[Sca-cooks] Rotten meat and spices... (a few excerpts from Apicius)

[Speaker To Idiots]

> Also sprach Chris Stanifer:
>> Here's a reference from an author whom *I* respect, with numerous 
>> references from authors my
>> author respects.... you might find it a bit of a dry read at first, so i 
>> will direct your
>> attention to page 7, the lower left hand portion of the page (left column) 
>> in which the author
>> mentions, quite clearly, the spicing of meats to hide decay.  In fact, I 
>> suggest everyone read the
>> entire article...it is very fascinating, and paints quite a descriptive 
>> picture as to what
>> *actual* life in medieval York was like (based upon scientific evidence)
>> 
>> Yes, this is a modern article on Medieval York, but it is backed up with 
>> researched facts, and
>> *digged up bones*.  Check out the bibliography.
>> 
>> http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/110433643/PDFSTART
>
> I wish I could. Wiley won't let me onto the site. Tried three browsers...
>
> So what does it say on page 7 about the spicing of meats to hide decay? That 
> the technique might have been possible/used, or that it was done, or that 
> they found a piece of meat with a poopload of cubebs on it, which radiocarbon 
> dating and/or other forensic testing indicated was putrid before the spices 
> were added?
>
> Adamantius

This is the relevant passage that he's talking about:

"After the Black Death of 1348.1349 and before
inflation raised the price of foods in 1525, most of the
working urban poor could afford to purchase an adequate
amount and quality of food (Drummond et
al., 1958; Dyer, 1983). Before 1350, the lack of economic
mobility, land hunger, and narrow range of
employment opportunities ensured the poor a meager
and rough existence. Diets were seasonal, precarious,
and cereal-based, consisting of milk, bread,
pottage, ale, onions, leeks, cabbages, garlic, apples,
and pears. Supplements of bacon and dairy gave a
modest but perhaps often insufficient amount of protein,
iron, and vitamin B12, as livestock were still
expensive and rare (Given-Wilson, 1996; Hilton,
1966). After the Black Death of 1349, the surviving
wage laborers increased their purchasing power by
demanding higher wages and better food for their
services. Both the quality and quantity of bread and
ale were improved, and the consumption of dairy,
fish, and particularly meat increased as well. Increases
in the consumption of protein-, iron-, and
vitamin B12-rich meats over the previous dietary
staple of bread made for the crucial dietary shift
during this period (Dyer, 1983, 1988). These new
healthier protein- and nutrient-rich diets not only
carried biological advantages such as increased longevity
and quality of life, but also carried social
benefits, as meat consumption was associated with
status (Dyer, 1988). Food safety in urban contexts
soon became the target of city government, and the
duplicity of butchers selling cheap meats spiced to
mask decay and of other merchants trying to dump
lower-cost spoiled foods on consumers meant that
these hazards increased as socioeconomic status and
purchasing power decreased (Drummond et al.,
1958). This meant that dietary improvements experienced
by the poor were partially offset by questionable
food quality. The exact pattern of consumption
for white meats, fruits, and vegetables is unknown
for the poor. However, the continued association
between these foods and low status suggests they
may have retained importance throughout the Medieval
period. Paradoxically, as the poor gained access
to high-status foods and the biological and social
benefits that they conveyed, they may have been
less inclined to eat what were perceived to be inferior foods. In this 
way, increased protein, iron, and
B12 content may have been counterbalanced by decreases
in many other vital nutrients such as folic
acid, vitamin C, and vitamin D. As the population
grew by the middle of the 15th century and as many
urban centers began to decline in wealth and importance
due to the effects of recession, the diets of the
poor became more circumscribed, as low-status laborers,
especially women, were pushed further into
the margins of Medieval society (Goldberg, 1986,
1992a,b). Low-status people and some of the lowerranking
moderate-status people buried at St. Andrew.s
probably faced these economic and dietary
vagaries as a part of their everyday lives."


Margaret FitzWilliam (who is neck-deep in Java homework and thus has no 
time to comment on this)