SC - Is Arrowroot Period?

[CBlackwill at aol.com]

In a message dated 4/5/00 9:47:50 PM Pacific Daylight Time, stefan at texas.net 
writes:

> >  You must admit that there were many thousand 
>  > more cooks in the middle ages than there were cookbook authors. 
>  
>  Yes, as there are today. And your point is?

My point is that not all recipes used during the middle ages likely made it 
into cookbooks.  But, I think I'll stop beating this dead horse, unless there 
are any objections.

>  
>  > And the 
>  > potato was in widespread use in parts of Europe (read "Western Culture") 
> by 
>  > the end of our period of interest.  Simply because it did not make it 
into 
> 
>  > the culinary guides of the day does not mean it was not consumed 
regularly.
>   
>  > That is the crux of my arguement:
>  
>  Now this I have to disagree with fairly strongly, at least for the potato.
>  The evidence just doesn't point to it. There are several books on the
>  history of the potato. If you wish I'll dig out the biblio info on the
>  one I just finished reading. Even when the potato is mentioned in some of
>  the late period herbals and cookbooks you must be careful not to assume
>  the text is talking about the white potato. Often times you find out whne
>  you dig deeper that it is the Sweet Potato which is meant. The Sweet Potato
>  took off much quicker than did the white or Virginia potato.

Now this, I will concede.  Some of my own recent research has led me to the 
same conclusion.  Potatoes were most likely the Sweet variety (patata or 
batata), rather than whites or russet-type.



>  Recipes all up and down the authenticity range may be useful at different
>  times and places. Different people have different views. Ras and I have
>  had a number of arguments over this here. If I understand him correctly,
>  he thinks we should only cook food served to the Nobility and only that
>  which can be documented by period recipes. I on the other hand am willing
>  to accept that we don't have recipes for peasant meals and the nobility of
>  earlier or out-of-the-way cultures and am willing to accept more guesswork
>  using non-recipe evidence as the basis to try to re-create such period
>  meals.

So long as these are, again, "educated guesses", based on what we already 
know of the cookery of the middle ages, then I agree.

Thank you for the information.

Balthazar of Blackmoor


Such a strange fascination, as I wallow in waste
That such a trivial victory could put a smile on your face.