[Sca-cooks] Interpretation question was: Period? was Tomatoes
Sandragood at aol.com
Sandragood at aol.com
Fri Oct 6 07:56:16 PDT 2006
I'm really missing having direct access to the Gerard herbal..;o( I will be
so glad when I can get moved and can get my library back on bookshelves
instead of in boxes...
The Italian source that references the eating of them fried with salt and
pepper is the one I have been drawing from memory. I wasn't familiar with the
Gerard reference until it was mentioned in posts earlier when this string
started, but missed the text of his reference if it was posted.
Here's an interpretation question for you, because I love redacting and I
love hearing other points of views. From what I'm finding online, the quotes
from Gerard show two preparations. The first being boiled with salt, pepper,
and oil which seams to be simple enough. The second one, being "they doe eat
the Apples with oile, vineger and pepper mixed together for sauce to their
meat, euen as we in these cold Countries doe Mustard", requires more thought.
Would you take this to be a cooked down sauce (more toward a rustic
ketchup), or something similar to the chopped "stewed" tomatoes with vinegar as
mentioned, or something more along the lines of a fresh or pickled tomato salsa
served over the meat? I think it depends on where you put the focus. Do you
put it on the "mixed together..." or on the "as we do mustard..."?
If you place the focus on the "mixed together" it would appear to be a salsa
or "chopped stewed tomatoes". The second would probably be closer if you
focus on the fact that the two sources (Gerard and the Italian) both show
"apples" being eaten in a cooked form. Is there a source that states they were
eaten raw? That would add to the possibilities.
If you place the focus on the "as we do mustard" do you take this to mean
the consistency of the dish? Or, do you take it as a simple statement that they
used this preparation on meat as the English used mustard on their meats?
Liz
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