On Tue, 10 Feb 2004 22:19:34 GMT, Frogleg > wrote:


>Yeah, but...how many urbanites have a "cool cellar," then or now?

Well, the Goodman of Paris makes a number of references to putting
things into the cellar to cool. He was an urbanite.

>>Take a look at a household book, like that written by the Goodman of
>>Paris. (A 15th-century merchant, writing instructions for his
>>inexperienced young bride.)
>
>Ahh. Trust a man to tell a woman what to do...

It's rather sweet, really. He was an older man who had been married
before, and she was a teenager who was very conscious of her ignorance
of household matters. He also expected that she would outlive him,
and marry again. He spent quite a few pages describing how to have a
happy marriage, before continuing on to the practicalities of killling
fleas and buying geese and making mutton stew.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/goodman.html


>Would *you* eat a rabbit that had been hanging in 85 degrees for a
>week? Outside a smokehouse, I mean.

No, but we haven't established that the temperature would be that
high. According to various sources, a properly-constructed root
cellar can maintain temperatures in the 50s (Fahrenheit) during the
summer. In any case, the point is that *they* would eat such a
rabbit.

>I guess my original point was that (obviously) people have been able
>to survive and be nourished for millennia without domestic
>refrigeration, but it's sure a lot easier today (happy dance).

I don't think anyone disagrees with that.

>We are very fortunate, foodwise.

In many ways, yes.


Robin Carroll-Mann
"Mostly Harmless" -- Douglas Adams
To email me, remove the fish