[Sca-cooks] Spanish tomato sauce, late 16th c.? -- from Gerarde's Herball 1597

[Terry Decker]

How do we know Gerard's statement is true and accurate?  Much in his Herball 
does not appear to be based on direct observation and in this case the 
original source is undetermined.  I am willing to accept that these 
observations are correct to a degree, but do not necessarily represent a 
general usage.

If we are parsing sentences, consider the phrase "they vse to eate" which 
suggests that they ate at one time, but do not do so now.  Was this perhaps 
a dish prepared by returning Conquistadors, that fell away as they died off?

What would be interesting, and which I do not have time to do now, is check 
Clusius's Rariorum aliquot stirpium per Hispanias observatarum historia 
(1576) for references to the tomato.  Clusius's work was prepared from 
observations made while travelling in Spain.

Bear


>
> Let us have a look at Gerarde's, Herball, 1597, p. 275f. (apples of Loue)
>
>
> "The vertues.
> In Spaine and those hot regions they vse to eate the apples prepared and 
> boilded
> with pepper, salt, and oile: but they yeelde very little nourishment to 
> the
> bodie, and the same naught and corrupt.
> Likewise they do eate the apples with oile, vineger and pepper mixed 
> togither
> for sauce to their meate, even as we in these cold countries do mustarde" 
> (p.
> 276).
> http://caliban.mpipz.mpg.de/gerarde/high/IMG_0637.html
>
>
> As for the history of tomato I would like to have your comments on the 
> quoted
> passage from Gerarde.
>
>
> There are two possible understandings of the phrase in question:
>
>
> (1)
> eate [ the apples with oile, vineger and pepper mixed togither for sauce ] 
> to
> their meate, even as we in these cold countries do mustarde
>
>
> (2)
> eate the apples with [ oile, vineger and pepper mixed togither for sauce ] 
> to
> their meate
>
>
> I must confess that I prefer the first reading, because there is mention 
> of
> "their meate", which I assume is some different kind of food than the 
> tomatoes.
>
>
> Bear, you are right, that the writers of herbals used the works of their
> predecessors, they had widespread correspondences. Therefore, the next 
> step is
> to look for the sources. Agnes Arber has a wonderful bibliography in her 
> book on
> herbals, many of them are online ...
>
>
>
> Conrad Gesner, in his Horti Germaniae (Gardens of Germany, 1561) says in 
> the
> passage about "Pomum aureum uel amoris dictum" that the fruit is "nec 
> insuauis,
> nec noxius in cibo" (not unpleasant and not unwholesome to eat). This work 
> is
> online with books.google.com, look for Valerius Cordus, Annotationes 1561, 
> it is
> the last appendix.
>
>
> E.