raw-fruit-vg-msg - 9/23/10 Evidence that raw fruits and vegetables were eaten in period. NOTE: See also the files: fruits-msg, vegetables-msg, salads-msg, apples-msg, olives-msg, humorl-theory-msg, humorl-theory-bib, fasts-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Fri, 07 Sep 2001 20:51:49 +0200 From: Volker Bach To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Raw vs. cooked foods, was: Period food myths Tara schrieb: > Jadwiga mentioned the food myth that people didn't eat raw fruits and > vegetables in period. I'd love to discuss this one a bit more! > > I've argued that one more from a logical perspective than a documentable > one. While there may not be much discussion of raw food in menus, if > you're out working in the orchard and get hungry, wouldn't you eat an > apple? Or, if you're travelling, most raw fruit and veggies travel much > better than most cooked ones. So, I would doubt that people never ate > stuff raw. Plus, well, sometimes raw fruit and veggies are yummy. I'm > sure people figured that out. I'm sure that poor people would have > stockpiled fuel through the summer, and would therefore have cooked less > then. I don't know about how it wqould be served up at feasts, but there is a story from 15th century Italy called il villano smascherato in which a peasant is caught stealing a nobleman's peaches and eating them on the spot. The moral of the story is that 'that kind of food' (it is not entirely clear whether raw fruit or fruit in general) is not for 'that kind of people'. Edited in Rivista di storia dell'agricultura 1967 by G.L. Masetti-Zannini and quoted by M. Montanari in La Fame e l'Abbondanza. > However, I know of little menu documentation for *serving* foods raw, > which is why I generally avoid it in my own practice. This, too, makes > sense from a period perspective. Everything from the earth is given to > us to perfect. We must cook it or prepare it to make it worthy, such is > our duty under God. So, if you were trying to impress people, it would > be with prepared food, not raw food. Even things that I can think of > that weren't cooked were still prepared in some respect. Meister Eberhard R36 states that a certain vegetable (no translation offhand) makes the eater sleepy, whether enjoyed cooked or raw. Given the medical nature of much of Eberhard's book I assume he would have made some disapproving noise if he considered eating it raw unsound. So again, we find that some things were regularly eaten raw by the 15th century. Giano From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 16:14:06 -0400 (EDT) To: Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Raw vs. cooked foods, was: Period food myths > I don't know about how it wqould be served up at > feasts, but there is a story from 15th century > Italy called il villano smascherato in which a > peasant is caught stealing a nobleman's peaches > and eating them on the spot. The moral of the > story is that 'that kind of food' (it is not > entirely clear whether raw fruit or fruit in > general) is not for 'that kind of people'. Edited > in Rivista di storia dell'agricultura 1967 by G.L. > Masetti-Zannini and quoted by M. Montanari in La > Fame e l'Abbondanza. Could it simply have been peaches specifically that were not a food for peasants? Two vegetables I recall seeing references that might be to serving raw would be cucumbers and radishes; and the other Magdalena sent me documentation for raw carrots but I can't find it. -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 15:02:34 -0400 (EDT) To: Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Raw vs. cooked foods, was: Period food myths > I considered that - I can think of some. But, that was what I meant by > the food at least being formally prepared, not just a bowl full of whole > fruit or sliced carrots. C. Anne Wilson refers to some mentions of fruit, including a description of how to peel an apple for a small child, that tend to indicate the consumption of raw apples and pears. -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 18:31:11 -0400 Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Raw vs. cooked foods, was: Period food myths On 7 Sep 2001, at 12:53, Tara wrote: > However, I know of little menu documentation for *serving* foods raw, > which is why I generally avoid it in my own practice. The _Arte de Cortar_ (The Art of Carving) by Enrique de Villena, 1423, contains instructions for carving various fruits and vegetables. In many cases, he explains how to carve a particular foodstuff if it is to be served raw. For example, carrots. Villena was a courtier, and he was writing for the instruction of gentlemen who would be serving in a noble household, so I think we can take this as an indication that some fruits and veggies were served raw in a formal dining situation. Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2001 09:40:19 +0200 From: Volker Bach To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Raw vs. cooked foods, was: Period food myths jenne at fiedlerfamily.net schrieb: > > I don't know about how it wqould be served up at > > feasts, but there is a story from 15th century > > Italy called il villano smascherato in which a > > peasant is caught stealing a nobleman's peaches > > and eating them on the spot. The moral of the > > story is that 'that kind of food' (it is not > > entirely clear whether raw fruit or fruit in > > general) is not for 'that kind of people'. Edited > > in Rivista di storia dell'agricultura 1967 by G.L. > > Masetti-Zannini and quoted by M. Montanari in La > > Fame e l'Abbondanza. > > Could it simply have been peaches specifically that were not a food for > peasants? As I said, I don't know. But it is clear that the peasant, at least, ate them raw and was not reprimanded for doing that, just for stealing them. > Two vegetables I recall seeing references that might be to serving raw > would be cucumbers and radishes; and the other Magdalena sent me > documentation for raw carrots but I can't find it. Lettuce (I think) too. See Meister Eberhard Lattich kelt, vnd der in gesotten isset, dem macht sie pesser plut dann ander kraut vnd macht schloffenn, wie man in isset roch oder gesotenn, vnd ist gut, dem die sonne we hat gemacht in seinem haubt oder die enczinndet magenn habenn. Lettuce (?) cools and to those who eat it boiled it makes better blood, and it maskes you sleep, whether eaten raw or boiled, and it is good to those whom the sun has caused injury to the head or who have an inflamed stomach Giano Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2001 08:41:56 -0500 From: "Debra Hense" To: Subject: [Sca-cooks] Raw vs. cooked foods, There is a 2-page photo of a painting showing raw fruits and cooked meat and breads being served at a table in a Feast for the Eyes by Gillian Riley. It's dated 1601 and painted by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio. While technically just outside period. I doubt food ways changed so drastically in two years. Kateryn Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 00:42:04 -0500 From: Stefan li Rous To: SCA-Cooks maillist Subject: [Sca-cooks] More eating of fresh fruit evidence In glancing through George Lang's _Cuisine of Hungary_ I saw this. On page 10: "One of the earliest records of housekeeping of a monastery is the thirtteenth-century manuscript from the monastery of Pannonhalma, which tells among other things, that they had thirty-six cooks preparing the daily meals. From the daily expenditures we can see that the greatest expense was for sturgeon and other fish; there was no meal without fresh fruit, honey, wine and barley ale." I'm not sure how we know that the fresh fruit was eaten that way and not just bought that way, though. -- THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas stefan at texas.net From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net Date: Sun, 16 Sep 2001 21:01:25 -0400 (EDT) To: Subject: [Sca-cooks] Platina on the Raw and the Cooked Ok, so I was sick in bed yesterday and went through my copy of Milham's translation of Platina for references to uncooked fruit and veggies. Of sweet cherries, he says: "If they are eaten in the morning, fresh and with their pits, they move the urine and the bowels" p. 18 Of Melons he says "For this reason some mix in pennyroyal and onion with vinegar so that its natural force of cold is tempered, but when melon is served with the rind removed and the seeds thrown away, it soothes the stomach and gently softens the bowels." There is no mention in this entry to cooking melons. p. 19 On cucumbers, he says "The two previous varies are eaten cut up in pieces with salt, oil and vinegar, once the rind has been removed and the seeds dug out. Some sprinkle spices on them after they have been cut up in pieces to repress their chill." (again, no mention of any method of cooking. P. 20 Figs: "Fresh figs, especially ripe ones, do not do much harm..." p. 22 (though note that we still don't know that fresh means uncooked) Grapes: "It is agreed by all authors that figs and well-matured grapes are less unhealthy than other fruits whic are eaten raw, and eaten as a first course, they cause almost no harm." p. 27 (Many things are listed as first course items but it isn't indicated whether Platina wants them cooked or not.) Quinces: "raw and ripe quinces are given with advantage to those with dysentery, or