SC - Tatar herbs from Poland

[David Dendy]

>Someone sometime ago, mentioned wanting to know what a
>reference in a Polish account might be.  It was
>something about a Tatar herb.  Unfortunately, I can't
>find the message, but I have found something that
>might be of help.
>

My lady, that was me, enquiring.

>Yesterday, I received my copy of "Food and Drink in
>Medieval Poland" [huzzah!].  Of course, I had to sit
>right down and start reading.  In chapter 4, I found
>this reference:
>
>"Tartarian buckwheat [(Fagopyrum tataricum)] came to
>Poland from central Asia during the thirteenth
>century, along with sweet flag (Acorus calamus) and
>Tartar bread plant (Crambe tatarica), a potherb often
>used in porridges prepared with buckwheat grits.  The
>fleshy, sweet root of this latter herb was grated into
>vinegar like horseradish or cooked with parsnips,
>carrots, or skirrets.  The leaves were often used by
>country people to wrap around bread baked downhearth
>in ashes or in bake ovens, which gave bread a nice,
>golden crust."
>
>Anyway, this passage jogged my memory about what we
>had discussed sometime ago and I had to post this.
>
>Huette


I just got back from my holidays, as part of which I spent a couple of days
luxuriating in a decent library (University of British Columbia), and I was
able to pursue my original question. First I used an English-Polish
dictionary to get a Polish translation of "Tatar herb" ("tatarskie ziele"),
then I leapt into the various large Polish dictionaries. No luck. Then into
the Polish encyclopedias. Found it at last, deep in the bowels of the
library, in the ENCYKLOPEDIA STAROPOLSKA, published at Warsaw in 1939 (not
an auspicious date for Polish publications, I suspect -- I feel it is very
fortunate the library had this), Vol II, column 699: ". . . np. r. 1472
tatarskie ziele, pozniej tatarak ("acorus") . . ."  Aha! Several of the
dictionaries had indicated that 'tatarak' is "Acorus calamus" (sweet flag),
so now this linked up, and I interpret it as indicating the use of the term
as first dated to 1472, well before the 1604 context where I found it.

And now you have provided confirmation from "Food and Drink in Medieval
Poland". Hurrah! And many thanks for your kindness in remembering my
question after a considerable period of time.

Just one further question. . . . Is there any further reference in the book
to the use of sweet flag? I know it was widely used in perfumery, and also
has been (and I believe still is) used in the Middle East in confectionery
(the candied root was used as an aphrodisiac). I am wondering if the Poles
imported it for use in perfumes, in medicine, or in food.

Your humble and obedient servant,
Francesco Sirene

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