[Sca-cooks] 14th c Italian cookbook (long)

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

Ariane Helou wrote:

> 1) There are a handful of recipes for some kind of vegetables called 
> "senacioni" (singular, "senacione").  I have checked multiple 
> variations of this spelling in three or four dictionaries, and cannot 
> for the life of me figure out what they are.  Any ideas?  Has anyone 
> encountered this before?

I'd never heard of it, but I decided to try John Florio's 1598 
Italian-English dictionary.  He defines "seneccione" as "the weede 
groundeswell or groneswell".  It's a weed, native to Europe.  The 
scientific name is Senecio vulgaris.

Here's some information about it:
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/g/grocom41.html
(The above is an older source; you might want to consult something more 
up-to-date.)

Mistress Jadwiga, do you have anything to add?

-- 
Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
Robin Carroll-Mann *** rcmann4 at earthlink.net