SC - > So long as we are making assumptions . . . . . . .

Tue Oct 31 19:04:36 PST 2000

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In a message dated 10/30/00 11:12:55 PM Eastern Standard Time, troy at asan.com 
writes:

> but given the percentage of likely savings and/or disposable income for a 
> laborer,
> what would you guess the likelihood was that grains of paradise were a
> regular part of the diet of, say, the lower middle class, whatever that 
> is...
> 
> Adamantius
> 

I would venture a guess (and it is only a guess with nothing to support the 
supposition) that the lower middle class would have used spices in the 
quantity that the lower middle class uses spices now, Such quantities are 
more like a third of an ounce and in cases where vegetation is the form of 
the spice such as bay leaves the weight in normal amounts purchased at the 
store is considerably less.

Given the actual purchasing power of money during the middle ages, which is 
not very much different from the purchasing power of the current middle ages, 
I would say that the use of, say, grains of paradise by the lower middle 
classes would parallel the use of cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg by the lower 
middle class in the current middle ages at holiday time and at special 
occasions throughout the year.

Just my opinion.....

Ras
The test of good manners is to be patient with bad ones.- Solomon Ibn Gabirol

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<HTML>In a message dated 10/30/00 11:12:55 PM Eastern Standard Time, troy at asan.com writes:
 
 
 <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">but given the percentage of likely savings and/or disposable income for a laborer,
 what would you guess the likelihood was that grains of paradise were a
 regular part of the diet of, say, the lower middle class, whatever that is...
 
 Adamantius
 </BLOCKQUOTE>
 
 I would venture a guess (and it is only a guess with nothing to support the supposition) that the lower middle class would have used spices in the quantity that the lower middle class uses spices now, Such quantities are more like a third of an ounce and in cases where vegetation is the form of the spice such as bay leaves the weight in normal amounts purchased at the store is considerably less.
 
 Given the actual purchasing power of money during the middle ages, which is not very much different from the purchasing power of the current middle ages, I would say that the use of, say, grains of paradise by the lower middle classes would parallel the use of cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg by the lower middle class in the current middle ages at holiday time and at special occasions throughout the year.
 
 Just my opinion.....
 
 Ras
 The test of good manners is to be patient with bad ones.- Solomon Ibn Gabirol</HTML>

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