indigo [was Re: [Sca-cooks] Puritans, was: Canadian Friends]

[Pixel, Goddess and Queen]

What he said. And I still haven't found any sources that tell me whether
it's safe to use inert indigo (the dyeing process involves oxidation) to
color one's pottage, as mentioned in the Anglo-Norman sources, or if they
just meant indigo-colored, ie, blue. And in that case, what are my options
for blue? I mean, I can very easily saunter over to the tackle box of joy
and find the blue icing color, but that doesn't tell me what my period
counterpart would have used.

Look! A food reference! Wheeeeha!  (ok, cocoa on no sleep is a Bad Thing)

Margaret


On Mon, 8 Oct 2001, Terry Decker wrote:

> Indigo dye is derived primarily from plants of the genus Indigofera.  The
> original source was India hence the name indigo.  Woad isn't a member of the
> Indigofera but it does contain indigotin.  Indigo dye production in the
> Americas was begun prior to the American Revolution with imported plants.
> Check on Elizabeth Lucas of South Carolina, although there may be some
> earlier references.
>
> Bear
>
> >> Um. Actually, indigo is an Old-world dye. It's just that woad also
> >> contains indigotin, which is the stuff what maketh the dye. Indigo will
> >> grow here, quite happily, as will woad, but that doesn't mean it's not an
> >> Old-world dyestuff.
> >
> >That is interesting. Can you give me more reference? I've always been
> >given to understand that they were the same family, but that woad was
> >the species native to the Old World, and indigo native to the New World.
> >
> >'Lainie
>