infusions-msg - 3/4/08
Period infusions. Herbal "teas". Barley tea, tisane.
NOTE: See also the files: tea-msg, wine-msg, spiced-wine-msg, jalabs-msg, beer-msg, herbs-msg, rice-msg, grains-msg.
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Date: Sun, 01 Feb 1998 17:00:15 -0800
From: "Crystal A. Isaac" <crystal at pdr-is.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Herbal infusions
LrdRas at aol.com wrote:
> You may be right here but the drinking of such infusions were almost if not
> entirely for medicinal purposes. It does not surprise me that there is no
> mention of this in period cookery sourses. To research this information, IMHO,
> you would have to turn to herbals and medicinal manuals.
>
> Ras
The following are some medieval sources for tisane. I thought tisane
meant "barley water" so perhaps if I go look again I'll find more
tisanes that are "herb water." Please remember nearly all of these are
translations perhaps the word tisance was used for convenience.
What does "stampe" mean in 14th century english/context of making violet
water?
Thanks,
Crystal of the Westermark
Anthimus. De Observatio Ciborum. circa 526CE. Translated by Weber,
Shirley Howard. _Anthimus, De Observatio Ciborum: Text, Commentary and
Glossary with a Study of the Latinity. Dissertation_. Published by E.J.
Brill Ltd., Leiden 1924.
LXIIII Of Tisane
Tisane which is made of barley, if anyone knows how to make it, is good
for well people and for those with a fever. Diluted with warm wine, a
teaspoon of it well mixed should be sipped slowly on a empty stomach.
We usually give this to those with a fever, not thick, but diluted with
clear warm water. It is agreeable also during periods of fasting, in
Lent, to take this with hot water by all means.
Maimonides, Moses (1135-1204 CE). _Maqalah Fi Bayan Ba'D Al-A'Rad
Wa-A;-Jawab 'Anha Ma'Amar Ha-Hakra'Ah_. edited and translated by
Leibowitz, JO and Marcus, S. _Moses Maimonides on the Causes and
Symptoms (Maqalah Fi Bayan Ba'D Al-A'Rad Wa-A;-Jawab 'Anha Ma'Amar
Ha-Hakra'Ah [and] De Causis Accidentium)_ Published by University of
California Press, Berkeley, CA. 1974. ISBN 0-520-02224-6 LCCCN 71-187873
page 147
...barley kashk, prepared every day.... Its description in accordance
with the needs of our master is as follows: Take polished barley, six
months after it is harvested, forty drams; chopped seeds of fumitory,
chopped seeds of Iraqi poppy, two drams; chopped moistened white
sandalwood, one dram; nard, a fourth of a dram; dill flowers, half a
dram; olive oil from the Magrib or Syria, yellow of color and free from
bitter taste, three drams. The whole of these should be put together in
an earthen pot. Pour into this pot one thousand drams of water, and heat
it over a charcoal fire until half the water evaporates. Then pour into
it six drams of wine vinegar. Its cooking is completed when less than a
fourth of it remains, and its color appears red. Then filter it, and add
to the filtrate half a dram of salt....
Henslow, G. Rev. Professor. editor. _Medical Works of the Fourteenth
Century Together with a List of Plants Recorded in Contemporary Writing
with the Identifications_. Published by Burt Franklin, New York, NY,
1972. ISBN 0-8337-1666-2.
Page 28 MS. [A]
If a man-ys bon ys broke. - Take violet and stampe hit with water and
drynke hit and his schal caste out the brokyn bon.
Page 46 MS. [A]
For the quinsie. - Take colymbyn and fetherouyghe and the leuys of
confery and stampe hem to-gedre and drynke the ius with stale ale.
Ratti, Oscar. and Westbrook, Adele. Translators and adaptors. _The
Medieval Health Handbook_. Orginal Italian edition, _Tacinum Sanitatis_.
Lusia Arano, editor. Publsihed by George Braziller, Inc. New York. 1976
ISBN 0-8076-0808-4
>From the Tacuinum of Liege:
106. Barley Water (Aqua Ordey)
Nature: Cold and dry in the second degree. Optimum: That which has been
thoroughly boiled and is mild. Usefulness: For the inflamed stomach.
