a FOOD WORD weblog

What to do with four-day-old bread: Wednesday's food quotation

Alway thy soveraynes bred thow choppe, & þat it be newe & able;
se alle oþer bred a day old or þou choppe to þe table;
alle howsold bred iii. dayes old, so it is profitable;
and trencher bred iiii. dayes is convenyent & agreable.

c. 1465 John Russell, Boke of Nurture 53 ff.

A spice garden: Monday's food quotation

Ther was eek wexing many a spyce,
As clow-gelofre, and licoryce,
Gingere, and greyn de par[ad]ys,
Canelle, and setewale of prys,
And many a spyce delitable
To eten whan men ryse fro table.

c. 1370 Geoffrey Chaucer, Romaunt of the Rose.

Chaucer was translating from French, and here's the original French text he was working from. I first used this quotation in Dangerous Tastes: on this page, as a bonus, you can find the complete description of this dream spice-garden, in old French (with modern English translation) and in Chaucer's middle English version.

Byzantium in 1200

What did Constantinople look like in 1200, just before the Crusaders sacked it? Like this, probably, but with some untidy people around and altogether dirtier.