[Sca-cooks] Spices and the Irish Common folk

[Volker Bach]

Am Samstag, 25. März 2006 06:15 schrieb Terry Decker:
> > 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.

I would doubt that. Fish in the Roman church was not a deprivation food. Their 
tradition for a very long time retained the idea of seafood as a luxury, 
something the northern European nations often did not understand. The 
orioginal monastic rules from the Mediterranean often call on the monks to 
abstain from meat and fish. Does anyone know if the Patrician tradition 
originally permitted fish to be eaten?

I rather suspect that most fish, being abundant and easy to get, but not 
travelling well, had a lowly reputation, with exceptions made for some kinds 
(salmon comes to mind, with its obvious strength and tenacity and the 
seasonal run that connected it with feast and plenty). That's the pattern in 
much of northern Europe.

Giano


	

	
		
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