fruit-melons-msg - 10/8/08
Period melons. References. Recipes. Watermelons, cantaloupe.
NOTE: See also the files: fruits-msg, fruit-pears-msg, fruit-quinces-msg, apples-msg, nuts-msg, drying-foods-msg, cider-msg, vinegar-msg.
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From: Uduido at aol.com
Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 22:17:47 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SC - Watermelon
<< is watermelon period? >>
Watermelon is period.
"Citrullus vulgaris. Native of tropical Africa....Has been under cultivation
for centuries in India and Egypt; is shown in early Egyptian paintings and
described in Sanskrit Of the four known species three are African and one is
Asiatic."
I have also seen at least two period paintings where watermelons are clearly
depicted and of course, the recipe I posted was taken from Coriadoc's
"Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks> "The Baghdad Cookery Book"
which translation clearly states watermelon.
Lord Ras
From: JTRbear at aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 00:09:33 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Two questions...
Watermelon was smuggled over to the new world aboard slave ships, which is
why it is associated with African Americans.
Jean-Phillipe Lours
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Date: Thu, 1 May 1997 23:19:09 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Watermelon
>I have also seen at least two period paintings where watermelons are clearly
>depicted and of course, the recipe I posted was taken from Coriadoc's
>"Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks> "The Baghdad Cookery Book"
>which translation clearly states watermelon.
>
>Lord Ras
Watermelon is period, but you have to be a little careful about deducing
what is period from translations, given problems both with the translators
and with changing meaning of language. For example, "pumpkins" appear in
old world cuisine--but they aren't the big orange Cucurbita pepo that we
call "pumpkin." "Corn," of course, means maize to a modern American but
grain to a period (or modern) Englishman. And I saw a translation of Ibn
Battuta which referred to peppers, in context vegetable peppers, in North
Africa in the 14th century. I don't know what Ibn Battuta actually
mentioned, but it wasn't capsicum, which is New World.
David/Cariadoc
From: Uduido at aol.com
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 21:00:22 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Watermelon
<< these mellons, however, do contain a great deal of moisture and are what the
Bushmen survive on during the dry season. It is possible that the melons seen
in the illustrations and mentioned are these bitter melons.>>
No the illustrations clearly show a cart containing the big oblong striped
watermelons. One of the paintings was French and one was German.
<<Do the references sited above say anything about the melons being sweet?
That would be the best way to tell which are being referred to.>>
Unfortunately, no. However, the bitter watermelon that you speak of is in all
probabability the "citron" which is very bitter until it is candied or other
wise processed. Another possibility is that the melon to which you refer is
another species of plant . With the exception of citron, all known species of
watermelon are relatively sweet.
<<One more thing, I keep hearing about/reading about gourds. What are they? I
had been taught that the winter squash we eat are also New World.>>
The Luffa gourd (sponge) is an Old World plant and is extremely edible when
it is very young (less than 6 inches). I have used (and continue to use) this
gourd when when gourds are called for in a period recipe.
Both winter and summer squashes are New World according to all the references
I have read..
<<Linneah >>
Hope this helps.
Lord Ras
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Date: Fri, 2 May 1997 20:02:33 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Watermelon
>My apologies to everyone on the list. I have just completed some more
>investigation and the watermelon did, indeed, origionate in North Africa and
>was brought to the Americas. I still wonder about whether it was sweet or
>whether ours today is a descendant of the bitter melons I mentioned above.
>
>Linneah
>who can sometimes be too quick to show her limited knowledge
Ibn Battuta talks about delicious melons. It seems clear from that and
other period Islamic references that there were a variety of different old
world melons, many of which were not bitter. As to watermelon in
particular, I can't say, but I see no reason to identify it with the bitter
melon you mentioned.
Modern Chinese cooking uses something called bitter melon, but I see no
reason to assume it is the same as what you mentioned.
David/Cariadoc
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Date: Sun, 4 May 1997 00:15:39 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Watermelon
At 10:32 AM -0600 5/3/97, S.Thomas wrote:
> Your Grace; What about cantalope, etc? I have a couple of
>illustrations (from "Tacuinum Sanitatis") that say the object being held
>is "melon". It looks to be the size and shape of a cantalope, but
>..... In service, Morgan morgan at in-tch.com
I believe that muskmelon (which is what I believe cantelope is) is old world.
