fd-Anglo-Saxn-msg – 7/19/10
Food of Anglo-Saxon England. References.
NOTE: See also the files: cookbooks-msg, books-food-msg, fd-Arthur-msg, fd-Norse-msg, fd-France-msg, Anglo-Saxons-msg, AS-jewelry-art, England-msg, London-msg.
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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
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Date: Fri, 11 Sep 1998 20:45:58 +1030
From: miche at merlin.net.au (Michelle)
Subject: SC - Re: Anglo-Saxon Food Drink
>From: kat <kat at kagan.com>
>Subject: SC - Anglo-Saxon food/drink???
>
>I don't know if any of you are following the "1000 Years in 500 Days"
>history being put together by the British newspaper "The Guardian," (but
>here's the web site if you're not; it's fascinating):
>
>http://www.guardian.co.uk/millennium/archive.html
>
>Anyway, on their Day 6 story, they linked an interesting writeup on
>Anglo-Saxon food and drink; I thought y'all might like to check it out:
>
>http://www.ftech.net/~regia/food.htm
>
>Thoughts, from anyone else who's read this? I don't know where their
>source material comes from (though they refer a couple of times to items
>found at excavations) but I'd love to hear another opinion...
The info on the feast pages was put up by Sue Peacock. I know that the
pictures she used can also be found in a book called 'Cooking and eating
history' by K Stewart, call no. 641.3009 S849...lots of nice piccies and a
bit of background info on the pre-1066 Britain environment (as well as
other cultures, but I skipped those bits as they are not my field of
interest) - but the recipies therein seemed dodgy even to my introductory
forages into this field.
Sue said she was currently doing work for a group called Angelcynne, and to
look out for the web site - but I tried to find it with no luck - if
someone else finds it, can you send me the addy?
For pre-1066 stuff she thoroughly recommended Ann Hagan's 'A Handbook of
Anglo-Saxon food' and ' A 2nd handbook of anglo-saxon food and drink' which
I know can be ordered through the net, but apparently neither really
contain recipes, just background info...depends on what information you
need I guess.
Michelle
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 05:14:42 -0500
From: Melanie Wilson <MelanieWilson at compuserve.com>
To: "INTERNET:sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu" <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Millenium Menu Suggestions-long
Here are a few of my Anglo Saxon recipes and details of meat veg etc, these
are based on 5th C stuff but are still avaliable later
Anglo-Saxon Food
Ingredients List and Recipes
Meat -
Presented in order of availability:
Beef Pork Lamb-fairly sparse Venison-rare luxury
Wildfowl Fish Poultry-fowl and goose
Vegetables -
Peas Carrots Nettle Elder Leeks Turnips Cabbage Onions Celery Radish Garlic
Shallots Lettuce Marigold Poppy Corn Campion
Fruit -
Apples Pears Peach Mulberry Quince Fig Plum Cherries Blackberries
Whortleberries Rashberrys
Nuts -
Hazel Almond Walnut
Herbs -
Used excessively
Sage Pepper Salt Mint Mustard Parsley Dill Chervil Coriander Poppy
Dairy Products -
Milk Butter Cheese Whey Buttermilk -from sheep goats etc as well as cows.
Others
Cereals Pulses Honey Vinegar
Pork in honey and Vinegar
Ingredients per 6 people
500g of pork cubes 250g Honey
250ml wine vinegar 3 Garlic bulbs
6 Onions 6 Parsnips
12 Carrots 500g Peas
Brown meat in fat eg butter or oil, add vinegar, honey and peeled and
cloved garlic, add vegetables, and herbs in season along with pepper and
salt to taste. Simmer until very tender eg 3-4 hours.
Briw
Ingredients per 6 people
1 Litre of Milk 500g pearl Barley
500g Butter Vegetables or fruit as available
Melt butter in the milk, boil for a long time until solidy at some point
add vegetable or fruit and/or salt as desired.
If any left overs this can be cut and fried for a later meal.
