SC - Fw: Prosphora

[Alderton, Philippa]

Here's more on the bread molds- I think much of this will be of particular
interest to Bear, as well of those of you discussing the porridge thing.


Phlip

Nolo disputare, volo somniare et contendere, et iterum somniare.

phlip at morganco.net

Philippa Farrour
Caer Frig
Southeastern Ohio

"All things are poisons.  It is simply the dose that distinguishes between a
poison and a remedy." -Paracelsus

"Oats -- a grain which in England sustains the horses, and in
Scotland, the men." -- Johnson

"It was pleasant to me to find that 'oats,' the 'food of horses,' were
so much used as the food of the people in Johnson's own town." --
Boswell

"And where will you find such horses, and such men?" -- Anonymous

- -----Original Message-----
From: Peter Raftos <greeting at zip.com.au>
To: phlip at morganco.net <phlip at morganco.net>
Date: Thursday, March 16, 2000 1:04 AM
Subject: Prosphora


>Hi Phillipa,
>I've seen your posts concerning prosphora on Byzans-L and the SCA cooks
>list. As you know, bread and grain were "controlled substances" -
>especially in C'nople- because of their sometime scarcity as well as the
>fact that commercial life was controlled in a pretty sophisticated way
>( see the 9th C Book of the Eparch  by Leo VI
>To eparchikon biblion. The book of the Eparch.
>Ed as Le livre du Prefet. With an introd. by Ivan Dujcev. (London:
>Variorum Reprints, 1970)
>English trans. The Book of the Eparch. Byzantine Guilds, Professional
>and Commerical Ordinannces of Leo VI. C. 895 from the Book of the
>Eparch, trans. E. H. Freshfield, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
>1938)
>English trans. Book of the Prefect, trans A.E.R.Boak, Journal of
>Economic and Business History, 1 (1929), 600-19 )
>
>This book out lines wonderful things like when fires had to be put out
>and who had exemptions from specific rules. Breadmaking and supply were
>a "big deal" which for many of us, with supermarkets and
>industrialisation, is literally a thing of the past (
>http://crh.choate.edu/history/_discfall/00000087.htm ). Outside of the
>church I believe that bread stamps were used to denote point of origin
>and to control the supply of bread ( not to mention paying taxes). The
>church's practice seems to be a vestigal imperial practice which may go
>back to Late Antiquity or earlier. I have no references yet as it is
>something that needs more research time than I have. Modern prosphora
>stamps can be of wood or plastic. In the past they have been made of
>wood, ceramic, and metal. Designs have varied over the ages but have
>settled at one (at least in the Greek Orthodox Church). Anti-doron is
>the bread given out to those not participating in communion. I can't
>recall seeing it stamped but it may have been in Byzantine times for the
>reasons mentioned above.
>
>Here are some helpful links. The first link is the most comprehensive
>and also has Orthodox Paschal, Lenten and Festal recipes as well as a
>recipe for Kollyva...boiled grain offering for the dead, a lovely pagan
>practice which goes back to Ancient Greece. The other two are useful for
>understanding the Orthodox perspective on bread.
>
>http://www.prosphora.org/
>http://www.theologic.com/oflweb/inchurch/prosphor.htm
>http://www.suc.org/culture/library/religious/Lord_Teach_Us_To_Pray/Prosphor
a.html
>
>If you have a local Orthodox church they sometimes have a good library
>and will often let you research there if not borrow books. Yes these
>books have an orthodox ecclesiastical bent but if you read between the
>lines much information and other sources can be culled. Another nice
>essay on Byzantium is to be found at found at
>http://www.myriobiblos.gr/texts/english/epstein_trends.html
>
> And did you know sauerkraut is period for Byzantium. Monasteries today
>still make the stuff. How is your Khazar research going?
>