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That's the crux of
the matter
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In 1299 a princely
banquet is held in
Goerz-Tyrol. Among other things, 15 hundredweights of rice, 17
hundredweights of figs, 55,560 loaves of bread, 29,995 cheeses, 35
bowls of fat, 242 lambs, 19 tuns of wine (approx. 19,000 litres) and 2
hundredweights of pepper are served and consumed. Pepper and other
spices are expensive and popular in the Middle Ages. Who can afford it
spices their food intensively - firstly in order to mask the salty
taste of salted meat, for example. However, salt is used not only to
preserve meat or fish, it is also used for vegetables such as peas and
beans.
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Diet is a seasonal
matter
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Salting, smoking and
drying: The
preservation of foods plays an important role in the Middle Ages, for
the diet is greatly dependent on the seasons. For example, it is almost
only in October and November that animals are slaughtered. This has two
advantages: Firstly, the animals do not have to be fed over the winter,
and secondly, the cold weather is particularly suitable for processing
and preserving the meat. In the smoking house fatty meat, sausages and
oily fish are treated so that they will keep. In the attic, mainly
fruit - grapes, cherries, apples and pears - is dried. Fresh fruits,
which are spiced with ginger, are also preserved, and can therefore be
kept for a short period. It is called "cumpost" - today we call it
"compote".
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