who are choleric, or who are spitting blood." p. 30 Citron: "Some eat citron cut up in cubes with salt, oil and vinegar." p. 31 Of dates, he indicates to remove the membrane and pit but does not say how to cook them on p. 32. Of fennel: "we use this vegetable both raw and cooked" p. 57 Anise: "both raw and cooked anise are among the few things praise by Pythagoras" p. 58 BLINK: 'apium' which Milham indicats as Parsley, is now botanically the name of celery/smallage/celeriac Petroselium, which comes up under 'On Rock Parsley' is the modern botanical name for parsley. I'm confused! -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 23:45:53 -0500 Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Raw Fruits at Feasts On 13 Jan 2002, at 19:45, lilinah at earthlink.net wrote: > OK, so i checked the Florilegium, and found this intriguing fairly > recent post: > The _Arte de Cortar_ (The Art of Carving) by Enrique de Villena, > 1423, contains instructions for carving various fruits and vegetables. > In many cases, he explains how to carve a particular foodstuff if it > is to be served raw. For example, carrots. > I want to know more! more! Any hints where i can find this book? Can > anyone post the parts about raw fruits? > > Anahita I got it via ILL. It's a modern reprint (1948), in Spanish. There *used* to be a copy online at www.cervantesvirtual.com, but they removed it, for reasons unknown. I confess that I have given some thought to translating it, though it would be a substantial project. For one thing, the Spanish is a century older than Nola, and harder to read. I'll see about maybe getting some of the fruit section done. Does anyone know if the _Arte de Cortar_ (also known as _Arte Cisoria_) is available in facsimile? Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 20:59:16 -0400 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Some new questions for an upcoming feast To: Cooks within the SCA On 20 Jul 2004, at 21:42, kattratt wrote: > Did they eat vegetables raw in period? (I know that greens were eaten > raw as we have Salat... but I am thinking about the vegetables that we > now eat raw... gourds, carrots, whatevers....) The "Arte de Cortar", a 1423 Spanish carving manual, gives instructions for cutting carrots that are going to be eaten raw. The carrot is peeled and trimmed, then cut into quarters, lengthwise. If it's thick, the woody part of the core is removed. If the carrot is long, the quarters are cut into shorter pieces. Ie., your basic carrot sticks. It says that parsnips and small, tender turnips can be cut in the same fashion. Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 17:56:10 -0400 From: Robin Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Nibbles To: Cooks within the SCA > Hm.. I think raw celery and raw or pickled fennel bulbs were mentioned > in Platina; the Rus seem to have liked raw radishes; I have somewhere a > reference to raw turnips, I believe... > -- > -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net The "Arte de Cortar" (Spanish, 1423) mentions small, tender turnips as one of the root veggies that can be eaten raw, along with carrots and parsnips. -- Brighid ni Chiarain Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom Date: Tue, 13 Sep 2005 23:04:05 -0400 From: Robin Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Need Spanish suggestions To: Cooks within the SCA Cat . wrote: > Final question, I would like to include a sweet or > dessert like thing. Did they do fresh fruit as well as > the marzipans, conserves, and sweetmeats? Yes. The "Arte de Cortar" (1423 carving manual) has instructions for carving the following raw fruits: peaches, pears, apples, figs, and melons. Sweet oranges were eaten in Spain in the 16th c. Fruits mentioned in a 16th c. health manual: grapes, cherries, apricots. Nuts and dried fruits are also possibilities. -- Brighid ni Chiarain Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom Date: Sat, 15 Apr 2006 06:58:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Louise Smithson Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Introduction and a Request. To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Irene wrote: === * I have plans for a soteltie dessert that will require a cake of some sort. If necessary, I can go with a recipe that isn't really Provencale. But if anyone has any cake recipe ideas I'd love to hear them. (Otherwise I'll probably just do some sort of orange flavored cake, maybe with bits of candied orange peel in the batter.) === Not a whole lot of cakes in period, oven usage and all that. Might I suggest the addition of orange flower water in addition to orange juice it will really liven the