Throw it in stew
Ingredients per 6 people
Either of the following:
2 pigs trotters 1 Chicken
or
1kg rib of beef 1kg shin of beef
1 knuckle bone or marrow bone
2 Onions 500g Haricot beans(white)
500g Carrots Celery
500g Leeks 2 Turnips
Cut onions in half, with skin on. Trim vegetables, cook trimmings with the
meat covered in water with a bay leaf some peppercorns and some salt for 3
hours. Remove trimmings and allow to cook. Take off fat layer and save for
frying(eg excess Briw) Add cubed vegetables and re heat when required.
Potted Goose or Duck
Ingredients per 8 people
2 Plump geese or large ducks White pork dripping
salt coarse 6 cloves
5 cloves or garlic 1 tsp peppercorns=
small bunch thyme
Quarter birds and remove all internal fat. Put golden fat to render slowly
in iron pot. Remove nuggets to salt and eat later. Rub joints with rough
salt. Leave to cure for at least 24 hours. Brush off excess salt and pat
dry. Warm goose fat add dripping as required add thyme, cloves and
peppercorns and when hot but not smoking add goose joints. Cook for 1 hour.
Put pieces in earthenware crock and cover with fat. Make sure all is
submerged. Next day cover with another layer of dripping. This will last
all winter, pieces can be removed cooked and eaten as required . Ensure
remaining pieces are covered in fat at all times.
Vegetable parcels
25x carrots
25x leeks
25x onion
10x garlic
10 cabbages
Take the vedge wrap in cabbage leaves tie, place in earth oven.
Mel
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1999 12:51:36 -0000
From: Christina Nevin <cnevin at caci.co.uk>
Subject: SC - Anglo Saxon Appetites
For all those who are interested in Anglo-Saxon food, the latest offering
from my Oxbow book news:
"Anglo Saxon Appetites
Magennis, Hugh
Old English poetry is rich in references to feasting. However, most such
references concentrate on drinking rather than on food. This book seeks out
allusions to eating in A-S literature, detecting A-S attitudes to food, and
its place in early medieval Christian teachings. the significance of
drinking in poetry is also considered. Discusses Germanic feasts, images of
eating in Beowulf, Grendel's eating habits, drunkenness and gluttony in
Christian teaching, and metaphorical consumption of 'bitter drinks', good
food and evil food, the spiritual food of the Eucharist and of divine
teaching.
195pp Four Courts Press 1999 ISBN: 1851823824
L40/$65"
but about $46 on www.bookfinder.com Amazon.com also lists the table of
contents.
Lucretzia
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Lady Lucrezia-Isabella di Freccia | mka Tina Nevin
Thamesreach Shire, The Isles, Drachenwald | London, UK
thorngrove at geocities.com | http://www.geocities.com/~thorngrove
From: "Hrolf Douglasson" <Hrolf at btinternet.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Sun, 6 May 2001 21:31:56 +0100
Subject: [Sca-cooks] NUTS
Almonds were known.
Trees were in the monastery garden at St. Gall during at my at (she means Anglo-Saxon England -ed) period so they were certainly known during yours.
as were Chestnuts and walnuts mulberry's and quince were also known.
I have the Saxon books by my computer key board should anyone require the refrences.
Sugar was amongst the 'mentioned goods of Henry 2nd...the first mention anywhere in English paperwork.
However if you leave good honey for long enough and keep the warriors and children off it you can get a very raw crystal after a year or so.
Vara
Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 22:01:19 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] just an introduction
While you are interlibrary loaning, also check out
Hugh Magennis Anglo-Saxon Appetites. Food and Drink
and Their Consumption in Old English and Related Literature.
isbn: 1-85182-382-4. It's another book that goes
along with the two volumes by Hagen.
Johnnae llyn Lewis Johnna Holloway
Date: Fri, 03 May 2002 10:36:25 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Anglo Saxon Cusine
Besides the two Hagen books on Anglo-Saxon foods
that were mentioned by Rob Downie and Stefan and
the material in the Florilegium, you should
consider this publication:
Magennis, Hugh. Anglo-Saxon Appetites. Food and
Drink and Their Consumption in Old English and
Related Literature. Dublin, Ireland: Four Courts
Press, 1999. ISBN: 1-85182-382-4. It is footnoted
and has a substantial bibliography on pp. 171-188.
