history - cooking: evolution of cookery part 2

(history of cooking continued)

8th Century AD

780

Lu Yu's The Classic of Tea, the first handbook on tea, is published in China, described the cultivation, processing, and use of tea.

9th Century AD

800

Tofu introduced to Japan from China.
Legend has it an Arabian goat herder named Kaldi, discovered coffee after noticing his goats frisky behaviour after eating berries from an unknown bush. He gathered some of the berries and took them to a local holy man who boiled them up with water. Another legend says an Arabic doctor, by the name Avicenna, discovered it.

10th Century AD

909

A Benedictine abbey is founded at Cluny in France.

961

The earliest inn identified by name was Le Grand Saint Bernard Hospice, founded by Augustinian monks in a Swiss Alpine pass for the convenience of pilgrims going to and from Rome. Established in AD 961, it was a massive stone structure that could offer shelter to 300 persons and beds to 70 or 80. Its special service, and one that survived until recently, was the use of Saint Bernard dogs to track down travellers lost in the Alpine snows

11th Century

1070

According to legend the premium French blue cheese, Roquefort is 'invented' in a cave.

Around this time the first documented recipe for pasta is found in the book; "De arte Coquinaria per vermicelli e maccaroni siciliani" (The art of cooking Sicilian vermicelli and macaroni"). Written by Martino Corno, who was the chef to the powerful Matriarch of Aquileia.

1096

The first Butchers shop is known to have been opened in Paris on what is now the Place du Châtelet.

12th Century

Greek warriors of the Twelfth century feasted mostly on plain, spit-roasted meats and raw onions ("for relish to the drink," as Homer wrote). The Greeks descended from nomadic Central Asian tribes that had cooked and eaten in a similar way. In the succeeding centuries, however, deforestation and the subsequent erosion of the soil (the results of widespread timbering and over-cultivation of the olive) radically altered the Greek diet and, consequently, Greek cooking techniques. Fish, which does not lend itself to spit-roasting, largely supplanted meat as the staple food, and a scarcity of timber limited the use of open fires. The Homeric heroes had butchered, salted, and roasted their own meats alfresco, while female slaves ground corn for their bread but the mageiros, a high-ranking slave and baker-chef, supervised the cooking in later times, when foods were prepared in indoor kitchens. Under the mageiros's direction sophisticated kitchen equipment evolved, ranging from simple earthenware pots to elaborately decorated metal casseroles, kettles, cauldrons, and gridirons, and including amphorae that functioned in much the same manner as the modern Bain Marie, or double boiler.

Baker guild in France set up.

Cider making established in Normandy, France.

1150

Arab geographer Al-Idrisi reports, that about 30km from Palermo in Trabia, "they produce an abundance of pasta in the shape of string, these are sent everywhere, to Muslim and Christian countries, even by ship".

1192

Shallots thought to have been introduced into Europe by the Crusaders from the Middle East, after defeating 'Saladin' at the Battle of Ascalon.

13th Century

Modern European cooking was shaped in large part by the conditions existing during the early Middle Ages. In the north, where abundant timber and a relatively cold climate favoured the use of open fires, the rotating spit and suspended cauldron gave rise to a cuisine that consisted of thick roasts and long-simmered soups, stews, and sauces. Because trade access to other regions was limited, homegrown raw materials were used almost exclusively. Abundant pasturage permitted large dairy herds. Dairy products were thus major components of the cuisine, and butter was the principal cooking fat. Along the Mediterranean, where olives were abundant, fuel scarce, and the climate warm, an oil-based cuisine developed. This cuisine comprised mainly light dishes that could be cooked quickly over enclosed charcoal fires and small cuts of meat that did not require prolonged exposure to heat. The Italians also made more extensive use of ingredients and culinary ideas imported from the East. The spit and cauldron, which evolved into the roasting oven and stockpot, were the chief utensils of the north, but the south relied on the skillet and the saucepan. These contrasting approaches are reflected today in dishes as different as the French tripes a la mode de Caen, which requires up to ten hours of slow cooking, and the typically Italian saltimbocca alla romana, a light veal dish that can be sautéed in minutes.

Medieval Cookery

By all accounts, the medieval cookery of northern Europe would not have pleased a modern palate. Sauces were merely bread-thickened broths, and such dishes as browets and hotchpots were hashes distinguishable only by their relative degrees of wetness or dryness. Spices, for the few who could afford them, were used indiscriminately to mask the pervasive odour of spoiled meat, much as the Romans had used liquamen, a rank sauce made from fish, or asafoetida, a resin with a strong, fetid flavour. Few culinary niceties were possible in kitchens where cooks were kept at arm's length from their pots by the heat of blazing log fires.

South of the Alps, however, the Italians were able to draw on culinary legacies from the Greeks, Etruscans, and Saracens and to develop regional cuisines that were both simple and balanced. Green vegetables, rare in transalpine Europe, were an essential part of the cuisine. Fish stews, inherited from the Greeks and cooked along the extensive Italian coastline, were both nutritious and delectable and required little cooking time. Pastas, polenta, and rice lent themselves to many sauces and garnishes that barely resembled the soggy sauces and bland stews of France, England, and Germany. By the early Renaissance, Italians of reasonable means cooked and ate much as most Italians do today.

The tea ceremony originated in China, by Buddhist monks who believed that tea had medicinal qualities. It was brought to Japan in the Thirteenth century, but it was not until the Sixteenth century that Zen monks had mastered, codified, and ennobled the drinking of tea. Once practiced only in Zen monasteries, the tea ceremony is now popular among the general public.

The Japanese tea ceremony, or cha-no-yu, is the ancient practice of serving tea according to a strict ritual that defines the manner in which tea is prepared and served. Rooted in Zen Buddhism, the art of the tea ceremony symbolises aesthetic simplicity through the elimination of the unnecessary.

The traditional ceremony, as practiced today, takes place in a tearoom, or cha-shitsu, situated in a garden or a special room within a house. The simply constructed room is small, accommodating a host and five guests, and the floors are covered with straw (tatami) mats. The most formal ceremony takes four hours, and two types of green tea are served. A gong is sounded to signal the beginning of the ceremony. Following a prescribed pattern, the host prepares the tea with the utmost exactness. The principal guest is served first, after which the ritual is repeated. The accurate and delicate performance of each act is thought to represent the fundamental Zen principles of harmony, respect, purity, and tranquillity.

1279

The first 'official' mention of pasta; when a notary's inventory of inheritance mentions 'a basket full of macaroni'.

1295

The confection, ice cream may have been introduced to Europe in 1295, when Marco Polo returned to Italy from the Far East with a recipe for a frozen dessert that included milk.

14th Century

1311

In a charter of this year, Bishop of Amiens mentions gâteau feuilletes. Which some say prove that the French were making puff pastry well before the 17th century when some writers claim it was brought to France by Traders.

The information contained on all my historical web pages is supplied for your interest only and further research may be required. I have gathered it from many sources over many years. While I attempt to insure they are crossed referenced for accuracy, I take no responsibility for mistakes - additions or corrections are welcomed.

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