Food history (Worts / greens etc)

Eatyourgreens · « **on:** January 05, 2009, 13:45 »

Been doing a bit of research into food history. It turns out the Anglo Saxon for Cabbage or even much looser any green edible plant or herb is the word "Wort" so it is possible to find medieval recipes for say a soup as "Take a handful of various worts".

So having got that established, how does the garden flower Pulmonaria or "Lung Wort come into this?

I know from it's name (Both Latin as pulmonaria is to do with lungs and it's obvious English common name) that it is to do with lungs, but can't find out how it would be used, is it edible? do you make a poultice and rub it on your chest? Or what other use would it have?

Any help appreciated.

Bob

madcat · « **Reply #1 on:** January 05, 2009, 13:53 »

From the herb society, who put it much better than I could :

"In (1493-1541) Paracelsus listed lungwort in his Doctrine of Signatures. In much the same way as Goldenrod was said to cure jaundice due to its yellow colouring, lungwort was said to cure pulmonary disease because the spotted leaves resembled diseased lungs. Lungwort became more widely used in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries for treating diseases of the breast and lungs. In England in the 17th century lungwort became known as Jerusalem Cowslip and was held in high regard as a treatment for asthma and bronchial complaints.

From 1348-1350 the 'Black Death' or Bubonic Plague swept through Europe killing an estimated 4.2 million people in England alone. Lungwort was one of the herbs used alongside wormwood in attempts to cure the plague in Europe. "

http://www.herbsociety.co.uk/hom-lungwort.htm

Eatyourgreens · « **Reply #2 on:** January 05, 2009, 14:00 »

Cheers for that, I was going to say "Do you have a recipe" but I found this well down the page:

The young leaves can be picked and used to make soups and salads. In medieval times, lungwort was a popular pot herb for adding to stews and savoury dishes.

Shame I ain't got any young leaves otherwise it would go into this weeks home made Cockaleekie soup (Making it tomorrow after we have roast chicken tonight).

It does make sense to see it is related to Borage.

Bob

madcat · « **Reply #3 on:** January 05, 2009, 14:39 »

Like nettles, I bet old leaves are really unpleasantly hairy and tough.

I've never seen the appeal of nettle eating championships ... :roll:

unaspenser · « **Reply #4 on:** January 05, 2009, 15:26 »

It's not too tough to eat a nettle. If you only touch the bottom of the leaves and fold them up so the top isn't exposed it's a piece of cake. I love raw nettle. Tastes like green beans to me.

woodburner · « **Reply #5 on:** January 05, 2009, 19:15 »

Be very very careful when using old recipes. There was a brilliant series a while back, sorry I can't remember the name, anyway in one episode I recall they were eating tansy omelette, and giving lots of warnings to viewers about the toxicity of tansy. "Don't do this at home."

The doctrine of signatures was the idea of one otherwise seemingly well educated man. He came up with the idea that if a plant looked like a part of the body then it must be beneficial for that part. :?
Trying to be polite about him. No idea where he got the idea from, even if any of it was based on genuine traditional remedies a lot of it was pure imagination. Pulmonaria for example is toxic. His idea took hold though, and seriously clouded traditional medecine. Even today it is hard to sort out the genuine remedies from his nonsense.

woodburner · « **Reply #6 on:** January 05, 2009, 19:40 »

Quote from: "madcat"

From the herb society, who put it much better than I could :

"In (1493-1541) Paracelsus listed lungwort in his Doctrine of Signatures. In much the same way as Goldenrod was said to cure jaundice due to its yellow colouring, lungwort was said to cure pulmonary disease because the spotted leaves resembled diseased lungs. Lungwort became more widely used in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries for treating diseases of the breast and lungs. In England in the 17th century lungwort became known as Jerusalem Cowslip and was held in high regard as a treatment for asthma and bronchial complaints.

From 1348-1350 the 'Black Death' or Bubonic Plague swept through Europe killing an estimated 4.2 million people in England alone. Lungwort was one of the herbs used alongside wormwood in attempts to cure the plague in Europe. "

http://www.herbsociety.co.uk/hom-lungwort.htm

Funny you came up with that site I came across it via google. (What's the betting you found it through google too?

)

From the same page:

Quote

Medicinal Use

Anybody reading Culpeper's Complete Herbal can be forgiven for being a little confused when they read his account of Lungwort, P. Officinalis:-

"Lungwort is a kind of moss that groweth on sundry sorts of trees, especially oaks and beeches, with broad, greyish, tough leaves diversely folded, crumpled, and gashed in on the edges, and some spotted also with many small spots on the upper side. It was never seen to bear any stalk or flower at any time."

Although Culpeper does state that lungwort is useful for treating diseases of the lungs and for coughs and wheezing, I'd hazard a guess that he was referring to something more like the lungmoss (Lobaria pulmonaria), a lichen that also gets referred to as Lungwort in some publications, rather than P. officinalis.

Anyway it's just that kind of confusion I was talking about. Personally I suspect that Culpepers moss is more likely to be a genuine remedy. (I'm not going to try it without further eveidence though

)

Also from the same page:

Quote

Lungwort is a good herb to grow in gardens that are plagued with slugs and snails. Some say that these little molluscs don't like the hairy foliage, but it is more likely that they avoid the toxic alkaloids and saponins that are present in the plant.

And last and most important of all, still from the same page:

Quote

Caution: It is now known that lungwort, like one of its sister plants in the borage family, comfrey (Symphytum officinale), contains toxic pyrrolizidin alkaloids, so its internal use without medical supervision is not recommended. It is also not advised to take this herb over a long period of time or if you are pregnant or a nursing mother.

madcat · « **Reply #7 on:** January 05, 2009, 21:28 »

Quote

(What's the betting you found it through google too? )

I'm too lazy to copy type from my culpepper so I went looking for something that said much the same, then checked the contra-indications in my other books and didnt find anything that was more dire in its warnings than on the herb soc site. In the scale of things, it aint gonna kill you, but equally it isn't likely to make a major part of one's diet!

The doctrine of signatures must work to a greater or lesser extent with the placebo effect - if you believe it, it works. And how few were the alternatives in the 16th century. Knitbone (comfrey) does work externally .. but equally too much ingested and there may be a problem.

Like all things in life* - moderation, moderation, moderation.

(* excluding chocolate

)

Greens Started by PAH48 on Grow Your Own	9 Replies 2350 Views	October 16, 2009, 12:54 by Elcie
kids and greens Started by finleyfreyaseth on Grow Your Own	11 Replies 2906 Views	July 25, 2013, 11:30 by BobE
Chinese greens Started by noshed on Grow Your Own	2 Replies 1477 Views	January 14, 2007, 20:17 by noshed
Micro greens ? Started by Steveharford on Grow Your Own	3 Replies 1307 Views	January 24, 2014, 20:26 by Kajazy