[CH] sauce with a sting

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Cameron,

"Woe to the cook whose sauce has no sting" is a common "translation" from
Middle English into modern English -- I've seen it many times. Whether the
translation is apt or not is probably better discussed in another forum. A
little closer to being on topic:

>Taking the quotation literally ... what would impart the sharpness? They
>knew about black pepper (very expensive though) and also herbs, berries
>and roots such as radish and horseradish. Any specialists in Middle
>English Cookery on the list?<


While not exactly a specialist, I have read a bit on the subject. Medieval
cooking was characterized by a much heavier use of spices than our cooking.
They used a greater variety and amount of spices than we we find bearable.
If interested, you might want to look at
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/cooking_from_primary_sources.html, (an
interesting page on medieval cooking techniques).

Yes, spices were very expensive -- that was the point. Conspicuous
consumption has never been overly concerned with logic or taste.

But I digress.

The point is, the European medieval kitchen had many "sharp" spices that
are virtually unknown there today. In addition to Black Pepper (Piper
nigrum), they regularly used Cubeb Pepper (Piper Cubeba), Long Pepper
(Piper longum), Ashanti Pepper (Piper guineense), Ethiopian Pepper (Xylopia
aethiopica), and Grains of Paradise AKA Melegueta Pepper (Amomum
Melegueta). Mustard, of course, was a popular seasoning in England -- as it
still is.

A little aside: Many beers and wines used to be adulterated with Melegueta
Pepper -- its warmth was intended to give the illusion of higher alcoholic
strength. Elizabeth the First loved the taste of Melegueta Pepper in
drinks, but George the Third banned its use in the brewing trades. After
that, the use of many of these types of peppers declined throughout the
region.

Does any of that answer your question(s)?


Gary ("The grotesque prudishness and archness with which garlic is treated
in [England] has led to the superstition that rubbing the bowl with it
before putting the salad in gives sufficient flavor. It rather depends
whether you are going to eat the bowl or the salad." Elizabeth David)

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