[Sca-cooks] No Sugar in 10th Century??

[Stefan li Rous]

Bear replied to Balthazar with:
> Or was heavy spicing a form of conspicuous consumption?

> > That was pretty much my question.  Did they require
> > more spicing because they liked the spices, or
> > *didn't* like the flavor of older meats?
> >
> > Balthazar of Blackmoor

One way to settle this might be to look at which spices were used in
some cases where the quality/toughness of the meat might be in question.

As has been pointed out, if you are covering the taste of strong
tasting meat or meat going bad, you can do that with local, "cheap"
herbs and spices.  If you are showing off your wealth you can buy
the best, freshest meat and use expensive, imported spices.

Mustard seed is one local spice that was cheap, and it certainly can
be used to cover up an off taste. What other spices/herbs were local.

I don't think heavy use of mustard seed could be considered conspicuous
consumption. Garlic, perhaps? What about dill?

--
THLord  Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas         stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****