SC - Cinnamon Cucumbers
Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net
Wed Jun 28 19:41:43 PDT 2000
I have looked at "Medieval Festivals and Holidays" by Cosman, and the
recipe on the web *is* the same one that is found in the book.
Naturally, the book gives no hint of the the recipe's origins. I highly
suspect that it is out of Ms. Cosman's fertile imagination. Several of the
other recipes look as though they were invented, most notably
peppermint rice and pasta with apricot butter.
C. Anne Wilson, in "Food and Drink in Britain" says that the cucumber
was little known in England in the 15th century, but was widely
cultivated during the 16th century. I have checked all of the late-period
and post-period English cookbooks I own, and the only cucumber
recipes I can find are pickled. I haven't seen any that were sliced raw
and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. At this point, I would be inclined
label the periodness of Canel Cucumber as "undocumented and
dubious". Does anyone else on the list have anything to add? Has
anyone seen a period recipe like this (from England or elsewhere)?
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net
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