[Sca-cooks] Beverages, was Royal authenticity

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

On 27 Sep 2003, at 20:11, Nancy Kiel wrote:

> Unfortunately, there isn't anything non-alcoholic.  Water isn't safe to 
> drink, unless it's from a stream (non-well water) or processed in some way
> (boiled).  

Cold water was served at noble tables, at least in 16th c. Spain.  At my last feast, I 
served water, and had fun including documentation for it in my feast booklet.  I cited a 
period health manual, the "Banquete de Nobles Caballeros" by Luis Lobera de Avila.  
The author was a court physician to Carlos V.  At the end of his chapter on beer (a 
new-fangled beverage in Spain) he says, "And because in Spain there are many good 
wines and good water and there is little need of beer and it is not customary, I will not 
enlarge on this material.... It remains to speak of water, because many gentlemen 
and lords drink it, so I will speak of its selection and benefits."  The chapter on water 
which follows goes into great detail about different sources of water, and what Galen 
and other authorities have to say about it.  Lobera de Avila concludes that water Iin 
moderation) is a particularly suitable beverage for ladies, young men under the age of 
twenty-four,  and persons of a choleric (hot) temperament.


Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
rcmann4 at earthlink.net