Dangers: It is harmful for cold intestines. Neutralization of the
dangers: With sugar. Effects: Temperate blood. It is suitable for warm
temperaments, for young people, in Summer and in Southerly regions.
(Vienna, f. 45)
_Le Menagier de Paris_. (The Goodman of Paris, c. 1395) Translated by
Janet Hinson. Reprinted in _A Collection of Medieval and Renaissance
Cookbooks: First Compiled by Duke Cariadoc of the Bow and The Duchess
Diana Alena_. Fifth Edition (1992) Volume Two, published privately. Page
M38-39 Beverages for Invalids
Sweet Tisane
Take water and boil it, then add for each sixth of a gallon of water one
good bowl of barley, and it does not (or it does not matter? - Trans) if
it (p. 238) still has its hulls, and get two parisis' worth of licorice,
item, or figs, and boil it all until the barley bubbles; then let it be
strained in two or three cloths, and put in each goblet a large amount
of rock-sugar. This barley is good to feed to poultry to fatten them.
Note that good licorice is the youngest, and when cut is a lively
greenish colour, and if it is old it is more insipid and dead, and dry.
Eberhards. _Das Kochbuch Meister Eberhards_ circa 1500 CE. Translated by
Alia Atlas. Published on-line akatlas at csbu.edu
#27 Barley swells and cools and does not feed well and hurts all those
who have the affliction, and who become cold nature or who have colic in
the body. But for hot people and those who would be smaller, it is good.
And one eats or drinks it with fennel seeds, so it is good for many
afflictions in the breast, and Avincenna says that barley water harms
the stomach which is cold. It is also very good for feverish people.
Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 20:55:08 -0800
From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Herbal infusions
HI all from Anne-Marie
Crystal "Beverage Woman" asks...
>
> What does "stampe" mean in 14th century english/context of making violet
> water?
>
> Page 28 MS. [A]
> If a man-ys bon ys broke. - Take violet and stampe hit with water and
> drynke hit and his schal caste out the brokyn bon.
>
> Page 46 MS. [A]
> For the quinsie. - Take colymbyn and fetherouyghe and the leuys of
> confery and stampe hem to-gedre and drynke the ius with stale ale.
We always interpreted it to be stamp as in to squish together, usually with
a mortar and pestle.. In the case of the violet one, I would say to moosh
it with some water.
- --Anne-Marie
Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2000 16:57:36 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Question on tea
> infusion might be the word. I've asked a couple of folks
> not on the list if they can be of help.
> Serian
Infusion is a perfectly good word for what it is; you might also
investigate use of the word "tansy", which, while it has been used to
refer to an herb by that name, and an egg dish containing it, and I'm
not aware of the source of that name, has also been used as a corruption
for the word "athanasia", which means, roughly, "banishing death".
Whether that usage has any link to the herb tansy I don't know, but I
have heard "tansy" used to describe infusions of herbs other than tansy itself.
Adamantius
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 17:48:26 -0500
From: "Gaylin J. Walli" <gwalli at ptc.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Question on tea
Master A answered:
>Infusion is a perfectly good word for what [an herbal tea] is; you might also
>investigate use of the word "tansy", which, while it has been used to
>refer to an herb by that name, and an egg dish containing it, and I'm
>not aware of the source of that name, has also been used as a corruption
>for the word "athanasia", which means, roughly, "banishing death".
>Whether that usage has any link to the herb tansy I don't know, but I
>have heard "tansy" used to describe infusions of herbs other than
>tansy itself.
In the vast majority of period sources that I've read for the time
period, "tansy" as a term for herbal infusion is not used. I've not
read all of them. Yet. :) But I've never come across the word tansy
in the sense to which you refer in anything late period (i.e post 1450).
Can you point me to a reference?
The link in usage to the herb doesn't come up in any of the dictionaries,
old or new, that I own, but perhaps someone with a copy of the OED
handy can check.
