[Sca-cooks] 12th-century bread (was Re: Favorite Frugal PennsicMeals)

[Mairi Ceilidh]

It's from a 'signa' list. In Cistercian and Cluniac monasteries, different 
degrees of 'silence' were observed, the dining hall invariably being subject

to this stricture. The monks developed a sign language to meet the need to 
ask for various foods or food items without actually talking, and lists of 
these signs survive. They are not recipes, just collections of food items, 
but they are still very interesting and if I ever find the time, I'll write
a 
research article on it Meanwhile, I offer to send my first (and very bad) 
draft including a list of the terms from several such lists in Latin and 
English to anyone who asks, clearly stating that it's NOT for sharing (I'd
be 
eternally embarrassed)

Giano

I would love to have the list of signs/terms.  I would never share without
permission, but am very interested in the sign language of the monks.

Thank you,

Mairi Ceilidh
jjterlouw at earthlink.net