SC - Cherries and strawberries

[Decker, Terry D.]

My darling husband was kind enough to buy me a copy of
Hildegard von Bingen's "Physica" for our anniversary
today. In the moment that I have had to glance at it, I
noticed on the last page an interested statement. Under the
"Metals" chapter, part VIII, she writes (in translation):


      Steel (calybs) is very hot and is the very strongest form
      of iron. It nearly represents the divinity of God, whence
      the devil fleas and avoids it. if you suspect there is poison
      in food of drink, secretly place a hot piece of steel in moist
      food, such as broth or vegetable puree. If there is poison
      present, the steel will weaken and disable it. If the food is
      dry, such as meat, fish, or eggs, place a hot piece of steel
      in wine and pour the wine over the food. If there is poison in
      it, it will supress it, so that it does less harm to the person
      who eats it.... (Throop, pg. 240)

Now granted I've not read the book other than this entry, but I
find the entry very interesting. This is an example of a very
specific manipulation of food based on the humoral qualities of
the dishes. If a manipulation such as this exists, granted it is
for reason of poison, it would not surprise me if other overt
manipulations were done. We see examples right now of our
recipes mixing ingredients so as to balance the humors (adding
something to make the garlic less sharp and hot, for example).
Were there others of which we're not aware? Mostly this one
entry intrigues me because it uses a non-food item to work
with the humoral balance of the food. I'd be interested in finding
other examples of this.

A curiosity, to be sure. Enjoy.

Jasmine
Iasmin de Cordoba
iasmin at home.com
gwalli at infoengine.com