Popular Historical Myths

[Rowan]

[quote=""Volgadon""]Had anyone on the old forum mentioned the myth about Catherine's horse?[/quote]

Which Catherine and what horse?

[Margaret]

Braveheart totally lost me when the Scots went into battle with their faces painted blue. That was the Picts back in the days of ancient Rome, for crying out loud! The Scots were descendants of Irish raiders who settled in the north of Britain, and there is no historical or archaeological record to suggest they adopted Pictish traditions.

[EC2]

[quote=""Margaret""]Braveheart totally lost me when the Scots went into battle with their faces painted blue. That was the Picts back in the days of ancient Rome, for crying out loud! The Scots were descendants of Irish raiders who settled in the north of Britain, and there is no historical or archaeological record to suggest they adopted Pictish traditions.[/quote]

I think it was a 'Native Americans' versus the 'settlers' film transported to ye olde times in a different country. That's why the Scots were painted up and had weird hairdoes - to make them look more 'native.'

Some of my own myths
That people never bathed in the Middle Ages
That spices were used to contain the stench of rotten meat and make it edible
The law of droit du seignur on a bride's wedding night.
That swords were so heavy it took a guy the size of Arnie to lift one.

[Margaret]

I think that rotten meat/spices myth has its origin in the fact that many spices actually do have antibacterial and/or antiviral properties, and so they can help to preserve meats so they don't have to be eaten quite as quickly as they otherwise might be. I've gotten into the habit of rubbing fish with turmeric before broiling it, because it usually eliminates that "fishy" taste and smell that my fussy husband doesn't like. This is not a case of the turmeric flavor (which is pretty faint) "masking" the off smell of old fish. We don't eat rotten fish! I think the turmeric actually kills the organisms that cause the fishy scent, thereby eliminating the scent entirely.

[EC2]

[quote=""Margaret""]I think that rotten meat/spices myth has its origin in the fact that many spices actually do have antibacterial and/or antiviral properties, and so they can help to preserve meats so they don't have to be eaten quite as quickly as they otherwise might be. I've gotten into the habit of rubbing fish with turmeric before broiling it, because it usually eliminates that "fishy" taste and smell that my fussy husband doesn't like. This is not a case of the turmeric flavor (which is pretty faint) "masking" the off smell of old fish. We don't eat rotten fish! I think the turmeric actually kills the organisms that cause the fishy scent, thereby eliminating the scent entirely.[/quote]

A lot of medieval recipes - which were written for the aristocracy do call for spices of all kinds. The resultant recipes often emerge with what today would be a middle eastern or at least North African touch. In fact I was reading that the nearest modern cuisine to 13thC aristocratic food is Moroccan! So they did have appreciative palates and knew how to blend tastes and flavours. Spices were drastically expensive and would have been scarcely realised below the middle classes. Whether they used them as a preservative of good meats and fish, I don't know without asking my medieval culinary professor friend. I suppose pickled herrings and especially cured hams must be a part of this process though.

[chuck]

[quote=""Margaret""]I think that rotten meat/spices myth has its origin in the fact that many spices actually do have antibacterial and/or antiviral properties, and so they can help to preserve meats so they don't have to be eaten quite as quickly as they otherwise might be. I've gotten into the habit of rubbing fish with turmeric before broiling it, because it usually eliminates that "fishy" taste and smell that my fussy husband doesn't like. This is not a case of the turmeric flavor (which is pretty faint) "masking" the off smell of old fish. We don't eat rotten fish! I think the turmeric actually kills the organisms that cause the fishy scent, thereby eliminating the scent entirely.[/quote]

Margaret....I thought I was the only male that did not like to eat fish because of the smell....I do like Scallions cooked in a wine cheese sauce....

[Volgadon]

I've lived my whole life around Moroccan Jews and their cuisine really is very old and is very close to Spanish cuisine of the 16th and 15th centuries, especially in the use of spices. Very subtle blends of upwards of 12 different spices which give their food a mild, nutty flavour, rather than hot, spicy kicks.

As for Catherine, after her death, unfounded rumours spread that Catherine II (the Great) died during intercourse with a horse. Sorry for bringing that up again, MLE.

[EC2]

[quote=""Volgadon""]I've lived my whole life around Moroccan Jews and their cuisine really is very old and is very close to Spanish cuisine of the 16th and 15th centuries, especially in the use of spices. Very subtle blends of upwards of 12 different spices which give their food a mild, nutty flavour, rather than hot, spicy kicks.

[/quote]

Volgadon, that kind of confirms the extrapolate back route. I'm sure the Spanish cuisine of the 15thC is not unlike the medieval European cuisine of earlier centuries. Where I saw the North African link was in a write up about a cookbook which said that never mind tasting food from different countries now, there was a whole delicious cuisine that has been almost lost and forgotten - European medieval. It went on to say that North African dishes are its nearest living relative today. This is obviously talking of the classes who could afford the spices in the first place.

[Rowan]

[quote=""Volgadon""]As for Catherine, after her death, unfounded rumours spread that Catherine II (the Great) died during intercourse with a horse. Sorry for bringing that up again, MLE.[/quote]

Thanks Volgadon. I was thinking I was being ignored. It's not a topic I wish to rehash, but I appreciate the answer.

[Volgadon]

My personal theory is that the huge influx of Muslim and Jewish refugees from Spain brought back a lot of the cuisine. Hard to prove conclusively, tho. The cuisine of the remote Berber mountains is rather different to that of the big cities, which is where all those refugees settled.