Beauty tips for the face

Here are the last of the beauty tips from medieval physician, Trota (Trotula) of Salerno. To remove unsightly hair from the face, mix greek pitch with wax in a clay vessel, add a drop of galbanum and cook a long time. Mix in mastic, frankincense and gum arabic. Cover the face except for the eyebrows and leave in place for 1 hour. How would you like to get that stuff off your face? Is it any worse a combination than today's cosmetics? To whiten your face, place whole eggs in strong vinegar until the shells dissolve. Mix in white mustard and 4 ounces of ginger and anoint your face. Doesn't say how long to leave it on, and darn, I was going to try that one! To prevent sunburn, prepare a paste by grinding lilly root and mix with 1 ounce mastic powder, i ounce frankincense, two scruples each of camphor and white lead, s little pork fat and rose water. Anoint the skin in front of the fire. To help heal burns, chapped lips, and excoriations, leave the paste on overnight. This stuff was also supposed to cover the pustules of lepers and repair the tears after mourning the dead. The medieval lip balm sounds a little more feasible. Mix honey with white bryony, red bryony, cucumber, and rose water. Boil the mixture until it is reduced by half and anoint the lips. After you have removed your wrinkles by anointing your face with the juice of stinking iris and leaving it to work for a while, the lip balm preparation makes a great face cream. I think the by-word here is "don't try this at home."

Belisarius regains Sicily 535

I have just been reading a book called Justinian's Flea, about the numerous episodes of plague that devastated populations around the globe. The book is a rather rambling history of Justinian's rule and the many military campaigns and conquests of his era. Justinian was the Roman Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire centered in Constantinople, which is commonly referred to as the Byzantine Empire. After the Vandals and the Goths invaded the west, including Rome, Gaul and Spain, the Roman Empire in the west essentially disappeared. The Ostrogoths ruled in Italy from about 493 to 535 under King Theoderic. This included Sicily. One of Justinian's ambitions was to return the captured western regions to control of his (Eastern Roman) empire. Thus, he sent a general Belisarius to Sicily in 535 AD with 4000 soldiers to take the island. After Belisarius was temporarily diverted to Carthage to put down a revolt of Roman soldiers, he sailed into Palermo harbor where the fortress defenders basically fled. Belisarius had his archers mass on the top masts of his ships, giving them a downward flight for their arrows. This advantage of the 'high ground' even on the coast sent his enemies running. Thereafter, he took Syracuse to achieve his goals on the island and moved on to recapture Naples in 536 and eventually Ravenna, the seat of the Ostrogothic kingdom. Control of the island of Sicily generally means that the main population centers came under the rule of one king or another. The mountainous and rugged interior provinces were much less troubled by jurisdictional transitions. Corleone, mentioned in Book 2 and soon to be featured in Book 3 is in those mountainous regions. Were these regions somewhat like the Ozarks or Appalachians in America, the last to be 'converted' to modern lifestyles and resistant to governmental intrusion in their society?

Belisarius at SanVitale Church in Ravenna

Beautiful women in medieval times

Here are a few more beauty tips from Trota of Salerno. In the last beauty post we talked about darkening gray hair. Today, I will give you the recipe for making your hair blonde: cook together greater celandine, root of agrimony, and shavings of boxwood and tie on the head with oat straw. Wash the hair with cleanser of vine and oat water. To make your hair curly, suffuse oil with the ground the root of danewort and tie it on the hair with leaves. I think all of this comes with the warning "don't try this at home!"

Corleone, Albanians in Sicilian history, and travel in Sicily

In Book #3, the de Rogerio family has fled to Corleone to the estate of Leo de Iannacio, away from the violence and siege of Palermo during the War of the Sicilian Vespers. this area is home to a great deal of agriculture, particularly lemons and oranges, as well as melons, eggplant, cabbage, pistachios and almonds. Check out the link above to see some beautiful pictures of Corleone, where I will be visiting to give authenticity to the third book in the Vespers Trilogy.

