SC - salads (long)

[Stefan li Rous]

Ras said:

>In a message dated 10/4/98 11:02:51 PM Eastern Daylight Time, stefan at texas.net
writes:

><< Ras, I think this is too broad of a brush to use, although it may
> be true for a minority of salads served today.>>

>I used the word 'often' IIRC, not 'usually' or 'always'.

Yes, I dug up the archive (from the FTP site) and you indeed did say:
...and salads were often identical to those we still make today.  

However, my experience has been that 95 percent or greater of the salads
I've had have iceburg lettuce in them. That alone, IMHO, disallows the
idea that the modern salads and the medieval ones were "often" the same.

>I fail to see your point here. I haven't used iceberg lettuce in a salad
>either mundanely or at feast in several years. Perhaps others do. Leaf lettuce
>is a much better source of lettuce for salads if flavor is what you want.

About this, I agree. (Including the sentence about you failing to see my point
:-) )

>Again I fail to grasp your point. Some period cooking envolves retaining
>information. It is a given that both the lettuce and the tomatoes you mention
>are not medieval. Potato salad is also out as is coleslaw with a mayo based
>dressing. But greens and sald oil, vinegar and herbs are period combinations.
>Certainly a person practising period cookery is expected to use common sense
>when choosing ingredients.

Much of this was new to me two years ago. And I thought it might be to those
new to medieval cooking here. I was disagreeing with what I saw to be a pretty
broad statement and didn't want folks to take that statement to mean they could
fix the salad they often eat modernly and feel it would be appropriate for a
medieval feast. If the differances between medieval and modern salads were
already clear to folks, I appologize for my assumptions.

>IIRC, a discusion on salads occured not too long ago. I didn't save it because
>I rarely serve a salad at period feasts for the specific reason that period
>salads rarely occur in menu listings from period sources.

I did save it. And along with the previous recipes given here, I have a fairly
large file. I was in part taking advantage of your message to highlight the
file for those who might want to seek out more info about period salads.

>Which brings up the point of what is your version of a medieval salad?  Other
>than leaving out the obvious New World items and adding things like dandelions
>greens, beet greens, spinach, chopped fresh herbs, etc. what else would you
>use? 

That is one reason I mentioned the file. Just a few  while doing a quick scan
through the file: parsley, sage, green garlic, chiboles, onions, leeks,
borage, mint, poretts, fennel, and garden [town] cress, rue, rosemary, parsley,
catnip, catmint, sorrel, kale, white beets, chickweed, shepherd's purse,
purslane, watercress, turnips, spinach, goosefoot, dandelion, salad burnet, 
arugala, borage, Vyolet, Malwys, Percely, Yong Wortys, Bete, Auence,
Longebeff, basil, lemon balm, leaves of rocket, colewort, endive, ox-tongue, 
purslain, chicory, lettuce, bugloss, mint, fennel, parsley, sisymbrium, 
origan, chervil, cicerbita, plantain, morella and others. 

I probably missed some but some of the ones above may be listed twice or be
the same thing under two different names.

Lord Stefan li Rous
Ansteorra
stefan at texas.net
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