flavor up. You can get orange flower water at most middle eastern stores. === * In addition to the soteltie, I'd like to offer some sort of fruit plate or fruit salad. Any ideas? === Please check out the menus for the month of August taken from Scappi. http://www.geocities.com/helewyse/augustmenus.html The menus are incredibly fruit heavy, this isn't your Northern European cuisine, it is hot, cold fruits are tasty (often by the 16th century they were chilled in snow prior to service). For example the lunch on the 16th of august there are six different fruits served, including red (water) and white (sweet) melons, Peeled plums served with sugar. Capon Sopramentati is a boiled capon with a spice blend sprinkled on it. Cold ham is simply that, cold ham, make a nice mustard. The last course (from the sideboard) is also served cold, here you find things like pears cooked in wine, peaches peeled and served in wine (very tasty with a chilled lambrusco). With dinner menus you tend to see salads: salad of mixed green with flowers, borage salad, salad of citron sliced etc. August at Pennsic is just as hot as August in Italy or Provencal the same types of foods would be popular, cooling foods, light foods. Helewyse Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2009 13:00:13 -0500 From: Robin Carroll-Mann Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] period finger/party foods To: Cooks within the SCA On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 6:48 AM, Nancy Kiel wrote: <<< Vegetables are a challenge, since today we usually serve them raw and in period they were cooked. >>> They were not always cooked in period. I've mentioned before that the "Arte de Cortar" (Spanish carving manual, 1432) has instructions for cutting carrots and parsnips to be served raw. Carrot sticks are period for noble (even royal) feasts. Small, tender turnips. Slices of radish sprinked with salt to mitigate their cold, moist humor. I'll leave aside the matter of salads, since we're discussing finger foods. -- Brighid ni Chiarain My NEW email is rcarrollmann at gmail.com Date: Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:55:11 -0700 From: David Walddon To: Cooks within the SCA Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] serving fresh fruit There is also a TON of information in the first five books of De Honesta on eating fruit and cooking with fruit and vegetables. Stay tuned for publication date of my paper "The Hidden Recipes of Bartolomeo Sacchi: An exploration of the recipes in the first five books of De Honesta Voluptate et Valetudine". I gave this paper at RSA in San Francisco, but am just pursuing publication now (my job eats my life!). There are 38 Fruit Recipes and 58 Vegetable recipes in the first five books. These do not include references about when to eat fruit (fresh or otherwise) from a seasonal or menu standpoint (there are lots of those recipes but I did not identify them in this paper). Eduardo Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:18:23 -0400 From: Johnna Holloway To: Cooks within the SCA Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] serving fresh fruit On Sep 2, 2010, at 3:50 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote: <<< Finding evidence for serving fresh, raw fruits and vegetables at medieval foods has been rather difficult to document for various reasons. >>> Actually there are mentions of course. Skip the term fresh and look for evidence of eating raw fruits or uncooked fruits. The search gets involved as you must search fruit by fruit, vegetable by vegetable but the advice appears. A text like Henry Butts' Dyets dry dinner consisting of eight seuerall courses: 1. Fruites from 1599 might be worth examining Stefan as it provides advice like "Hurt. Annoy weake stomacks, and diseased sinowes: especially eaten raw, or many" for apples for instance. (I'm afraid that I agree with Ken Albala in that if they had obeyed the dietary advice not to eat raw fruits, then those passages would have ceased appearing in the texts. What we find though is time and again readers are warned against eating raw fruits because they make the belly swell, etc.) In the later 17th century, the advice appears as: For your diet. Yong Mutton, Veale, Kid, Capors, Hennes, Chickens, Rabbets, Partridge, Fesant, Quaile, Plouers, small birdes of the fields, Pigeons, sw?ete butter, potched egges with vinegar, but not in hot complexions. Water-fowles are not good, neither is Porke, or olde powdred B?efe. But Fishes from fresh riuers is very good eaten with vinegar, and good sauce, they coole the bloud well. Let your drinke b?e small b?ere, and well brued, and sometimes a cup of white wine mixed with