[Sca-cooks] Melons in Moscow

[Johnna Holloway]

> I was speaking about foods or fruits in general.
> Several foods are said to purge one's body or kidneys.
> There are also concoctions that do the same.
>
> A rich store-house or treasury for the diseased. 1596.
>
> An Excellent good Medicine to purge the Bladder of one that cannot  
> Pisse.
> _TAKE Parslye, Red Fennell, the rootes of Eli|saunders, the rootes  
> and leaues of Hartes-toung, and a quantitie of Mayden-heare, of ech  
> of them a like quantitie, and seeth them in white Wine, & then  
> straine it and giue it to the Partie greeued, to drinke first and  
> last, and it will purge the Bladder, in a shorte time. Probatum est.
>
> ------
>
>  Boorde, Andrew, 1490?-1549 A compendyous regyment or a dyetary of  
> healthe
>
> Almondes causeth a man to pysse: they do mollyfy the bely, and doth  
> purge the lunges
>
> -----
> Healths improvement by Moffett, Thomas and Bennett, Christopher. 1655
> (Written circa 1594. Moffett died in 1605)
>
> The seed of Figs nourisheth no more then a stone, their skin hardly  
> digesteth, onely their pulppy substance giveth much, though no very  
> wholesome nor good nou|rishment. Chuse the softest, roundest,  
> newest, sound|est, thickest, and ripest; and as you drink wine upon  
> cold and moist fruits, so drink small drink, or suck the soure juice  
> of Orenges, Pomegranards, Lemons, or Citrons after Figs: thus being  
> taken they augment fat, clear the countenance, provoke venery,  
> quench thirst, resist venom, purge the kidneys of gravel, and  
> nourish more then any Tree-fruit whatsoever. But if you would ripen  
> a cold, or cleanse your pipes, or clear your voice, it is best to  
> eat them with ripe Almonds, or to drink them with barly water: old  
> age is most offended by them, and such as have stopt livers, or be  
> of a bad and corrupt complexion.
>
> As for melons
> Melopepones.
> Musk-melons are neither so moist nor cold as the ordinary sort,  
> engendring far better bloud, and descend|ing more speedily into the  
> belly. They will hardly prosper in our Country, unless they are set  
> in a very fat, hot, and dry ground, having the benefit of Sun-shine  
> all the year long. Jason Mainus (a most famous Ci|vilian) so loved a  
> Musk-melon, that he said to one of his friends, Were I in Paradise  
> as Adam was, and this Fruit forbidden me, Verily, I fear me, I  
> should leave Paradise to taste of a Musk-melon. Nevertheless let not  
> the pleasant smell or taste of them draw any man to eat too much of  
> them, for they cast Albertus secundus the Emperor into a deadly  
> flux; Sophia Queen of Poland into a numb'd Palsie, and Paulus  
> secundus the Pope into a mortal Apoplexy. All Melons, Pompions, and  
> Cu|cumbers, are not presently to be eaten out of the ground (though  
> they be fully ripe) but rather a week after for with delay they  
> prove less moist, and also less cold. As for our great Garden  
> Pompions and Melons they may tarry in a warm Kitchin till towards  
> Christ|mass before they be eaten, to be more dryed from their  
> watrishness, and freed from crudities.
>
> ------
>
> The sought after melons in the article are said to be shipped in
> from 1000 miles south of Moscow. The article says:
Watermelons are the main object of affection, trucked in from sunny  
regions of Russia as far as 1,000 miles away and selling here for 30  
cents a pound or less. Also prized, though more costly, are sizable  
elongated melons from Central Asia that are known as torpedoes, with  
flesh like a honeydew’s, only better.
>
> Johnna
>
> On Sep 23, 2009, at 11:16 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:
>
>> <<< But it's so medieval to eat a fruit that purges over indulgences.
>>
>> Johnnae >>>
>>
>> It is? Quotes? Other proof of this? Was this in Russia or  
>> throughout Europe?
>>
>> How far north do watermelons grow? I assume that watermelons only  
>> got to Russia in modern times with modern transport, but you said  
>> "fruit" in general.
>>
>> Stefan