In addition to the word "tea" I personally would look for these words:
broth
decoction
diffusion
infusion
oyl
syrup
tisane
Iasmin de Cordoba, gwalli at ptc.com or iasmin at home.com
Date: Fri, 03 Nov 2000 01:25:36 +0100
From: TG <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: Re: SC - Question on tea
Two kinds of sources for infusions, decoctions etc. might be worth
checking:
(1) the herbals: generally speaking, their "virtue"-section is a place,
where the use of a plant for decoctions is mentioned (e.g. "The
decoction of the field Daisie (which is the best for physicks use) made
in water and drunke, is good against agues"; from an abbreviated ed. of
Gerarde's Herball).
(2) the vaste literature on distillation of non-alcoholic "burnt"
waters, which seem to be more or less concentrated herb decoctions.
TH.
Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2000 21:24:54 -0500
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: SC - Herbal infusions
This discussion has prompted me to dig out a translation I was
working on a while ago. It's part of the chapter on water from Luis
Lobera de Avila's 1530 health manual, _Banquete de Nobles
Caballeros_. What follows is the first half of that chapter, which
discusses medicinal herb teas. The rest, which is written in a very
difficult, scholarly Spanish, is mostly quoting Galen, Avicenna, and
Arnaldus of Villanova on the properties of water.
I know the person who asked was primarily interested in English
practice, and this of course, is Spanish. But perhaps it may be of
interest. Disclaimer: I don't know what half these herbs are, and
am not making any statements about their usefulness or safety.
CHAPTER XII
Of the quality and use of water and of the benfits and dangers of it
It is well manifest that water is cold and humid in nature and because of
this, Galen, in the first tractate, _De simplici medicina_ says that it is
thickening and congealing. Thus, the best of the spring waters is that
which has its origin or birth in the rising of the sun, and when it is
highest and is most continuous and lightest and does not diminish in its
heat, it is better. Even better is if it were from clear stones, without
notable flavor or odor. And it is better if this is rainwater, well
preserved, caught at the times of your choosing. So Diascorides showed
in his first chapter, where he says that in all the illnesses for which we
need to administer water, rainwater is the best of all. And this is shown
by its being lighter and pleasanter to the taste, and quicker to digest and
quicker to receive cold or heat into itself. And therefore, in various
illnesses and in various stages of them it is licit for us to administer cold
water, or according to the diversity of illnesses one should cook the
water with some of various things, because by itself the heating loses a
large part of [the waters] rawness. Because just as its rawness is often
dangerous, so its qualities, cold and humid, in various parts and in
various illnesses are very medicinal. An example of the first: of cooked
water in various afflictions, if the tendency is of a melancholic humour,
cook it with the root of common bugloss and borage leaves, or with each
of these things. If one fears a stomach affliction, with cinnamon or
cloves. If one fears paralysis, with sage and honey. If one has great
heat, with barley. In an affliction of the liver, with chicory and common
ceterach. In obstructions, with tamarisk. If one fears conjunctive
arthritic gout, and golden.* If one has wind, with anise or cinnamon. If
urine is lacking, with licorice. If vision is failing, with fennel and anise.
And thus, in the other illnesses they can cook it with some of these
things, appropriate to the same illness. And Galen says, in _De regimine
acutarum_, since it is as though the fever was a burning from an exterior
heat, its medication should be its contrary, because the fire in its nature
is hot and dry, and the fever is likewise. Cold water should be well
opposed or contrary to the febrile nature, as it not only humidifies but
even cools the body against the qualities of the fever...
*Possibly this refers to boiling pieces of gold in the water.
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 10:44:21 -0500 (EST)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at mail.browser.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Question on tea
> Infusion is a perfectly good word for what it is; you might also
> investigate use of the word "tansy", which, while it has been used to
> refer to an herb by that name, and an egg dish containing it, and I'm
> not aware of the source of that name, has also been used as a corruption
> for the word "athanasia", which means, roughly, "banishing death".
> Whether that usage has any link to the herb tansy I don't know, but I
> have heard "tansy" used to describe infusions of herbs other than tansy itself.
