SC - Oatmeal and Oats

[Stefan li Rous]

Christianna stated:
> Oatmeal was invented in 1846, by someone who was trying to accomodate the
> growing need for 'convenience foods'.  Whole oats are steamed, flattened,
> and dried to create a partially pre-cooked, faster cooking alternative to
> whole oats. Whole oats were certainly eaten in period.  

What is your definition of "oat meal"? I believe you may be thinking of
the oat meal made with new techniques. Looking up "oats" in Waverly Root's
"Food", he mentions oat flour being used by the Romans. He also mentions
oat meal being used in medieval times. He does say that is was not a
favorite and since it was rough it was thought only appropriate for
peasants as they were rough.

One interesting tidbit that he mentions is the use of oat meal to remove
salt from salted meats. He mentions medieval cooks hanging a bag of
oat meal in the pot where salt meat was being boiled. The oat meal
apparently absorbs the salt and is then thrown out.

- -- 
Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas           stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:
         http://lg_photo.home.texas.net/florilegium/index.html ****
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