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

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Kiri wrote:
>Just a thought...I can't help but wonder...I know that some recipes seem
>to call for very large quantities of spices proportionate to the amount of
>other ingredients.  I think I finally figured out that, by the time most
>of the spices got used, they had been around for a while, counting their
>transportation from where they originated, and had probably lost a fair
>amount of their strength.  I wonder if this might not be where the myth of
>heavy seasoning came from??????
>
>Understand:  I'm not speaking of herbs and things that were grown locally,
>but rather those that had to come from, say, the Spice Islands.

Well, we had a thread recently about how long spices keep. People
were positing months to years of "freshness".

Still i imagine that shipping and warehousing conditions were a bit
different in the Middle Ages than they are now. Besides the long
shipping times, spices probably got damp from the natural humidity in
the air in Southeast and South Asia, which also causes them to
deteriorate. If they were stored in sacks, they wouldn't be protected
from much.

And i can certainly speak from personal experience of the difference
in quality and flavor between one of those ridiculously expensive
supermarket brands of powdered ginger (Schilling?) and the bulk stuff
(which i can buy in tiny quantities if i choose) that i get at the
health food store. I use way less of the bulk stuff than i did of the
tinned stuff.

I know i have tossed bottles of spices that had lost their flavor,
even though i keep them in screw top jars in a dark cool place -
although i confess some were a couple years old.

On the other hand i have some cubebs i bought in the mid-1970's
which, while probably really weak compared to when they were fresh,
are still incredibly flavorful, better than the new ones i bought.
Which reminds me of Balthazar's thread on cubebs. My old ones are
large - with an almost citrus overtone - while the new ones are
rather tiny, and while pungent and flavorful are not quite as
wonderful tasting.

Anahita