SC - Butter on the Table

[Decker, Terry D.]

Sunday at Protectorate, Gunthar and I had a discussion about some of the
aspects of the feast, one of them being the fact I had served butter for the
bread (not honey butter, just butter) and whether it was appropriate.  By
accident, I came across the following quote:

"Butter is a wholesome food, first and last
for it soothes the stomach and helps one to
   get rid of poisons
also it helps a man as an aperient and so gets
   rid of ill humors
and with white bread, it has a lingering flavor.

"Milk, cream, curds and also rose junket, 
they close a man's stomach and so are binding;
you must eat hard cheese after them if you sup late
and drink resinated wine to guard against constipation."

The Boke of Nurture (The Babees Book), John Russell, 1460

Given the date, butter might be an appropriate condiment for bread on Tudor
and Elizabethan tables.

To be honest, I have not found a thing about how butter and orange preserves
were eaten, but the went nicely with the bread at the feast.

Bear