By the way, Devra carries the Hagen volumes at
http://www.poisonpenpress.com/cookery.html.
Magennis can be hard to find and expensive. Try
interlibrary loan for that one.
Johnnae llyn Lewis Johnna Holloway
Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 12:01:32 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Anglo-Saxon
Here's a site on Anglo-Saxon cooking
that I just came across... some nice photo's
http://www.regia.org/feasting.htm
Johnna Holloway
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 14:31:08 -0400
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] FWD: New Book information - TASTES OF ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
Thought some of you might be interested...
FWD from David Brown Book Co.:
>I'm pleased to let you know about a new book that we are distributing:
>
>TASTES OF ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
>by Mary Savelli
>
>This book is a carefully researched compendium of recipes from Early
>Medieval Britain, each complemented with historical and source information.
>
>The first chapter provides an introduction to Anglo-Saxon cookery and
>supplies background information about households, drinks, and cooking
>techniques. Following are forty-six recipes enabling the reader to enjoy a
>mix of ingredients and flavors that were widely known in Anglo-Saxon
>England but are rarely experienced today.
>
>The recipes were recreated using written sources from the period,
>supplemented by modern works of research and later medieval recipes. Each
>recipe is introduced with information on its source and the book includes a
>chart documenting all the ingredients used.
>
>Mary Savelli is an independent scholar from Dayton, OH. She has studied
>Anglo-Saxon and Roman-British history at Wright State University and the
>University of London.
>
>BINDING AND SIZE: 80 pages, Paperback available
>PRICE: $7.95
>ISBN: 1-898281-28-9
>PUBLICATION DATE: July 2002
>READER INTEREST: Early Medieval England/Cooking
>PUBLISHER: Anglo-Saxon Books
>Ian Stevens
>Vice-President
>The David Brown Book Co
>PO Box 511
>Oakville CT 06779
From: "Wanda Pease" <wandap at hevanet.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2002 17:55:29 -0700
Subject: [Sca-cooks] TASTES OF ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
We were talking about this book back in July. I went out of town for work
and finally got and looked at my copy. If anyone is still thinking about
purchasing a copy I don't recommend it.
The author gives no original sources. She mentions that the Anglo Saxons
left no cookbooks but it easy (!) to determine what they ate in general
terms. She then goes on to combine those known foodstuffs into recipes in a
manner we would all recognize as "well, they had the ingredients, so they
could have put them together this way" cooking. I've used that approach in
years past, and I'm sure other members of the list have too (and sometimes
still do!). Still, it's disappointing.
By the way, honeybutter is declared "Period" and a recipe given.
Regina Romsey
From: "Christine Seelye-King" <kingstaste at mindspring.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] TASTES OF ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
Date: Sat, 24 Aug 2002 22:26:03 -0400
I haven't spent any time looking at the recipes yet, but I did spend some
time reading it in the airport on the way home from Pennsic. Her
bibiography is pretty good, and the text is heavily footnoted for
references. Just from scanning through the list of books in her biblio, she
does cover most of the sources that I was aware of, and several I wasn't.
So, aside from taking the leap and preparing recipes from conjecture, I
don't have much problem with her research at this point, but then, I haven't
read through the whole thing yet, either.
Christianna
From: "Ro" <LadyRo at annapolis.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2002 11:42:10 -0400
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Tastes of Anglo-Sadon Engkand
I would have to disagree with Regina on this one.
The author lists a bibliography, makes available several pages of notes, and
a list of both ingredients, with the modern name, the name in old English ,
the source for the name and what she used if the indicated ingredient was
unavailable/toxic.
She states in her intro that one of her goals was to produce recipes that an
average cook could produce and a modern diner could enjoy She did so within
the confines of archeological finds indicating available foodstuffs. In my
opinion, she achieved her goals.
Is this a cookbook I would base a feast on and bill it period? Not in the
slightest. It is, IMHO, interesting, well done, the food produced is
definitely peri-oid and more than worth the modest price tag.
