SC - Spring Foods Brain Buster

[L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt]

Hi Folks! I'm here, trapped in the midst of a massive mid-winter bummer. My
house must be the last one on the East Coast with a serious pile of snow
still decorating the front lawn like a large, lumpy, dirty wedge of nibbled
swiss cheese, complete with a rime of black road soot. I HATE winter, I
really really do. A serious injection of sunshine is needed, but since I
can't have that, I'll have to make do with borrowed sunshine in the form of
chlorophyl! In my imagination I am already reaching ahead to the relatively
cheap foods of spring and early summer: salads, greens, spinach, herbs,
sprouts, etc.

The whole thought of these luscious leafy little morsels makes my mouth
water...and my mind wonder about what exactly  we can find in the way of
documentation for serving a dish of greens with dressing. I have found
"boiled salad", salad of Lemons (basically a  preserved peel dish, from a
Book of Fruits and Flowers), directions for cooking spinach into a tart, or
to boil and then fry it strewing on spices etc...  I am wondering if anyone
has found a recipe for FRESH GREENS served in the way of a modern salad.
Salad is almost always a component of the feasts in the current middle ages
(regardless of the season). How did that happen? Is it convenience, cost, or
modern tastes intruding upon our attempt at re-creation? Sometimes the
simple questions about feast management are the ones that challenge you!

As an alternate topic, also relating to spring and summer foods, I can find
a tremendous wealth of recipes for preserving the bounty of the garden in
the form of pickled vegetables or preserved fruits, and these foods almost
never make it to the modern feast table. Why? In my experience, whenever I
make an effort to serve these items, they are universally raved over,
because they have a concetration of taste and/or texture. My own pet theory,
as well, is that mankind has a craving for these salty or sour or sweet
dishes built into the genetic code, after centuries of subsistence them.

So, indulge me here, and spread the wealth of knowledge a little:

A) Has anyone found a recipe or reference to serving fresh, raw greens (with
acoutrements) such as we find in a modern salad? If so, how might the dish
have differed to the "modern" interpretation of a dinner salad? What about
the dressing (if any)? If the salad differes considerably to modern
interpretations, what would the finished dish be like?
A.1)What about sprouts? Were they a consumed food (apart from barley sprouts
that were used for beer-making)?

B) What sorts of greens might be involved in a period salad? How might they
differ from region to region?

C) Does salad appear in every culture we study, or just western Europe?

D) Does the nature of Salad evolve through the middle ages and rennaisance,
or remain constant? Are there "fad" salads that may have been popular at one
time?

E) Where in the meal might we expect the salad to occur? Why?

F) Why might our modern cooks avoid serving preserved fruits and vegetables,
and how does that slant our perception of what a "real feast" would have
been like?

G) What would be the advantages of preparing preserved foods for feasts?

H) How can we easily incorporate preserved fruits and vegetables into our
feast routines?


That's enough questions for now. I'm not necessarily without thoughts on
these topics, I simply would like to have some opinions, facts, surmise, or
random thoughts.

Toodles for now!

Aoife

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