Quotation from: Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period

Written by: Paul Lacroix


Ancient Gaul was celebrated for some of its home-made cheeses. Pliny
praises those of Nismes, and of Mount Lozere, in Gevaudau; Martial
mentions those of Toulouse, &c. A simple anecdote, handed down by the monk
of St. Gall, who wrote in the ninth century, proves to us that the
traditions with regard to cheeses were not lost in the time of
Charlemagne: "The Emperor, in one of his travels, alighted suddenly, and
without being expected, at the house of a bishop. It was on a Friday. The
prelate had no fish, and did not dare to set meat before the prince. He
therefore offered him what he had got, some boiled corn and green cheese.
Charles ate of the cheese; but taking the green part to be bad, he took
care to remove it with his knife. The Bishop, seeing this, took the
liberty of telling his guest that this was the best part. The Emperor,
tasting it, found that the bishop was right; and consequently ordered him
to send him annually two cases of similar cheese to Aix-la-Chapelle. The
Bishop answered, that he could easily send cheeses, but he could not be
sure of sending them in proper condition, because it was only by opening
them that you could be sure of the dealer not having deceived you in the
quality of the cheese. 'Well,' said the Emperor, 'before sending them, cut
them through the middle, so as to see if they are what I want; you will
only have to join the two halves again by means of a wooden peg, and you
can then put the whole into a case.'"

PREVIOUS GROUP HOME SITE HOME NEXT
Part of the RabbitHoleResearch Project
Change Tag: ~~ 0 ~~