David/Cariadoc
From: Luxueil <jlv at mail1.halcyon.com>
Date: Tue, 06 May 1997 09:11:13 -0700
Subject: Re: SC - Watermelon
At 02:59 PM 5/5/97 -0400, Mark Schuldenfrei wrote:
> Cantalopes originated in southern Asia, India to be specific. Cantalopes are
> period.
The earliest reference to "Cantalope" that my OED gives is 1839. It could
be that the very specific variety of melon called a Cantalope is not period.
Ny Natural History book lists Cantalope and Musk Melon as Cucumis Melo.
Presuming that musk melons and cantalopes are the same thing then
Cantalopes are period as the OED does give period (1573 and later) usages
of musk melon. Additionally the word "Melon" is defined as "A name common
to several kinds of gourds, esp. the Musk Melon" Usage of this word dates
to 1387.
Jean Louis de Chambertin
Barony of Madrone - An Tir
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 17:37:26 -0800 (PST)
From: Huette von <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Melons.
- ---"Alderton, Philippa" <phlip at morganco.net> wrote:
> Anybody know if there were any melons available in Italy, about 15th to 16th
> centuries? If so, what sort? Am thinking there might have been some
> available fron Spain.
>
> Phlip
In "The Four Seasons of the House of Cerruti" which
is a reprint of the "Tacuinum Sanitatis in Medicina"
which is a 14th century Italian/Latin health manual,
melons are depicted. Unfortunately, I don't have
the book in front of me at the moment. (I am at
work.) If you need more specifics, I will post them
here on Monday.
Huette
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 21:10:26 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Melons.
phlip at morganco.net writes:
<< Anybody know if there were any melons available in Italy, about 15th to
16th centuries? If so, what sort? Am thinking there might have been some
available fron Spain.
Phlip >>
Both watermelons and musk melons are period.
Ras
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 02:54:34 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Melons.
>Anybody know if there were any melons available in Italy, about 15th to 16th
>centuries? If so, what sort? Am thinking there might have been some
>available fron Spain.
As far as I know, melons were rather popular in Italy by the 15th century -
they seem to have disappeared for some time but there is speculation they
were brought back by the Crusaders. Platina has an entry on melons and
suggests it should be eaten at the beginning of the meal, followed by a
drink of good wine. Cantaloupes reached Italy from Armenina sometime in the
15th century and were first cultivated in the papal gardens at Cantalupo
near Rome. Watermelons were also available; not sure about other types.
Nanna
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 11:56:27 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Melons.
From: Alderton, Philippa <phlip at morganco.net>
>Where's the entry in Platina? I'm using him for my main source. Am I missing
>something, are they called by another name?
My source for this is Gastronomy of Italy, by Anna del Conte. She says:
"Platina has a long entry in which he praises the tastiness of the fruit,
but warns against it being "cold and damp" and therefore indigestible. For
this reason he suggests that it should be eaten at the beginning of the meal
and followed by a drink of good wine, this being "an antidote to its rawness
and frigidity.""
Pepone is an alternative Italian name for melon, directly from Latin pepon
(ripe), also the source of English pumpkin.
Nanna
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 19:03:59 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Melons.
>Where's the entry in Platina? I'm using him for my main source.
You might also check his Lives of the Popes - his comments on the demise of
Pope Paul II, admittedly no friend of Platina. The pope«s official cause of
death was listed as "a stroke" - brought on by "eating a surfeit of melons."
Platina told quite another story, IIRC, involving the pointiffs sexual
preferences.
Nanna
Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 23:49:29 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Melons.
At 5:37 PM -0800 2/26/99, Huette von wrote:
>In "The Four Seasons of the House of Cerruti" which
>is a reprint of the "Tacuinum Sanitatis in Medicina"
>which is a 14th century Italian/Latin health manual,
>melons are depicted. Unfortunately, I don't have
>the book in front of me at the moment. (I am at
>work.) If you need more specifics, I will post them
>here on Monday.
The fact that something is in Tacuinum Sanitatis doesn't necessarily mean
it was available in 14th c. Italy, since the text is translated (I believe)
from the Arabic original. Some of the illustrations are pretty clearly by
artists who had never seen the originals.
