[Sca-cooks] Re: Siege Cookery at Talonvale: The Premise and Ingredients

[Terry Decker]

>>>>>
>> What is "saracen corn"?
>Buckwheat.
><<<<
>
>Ah! Okay. I'd never heard this term before. Come to think of it, I don't
remember that much discussion of buckwheat here, either. How does buckwheat
differ from wheat? And what period recipes do we have that use it? Is it
more of an East European grain than west? Or, from the name, was it really
not available in Europe during the Middle Ages? Of course, white wheat being
the preferred grain, perhaps "saracen" refers to lower quality rather than a
place of origin?
>
>Stefan

Buckwheat originates in Central Asia and was cultivated from China to
Russian and the Middle East.  Presumably the Crusaders encountered it and
named it Saracen corn.  It was not particularly prized or desired by the
Europeans.  IIRC, general cultivation of buckwheat in Western Europe begins
in the 16th or 17th Century.

Bear