And it beats the stuffing (OFC) out of Fabulous Feasts....
Ro de Laci
Bright Hills Cooks Guild
From: "Rosine" <rosine at sybercom.net>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] TASTES OF ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
Date: Sun, 25 Aug 2002 15:33:47 -0400
> We were talking about this book back in July.
> I went out of town for work and finally got and
> looked at my copy. If anyone is still thinking about
> purchasing a copy I don't recommend it.
I agree - I bought a copy at Pennsic without really looking at the contents.
She makes her recipes up, as she says, by combining what she knows from
Roman and from post-1500 recipes with a heavy reliance on medical texts.
When I saw her recommending "Delicious" apples for one dish, I was finished.
> By the way, honeybutter is declared "Period" and a recipe given.
Yes, as in "Honey butter was a staple table dish through the medieval
period" or somesuch. I could go get my copy, but it doesn't deesrve the
effort.
Rosine
Date: Thu, 24 Apr 2003 03:08:43 -0700
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at efn.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Anglo/Saxon source motherlode...
Just found this- and yes, there's some jiffy keen food and food-related
stuff. BIG bibliography.
http://bubl.ac.uk/docs/bibliog/biggam/
http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/SESLL/EngLang/ihsl/projects/ASPNS/
bib.htm#Title
'Lainie
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2004 20:49:45 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] New Anglo-Saxon Foods Book
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>,
"mk-cooks at midrealm.org" <mk-cooks at midealm.org>
I came across this new title and thought I would pass it on:
Food in Anglo-Saxon England
by Debby Banham.
ISBN: 075242904 paperback 16.95 pounds
Published by Tempus in the UK in February 2004.
176 75 b&w illustrations and 25 colour
Description:
Food in Anglo-Saxon England tells the story of what people ate and
drank in England before the chages that have made our diet so
sophisticated, varied and, paradoxically, homogeneous. Only very
high-value goods such as spices and wine were imported into England at
this time, so people were dependent upon native foods. This
extensively illutrated book paints a vivid picture of the Anglo-Saxon
diet, and includes recipes and a reconstruction of a typical
Anglo-Saxon meal. Debby Banham is a higher education teacher and
researcher,and specialises in medicine, diet and agriculture in
Anglo-Saxon England. She lives in Cambridge.
I did some searching and turned up that Dr. Banham helps with projects
such as this work done with the Institute for the Historical Study of
Language Anglo-Saxon Plant-Name Survey.
--- ASPNS Bbliography 6: Agriculture & Food History
http://www2.arts.gla.ac.uk/SESLL/EngLang/ihsl/projects/ASPNS/bib6.htm
She also teaches some courses at Cambridge University.
Amazon UK lists the book as being available in 4-6 weeks which
indicates that they may have missed their publication target.
http://www.tempus-publishing.com/home.asp is the UK site.
Tempus in the US may be found at:
http://www.arcadiapublishing.com/
They don't have a US date listed yet, but the UK stuff does come over
evetually.
Thought you all might find it interesting.
Johnnae llyn Lewis
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 22:24:32 -0500
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Leechdoms (was Mudthaw menu)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Ruth Tannahill wrote:
> It's going to be an Anglo-Saxon feast. Not a lot of primary sources to draw
> on, which is a bit of a bummer. I'd hoped to be able to access the Leechdoms
> in the Old English Corpus, but I didn't get around to writing to Oxford in
> time.
There is a 3-volume book, "Leechdoms, wortcunning, and starcraft of
early England: being a collection of documents... illustrating the
history of science in this country before the Norman conquest",
collected and edited by the Rev. Oswald Cockayn, 1864. All three
volumes are online (and downloadable in PDF format) at the Biblioteque
National de France.
Click on "recherche", and type "leechdoms" in the "Mots de titre"
window.
It seems to have quite a few excerpts from original sources, including
some which seem to be written in Old English. Don't know if it will
help, but...
