[Sca-cooks] Rotten meat and spices...

[Chris Stanifer]

--- Nancy Kiel <nancy_kiel at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> One thing I've always wondered about, with this whole "eating spoiled meats" 
> idea is---wouldn't it make you sick? 

Sure, there was the possibility that you would get sick from eating tainted meats.  There was also
the possibility that you would get sick breathing the air next to the tainted Thames river...or
catching Cholera or the Black Death walking past the neighborhood dog.  And, there are still meat
products in use today (even in vogue today) which are little more than 'off' meats seasoned
heavily with spices and/or salt (look up the process for Procuitto de Parma sometime).  At any
rate, I don't believe we are really talking about slimy, maggot infested meats to begin with... I
think the idea is that meats which have 'gone off', or have started to smell a little more pungent
than is palatable, were spiced heavily to disguise the fact (or, indeed, to prevent further
deterioration).  There are references to this practice in several of the extant manuscripts, and
you can find them if you look for them.


William de Grandfort

 

Through teeth of sharks, the Autumn barks.....and Winter squarely bites me.


		
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