Rocket, Cress and a Dash of Skirret

a Journey Through a Mare’s Nest

Authors

  • Anthony Lyman-Dixon Independent Scholar Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/ppc.28425

Keywords:

the Cresses, medicinal plants, ingredients, Macer, mustards, nasturtium, Rufinus, anti-scorbutics

Abstract

This article looks at the various cresses and their culinary and medical properties and discusses why it has often been under-explored by contemporary books about medieval foods. Although its inclusion in the medieval diet had a major impact on the health of those who ate it, cress was perceived as a lowly peasant food and that there wasn’t much one could do with it. 

Author Biography

  • Anthony Lyman-Dixon, Independent Scholar

    Anthony Lyman-Dixon has written much on the history of herbs and other edible plants. His piece is part of an encyclopaedia in progress.

References

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Peter Brears, Cooking & Dining in Medieval England (Prospect Books: 2008).

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Rufinus, De Virtutibus Herbarum, ca. 1287, ed. Lynn Thorndike as the Herbal of Rufinus, (University of Chicago: 1949).

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William Turner, A New Herball, 1562–1568 (republished Cambridge: 1995).

Published

2014-02-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Lyman-Dixon, Anthony. 2014. “Rocket, Cress and a Dash of Skirret: A Journey Through a Mare’s Nest”. Petits Propos Culinaires, February, 165-74. https://doi.org/10.1558/ppc.28425.