--
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
Date: Fri, 15 Jul 2005 17:29:06 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Danelaw feast
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Other works to look at--
Stephen Pollington's Leechcraft. Early English Charms Plantlore and
Healing. 2000, 2003.
Stephen Pollington's The Mead Hall. Feasting in Anglo-Saxon England.2003
Hugh Magennis' Anglo-Saxon Appetites. 1999.
These ought to be able to be interlibrary loaned without much difficulty
as they are all in print and sold in this country.
You might want to try and see a copy of this UK publication--
AY8/4: Aspects of Anglo-Scandinavian York by R.A. Hall et al.
A series of thematic essays by specialists on key aspects of evidence
for Viking-Age York, including an historical introduction, documentary
evidence, coinage, inscriptions, street names, art, craft activity,
topography, animal bones, and plant and insect remains.
256pp; 68 illustrations ISBN 1 902771 42 7
That would answer the question of what's in the digs.
Online publications of the York Archaeological Trust can be found at:
http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/ayw.htm
You might also find this article interesting:
http://www.sca.org.au/st_florians/university/library/articles-howtos/9
-12C_Norse_Food_AR070604.htm
Johnnae
> SNIPPED--This is predominately a
> 9th Century Anglo-Saxon feast, though I believe it would be recognized
> and enjoyed by all living within the area. I have pulled heavily upon
> the work of Mary Savelli, who in turn pulled heavily upon the work of
> Ann Hagen and Maggie Black. Period sources include:
> Anthimus, De obseruatione ciborum, translated by Mark Grant
> Ælfric, Colloquy, edited by Garmonsway
> Bald's Leechbook, edited by Cockayne
> Lacnunga, edited by Grattan and Singer
> Medicina de quadrupedibus, edited by Vriend
> Peri Didaxeon, edited by Löweneck
> Recipes, edited by Cockayne
> Comments? This is my first early period feast. I do not offend easily,
> so please comment freely (like that is a problem on this list ;) ).
> Aoghann
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 07:55:14 -0400
From: "a5foil" <a5foil at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Danelaw feast
To: <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>, "Cooks within the SCA"
<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Hagen says "The spices Bede left to his brethren are said to have included
... cardamom ('grains of paradise' so called because they were believed to
float down the Nile from the earthly paradise) ..." This presents three
problems. One is that Bede's list isn't necessarily a true picture of the
availability of spices even in his own time. As a high-ranking churchman he
might have received a gift of exotic spices that would not have been
available through general trade. (And yes, a King could have received a
similar gift, but I can bet you he would have reserved it for a high-table
delicacy!) The second that the translator may or may not have got the word
in the original text matched to the correct spice as we know it today, even
discounting the confusion between cardamom and grains. And the third is that
Bede, in 735, may have had access to spices that were no longer available in
975.
When I cook early-period feasts, I try to stick to seasonings that would be
locally grown and therefore in common use -- a variety of herbs plus
coriander and cumin seed. I do use pepper, which seems to have been
available through trade, but I don't use much -- a couple of teaspoons is
more than enough for a feast for 80.
Rosewater is one of those things for which there would be no archaeological
evidence. Hagen mentions roses as possibly used "in composite dishes" and
(in the section on beverages) "traditionally ... used to make teas and
flower waters." If I were going to use roses in an early-period English
dish, I would use the petals as a garnish.
Cynara
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 12:20:52 -0400
From: Barbara Benson <voxeight at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Danelaw feast
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
>> -- a variety of herbs plus coriander and cumin seed.
>
> Would you expand upon "a variety of herbs"? My modern pantry seems to
> be far more Mediterranean and Asian than I had known. :)
Firstly, the feast plan looks lovely - I cannot wait to help out and
learn all of your tricks. (rubs hands).
I have a couple of tidbits of information that I believe would be
relevant, but I am unfamiliar with the specifics of early Anglo-Saxon.
I will let you evaluate and decide.
Both are decidedly earlier by a couple of centuries, but Charlemagne's
Capitulare de villis was written to instruct the nobles of his kingdom
what should be planted. I would expect that most of the items on his
list would still be available a couple of centuries later, and in
common gardens. At the same time period the idealized Plan of St. Gall
monastery has similar, if reduced planting suggestions.
