Some thoughts on Food...

[wiccaqueen]

After rewatching the 6th episode of Merlin yesterday I couldn't help but notice the remarks about food. Some of them made me wonder, such as 'quicker than you can say rotten tomatoes' or when Merlin said that the people were throwing potatoes instead of rotten food.
 

If we believe that Merlin really is set in a fantasy land somewhere in time, that wouldn't be a problem of course. But if we believe that it is set somewhere in Britain, as the original legend of course suggests, the question arises if this is an oversight from the Merlin producers. We all know that tomatoes and potatoes only came to Britain sometime in the 1600s....and as the Merlin producers said, the series can be set somewhere from the 6th up to the 14th century, but certainly not later.

So what do you guys think? It is just an oversight or is Merlin really set in some complete fantasy land/ time?

 

Comments

[wiccaqueen.livejournal.com]

Hi Munnin!
Thanks for commenting first of all and showing so much interest :-)

You're an re-enactor? How exciting! I've always been interested in re-enactments, but I guess it takes up a lot of time, energy and money.

I find it’s more fun to spot when things are right than wrong
I can just imagine! :-)

Also I had no idea that the armour they're wearing is that accurate. And I can live with the fact that they didn't make them theirself ;-)
I helped a friend once making his own chain mail, and that was quite an experience ;-)

What you said about the tomatoes is fascinating! Although I could imagine people outside the court eating from wooden plates? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks again for the infos!
Tanya

[munnin-odanin.livejournal.com]

Hey Tanya,

No, thank you. It’s a most interesting debate you’ve started here. I love to see the range of opinions within the community.

Re-enactment can take up a lot of time and energy but can be quite cheap...as long as you have the time and energy to invest.

I helped my partner make his first suit of mail and it cost under $30 but took both of us six weeks and a ton of blisters (as I’m sure you found helping your friend) but man the finished product (http://www.aaf.org.au/gallery/kit/jason-mccarthy/drew/DREW_1.jpg/view) looks good! I make most of my own gear with the exception of my boots (they’re tricker than they look and cheap enough to buy.)

I can’t vouch for the plate armour pieces – they moved right to be steel rather than plastic (even if Gwen mixed up a few names) but the mail’s spot on. The Indian mail’s not ridiculously heavy (8 to 12 kilograms on average) but I’m still impressed the actors wear it so well. The extra weight and the way it moves takes a bit of getting use to. It may be that they have lighter suit for the fight scenes rather than the close ups.

In regard to tomatoes – most of the medical records we have from the time are from the courts as they were the only ones who could afford that level of medical care. The church ran hospitals for the poor but they weren’t able to keep records as detailed. It was John Gerard, herbalist and Barber-Surgeons who published his Great Herbal towards the end of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign that declared the tomato poisonous. I’m afraid that’s about all to know, my main area of interest is 10th century Europe so it’s a bit out of my scope.

However my housemate also pointed out that in an agriculturally self-sustaining culture like Camelot would be: you wouldn’t throw anything you should be eating and it would be unusual to allow food a chance to go off. Trust an anthropologist to think these things!

Glad to be involved
Munnin

[wiccaqueen.livejournal.com]

I helped my partner make his first suit of mail and it cost under $30 but took both of us six weeks and a ton of blisters
Wow that's really cheap! But I know what you mean about blisters ;-) When I helped my friend I had the same, but all in all it cost him something like $100! I guess it just more expensive in Germany.

but I’m still impressed the actors wear it so well
Dito! Especially Bradley does an amazing job everytime if you ask me ;-)

you wouldn’t throw anything you should be eating and it would be unusual to allow food a chance to go off
That's what I thought at the beginning too. Food I guess was too precious to let it rot...I mean I still hear my grandma saying that they never threw anything away when she was a child, because food was considered too valuable.
And like you said, if an anthropologist says such things, I tend to believe it's true!

Thanks again for the infos :-)
I really didn't think my wee post would get so much attention, but I'm glad to be able to actually start a discussion.

Cheers,
Tanya