[Sca-cooks] help with Polish/Hungarian name for herb?

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

>  Why then did Food & Drink in Medieval Poland
> not just identify it as a summer savory?
> Page 92 says "Csombor is an herb with a
> taste that resembles mugwort (Artemesia vulgaris).
> It may be replicated by grinding together equal parts
> tarragon, dill seed, and caraway seed." Why replace it
> with this mixture and just not summer savory???

I wonder if it slipped through the cracks of the translator's knowledge,
and Woys Weaver included replication information that came from someone
who helped them with the food testing?

> I'm wondering if it was in fact one of the artemesias
> like those that produced wormwood or absinthe... which of
> course wouldn't be mentioned as a modern equivalent.

It seems very odd. Knab says, "Marcin of Urzedow wrote that 'savory is a
common herb and much eaten in Poland'." (Marcin of Urzedow is a 16th
century source.)

It's possible that the meaning migrated, but unlikely. Summer savory does
look a little like mugwort looks at certain times of the year. It could
also be winter savory.


-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
jenne at fiedlerfamily.net OR jenne at tulgey.browser.net OR jahb at lehigh.edu
"Are you finished? If you're finished, you'll have to put down the spoon."