[Sca-cooks] Re: Accuracy of Herbals (was rue, etc.)

[Samrah]

William de Grandfort  wrote:
>The same applies to any modern or period manuscript or book. Unless there is hard science to back up the claims and contentions of an author, the nformation must be taken with a grain (or two) of salt. Even our precious 'period cookbooks' have been proven wrong on numerous occassions. And, modern authors are no different than period authors. "Experts" are generally self-proclaimed... and rarely authentic when it comes down to brass tacks.

Or, I'm drunk.

To which Samrah replied:

Don't know if your drunk darlin'.  You're probably across town, and more than sober by now.  But if memory serves Gerard knew there were some 1,500 errors in his famous herbal, things like the wrong drawing attached to the wrong plant, and he insisted his publisher print it anyway.  I suppose modern herbalists may not be any more careful or reliable, but as the Arabs say "God would hope"...

Samrah


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