SC - Bread and Circuses

[James L. Matterer]

> 
> > And, FWIW, the whole cheese/bread/butter thing at the beginning of a
> > meal seems to be way off prevailing medieval European medical theory
> > (dairy products, especially cheeses and cheese dishes, would normally be
> > served at or near the end of the meal to close the chest and stomach up
> > while digesting, and I've seen no evidence of butter being spread on
> > bread in medieval Europe, and some evidence to suggest it was not).
> 
> > Adamantius
>

I'm afraid I have to disagree with this somewhat. John Russell's Boke of
Nurture clearly states that butter is eaten with bread:

"Buttir is an holsem mete, first and eke last,
for he will a stomak kepe & helpe poyson a-wey to cast,
also he norishethe a man to be laske and evy humerus to wast,
and with white bred he wille kepe thy mouthe in tast."

"Butter is a wholesome food, at the beginning and end of a meal, for it
fortifies the stomach and protects it from poisons; it also nourishes by
opening the stomach and clears away ill humours - and on white bread it
will add relish to eating."

Scully uses this quote in "The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages" to
show that bread & butter were used as an apertif to begin the meal.

Dyetary of Helth (Andrew Boorde, 1490-1549) also recommends butter to
begin the day with: "Butter is made of crayme, and is moyste of
operacion; it is good to eate in the mornyng before other meates."

Huen
- -- 
A Boke of Gode Cookery
http://www.labs.net/dmccormick/huen.htm
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