water for hot complexions, with Borrage, and Buglosse, but es|chew all hot and sw?et wines. Herbes that be good to b?e vsed, Sorrel, Endiue, Succorie, Borage, Buglosse, Parsely, Marigoldes, Time, Marierom, Betonie, Scabious, Isope, Mints, Purslane, Pimpernell, Rue, Angelica, Cardus Benedictus, Lettuce. Make your sauce with Cytrin, Limons, Oreng, Sorrell, Vinegar, Maces, Saffron, Barberies, and such like. Raw, & yong fruit is hurtful, so is Garlick, Onions, L?ekes, Radish, Rocket, Mustarde, Pepper, and hot spices, and al hot wines, and all these are hurtfull, & so are al sw?et meates: let your diet be cooling & drying. page 29 Thayre, Thomas. A treatise of the pestilence vvherein is shewed all the causes thereof, with most assured preseruatiues against all infection: and lastly is taught the true and perfect cure of the pestilence, by most excellent and approued medicines. 1603 But later in the 1693 The compleat gard'ner, or, Directions for cultivating and right ordering of fruit-gardens and kitchen-gardens by La Quintinie, Jean de, 1626-1688., Evelyn, John, 1620-1706. Pears And, besides all the Advantages above-mentioned, it has likewise this, which appears to me a very great one, that is, when all other Pears are past, this still remains to Honour our Tables till the new Fruits of the Spring; and, by consequence, protracts even so far as that time, the pleasure of those that love raw Fruit. All which summ'd up together, excites in me so much Consideration for the Good Christian or Boncretien-pear, that I think I should do a kind of Injustice if I should refuse it the Place of a First Dwarf-pear-tree. page 80 Apples Among the Apples that are good to Eat Raw, or Baked, or otherwise prepared, (for I meddle not here with Cyder-Apples,) I count Seven principal sorts, that is to say, the Gray-Pippin, the White, or Frank- Pippin, the Autumn Calvill, the Fennellet, or Fennell-Apple, the Cour- pendu, or short-hung, or short-stalk'd-Apple, the Api, and the Violet- Apple. There are some others which I prize not so much, tho' they are no bad Fruit, as the Rambour, the Summer-Calvill, the Cousinotte, the Orgeran, the Jerusalem, the Thick Pairmain, the Ice-Apple, the Francatu, the Hiute-Bont?e, or High-goodness, the Royalty, the Rouvezeau, the Chesnut-Apple, the Pigconnet, or Pigcon-Apple, the Pass- pomme, or Passing-Apple, the Petit-bon, or Small-good, the Fig-Apple, &c. page 124 Plums I see good Qualities, bad Qualities, and indifferent Qualities; and I observe some Plums that are good both Raw, and Baked, or Preserved, and some again that are good only to Bake, or Preserve. The good Qualities of Plums, are to have a fine, tender, and very melting pulp, a very sweet and sugred Juice, and a rich and exquisite Tast, which in some is perfumed: A good Plum is the only Fruit almost that is to be Eaten Raw, and has no need of Sugar, such are upon Wall-Trees, the Violet and White Perdrigons, the St. Catharines, the Apricock-plums, the Roche-Courbons, the Empresses, or Latter perdrigons; such also upon Wall-Trees, are the Queen Claudias, the Imperials, the Royals, the Violet, Red and White Damasks, and even the White Mirabells. page 142 All Plums that are good raw, are likewise commonly very good baked or preserved, whe|ther * it be to make dry Prunes, or Compotes, or wet Sweet-meats, as the Perdrigons, &c. page 143 Johnnae Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2010 06:52:03 -0700 From: "Daniel Myers" To: "Cooks within the SCA" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] serving fresh fruit Raw apples are also specifically listed in a menu in "Ouverture de Cuisine" (France, 1604). I'm very sure the whole "they didn't eat raw fruit" meme is one of those "everyone knows" things that isn't true. Not quite as bad as the "using spice to cover the taste of spoiled meat", but still incorrect. - Doc Date: Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:29:27 +1200 From: Antonia To: Cooks within the SCA Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] serving fresh fruit (on behalf of Eduardo) On 8/09/2010 10:28 p.m., emilio szabo wrote: <<< The must be an edition of De Honesta in Spain from the late 15th or early 16th centuries and if so there are MANY examples of when to serve fresh fruit. I would check some primary sources besides cookbooks and medical theory books before making the assumption that it was not done. Of course there are lots of WARNINGS about fruit eating but there are lots of examples of them doing it as well. >>> I agree. Scappi (a few decades later) also makes many references to serving raw fruits and vegetables. -- Antonia di Benedetto Calvo Edited by Mark S. Harris raw-fruit-vg-msg Page 11 of 11