SC - Apicius and Platina

[Gretchen M Beck]

rachel mccormack wrote:
> 
> <I don't know about vinegar, but salt and lemons is a
> real popular
> combination in the 'old wives' sort of cleaners>
> I've also heard of people using ash. I saw this
> mentioned in a nineteenth century Spanish cookbook and
> a friend of mine from a village in Burgos told me that
> her long-deceased Grandmother swore by ash, claiming
> that it was much better than any of the bleaches and
> disinfectants that she could buy in the shops.
> Rachel McCormack
> Barcelona, Spain

I'm pretty sure there's a secondary reference to ashes being used to
clean wooden and earthenware containers in Henisch's "Fast and Feast";
this would make sense since ashes would serve as a _mildly_ caustic
alkaline "soap", as well as a mild abrasive, similar in many respects to
something like Comet or other abrasive cleansers. Besides, they were free.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com