[Sca-cooks] Spices and Cooking (oop)

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> 'I just saw that post and was intrigued. I had never speculated about
> medieval times, but had done so about more contemporary periods/cultures. I
> got the idea that hot spices--curry, chile, those little red peppers in both
> Thai & Mongolian food, etc., used in their 'native' habitat--might be used
> to cover meat that was going bad, especially since many "hot spice areas"
> seem to lack as much refrigeration as we are used to. Comment?'

Counterexample: in the first part of this century, British food was
famous for being overwhelmingly bland, despite the lack of refrigeration.

Spices were and are sometimes used to preserve meat.

A taste for spices appears to be common across most areas of the world;
what's unusual is a lack of spice use.

-- 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."