[Sca-cooks] gillyflower

[TerryDecker]

Gillyflower is derived from the French "giroflee" which in turn derives from 
the Greek "karyophyllon."  The original usage is a reference to cloves. 
Somewhere around the late 14th or early 15th Centuries, the term was 
expanded to refer to carnations and other flowers that have a scent more or 
less similar to the scent of cloves.  The flowers were used as an 
inexpensive substitute for powdered cloves and to produce wine and scented 
water.  The actual definition will be determined by context.

Bear


-----Original Message----- 

Apparently there is some debate on when gillyflower meant what.

Gillyflower-art (8K) 6/17/01 "A Gillyflower by any Other Name Would Still 
Smell of Cloves" by Sarra of Caer Adamant
http://www.florilegium.org/files/PLANTS/Gillyflower-art.html

gillyflower-msg (29K) 9/27/13 Does "gillyflower" in period recipes mean 
"clove" or 
"carnation"?http://www.florilegium.org/files/PLANTS/gillyflower-msg.html

Stefan