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Plant remains (predominately seeds) found at six sites (Leicester, Chester, Upwich, Beverley, Newcastle, and Bristol) dating from the 11th through 15th centuries (after Moffett, “Archeology of Medieval Plant Food” in Food in England: Diet and Nutrition):
| Grains/Legumes | Vegetables | Fruits | Other |
| Rivet wheat Bread wheat Wheat (type unspecified) Barley Rye Common oat Bean (fava/broad bean) Pea | Leek Onion Brassicas Fennel Carrot Garlic Parsley Dill Celery Mint Beet Garden orache | Sloe Damson plum Primitive plum Sour/morello cherry Wild cherry Peach Olive* Fig Grape Bramble Rosehip Whitebeam Hawthorn Rowan Pear Apple Quince Bilberry Gooseberry Bramble Strawberry Wild service Black mulberry Dewberry Raspberry | Opium poppy Flax Hazelnut Walnut
|
Note: Newcastle assemblage is 13th-15th centuries; no other assemblage dated later than 14th century. Many plants are found across multiple sites.
*Only found at Newcastle
6 comments:
I note the lack of almonds. I wonder if they used hazelnuts instead (Wecker has recipe for hazelnut milk, for example).
Katrine
They had almonds, too, they just don't show up in the seed assemblages -- the recipe collections I'm focusing on make extensive use of almonds, almond milk, sugared almonds, almond oil, etc.
And thus we have a perfect illustration of why the archeological record is problematic, and why I chose to approach this project from as many angles as possible! :D
When they say "onion" I wonder how broadly that covers the various alliums -- green onions etc.
Have you run across Medlar (Mespilus germanica) in your food research? I think they are very cool, but don't know a lot about when/where they were used. All the Wikipedia has to say about them is "Mespilus germanica was already being cultivated about three thousand years ago in the Caspian Sea region of northern Iran. It was introduced to Greece around 700 BC and to Rome about 200 BC. It was an important fruit plant during Roman and medieval times."
On onions, very, it seems -- most of the finds are seeds, and the different seeds would be indistinguishable from each other, plus a find that they described as a part of an allium, species unknown.
I have run across medlars! And the answer was "yes, they are probably Persona-Appropriate" but now I can't remember the source! ARGH.
Maybe they were mentioned in the garden produce article... hmm...
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