Selena, since you requested more info on the daily life of a page, I'm trying to translate this sentence about what pages had for breakfast.
Zum Frühstück bekommen 2 and 2 eine Kule Brodt, auch ein wenig Butter.
It's obvious that they're getting bread and butter, but 1) what is "Kule"? 2) what does that "2 and 2" mean? Each group of 2 pages received 1 "Kule" (whatever that is) bread? Or something else? Google and I, usually a pretty good partnership, are stumped on this sentence.
Also, sanity check: "grüne Schoten" would be peas?
Here's a quotable dictionary entry for you: Bedeutung/Definition 1) Ration Brot, von der Größe, wie sie im Gefängnis üblich war [Gebrauch: Rotwelsch]
Rotwelsch is Gangster slang, but presumably before "Kuhle" became a term used in prison it was more respectable. ;) Then again, we're talking about FW's pages...
Grüne Schoten are the things around the peas, I think. Also:
That's what I was finding, but I didn't think those were edible! Learn something new every day. It depends on the type of pea! Sugar snaps are a kind of pea which are bred for the purpose of eating the whole pod, but then there are kinds of pea which are bred to have pods that are shelled for the seeds, and the walls of the pod are stringy and tough.
How old are sugar snap pea varieties? I certainly have eaten those, but I guess I had a sort of idea that they were recent varieties (but without any evidence whatsoever). ETA: I think probably it's based on my not having eaten them until I was an adult, but that's not a great reason (there are tons of food I didn't eat until I was an adult because I didn't really grow up in a place or in a family that was super food-adventurous).
Hmm. Well, see the quote from Wikipedia in another comment that eating the whole immature pod (as opposed to the mature seeds/peas inside) was an early modern innovation in Europe! But of course, who knows what was done in other parts of the world. Same for the "sugar" part; I have heard/read that sweet peas (without the tannins of grey peas) were a new breed in the late 18th century, at least in Scandinavia. OTOH, there are certainly grey pea varieties where you're meant to eat the whole immature pod, but I don't know how old they are.
Ah, sorry, I see it now -- I missed it the first time around somehow. But I appreciate the additional information as well :) Thanks for the pea history!
In the intersection between my two interests 1) history and 2) vegetable gardening, I can tell you that the peas most often eaten today are not the same as those eaten during the 18th century. The old type of peas had violet flowers and the actual peas were more grayish in color and had a higher tannin content, and the new strain which dominates today has white flowers and the peas are greener and have less tannins. Also, old peas are usually more cold-tolerant and you can sow them earlier. When people eat pea soup in the 18th century, it's probably grayish-colored! I'm going to grow one of those old-fashioned strains this summer...
I'm not used to talking about this in English but in Swedish, sorry!
And my sources are in Swedish as well, and also, I'm not sure how Scandinavia-centric they are. Like, who knows if there were other varieties of peas in other parts of the world (probably there were)?
The Wikipedia entry for pea says: varieties of the species typically called field peas are grown to produce dry peas like the split pea shelled from a matured pod. These are the basis of pease porridge and pea soup, staples of medieval cuisine; in Europe, consuming fresh immature green peas [along with the walls of the pod, I assume] was an innovation of early modern cuisine.
Also: The world’s first sweet tasting pea was developed in the 18th century by amateur plant breeder Thomas Edward Knight of Downton, near Salisbury, England. This may have been the new pea strain with white flowers that I was talking about?? But Wikipedia's source is really bad, and the Wikipedia entry on that guy doesn't mention his new pea strain.
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timeasmymeasure
Food
Date: 2025-01-02 08:03 pm (UTC)Zum Frühstück bekommen 2 and 2 eine Kule Brodt, auch ein wenig Butter.
It's obvious that they're getting bread and butter, but 1) what is "Kule"? 2) what does that "2 and 2" mean? Each group of 2 pages received 1 "Kule" (whatever that is) bread? Or something else? Google and I, usually a pretty good partnership, are stumped on this sentence.
Also, sanity check: "grüne Schoten" would be peas?
Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-03 05:24 pm (UTC)Here's a quotable dictionary entry for you:
Bedeutung/Definition
1) Ration Brot, von der Größe, wie sie im Gefängnis üblich war [Gebrauch: Rotwelsch]
Rotwelsch is Gangster slang, but presumably before "Kuhle" became a term used in prison it was more respectable. ;) Then again, we're talking about FW's pages...
Grüne Schoten are the things around the peas, I think. Also:
https://www.chefkoch.de/rs/s0/gr%C3%BCne+schoten/Rezepte.html
2 und 2: at a guess, the pages are fed in pairs? *hands* Sorry.
Anyway, here's the link (you have to scroll down a bit) :
https://www.wortbedeutung.info/Kuhle/
Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-03 06:16 pm (UTC)Ah, thank you!
Grüne Schoten are the things around the peas, I think. Also:
That's what I was finding, but I didn't think those were edible! Learn something new every day.
2 und 2: at a guess, the pages are fed in pairs? *hands* Sorry.
That was my guess too, so thanks.
Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-03 06:19 pm (UTC)It depends on the type of pea! Sugar snaps are a kind of pea which are bred for the purpose of eating the whole pod, but then there are kinds of pea which are bred to have pods that are shelled for the seeds, and the walls of the pod are stringy and tough.
Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-03 06:22 pm (UTC)Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-05 06:04 am (UTC)Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-05 08:47 am (UTC)Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-09 03:52 am (UTC)Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-03 06:16 pm (UTC)Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-03 06:17 pm (UTC)Do you have a source for this? I'm considering putting it in, say as a footnote.
Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-03 06:37 pm (UTC)And my sources are in Swedish as well, and also, I'm not sure how Scandinavia-centric they are. Like, who knows if there were other varieties of peas in other parts of the world (probably there were)?
The Wikipedia entry for pea says: varieties of the species typically called field peas are grown to produce dry peas like the split pea shelled from a matured pod. These are the basis of pease porridge and pea soup, staples of medieval cuisine; in Europe, consuming fresh immature green peas [along with the walls of the pod, I assume] was an innovation of early modern cuisine.
Also: The world’s first sweet tasting pea was developed in the 18th century by amateur plant breeder Thomas Edward Knight of Downton, near Salisbury, England.
This may have been the new pea strain with white flowers that I was talking about?? But Wikipedia's source is really bad, and the Wikipedia entry on that guy doesn't mention his new pea strain.
Re: Food
Date: 2025-01-03 06:41 pm (UTC)