lesson 7 Flashcards
how long did the middle ages last for?
a thousand year period
the Barbaria Invasion
took several centuries and culminated with Odoacer’s 476 occupation of Rome
Roman culinary traditions
Mediterranean ‘trinity’ of bread, wine, and olive oil – ‘lean’ days
Germanic culinary traditions
pork meat, beer and lard (at one point butter) – ‘fat’ days
roman and germanic influenced food traditions
mediterranean ‘trinity’ was combined with pork meat, beer and lard
how were the two cultures foods combined?
worked with alternation of ‘lean’ and ‘fat’ days
the church imposed some of these dietary restrictions, at some point it was ______
over 200 days per year
lean days
certain foods couldn’t be eaten (animal products)
wine remained most common drink especially in ______
southern europe
northern still have wine as most common drink but more ________ than in southern europe
beer
what did alter wine being necessary for mass do to wine?
gave it a crucial cultural status (and extended connection to religion)
if wine was more popular in south then why didn’t they only have wineries in the south?
because production was low and wine storage changes
what did they abandon for wine storage in favor of?
abandoned ceramic containers in favor of barrels/wineskines
what did the popularity of barrels/wineskins impact?
limited ageing potential of wine (it oxidized faster in these new containers) as well as possibility for transportation and commerce
monasteries
important for viticulture and transmission of enological knowledge - made their own wine
how was wine served at monasteries?
every meal in strictly determined quantities (not scarce though, ~ 1/2 pint per meal)
each monastery had ________
a strong connection with territory and as such made their own styles of wine
some were known for great or really poor wine
Giovanni Boccaccio The Decameron (1313 - 1375)
illegitimate son of a rich merchant and humble woman
first to write a novelle in italian
followed father to Naples and gained experience with all society, got access to King’s library
goes back to Florence and witnesses the 1348 Plague; meets Francesco Petrarca, studies and promotes Dante’s Comedy
The Decameron
a collection of ‘novelle’ (short stories) organized into a frame narrative
frame narractive
individual stories put together in another one
A Decameron story
7 women and 3 men leave Florence to escape Black Plague - spend 10 days together and tell stories to kill time each day one is the “king”/”queen” called to choose the theme
in order to ensure the purity of water…
wine was often safer drink and used to purify water
a cheaper alternative drink other than wine was
pusca
pusca
made with water and vinegar - already used by Romans
wine was thought to have…
medicinal properties and taken when sick
monasteries contributed to
cordials
cordials
distilled spirits
when would distillation become more common?
only 17/18th century
what were distilled spirits a byproduct of
a chemical search or elixir of immortality (aqua vitae)
was distillation already known?
yes and used
in taberna quando sumus (when we’re in the tavern) analysis
joyful, enjoy your time, those at the tavern behave loosely, chaotic, against the rules, no segregation, everyone joining together, rhyme is intense, dramatic song adds to chaos
what is ‘in taberna quando sumus’?
medieval goliardic poem in Latin belonging to collection Carmina Burana (poems from 11th-13th century)
what are medieval goliardic peoms
written by students/clergy that would move around Europe to study, get knowledge of the world and have fun
what were these students often connected to
carnival (momentarily subversion of usual hierarchical society)
in 1936 what did German Composer Carl Orff do to the Carmina Burana?
set some poems to music
towards 13th century, how many liters of wine were officially sold in Florence
25 - 30 million
what did Francesco de Sandis call the Decameron
“la terrestre commedia” (earthly/worldly comedy; represents characters of all sorts praising wit and smarts, criticizing stupidity and bigotry
what appears very often in the Decameron?
wine
what story did Decameron inspire
Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
Cristi, the Baker: a story from the Decameron
Cristi is noble of soul but not title, servant is noble of nothing; nature and fortune, interaction between social classes, taste for wit and sharpness, generosity and “sprezzatura” as great values, wine a prestigious and “aesthetic” commodity
