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

[The Cheshire Cat]

Sister Mary Endoline said:

>> BTW - the hot and heavily spiced flavorings were used to cover and kill the
>> taste of rancid or spoiled meats in the days, pre-refrigeration.

Then Meadhbh said:
>I have never seen anything to prove that people at 'bad' meat before
>refrigeratoin.  During the middle ages their were strict guidelines to be
>adhered
>to when dealing with fresh meat.See Terence Scully's  " The Art of Cooking
>in the
>Middle Ages".  Butchers had to bring their 'meat' in on the hoof and had to
>discard any meat after a certain number of days. I don't think the variety of
>spices means one eats bad meat. I just think it means they liked a variety of
>spices.

Now Sianan says:

   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?

- -Sianan

******************************************************************************
Marina Denton
sianan at geocities.com

		Confidence is going after Moby Dick in a rowboat,
		and taking the tartare sauce with you.

		- Zig Zigler
******************************************************************************
 


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