Selected Articles from
The Gull Archives

If you would like to submit an article for The Gull, please contact the Chronicler.

A Tidbit from History

In the Middle Ages, many writers warned the populace against dangerous practices. The many admonitions against eating uncooked fruits and vegetables seem, to my mind, evidence that people did exactly that    eat fruits and vegetables raw. (Just say no!)

Richard 11 of England and Eleanor of Acquitane (Henry II's queen) are supposed to have been great fans of salad. As an aid to those who wish to attempt to eat more forsoothly, I have listed below a few herbs, vegetables and fruits which are no longer in common use.

aven -- the herb was used in salads and the root to impart a clovelike flavor to ale. Avens was considered "the blessed herb," and according to the Ortus Sanitatus (Garden of Health), printed in 1491, "If a man carries the root of avens about him, no venemous beast can harm him."

borage  --  a blue flowered plant with hairy leaves that taste somewhat like cucumber; used primarily in salads. "Borage," Boorde says, "doth comforte the herte, and doth engender good blode, and causeth a man to be mery."

bullace --   a purple wild plum.

chibol  --  a type of small onion no longer cultivated; substitute scallions or shallots when making salad.

clary  --  a plant of the sage family which cuts the grease of fatty meats and fish; in the late Middle Ages, its name was thought to mean "clair ye" (clear eye) and ointments were believed to sharpen vision. The early clary wine, a white wine so named for its clarity, is the etymological ancestor of our modern claret.

damson  --  sometimes called bullace, this bluish black plum is named for its origin, Damascus; plums of any variety may be used as a substitute.

dittany  --  a plant of the mint family with oval leaves and clusters of purple flowers; the pungent, aromatic leaves were used in salads and as a medicinal herb.

hyssop*  --  a blue flowered plant of the mint family whose leaves cut the grease in fatty meats and fish. According to one medieval treatise, "when eaten it improves weak sight, relieves asthma, and expels worms, but causes miscarriage."

orach --  a garden plant with red or green leaves used as a vegetable and a salad herb.

pellitory  --  a climbing plant of the nettle family whose leaves were used in salads and roots for medicinal cures.

porret  --  a young leek or onion; a scallion

purslane  --  a plant with a pinkish fleshy stem and small, round leaves; the leaves were use4 as a potherb or in salads.

ramson --   a kind of garlic with broad leaves; the root was used in salads.

rocket --   mildly pungent plant grown like spinach and eaten in salads. Also known as arugula.

rue  --  a plant with yellow flowers whose bitter tasting leaves were used mostly in herbal cures but occasionally in salads.

skirret --   a species of water parsnip no longer cultivated on a large scale in Europe. Gerard declares that "these roots be eaten boiled, with vinegar, salt, and a little oyle, after the manner of a sallad, and oftentimes they be fried in oyle and butter, and also dressed after other fashions, according to the skill of the cooke, and the taste of the eater."

tansy  --  a bitter medicinal herb whose juice was traditionally extracted from the young leaves, mixed with eggs, and baked as a "tansy cake".

verjuice  --  the juice of green or unripened fruits such as crab apples or grapes; a popular ingredient in cookery which often replaced vinegar.

white powder (blanch powder) --   ground ginger blended with powdered sugar.

* I have a supply of hyssop, although not the leaves. I have a supply of the powered seeds, which taste a bit like thyme. If you would like some to experiment with, just ask.

My source: To The King's Taste, Richard II's book of feasts and recipes, by Lorna J. Sass, published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art., ISBN 0 870990 133 7

NOTE:

Copyright of each article belongs to the original author. Reproduction rights are not given by virtue of their appearance here.