Um, I suspect that you may be confusing 'Tansy' and 'Tisane' or at least
your informant is. Tisane is another word for infusion.
- --
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise jenne at tulgey.browser.net
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 11:41:44 -0500 (EST)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at mail.browser.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Question on tea
> > I am curious if anyone knows where I can find
> >information on herbs that may have been used for tea
> >(medicinal or otherwise)in the northern part of
> >England or Scotland during the 16th century.
>
> I don't think "tea" is the term you want. As I understand it, the
> word originally means the stuff made from tea leaves, and the more
> general sense is a later development. Tea in the strict sense doesn't
> come into England until the 17th century, so any earlier references
> to what we would call "herbal teas" aren't likely to be called "teas."
_The English Physician_ online gives Culpeper's information on how to make
infusions. Culpeper is 17th century but he was claiming to reproduce the
handbook of the English College of Physicians, so he may or may not be a
good source.
http://www.med.yale.edu/library/historical/culpeper/direct.htm
I have a section on period reference works in my herb book list:
http://www.Lehigh.EDU/~jahb/herbs/herbbooks.html
Nobody that I know of has complied a list of medical teas listed in the
medeival literature, though. Might be a good project.
- --
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise jenne at tulgey.browser.net
Date: Fri, 3 Nov 2000 11:51:32 -0500 (EST)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at mail.browser.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Question on tea
Oops. I forgot to mention a book that might come in handy and isn't on my
list:
_A Country Cup: old and new recipes for drinks of all kinds made from wild
plants and herbs_ by Wilma Paterson. It was published in London by Pelham
books, and the ISBN is: 0720712343
Only some of the content is period, but it is a place to start looking.
--
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise jenne at tulgey.browser.net
Date: Tue, 7 Nov 2000 17:23:59 -0500 (EST)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at mail.browser.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Question on tea
Bear said:
> Also try the words tisane and ptisan, which cover all kinds of infusions
> including sweetened barley water.
OED says ptisan specifically refers to barley water and tisane is a
postperiod usage[... however tisane is a term used by people trying to
sound old-tymey, so it's another way to search.] It's also a french usage,
says the OED.
Bit embarrassing for us, as we named our herb guild newsletter _Tisane_.
- --
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise jenne at tulgey.browser.net
Date: Thu, 09 Nov 2000 18:10:46 -0600
From: "Michael F. Gunter" <michael.gunter at fnc.fujitsu.com>
Subject: non-member submission - Re: SC - OED?
> OED says ptisan specifically refers to barley water and tisane is a
> postperiod usage[... however tisane is a term used by people trying to
> sound old-tymey, so it's another way to search.] It's also a french usage,
> says the OED.
How did you come by the idea that "tisane" is a post period usage? In
fact, it appears to be a variant of the early form of the word. The OED
cites:
1398 "...{TH}at phisicians clepen Thisan
c1400 "the {TH}e v. day he took {TH}ikke tizanne
c1440 "Tysane, drynke, ptizana"
c1567 "They will refuse the Tysants taste"
c1596 "A little of the tysan the Earle had drunke of"
The first citation with a form of "ptisan" starting with a P is in 1533.
Under "Tisane" the OED says only that it's a variant form of "ptisan"
and gives a definition for a tea that it's been applied to since around
1930.
Finally, what the OED says is that it probably is derived from a French
word not that the usage is French instead of English. Ultimately, it
derives from a Greek word meaning peeled or pearl barley, also a drink
made from this.
toodles, margaret
Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2000 20:51:50 -0500 (EST)
From: Jenne Heise <jenne at mail.browser.net>
Subject: Re: non-member submission - Re: SC - OED?
> How did you come by the idea that "tisane" is a post period usage? In
> fact, it appears to be a variant of the early form of the word. The OED
> cites:
Um, I came by that idea because:
> Under "Tisane" the OED says only that it's a variant form of "ptisan"
> and gives a definition for a tea that it's been applied to since around
> 1930.
- --
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise jenne at tulgey.browser.net