[Sca-cooks] Summer is Here

[Pixel, Goddess and Queen]

On Sat, 28 Jun 2003, Sue Clemenger wrote:

> Maire, again.
> I'm wondering (since I'm thinking of the summer/hot weather foods for my
> article) if medieval cooks, when considering the various humoral aspects
> of the foods they were cooking with, had seasonal variations.  Did they,
> for instance, recommend cool/wet things during hot days?  I've sure
> noticed, over the years in modern America, that my diet preferences vary
> greatly with the seasons, and it really doesn't have much to do with
> food availability.  There are specific things I seem to intuitively
> "crave" depending on the season....
> Does this happen to anyone else, or am I completely weird about it? ;-D
> --maire, rambling on a hot saturday night, while she has a glass of
> rhubarb wine....

Like Master A said, yes, there are recommendations for seasons. Since I am 
within reach of my copies of the TS: a number of the entries have a 
listing for /effects/. For instance, pasta is recommended for winter, 
linen clothing for summer, snow and ice for summer, turnips for fall, rye 
for winter, millet for summer.

More or less quoted:

Summer:warm in the 3rd degree, dry in the 2nd. It overcomes 
superfluities and cold diseases. It slows digestion and increases bilious 
humors. The dangers are neutralized with a humid diet in a cool 
environment. It iks good for cold temperaments, for old people, and in 
Northern regions.

Galen says to eat foods which are moist and cooling in the summer.

Myself, I tend to go for cold salads, fruits, raw vegetables, spicy 
things. Pita and dips and olives and cheese is a favorite snack.

Margaret