anyone?

We've been over this topic fairly thoroughtly in the past (I'm sure
Stefan can point you to a file of his with the discussion archived).
IIRC the concensus was that:

* no (sane) person can eat rancid meat. Meat that is a bit off perhaps,
  but not rancid. Leave some on the counter and see how long you would
  be able to get it down. Once it is bad, it's bad.

* there were, during the medieval period, regulations that stipulated
  how long the butcher could keep his meat before either selling or
  disposing of it. 

* the segement of society most likely to encounter meat that had gone
  bad would not have been able to afford expensive spices. Local herbs,
  mustard, and horseradish perhaps, but not the imported stuff.

* not everything you were told in primary school is true.

I'm sure those more knowledgeable than me can fill in the details.

/UlfR

- -- 
Par Leijonhufvud                                   parlei(at)algonet.se
http://www.algonet.se/~parlei 
Heisenberg slept here, or somewhere else nearby.

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