[Sca-cooks] Raw vs. cooked foods, was: Period food myths

[jenne at fiedlerfamily.net]

> However, I know of little menu documentation for *serving* foods raw,

One problem with 'menu' and 'recipe' documentation is that when the author
calls for, say, ending a meal with "Pears and~sugared almonds, medlars and
shelled nuts. Hippocras and wafers" one could argue that he has simply
neglected to mention how the pears are to be cooked. There are two
references to 'pears' in Janet Hinson's translation of Le Menagier, and
two others to 'cooked pears' in the same point of the menu. There are also
mentions of 'figs and grapes', but in other contexts he mentions fig and
grape pies and cooked figs and cooked apples. Sometimes it says 'fat figs'
and sometimes 'fat roast figs'. One would have to be a French scholar to
do the textual analysis on it to be reasonably sure...

I believe there is some documentation for raw salads, though.

-- 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."