13th Century Foodie Advice!

[sister_raphael]

 

Spices were definitely not added to food to mask the taste because it was rotten. That's a myth. It constantly amazes me how with all the really good info we have out in the wider world in the last 2 decades that ideas like this still make the "Top 10 things you didn't know about the Middle ages" along with ones about hygiene and other nonsense.

 

This 13th century foodie advice comes from Bartholemew Anglicus from his treatice, On the Properties of things," and from Medieval Household Hints compiled and photographed by yours truly!

Comments

[cmcmck]

They certainly were not although meat had to be eaten much younger than we would now and needed much long cooking as a result.

[foxinthestars]

If anything, my sense is that it was the opposite: spices helped make things tasty again after they'd been dried and salted into safety and then reconstituted.

Plus, people were foodies and thought sweets and spices tasted good. Go figure.