medieval European spices spoiled meat preservation

Spices did not hide spoiled meat

Medieval European cooks used spices for flavor, not to cover up spoiled meat. Spices were costly and less effective at preserving food than salt, smoking, pickling, or drying. Cookbooks advised adding them near the end of cooking, too late to preserve the food.

≈4.3 million Suns

Stars reveal a giant black hole at our galaxy’s center

More than 100 stars have been tracked orbiting something invisible at the center of the Milky Way. Their motion shows that about 4.3 million Suns’ worth of mass is packed into an extremely small region, providing strong evidence for a supermassive black hole.

Beetles account for roughly one in four described animal species

~400,000 species

Scientists have formally described around 400,000 beetle species, making them one of the most diverse groups of animals known. That is roughly a quarter of described animal species, although estimates vary with taxonomic counts. Many more beetle species probably remain undiscovered. Their diversity reflects millions of years of adaptation to different foods, habitats and ecological roles.

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medieval European spices spoiled meat preservation

Spices did not hide spoiled meat

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