SC - 14th Century Food

[david friedman]

At 8:16 AM +0000 1/20/99, MÛr  Dhýna wrote:

>I would really appreciate it if someone (or ones) could take a look at my
>compilation of 14th Century food available and let me know if I'm totally
>off base with anything. Thank you very much! Link is below.

1.... Strawberry,  ...  Blueberry

It appears from comments by Simmons that the term "blueberry" describes a
number of different New World species of the genus Vaccinium; the bilberry,
which is a member of the same genus, is Old World. The blueberry produces
"larger and better flavored berries than the European bilberry." According
to McGee, "The cultivated blueberry, a native of the American east, north,
and northwest, has been purposely bred only since about 1910 ... ." (from
the Miscellany)

I think the situation is somewhat similar with strawberries. There are wild
old world strawberries, but they are much smaller than what we think of as
strawberries.

2. Pistachio?

Pistachios are common in 13th c. Islamic recipes.

3. Spices. There are two different cinnamons mentioned in the Andalusian
cookbook, one of them referred to as "Chinese Cinnamon." These may be
cassia (most of what we call cinnamon) and Z. Ceylonica, or Z. Chinensis,
or .... ?

4. You should explain "gourde." I think it unclear exactly when artichoke
was bred out of cardoon, although I suspect it was before the 14th c.

5. Pasta. There are lots of different islamic pastas by then.

Also, Margo writes: "Hartshorn was used as a leavening, if you include it
why not have yeast listed?"

What is the evidence that Hartshorn was used as a leavening in the 14th
century? Anytime in our period?

David Friedman
Professor of Law
Santa Clara University
ddfr at best.com
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/


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