SC - its all in your perspective

[LrdRas@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/11/99 9:33:03 AM Eastern Standard Time, troy at asan.com 
writes:

<< Not to pick nits, but are you looking at a source "before about 1300"? >>

Trait de Cuisine is c. 1300 which would seem to indicate that the recipes 
were used somewhat pre-1300. They list the usual spices that came from the 
Orient. It is from this that I made my preliminary list in my former post. Is 
there some indication that Trait is actually later than noted? Seasonings 
listed include pepper, ginger, parsley, sage, white garlic, mustard, green 
garlic, cinnamon, cumin, long pepper, sugar, 'hot' pepper (?), 'a leaf of 
some sort', cypress root, saffron, lavender, cloves, salt, sour pepper (?), 
verjuice, malt (vinegar (?)), cider, sour wine, grain verjuice, onion and an 
unknown ingredient called 'ciconant.' Thyme, marjoram, rosemary, chives, 
shallots, sorrel, oregano and bay laurel are not mentioned although I would 
suspect that they might come under the general term 'herbs' although this 
supposition lends little credible support to any theory that they were 
'widely' or 'commonly' used in noble households.

An Old Icelandic Medical Miscellany, although from a 15th century CE 
manuscript is most likely a copy of a manuscript dating from the 1200s CE, 
seasonings listed in this manuscript include salt, saffron, cloves, mace, 
cardamom (surprisingly), pepper, cinnamon, ginger, mustard seed, vinegar, 
cumin, nutmeg, ginger, parsley, garlic, wild thyme, sage, and mint. 'Common' 
herbs such as Bay laurel, oregano, rosemary and marjoram are not mentioned.

An Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook of the Thirteenth Century is very much 
pre-1300s and is also European (e.g., Spain) which clearly shows that the 
spices I mentioned were very much in use in Western Europe pre-1300s CE. In 
fact, Spain is further west than even England. :-) Seasonings listed are 
pepper, coriander seed, lavender, cinnamon, cilantro,  mint, onion,  garlic,  
vinegar,  saffron, cumin,  ginger,  cloves, rue, celery leaves,  citron 
leaves, lemon leaves, thyme, fennel seed and flowers, Chinese cinnamon, 
powdered sugar, butter, camphor, rosewater, lemon, rosepetal jam, cilantro 
juice, galinale, clove basil, celery juice, fennel stalks, caraway, pine 
nuts, bee balm, musk, etc. (I ended my quest in this manuscript on page 14 of 
49 pages. Up to that point I found no mention of bay laurel, rosemary, 
oregano, chives or marjoram. 

I also found no mention of grains of paradise in any of the 3 cited pre-1300 
CE manuscripts. Please forgive me that small mistake. :-) I also did not 
include listings in any of several manuscripts from the Middle east dating 
back to the 900s CE although, as the location of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, it 
would have been technically an area of Western Europe. :-)

I am not disputing your claim that several local 'spices' were ordered to be 
grown in Charlemagne's gardens but whether these were used in noble cookery 
or as medicinals still is to be answered.

Yours in Service of the Dream and the Kingdom of Aethelmearc,
Ras

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