SC - Quantities of salt and spices used.

[Marilyn Traber]

Maybe one of the interpretation problems in the amount of spices used was in
that teh purchase records available showed such a large volume being purchased
for household use, not taking into account that some lords 80 person househoold
would entertain lavishlu several times each year-particularly during a royal
progress. thus the spices werent for 80 people all year, they were for 80 people
all year plus up to 200 more 2 or 3 times a year, and we don't have to speculate
on how nuch food 200 people can pack away !
margali


> He makes the broad statement that "Spices were used far more
> lavishly than in our day" then goes on to say "Practically all ordinary
> meats and game, fish and poultry, as well as stewed fruit and desserts
> of every description, were so loaded with cinnamon, ginger, cloves,
> cubebs, pepper, galingale (cypress root), mace, and nutmeg, one or all,
> that whatever had been taken as the basis of the dish was made
> practically unrecognizable."
>
> Other quotes include "the practice of smothering ordinary meats with
> spices" and "Even in England two or three generation ago many dishes
> still retained a strikingly Medieval character, and were spiced far
> beyond what the average modern appetite can easily endure."
>  Mead's evidence is mostly references to household
> records and recipes.
>
> Huen



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