I would check in Platina; I'm almost certain you will find melons.
David Friedman
Professor of Law
Santa Clara University
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 14:58:34 -0500
From: "Daniel Phelps" <phelpsd at gate.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Melons.
Regarding the book referenced [previously] I just happened to have it handy. It
is "The Four Seasons of the House of Cerruti" Translated by Judith Spencer,
complete revised translation, Facts on File Publications NY, NY, /Bicester,
England copyright 1983 by Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. English
translation 1984 Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. ISBN 0-8160-0138-3
This is a facsimile edition and translation of the 14th century Latin
manuscript known as the Tacuinum Sanitatis in Medicina.
Pages 34 and 35 depict three types of melons listed in the captions as
melon, watermelon and Watermelons from the east. The first, Melones
dulces, from the illustration and the test appears to be the elongated
ovidal alternating dark and light green stripped melons with red centers
that are one of the two related types of melons sold as water melons in the
States.
The second, Melones issipidi, appears to the second type of melon sold in
the States as water melons commonly referred to as cannon balls when I was a
child. From the illustration they are round or roundish and about twice the
size of a mans head. None were cut open in the illustration and the text
does not indicate the color of the flesh inside. In the illustration they
are dark green with perhaps a hint of thin stripping. The text repeats the
test for ripeness I heard as a child, "Always choose really ripe
watermelons, which are recognizable by the sound obtained by tapping the
outside.
The third, Molones indi et palestini are slightly smaller in the
illustration than the second and are descriped in the text as being large,
sweet. and yellow. The text suggests choosing large, very sweet watery
ones. From the illustration they look a lot like cantalopes and it shows
someone sniffing one.
Incidentally it also shows something which they call pumpkins which are
elongated green squashes which have the shape of streached and slightly bent
pears but from the illustration are about the length of a man's arm. They
call it a Cucurbite. It also shows dark purple aubergines (egeplant) which
they call Melongiana.
Daniel Raoul le Vascon du Navarre'
Shire of Sea March, Kingdom of Trimaris
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 1999 17:13:50 -0500
From: Ian Gourdon <agincort at raex.com>
Subject: SC - Re: Melons 14th Cen
I did a little melon research for an event lunch a while back...
Melon is one of the dishes served in 1443 at the feast given by John
Stafford at his installation as Archbishop of Canterbury.
page 166 in A Feast of Fruits by Elizabeth Riely NY: MacMillan 1993
"...shows themelon's Near Eastern origin... Via Arabs and Moors the
fruit found its way to Spain... ; There are countless varieties of
melon, Cucumis melo, ... ; These members of the squash, or gourd, family
cross pollinate so promiscuously that farmers know they must plant them
well separated from each other... ; the musk melon ... includes what the
Americans call the cantaloupe...; The Persian melon is another larger
musk melon...; The skin can be ridged in segments, but always has the
characteristic raised netted pattern on the skin."
page 49 in Food in History by Reay Tannahill NY: Stein & Day 1973
"The (early) people of the Indus valley ate wheat and barley ... and
seasoned it with mustard, or possibly turmeric, or ginger...; Melons and
dates, and perhaps lemons and limes all figured in the diet."
from Plants of the Bible by Harold N. Moldenke Waltham, Mass. Chronica
Botanica Company 1952 " Numbers 11:5 - We remember the fish, which we
did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks,
and the onions, and the garlick."
page 188 in Medieval Culture and Society edited by David Herlihy NY:
Harper and Row 1968 ( RE:Florence in 1336-38): " We have discovered by
the tax at the gates that every year Florence imported upwards of 55,000
cogna of wine...; The city required every year about 400 cows and
calves; 60,000 muttons and sheep; 20,000 she-goats and he-goats; and
30,000 pigs. In the month of July through the gate of San Frediano
there entered 4000 loads of melons, which were all distributed in the
city."
- --
Ian Gourdon of Glen Awe
- - Companion of the order of the Greenwood Company
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 13:40:11 -0000
From: Christina Nevin <cnevin at caci.co.uk>
Subject: SC - Melons, thrushes and periodised lamb
A small addition to Ian Gourdon's list of melon references - Piero Aretino
(the famous Venetian poet and infamous gossip) in a letter of 3rd June 1537
thanking Mssr Francesco Marcolini for gifts of salads and fruits says;
"I can risk a wager against anyone wanting to claim that I was not the first
to see this year's figs, grown in your delightful garden. And I shall also
be the first to taste the pears, the apricots, the melons, the plums, the
grapes and the peaches."
