[Sca-cooks] period spices

[Johnna Holloway]

Spice. The aromatic part of a tropical plant, be it root, bark, flower  
or seed.

Saffron originated in perhaps Western or Central Asia and was grown in  
Eastern Greece in ancient times. It was never inexpensive.

Mustard seed is not listed generally as a spice by most sources. Black  
mus tard may have originated in the Sou thern Medi terra nean, Brown  
mustard  is from Eastern Europe and the Indian Brown Mustard is from  
India and Central Asia.


Johnnae

On Sep 9, 2010, at 12:50 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Cariadoc declared:
> <<< But spices in our period were imported and expensive. >>>
>
> Okay, I'm going to get picky here. I agree with the rest of your  
> message and your conclusions, however, this is a good example of why  
> I don't like absolute statements about our period. Too many  
> "reasonable" ones have exceptions. Too many years, too wide an area.
>
> Not all spices available in Europe in our period were imported, nor  
> were they all expensive. It is a good, general statement though.