[Sca-cooks] Spices and the Irish Common folk

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Mar 25, 2006, at 12:15 AM, Terry Decker wrote:

>> You have to look at the cultural perspective.  These folks were  
>> raised on
>> stories like the Tain Bo Cuailnge, where cattle = wealth.  Also  
>> take into
>> account that seafood is often associated with Fast Days, and  
>> therefore fish
>> = deprivation, no matter how lovely and fresh it is.
>>
>> At least the Irish hospitality industry is beginning to get the  
>> clue to
>> emphasize the real strengths of local cuisine in order to attract  
>> tourism
>> and other business contacts to their area.  But that is NOW, and  
>> we are
>> studying THEN.
>>
>> Selene C.
>
> At the time of the Tain, salmon was considered fine fare.
>
> I suspect fish may not have equaled deprivation until Rome  
> assimilated the Celtic Church in the mid-7th Century.

And perhaps not even then:

http://www.dnaco.net/~mobrien/irishptr/irepoems/mo-chean.html

Adamantius




"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04