Aretino obviously loved his food and dots wonderful little descriptions
throughout his letters. They're worth browsing for that alone almost
(they're also very witty). My favorite however must be his description of
eating a gift of thrushes;
"They were such that our Mssr Titian <yes, the painter> when he saw them on
the spit and sniffed them with his nose, glanced at the snow which was
falling relentlessly outside while the table was being set, and decided
there and then to disappoint a party of gentlemen who had asked him to
dinner. And altogether we heaped praises upon the long-beaked birds which,
boiled with a little dried meat, a couple of bay leaves and a good
sprinkling of pepper, we ate for the love of you, but also because they
delighted us..."
Lucretzia
Date: Tue, 2 Mar 1999 12:15:48 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Melons.
Phlip asks:
>Where's the entry in Platina? I'm using him for my main source.
It is in Platina's Book 1, in the old translation (Falconwood Press
edition) on page 16. It is headed "Longmelons" and mostly concern the
medical qualities of melons and what the ancients had to say about them.
Elizabeth/Betty Cook
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 16:31:07 -0500
From: Jenn/Yana <jdmiller2 at students.wisc.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - pickled melon documentation
Jadwiga wrote:
>The pickled Melon _recipe_ in the Domostroi may be postperiod (I don't
>have my copy with me, but Yana will know) but mentioned of pickled melon
>and other fruit are in the period portion of the Domostroi.
Yep, it is in the "questionable" part of the Domostroi (the Long Version
that has parts that probably come from outside our period). The melons in
question were likely imported from Azerbaijan or another South Central
Asian country. For those who are wondering:
(Pouncy:199-200) Watermelons. Strain watermelon puree through a fine
sieve. Let it ripen in an alkaline solution. When it is ripe, do not cook
it, but let it purify itself.
Take a watermelon and cut it into layers. Take out the seeds. Cut about
two fingers width from the skin, leaving a little of the green flesh. Peel
off strips a little thicker than paper. Put the strips in the juice and
let them sit, changing the juice halfway through. Add honey and cook the
mixture over a slow flame. Skim off any foam that appears. When the
mixture is clear and no more foam appears, the syrup is ready. To the hot
mixture, add spices--pepper, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, mace, or nutmeg--and
simmer it. Put the syrup in a bowl so it will not burn. When it is ready,
put watermelon in a lime solution, then cool it will not burn. When it is
ready, put watermelon pieces in the syrup.
Other people say you should cook the watermelon in a lime solution, then
cool it before adding it to honey cooked with spices.
Melons. Peel melons thinly. Cut the body of the melon in half, then place
it in an alkaline solution for a day and a night. Put the pieces in a
spiced syrup like the one used for watermelons and let them sit. Stir the
pieces, turning them over, from time to time.
Others say that you should leave the melons in the syrup for a while, then
pour it off and replace it, leaving it there for a week altogether. When
the syrup has evaporated, add honey with spices--pepper, ginger, and cloves.
- --Yana
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 2000 08:22:44 EST
From: Llewmike at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Watermelon
Castelvetro's Fruits' Herbs and Vegetables of Italy also references the
watermelon.
Date: Tue, 06 Feb 2001 16:40:55
From: "Vincent Cuenca" <bootkiller at hotmail.com>
Subject: SC - Torta de melones
orta de melones
Tomase el melon limpio de la corteza y de la semilla, y que no este muy
maduro, y cortese a bocadillos, y haganse freyr poco a poco con manteca
mezclandolo con la cuchara de contino, saquese y dexese enfriar, y passese
por el colador, y a cada dos libros de melon frito an~adansele seys onzas de
queso de Tronchon or Parmesano y seys onzas de requeson, or queso fresco
bien majado, seys onzas de queso de Pinto mantecoso una onza de canela,
media onza de pimienta, seys onzas de azucar, diez hiemas de hueuos frescos,
o a lo menos seys con las claras, y tengasa la cazuela tortera vntada con
manteca, con vn ojaldre de pasta algo gordo hecho de la flor de la harina,
agua rosada, hiemas de hueuos, manteca de vacas, y sal, y su tortillon
ojaldrado alrededor, y pongase dentro la composicion, y hagase cozer en el
horno con manteca derretida por encima, y en estando casi cozida hagase la
corteza de azucar, y canela, y en estando cozida siruase caliente. Desta
manera se puede hazer de los duraznos y aluaricoques, y ciruelas mal
maduras.
