RUDA . RUE IN A SAUCE FOR FOWL

Rue Plant
Photo by: Lord-Williams

Gr rhyte, L. Ruta graveolens, Ar. sedāb or fijān, Fr. rue, Eng. common rue. It is a native of the Mediterranean. Ruta in Latin means bitter while in Greek feuo means to set free. Both definitions are thought logical as it is bitter and it was thought that rue as a medicine freed the sick people disease. In England, rue means “to feel sorry for”. 

In early Christian rituals, branches were used to sprinkle holy water as a sign of repentance. Graveolens means strong smelling. It is believed that the club on playing cards is modeled after the leaf of the rue plant. Greeks and Romans thought that it did not grow as well if planted from seed as plants stolen from neighbors’ gardens. 

Pliny claimed it improved artists’ eyesight. Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangleo ate rue to improve their creative vision. It has been used as an eyewash for tired or stained eyesight and since it has been proved to relieve eye tension. To decrease blood pressure and strengthen blood vessels, it has been consumed for its rutin content. It also has been used for colic, intestinal worms, poisons, vertigo, epilepsy and hysteria. Consumed in large amounts, however, it can be carcinogenic or toxic. Women ate it to abort. Arabs chewed it to dispel halitosis. 

In cookery it was a basic ingredient for moretum, a Roman dish also containing aged goat cheese, oil vinegar and garlic. It is eaten as a vegetable and it added to stews, sausages and other meat dishes and wine. It is used to flavor cheeses, salad dressing and sauces and added to pickles for fruits. Further, over the ages, it has been used as an insect repellant. In Al-Andalus, it was associated with sumac. In spite of all this, Gitlitz claims that today it is unsafe for culinary use. There are American sumacs, which are poisoneous. 

[Anón/Huici.1966:10:20:192:123; Apicius/Flower. 1958: JMI:XVIII:57-58:II:I:4:63:etc; Covarrubias. 1998:916:38-61 ES: “Medicinal.” Sep 30, 02; Gitlitz. 1999:200; Lord. ES: Medieval Spanish Chef, “ánginas de esparto.” Dec 10, ‘’11: and “manzana.” Mar 3, 16; and Pepys  1047. 15^th C?:11]

VI: III:3 FOR PARTRIDGE, HAZEL-HEN OR TURTLE-DOVE, p. 145 ADAPTED FROM APICIUS/FLOWER IV: 111:3. IN PERDICE T ATTAGENA ET IN TURTURE, p 144

Ingredients

Delicious Rue Stuffing
Photo by: Lord-Williams

1 partridge, hazel-hen or turtle-dove[1]

½ tsp white pepper

1 c chopped celery leaves

1 tbsp chopped mint

1 tsp rue leaves
½ c liquamen
½ c wine

1 tbsp oil

Preparation

Prepare fowl for roasting or roasting on a spit. Make a stuffing with a mixture of the remaining solid ingredients. When done, put stuffing in blender and with broth, wine and oil. Serve with cooked fowl. 

---

[1] Chicken was used as no other bird was available.