Room for "gelo"? Sicilian sorbets that melt in your mouth

So OK, I'm trying to look at lighter alternatives post-holiday season and readers of this blog know I often give you tidbits from and lately, from my lovely Christmas present from my Sicilian friend, Bruno, Sweet Sicily. On page 144 a lovely recipe called Gelo di mellone is described, and I'll need to quote some phrases from the book because the descriptions are so lovely. "In Sicily, the word 'gelo' indicates any refreshing preparation using a liquid that sets at low temperature, with the ice forming in the water." This particular recipe is a watermelon sorbet and the book indicates that melon sorbet is watermelon. Did you know that watermelon was originally imported from Africa - another gift from the Arabs to the incredible cuisine of Sicily. Gelo de mellone can be flavored with jasmine, cinnamon, the fresh sweet juice of watermelon, lemon or coffee. Watermelon in Sicily can be found in the Trapani area or around Messina. The author tells us that this refreshing dessert is a "must" during "Festino di Santa Rosalia" in Palermo which is held every July 14. It's often served with candied pumpkin and chocolate garnish. All I can say, it's not the "jello" I was brought up on!!! As the author informs us: "Because that is how summer evenings are, in Sicily." Yummy.

Renaissance fashion, accessories, Men in Black, dyeing hair

Since we're on fashion, check out the latest article on Venetian men and women- this is only part of it. Venetian merchant (1590) Venetian merchant (1590) Men In Black Much like today, accessories were extremely popular. Venetian women added to their expensive attire by donning jewelled belts and brooches, embroidered panties, embossed purses and intricate fans. Venetian women’s styles changed rapidly (approximately every twenty years) becoming increasingly ornate as they moved into the mid to late sixteenth century. Conversely, their male counterparts remained virtually unchanged. One defining feature of Venetian noblemen and Patricians was that they favoured black, crimson and purple as the colours of status and wealth. Black, however, was the favourite and the principal way that Venetians of social standing indicated their aristocratic roots. Black was also symbolic to the Venetians because they felt it represented political stability. As one Venetian writer indicated, ‘it [black] shows likewise firmness, because this colour cannot change into another’. I also remember reading about one of the Medici women lounging on the top of her palazzo during the summer, applying lemon juice to her hair to keep it fashionably blond. What about us redheads?

Beauty tips from the Middle Ages

Since I am having (another) birthday soon, I think we should look at some beauty tips that were recommended by Trotula of Salerno fame. Regardless of our age, we all want to look our best, right? Tips for beautiful hair were the most prominent among Trotula's writings. To make your own shampoo, combine the ashes of burnt vine, chaff of barley nodes, licorice wood and sowbread. Boil in water for a while (don't know how long), strain, and use the water to wash the hair. After that, comb through the hair a potion of rose water, mixed with dried roses, clove, nutmeg, watercress and galangal to make it smell nice. You could also use clove or musk scent on the veil that you wear. In a time of horrid smells, perfuming the hair would be a blessing!

Pistachios, nuts, Egyptian pharoahs, Queen of Sheba, and other celebrities

So on to another delectable product of Sicily - the pistachio.  Sicily, Puglia, Campania and Ligura all produce pistachios and Sweet Sicily author Alessandre Dammone indicates it was the Arabs in the 10th century who recommended cultivation of that delicious nut on Sicily.  And there, on the slopes of Etna, in the province of Catania, is where most of Sicily's pistachios are grown.


One thing I didn't know (there's so much I don't know!) is that it's impossible to use modern farming techniques to harvest the pistachio so it is all done by hand.  If you ever wonder why pistachios are so expensive - that's why.  Although when Bill and I lived in Palermo, they were sold in bags on the street by vendors as snack foods and they were relatively cheap.


And as one might suspect, they are used in fabulous ways in gelato and dolce.  Yummmmy!!!!!