[Sca-cooks] Spices was licorice,

[Ron Carnegie]

Greetings all,

   Unless I am greatly mistaken I think you will find that NO spice is grown
in Europe. (Unless in a hothouse).  When I was first taught historical
cooking, I was taught that Spices by their very nature and definition of the
word come from exotic locations (i.e. the spice islands).  Before posting
this this the list I thought I would check my information.  (My teacher was
a best a tertiary source!)  I do not have time currently to peruse my
primary sources to see if this is a modern alteration or not (As I can think
of no easy way to do such).

	Now in the OED (also of course not primary, and in my opinion not always
the last word in definitions) Spice is defined as," One or other of various
strongly flavoured nor aromatic substances of vegetable origin, obtained
from TROPICAL PLANTS, commonly used as condiments or employed for other
purposes on account of their fragrance and preservative qualities."
(emphasis is mine.)

	This suggests that what I was taught was correct.  Though used for a
flavouring agent, if grown in Europe (which is NOT tropical, though it can
be Mediterranean) it is an herb, not a spice.

   To add to the confusion however, it appears that one may "spice" (the
verb) with an herb and not just spices!

Ranald de Balinhard



> -----Original Message-----
> From: sca-cooks-bounces at ansteorra.org
> [mailto:sca-cooks-bounces at ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of AEllin Olafs dotter
> Sent: Monday, February 23, 2004 11:42 AM
> To: Cooks within the SCA
> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Spices was licorice,
>
>
> Hmm. Makes sense.
>
> Also makes me realize I don't really know off hand which spices can be
> grown in Europe...  and, for that matter, where in Europe. Its climate
> has a pretty wide variation. I know that peppers and cloves were Asian...
>
> What about cardamom?
>
> AEllin
>
> http://www.ansteorra.org/mailman/listinfo/sca-cooks