Melon Torte
Take melon cleaned of the rind and the seeds, and which should not be very
ripe, and cut it into bite-size pieces, and fry them bit by bit with lard
mixing them with a slotted spoon (?), take them out and let them cool, and
pass them through a strainer, and to each two pounds of fried melon add six
ounces of Tronchon or Parmesan cheese amd six ounces of curds, or well
mashed fresh cheese, six ounces of fatty Pinto cheese one ounce of cinnamon,
half an ounce of pepper, six ounces of sugar, ten fresh egg yolks, or at
least six with the whites, and have the torte pan greased with lard, with a
leaf of somewhat thick dough made with the best flour, rose water, egg
yolks, cow's lard, and salt, and its layered crust all around (?), and put
the mixture in, and let it cook in the oven with melted lard over it, and
when it is almost cooked make the crust with sugar, and cinnamon,* and when
it is cooked serve it hot. In this way you can make it with peaches and
apricots, and poorly ripened plums.
*This is similar to de Nola's recipe for Torta Genovesa, which instructs the
cook to sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over the torte as it is baking to form a
crisp layer.
Mind you, this is a quick and dirty translation. I'm totally faking
"cuchara de contino"; could also be "stir continuously with a spoon".
Sounds yummy, though. Maybe I'll try this for Queen's Prize next year! :)
Vicente
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 17:07:22 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Watermelon
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
It was probably called melon (Middle English derived from Latin derived from
Greek), a term that covers both Cucumis melo and Citrullus vulgaris (or C.
lanatus, if you choose).
The Cucurbitaceae are more precisely fruit bearing vines rather than
vegetables, although the English word "vegetable" does not make a clear
distinction between the two. Cucumbers being from genus Cucumis are more
closely related to the other melons. Pumpkins and squash are in genus
Cucrbita. Other related plants are gourds (Lagenaria) and loofahs
(Luffa).
Bear
> This showed up in my mailbox today and thought it might be of interest.
> The last fact makes me wonder what the English called the watermelon
> prior to 1615. Does anyone know?
>
> Tara
>
> Fun Facts about Watermelon
<clipped>
Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 17:05:08 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Question about watermelon...
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> did i dream seeing it, or did i see a mention of watermelon being
> period fruit on this list? or just melon? and what kind?
>
> cailte
Watermelons— Come originally from Sub-Saharan Africa and were eaten by
the Egyptians, but not apparently by the Romans and Greeks. They begin
to appear in still life paintings in Northern Europe after circa 1450.
Watermelon was never as popular as the other melons. I have not found
that garnishing melons in the fashions employed here today was done
prior to 1600, but again it seemed the decorative, inexpensive, and
festive thing to do.
This is from my notes that I made when I served them last.
Castelvetro's manuscript contains a good description of them.
See Castelvetro, Giacomo. The Fruit, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy.
Translated by Gillian Riley. London: Viking, 1989.
If you search the web gallery of art under melon you can turn up
some pictures of at least 17th century cantalopes.
Johnnae
Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 21:30:28 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Question about watermelon...
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> did i dream seeing it, or did i see a mention of watermelon being
> period fruit on this list? or just melon? and what kind?
>
> cailte
Melons are of Old World origin and are definitely period. Watermelons are
of African origin while the others are probably from the Middle East or
Levant.
To quote Platina, "Melons called pepones seem to differ from those called
melopepones since the later are round and ribbed, the former oblong, like
citron apples...."
And from Apicius, "long and round melons: <dressing:> pepper,
pennyroyal,honey or passum, liquamen, and vinegar. Sometimes asafoetida is
added."
Obviously, known and eaten (at least around the Med) from Antiquity to
The Renaissance.
Bear
Date: Fri, 20 May 2005 22:40:33 -0400
From: Ariane Helou <Ariane_Helou at brown.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Question about watermelon...
