SC - Pumpkins and such...
LrdRas at aol.com
LrdRas at aol.com
Thu Oct 19 19:48:22 PDT 2000
There are many varieties of period pumpkins (i.e., gourds) still available
today:
Italian Edible Gourds, Loofa Sponges, Bushel Basket Gourds and Birdhouse
Gourds
immediately come to mind. Of these, the bushel basket gourd comes the closest
to looking like what we know as a 'pumpkin' today. Most period recipes using
gourds are savory rather than sweet. So far as size is concerned, manuscript
pictures showing bird house gourds appear to show them no different from
today. There has been a real effort in modern horticulture to reduce the size
of many standard varieties so there really is no basis to believe that period
fruits and vegetables where smaller than now although it is true that some
were. For the most part, they had large and small varieties of things just as
we do. Curiously, Jane Grigson mentions that in the 17th century 126
varieties of vegetables were listed in seed catalogs while today there are a
third of that number available. This is clearly a case of modern is not
better and an example of one of the vast differences with living in an
agricultural society as opposed to an industrial one.
Ras
The test of good manners is to be patient with bad ones.- Solomon Ibn Gabirol
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