[Sca-cooks] Period food myths

[Decker, Terry D.]

The first commercial importation of tea into Europe that I know of is 17th
Century.

Coffee has been documentably known in the Arab as early as 900 CE and was
probably known earlier.  As a beverage, it can't be placed apocryphally
before the middle of the 13th Century and it's general use as a beverage
doesn't begin until about 1450.  By 1550, it is in general use in the Middle
East.

Pre-17th Century coffee use in Europe is limited to Italy in the latter half
of the 16th Century, where it is an occasional, privately obtained novelty.
The first commercial imports into Italy occur near the very end of the 16th
Century.

For references, let me suggest:

Hattox, Ralph, Coffee and Coffeehouses: The Origins of a Social Beverage in
the Medieval Near East
Ukers, William H., All About Coffee
Ukers, William H., All About Tea

The last two pre-date the children's "All About" series, and a serious
studies of the coffee and tea industries.

Bear

> What I did not incude are coffee and tea.  Anyone want to
> take a run at
> them?
>
> Daniel Raoul