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
So, this is my favorite period description of a watermelon... at least I
assume it's a watermelon:
"Also they have another excellent fruit called Anguria, the coldest fruit
in taste that ever I did eate: the pith of it, which is in the middle, is
as redde as blood, and full of blacke kernels. They find a notable
commodity of it in the sommer, for the cooling of themselves in time of
heate. For it hath the most refrigerating virtue of all the fruites of
Italy."
From Thomas Coryate's "Crudities," the travel journal of an Englishman's
tour through France, Italy, and Germany. It was published in 1611, but
posthumously; Coryate died in 1607, and I think his travels took place a
few years earlier than that. This excerpt and the following are from his
section on Venetian food markets. Here's what he has to say about other
melons:
"Likewise they had another speciall commodity when I was there, which is
one of the most delectable dishes for a Sommer fruite of all Christendome,
namely muske Melons. I wondred at the plenty of them; for there was such
store brought into the citie every morning and evening for the space of a
moneth together, that not onely St. Markes place, but also all the market
places of the citie were superabundantly furnished with them: insomuch that
I thinke there were sold so many of them every day for that space, as
yeelded five hundred pound sterling. They are of three sorts, yellow,
greene, and redde, but the red is most toothsome of all."
Finally, a warning to the greedy:
"But I advise thee (gentle Reader) if thou meanest to see Venice, and shalt
happen to be there in the sommer time when they are ripe, to abstaine from
the immoderate eating of them. For the sweetnesse of them is such as hath
allured many men to eate so immoderately of them, that they have therewith
hastened their untimely death."
Vittoria
Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:31:25 -0400
From: Gretchen Beck <grm at andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Newbie Question about Watermelon
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
--On Thursday, August 02, 2007 12:57 PM -0500 Liz Wilson
<ewilson618 at tx.rr.com> wrote:
> I am new to the SCA and read a great but fairly general article for
> beginners that broke fruits and vegetables down into New World and Old
> World foods, but I didn't see watermelon on the list. The article
> indicated that cantalope (musk melons) and honeydew were Old World. This
> article was from the SCA websites. Does anyone know the status and/or
> history of watermelon, or how it would have been served? I am assuming
> that it was seasonable and was probably limited to warmer climates.
>
> Cristiana
Hi Cristiana,
Britannica Online says :
(Citrullus lanatus, formerly C. vulgaris), succulent fruit of the gourd
family (Cucurbitaceae), native to tropical Africa, but under
cultivation on every continent except Antarctica.
The OED lists the term "water million" (water-melon) in 1615, and
gives the French term as melon d'eau.
The Domostroi translation contains a recipe for watermelon rind pickles,
so, assuming the word is translated correctly (given the rest of the
recipe, I suspect it is) this puts watermelons in Russia in that late
16th or early 17th C.
I think, but am not sure, that Castelvetro mentions watermelon in 1614 as a
fruit eaten in Italy, but my copy is at home and I can't check it until
later.
toodles, margaret
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 16:09:11 -0400
From: "Daniel Phelps" <phelpsd at gate.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Newbie Question about Watermelon
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
The Four Seasons of The House of Cerruti ISBN0-8160-0138-3 is a facsimile
edition and translation of the 14th century Latin manuscript "Tacuinum
Sanitatis in Medicina". It shows three color plates of what are labeled
melons and watermelons. The first is a classic water melon shaped, i.e. a
very oblate spheroid, smooth skinned green and whitish striped melon. They
are referred to as melones dulces. In the picture they are about the length
of a man's leg from foot knee. Eat them with mature cheese and salty foods
and drink a fine wine. The second are spherical smooth skinned dark green
melons. They are referred to as melones insipidi. Pick a good one by the
sound obtained by tapping on the outside. In Tuscany they are called
cocomero. They are show perhaps a third larger than a man's head. The
third are spherical yellowish melons. They are referred to as melones indi
et palestini. They are show perhaps a third larger than a man's head as
well. A man is show sniffing one. They do not look quite like a modern
cantaloupe as the skin appears to be smooth. Tis hard to tell however. All
three are shown with largish pale yellow flowers and large round fan
shaped leaves.
