Early European Spice Info

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Spice mixtures have been used as long as spices themselves. The cooks
in great medieval households had their blends of poudre blanche and
poudre forte, which were usually 'pointed' (sharpened and dampened)
with vinegar before being added to other ingredients. Ginger seems to
have been the predominating flavor, with lesser amounts of cinnamon,
cloves, pepper, saffron and grains of paradise. In the 13th and 14th
centuries huge quantities of powdered sugar were mixed with the
spices: presumably sugar and spice went together as an indication of
wealth. By the 16th century the sugar had almost disappeared; there
was more variety in spice blends for different dishes.  At this time,
Italy led the way in cooking, and Ruperto de Nola, cook  to the king of
Naples, gives one of the earliest recipes for an  unsweetened mixture,
which he calls Salsa comun. This consists of: "3  parts cinnamon; 2
parts cloves; 1 part ginger: 1 part pepper with a  little ground
coriander and a little saffron, if wished".  LATER EUROPEAN SPICE
MIXTURES  In the 17th century the use of large amounts of spices
started to  diminish: spices were more plentiful and cheaper, and
although used  by more people generally, were used less to exhibit
status. Cookery  books no longer give spice mixtures among the basic
recipes at the  start: the spicing needed is included in the individual
recipes. In  the 19th century there are more suggestions for mixed
spices: Careme,  the great French chef, proposes three parts
peppercorns to one part  of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, dried thyme and
bayleaf, combined; and a  small amount of ginger and mace. Anne
Cobbett's "kitchen pepper" in  the early 19th-century manual The
English Housekeeper requires "an  equal quantity of finely ground or
pounded ginger, nutmeg, black  pepper and allspice, cinnamon and
cloves".  Today spice blends are used less widely in Europe than in the
past. In  France, quatre-epices is the most popular. In Britain,
pudding spice  and pickling spice are traditional mixes, still used
today.  Source: Jill Norman "The Complete Book of Spices" Viking Studio
Books, 1991 ISBN 0-670-83437-8 The book is lavishly illustrated with
full color photographs of the herbs and spices- whole, mixed, ground.
Recipe by: Jill Norman * Web File 4/97  Posted to recipelu-digest
Volume 01 Number 238 by "Diane Geary"  <diane@keyway.net> on Nov 10,
1997

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