Translations:Spice/18/en: Difference between revisions
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===Preservative claim=== | ===Preservative claim=== | ||
{{quote box|align=right|width=35%|The most popular explanation for the love of spices in the Middle Ages is that they were used to preserve meat from spoiling, or to cover up the taste of meat that had already gone off. This compelling but false idea constitutes something of an urban legend, a story so instinctively attractive that mere fact seems unable to wipe it out... Anyone who could afford spices could easily find meat fresher than what city dwellers today buy in their local supermarket.}} | {{quote box|align=right|width=35%|The most popular explanation for the love of spices in the Middle Ages is that they were used to preserve meat from spoiling, or to cover up the taste of meat that had already gone off. This compelling but false idea constitutes something of an urban legend, a story so instinctively attractive that mere fact seems unable to wipe it out... Anyone who could afford spices could easily find meat fresher than what city dwellers today buy in their local supermarket.}} | ||
It is often claimed that spices were used either as [[food preservation|food preservatives]] or to mask the taste of [[Meat spoilage|spoiled meat]], especially in the European [[Middle Ages]]. This is false. In fact, spices are rather ineffective as preservatives as compared to [[salting (food)|salting]], [[smoking (cooking)|smoking]], [[pickling]], or [[food drying|drying]], and are ineffective in covering the taste of spoiled meat. Moreover, spices have always been comparatively expensive: in 15th century Oxford, a whole pig cost about the same as a pound of the cheapest spice, pepper. There is also no evidence of such use from contemporary cookbooks: "Old cookbooks make it clear that spices weren't used as a preservative. They typically suggest adding spices toward the end of the cooking process, where they could have no preservative effect whatsoever." Indeed, [[Cristoforo di Messisbugo]] suggested in the 16th century that pepper may speed up spoilage. | It is often claimed that spices were used either as [[:en:food preservation|food preservatives]] or to mask the taste of [[:en:Meat spoilage|spoiled meat]], especially in the European [[Wikipedia:Middle Ages|Middle Ages]]. This is false. In fact, spices are rather ineffective as preservatives as compared to [[:en:salting (food)|salting]], [[:en:smoking (cooking)|smoking]], [[:en:pickling|pickling]], or [[:en:food drying|drying]], and are ineffective in covering the taste of spoiled meat. Moreover, spices have always been comparatively expensive: in 15th century Oxford, a whole pig cost about the same as a pound of the cheapest spice, pepper. There is also no evidence of such use from contemporary cookbooks: "Old cookbooks make it clear that spices weren't used as a preservative. They typically suggest adding spices toward the end of the cooking process, where they could have no preservative effect whatsoever." Indeed, [[Wikipedia:Cristoforo di Messisbugo|Cristoforo di Messisbugo]] suggested in the 16th century that pepper may speed up spoilage. | ||
Latest revision as of 08:17, 13 June 2023
Preservative claim
The most popular explanation for the love of spices in the Middle Ages is that they were used to preserve meat from spoiling, or to cover up the taste of meat that had already gone off. This compelling but false idea constitutes something of an urban legend, a story so instinctively attractive that mere fact seems unable to wipe it out... Anyone who could afford spices could easily find meat fresher than what city dwellers today buy in their local supermarket.
It is often claimed that spices were used either as food preservatives or to mask the taste of spoiled meat, especially in the European Middle Ages. This is false. In fact, spices are rather ineffective as preservatives as compared to salting, smoking, pickling, or drying, and are ineffective in covering the taste of spoiled meat. Moreover, spices have always been comparatively expensive: in 15th century Oxford, a whole pig cost about the same as a pound of the cheapest spice, pepper. There is also no evidence of such use from contemporary cookbooks: "Old cookbooks make it clear that spices weren't used as a preservative. They typically suggest adding spices toward the end of the cooking process, where they could have no preservative effect whatsoever." Indeed, Cristoforo di Messisbugo suggested in the 16th century that pepper may speed up spoilage.