I have complied lists of gardening plants listed in period references.
It is an ongoing project, but both of the items I just mentioned have
been added.
For just Charlemagne's list go here:
http://www.serenadariva.com/SCAGardeningPages/PlantLists/
CharlemagneLatin.xls
and for a comparison which included St. Gall (and goes up into
Renaissance) go here:
http://www.serenadariva.com/SCAGardeningPages/PlantLists/Plantlists.xls
Glad Tidings,
--Serena da Riva
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 15:41:01 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Danelaw feast
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
The problem I see with this is "grains of paradise" appears to be the
author's comment rather than a statement of the inventory of the estate of
the Venerable Bede. Also, there is argment as to whether the term "grains
of paradise" was ever applied to cardamom. You might check the
Florilegium for tha last big argument over this.
After the fall of the Western Empire, exotic spices continued to be
available in Europe as an import vi Byzantium, but they would have been
expensive, difficult to obtain and it is likely they were used more as
medicine than spice.
It also occurs to me that Bede could have actually had Afromomum melegueata.
Bede was a cleric just after the Celtic Church as absorbed by Rome. The
Celtic Church had established missions into Africa and these were only just
being overrun by Islam in Bede's day. While there is no evidence to support
Bede having melegueta pepper, it is possible that some had made it to the
British Isles by 735, but wouldn't be available in 975 due to the Islamic
expansion.
Bear
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 13:53:02 -0500
From: "otsisto" <otsisto at socket.net>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Danelaw feast
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
This is just a bit of trivia. I'm not sure if the will add to your
knowledge on AS food.
http://www.regia.org/flora.htm
Lyse
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 22:44:56 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kathleen Madsen <kmadsen12000 at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Cooking fats in period England
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
They used a lot of clarified butter (ghee) as their
cooking fat. It was typical to have a pot of it above
or near the cooking area so that it could be quickly
added to the pot if needed. This is referenced in Ann
Hagen's books on foods in Anglo-Saxon England, if I
remember right - I don't actually own a copy. I've
seen it in another spot and am wracking my brain to
remember where. If I recall, I'll post it.
Also, I've never seen reference in period manuscripts
to bread served with butter spread upon it. It seems
more like a modern convention that is a society-wide
practice.
My thoughts,
Eibhlin
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 23:52:23 -0700
From: Susan Fox <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cooking fats in period England
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
On 7/16/05 10:44 PM, "Kathleen Madsen" <kmadsen12000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> They used a lot of clarified butter (ghee) as their
> cooking fat. It was typical to have a pot of it above
> or near the cooking area so that it could be quickly
> added to the pot if needed.
Well, they did not call it by the Hindi word "ghee" and actually, ghee
proper is also cooked beyond mere melting and clarification to impart a
slightly nutty flavor.
This does not stop me from keeping a jar of pre-packaged ghee by my stove,
for use as you describe. Ancient Anglo-Saxons unfortunately had very few
South Asian mini-marts in their neighborhoods. <smile>
Selene Colfox
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2006 10:12:16 EST
From: Devra at aol.com
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: books again available - Hagen
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Speaking of reissues, David Brown now has copies of the Hagen
Anglo-saxon food books, done up as one volume hardcover, costing $49.95. I don't think the separate volume paperbacks can be got[ten] any more.
Devra
Devra Langsam
www.poisonpenpress.com
Date: Tue, 09 Dec 2008 11:37:59 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Request for resource help
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Anglo-saxon Food & Drink by Ann Hagen combines
her earlier titles: A Handbook of Anglo-Saxon Food and A Second Handbook
of Anglo-Saxon Food & Drink.
I also like Debby Banham's Food in Anglo-Saxon England. There's also:
Anglo-Saxon Appetites: Food and Drink and Their Consumption in Old
English and Related Literature by Hugh Magennis
and Feasting the Dead by Christina Lee.
You might want to check out the Regia Anglorum sites and links as they
recreate this era.
Johnnae
<the end>