[Sca-cooks] Clove defined and symbolism

[Johnna Holloway]

Been investigating cloves and gillyflowers through various academic  
databases and my books at hand here at home. (Yes, once started on an  
interesting subject, it's hard to stop.) Perhaps the best explanation  
or definition comes from the entry on "clove"  as found in An A-Z of  
Food and Drink. Ed. John Ayto. Oxford University Press, 2002.

"clove   Etymologically, a clove is a ‘nail’. English acquired the  
term for this dried unopened aromatic flower bud of a tree of the  
eucalyptus family in the thirteenth century from Old French clou de  
girofle, which meant literally ‘nail of the clove-tree’ (an allusion  
to the shape of the clove, with its bulbous head and thinner body).  
English took the term over originally as clow of gilofer (gilofer was  
subsequently ‘englished’ to gillyflower, which at first was used for  
‘clove’, and only later came to be applied to clove-scented pinks,  
wallflowers, etc.); but by the end of the fourteenth century clove was  
being used on its own for the spice. Cloves were popular in medieval  
Europe, and were used as extensively in both sweet and savoury dishes  
as their considerable expense would allow—the journey from their  
original home in the Spice Islands (now the Moluccas, in Indonesia)  
was long and risky. Their particular shape allows them to be pressed  
into oranges, onions, etc. like little studs, producing two flavouring  
agents in one. The clove of garlic, incidentally, is a completely  
different word, which comes from the same Germanic source as the  
English verb cleave."

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Symbolism

Objections have been raised in the last few days about the presence of  
cloves in the 14th century syrosye recipe where one finishes the dish  
by "set thereyn clowe gilofre."
One possible meaning not yet discussed for the cherry pottage recipes  
to contain cherries with whole cloves is that there is a symbolism to  
the dish that we have forgotten. Cherries represented the Blood of  
Christ and the Passion of Christ. (Numerous paintings have the Christ  
Child reaching for or the Virgin Mary holding fresh cherries.) To  
place carefully on the surface of such a dish of cherries, whole  
cloves representing nails (the nails of the Crucifixion?) might not  
seem so misplaced to the diners of the 1300's.

Just a thought,

Johnnae