[Sca-cooks] [Lochac] coffee reply from SCA-Cooks list

[Stefan li Rous]

Just in case others might be interested in Avicenna's Book of the  
Canon of medicine and weren't aware of this site.

Stefan

Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:33:43 +1100
From: Ian Whitchurch <ian.whitchurch at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Lochac] coffee reply from SCA-Cooks list
To: lilinah at earthlink.net,	"The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list"
	<lochac at lochac.sca.org>

<<<
>
>> * Abu ibn Sina, known in the West as Avicenna, was acquainted with
>> coffee around the year 1000.
>
> Bun is mentioned earlier by 9th & 10th c. Persian physician abu Bakr
> Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi, known in Europe as Rhazes (865-925).
>
> Perhaps someone confused him with mostly 11th c. Persian physician
> and philosopher Abu 'Ali al-Husayn ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Sina', known in
> Europe as Avicenna (c. 980-1037), who also mentioned bun.
>
> Coffee was first used as a medication (hot and dry). However, it was
> the covering of coffee, known as bun, that was used, often made into
> a beverage. In some places bun refers to the coffee bean, and later
> the green beans were chewed... well before coffee beans were roasted
> and ground >>>

Theres a copy of Avicenna's Book of the Canon of medicine here, thanks
to the American University of Beiruit.

http://ddc.aub.edu.lb/projects/saab/avicenna/

1593 Medici Press edition (yeah, those Medici). It has his formulary
in it - his list of drugs and preparations.

I suspect buru/coffee is in it, because for Rauwulf to be interested
in it's medical properties, then he had to get that from somewhere,
and the Canon of Medicine is, well, the Canon of Medicine (*).

If you can find someone who reads Arabic, we may be able to answer
this question.

Anton de Stoc
At Southron Gard
XXVIII Januarie b+l

--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****