Subject: Re: Medieval European food

From: [email-masked] (Stephie)
Date: Sun, 2 Apr 1995 23:28:47 +0100

> Hi,
> 
> A friend of mine is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Sge has
> asked me to help her locate a list of foods that were common during the
> "period" - 800 to 1400. She's not looking for recipes, but for a list of
> meats, grains, fruits, vegetables, etc. If anyone can help, it would be much
> appreciated. 
> 
> Loy ([email-masked])
> 
> 

	I hope this works because it's the first time I've posted to a
newsgroup (have to start somewhere) - I apologize if lots of people get
this who don't want it! (My mailer is terrorizing me...)
	I have a book that sounds exactly like what your friend wants. It
is called `Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony', by Madeleine
Pelner Cosman (George Braziller, New York, 1976).  It is a very
interesting read, it includes some recipes but about three quarters of the
book are a scholarly introduction to food in the Middle Ages. In
particular chapter 2 describes the raw ingredients and the cooking
processes, there are also chapters on food markets and medicinal beliefs,
&c.
			Stephie

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From: [email-masked] (Elise A. Fleming)
Date: 11 Apr 1995 21:42:07 GMT

Greetings!  According to the World Book encyclopedia (1978) "Cran-
berries belong to the heath family, 'Ericaceae.'  The large, or
American, cranberry is the genus 'Vaccinium', species 'V. macrocarpon'.
The small, or European, cranberry is 'V. oxycoccus'."

The _Larousse Gastronomique_ says that cranberry refers to "any of
several related shrubs of the genus 'Vaccinium'...The mountain
cranberry is found in heath and woodland in cold mountainous regions.
also known as lingonberry and cowberry, it is eaten mainly in Scan-
canavia and Germany.  The mountain cranberry has a very tart flavour
and is rich in vitamin C and pectin.  It is used to make compotes 
and sweet jellies, as well as sauces and condiments to accompany
savoury dishes."  There is no indication as to when the name "cran-
berry" came into use but the encyclopedia said that it derived from
"crane-berry" because the "slender stems of the fruit
curve like the neck of a crane."

Alys/Elise

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From: [email-masked] (Par Leijonhufvud labtek)
Date: Mon, 10 Apr 1995 16:21:46 GMT

David Friedman wrote:
>There is a european relative of the American Blueberry (the
>bilberry), but it is smaller and less useful for food purposes. There

The european blueberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) _is_ smaller than the New 
World one. On the other hand, it is quite usefull for cooking. If anyone 
is interested I can post nutritional values for it; not much, but I 
suspect that neither is the american one. Berries are mostly sugars, with 
too much acid to make it possible to live of them.

/P{r Leijonhufvud
-- 
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Name:   Paer K.G. Leijonhufvud          Oh, *practice*. I don't mind 
Email:  [email-masked]   *practising*. So long as we
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