Daniel
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2007 17:52:40 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Newbie Question about Watermelon
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Watermelon is of African origin. It was being cultivated in Egypt around
2000 BCE. There is some disagreement about whether or not it was well known
to the ancient Romans, but it certainly became available in Europe
after the Arab expansion.
Bear
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:42:27 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Melons in England
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
The Oxford Companion to Food says melons (Cucumis melo) were introduced into
England in the 16th Century where they were grown "under glass bells, in
greenhouses or 'steam-pits.'"
Melons have been cultivated on and off in southern Europe since Roman times
and were certainly reintroduced into the area by the Arabs. The first
medieval European reference seems to be Albertus Magnus in the 13th Century.
Bear
<<< Anybody have any info on people eating melons in England - whatever
period? Someone suggested that Watermelon & cantaloupe would be good
at my upcoming feast and I think it would go over well. But now I have
to figure out if it is period for the region.
Serena >>>
Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:47:07 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Melons in England
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Artworks include
Cotan's Quince, Cabbage, Melon & Cucumber (1600) Credit: San Diego
Museum of Art
http://www.suite101.com/view_image.cfm/360562
Aertsen click on the small painting to enlarge. I think the one is a melon.
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/aertsen/vegetable-stall/
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/aertsen/vendor-vegetable.jpg
Then also take a look at The Four Elements: Earth. A Fruit and Vegetable
Market with the Flight into Egypt in the Background'
*1569 by Joachim Beuckelaer *Sixteen different varieties of vegetable
and fruit have been identified.
http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/education/ITT/earth.html
Here's instructions for a tart of Roman melons
This is an excerpt from *Ouverture de Cuisine*
(France, 1604 - Daniel Myers, trans.)
The original source can be found at MedievalCookery.com
<http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/ouverture.shtm>;
To make a tart of Roman melons. Take a melon that is not at all
overripe, & wash it well within & without, & finely chop, then take four
ounces of good fat cheese, two ounces of sugar, a quarter ounce of
cinnamon, & a nutmeg, & make the tart like the others, when cooked,
sprinkle sugar thereon, & color with nutmeg.
Johnnae
Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:55:24 -0400
From: Suey <lordhunt at gmail.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Melons in England
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Terry Decker wrote:
<<< The Oxford Companion to Food says melons (Cucumis melo) were introduced into England in the 16th Century where they were grown "under glass bells, in greenhouses or 'steam-pits.'"
Melons have been cultivated on and off in southern Europe since Roman times
and were certainly reintroduced into the area by the Arabs. The first
medieval European reference seems to be Albertus Magnus in the 13th Century.
Bear >>>
L.Cucumis melo, Ar. destbuya or betti-h, Fr. melon, Eng. melon. It is a native of Jordan, which was imported to other countries under Roman domination. In Spain, Arabs introduced it from Egypt around 825 and it was first cultivated in A?over del Tajo, an al-Andalus town, no longer existing, named for a village near Rome. It became a symbol in Muslim Spain for the excellent crops produced there in the Middle Ages. Melon was frequently eaten in Le?n during the 10th C. Villena (15th C)instructs to slice it lengthwise and remove the pits. He says it can be cut horizontally into rounds but it is better lengthwise. It has been said that Holy Roman Emperors Albert, Frederick III and Henry IV of Germany and Pope Paul II died as result of eating too much melon. Avenzoar explains that the melon may experience a noxious transformation generating a humor similar to poison if when eaten this occurs. The meal in the stomach prevents the melon from leaving it. The chances of this happening are less than one in 1,000. Luis Lobera de Avila, court physician of Charles V of Hapsburg wrote in his medical manual of 1530 that melon seeds are humid and were used to reduce fever and to expel kidney stones. [Bolens. 1990:34; ES: Carroll-Mann.Guisados 2-art. Jun 6, 01: ftn 74; ES: Chu. Oct 13, 02; Ibn Zuhr/Garc?a S?nchez. 1992:86-88; S?nchez-Albornoz. 2000:161 and Villena/Calero. 2002:23a:42b]
Villena also mentions watermelon but I have no reference to cantloupe through the 15th C. except for Columbus taking a variety a America (its a wonder his ships ever made it out of Huelva he took so much food) Actually cantaloupe really seems to take off during the 18th C from Italy.
Suey
<the end>
