food-gifts-msg - 1/15/09
Period food items that make good gifts.
NOTE: See also the files: largess-ideas-msg, gingerbread-msg, candy-msg, cookies-msg, Sugarplums-art, Roses-a-Sugar-art, cordials-msg, spiced-wine-msg.
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NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: "James L. Matterer" <jmattere at weir.net>
Date: Sat, 19 Apr 1997 04:47:14 -0700
Subject: Re: SC - sc - food gifts
>I am looking for period recipes that would make food I could give as
>gifts. I already have a honey-almond candy recipe and Caridoc's hais
>recipe. I am looking for cookies, cakes, possibly breads, preferably
>things that last a while but that's not a requirement, definitely
>things that don't require refrigeration.
>
>Thanks, Clarissa
How about period gingerbread - as in Forme of Curye and in the modern
Pleyn Delit? This is, basically, honey cooked with breadcrumbs and
spices (sometimes with ginger, sometimes without), thickened to the
point of malleability and then rolled into small balls or cut into small
squares. It's quite yummy. Would you like a recipe?
Master Ian
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 00:22:33 EDT
From: DianaFiona at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Flavored honey
Mordonna22 at aol.com writes:
> The recipe also mentions that this
> could be done with other "aromatic herbs." What would be other aromatic
> herbs I could use?
============================================================= >>
Rosemary, thyme, basil (Lemon, especially!), tarragon, hyssop, anise hyssop,
lemon balm, lemon verbena, rose--and my number one choice, lavender! ;-) Then
you could start in with the spices and go from there........... Can you tell
I've been thinking about this for a while? It's been on my "possible Christmas
present crafts" list for several years. Hummmm, it's about time to start
looking at that list again, and I do need to visit my beekeeper friends
soon................... (G)
Ldy Diana
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 01:38:30 -0400
From: mermayde at juno.com (Christine A Seelye-King)
Subject: SC - Christmas Gifts
<snip> It's been on my "possible Christmas present crafts" list for
>several years. Hummmm, it's about time to start looking at that list
>again, and I do need to visit my beekeeper friends
soon...............(G)
>
> Ldy Diana
Hmm, good question. I have a large household, so the only way to
cover everybody is to do gifts from home. Last year we cleaned out my
parent's house, and I raided my mother's basket collection. Everybody
got their presents in baskets last year, and for many of them, the basket
itself was the best part!
But, I have made mustard, Grilling Marinade, flavored vinegars,
flavored oils, spice mixtures, herbal eyewash packs, Bug Bite Lotion (#1
requested "Please make this again for Christmas!"), soap, and various
other gifts of time and love. What to do this year? I have seen gift
baskets with an entire dinner for 2 enclosed, for example, like pasta,
sauce, clams, wine, olives, cheese, crackers. Perhaps 'dinner' baskets
with a period flavor? Maybe include some period spices (saffron, cubebs,
grains of paradise) a recipie, some mead, candied flower petals, etc.
What do you think? What would make a good basket for 2? How
about a family with kids? Hmm, this bears thinking on!
Christianna
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 13:13:44 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Christmas Gifts
Christianna described how she makes Christmas gifts in her kitchen and
asked for suggestions for gifts with a period flavor.
How about Duke's powder for making hypocras?
Hippocras
Menagier de Paris
To make powdered hippocras, take a quarter of very fine cinnamon selected
by tasting it, and half a quarter of fine flour of cinnamon, an ounce of
selected string ginger, fine and white, and an ounce of grain of Paradise,
a sixth of nutmegs and galingale together, and bray them all together. And
when you would make your hippocras, take a good half ounce of this powder
and two quarters of sugar and mix them with a quart of wine, by Paris
measure. And note that the powder and the sugar mixed together is the
Duke's powder. [end of original]
4 oz stick cinnamon 1 oz of ginger
2 oz powdered cinnamon 1 oz of grains of paradise
"A sixth" (probably of a pound: 2 2/3 oz) of nutmegs and galingale together
Grind them all together. To make hippocras add 1/2 ounce of the powder and
1/2 lb (1 cup) of sugar to 2 quarts of boiling wine (the quart used to
measure wine in Paris c. 1393 was about 2 modern U.S. quarts, the pound and
ounce about the same as ours). Strain through a sleeve of Hippocrates (a
tube of cloth, closed at one end).
Elizabeth/Betty Cook
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1998 11:46:01 EDT
From: THLRenata at aol.com
Subject: SC - Re: Christmas Gifts
Master Huen asked:
>>This, of course, has got me seriously wondering about the many different
types of Medieval candies and sweets that there are! Does anyone have any
favorites they'd like to share, or have any suggestions I could send my
English friend?<<
"Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book" by Hilary Sperling has a large number of
late period (16th Century, maybe 17th) conserves and candied fruit recipes.
Also, see my article on making sugar plums in Stefan's Florilegium files or I
can e-mail you the recipe. One can make sugar apricots, peaches, figs, etc.
this way.
Renata
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 02:10:43 -0500
From: allilyn at juno.com (LYN M PARKINSON)
Subject: Re: SC - Honey storage. . .
When my children were babies, and money was non-existant, I saved all the
baby food and junior food jars, sterilized them and their lids, and
painted the lids. I used a gold paint with a stencil of a P for
Parkinson and gave people wild grape jelly for Christmas. Find a friend
or neighbor who has a child at that age and beg the jars. They are a
nice size for gift baskets. You could use Corwyn's idea of heraldry as
the lid painting.
For larger jars, check house sales in older neighborhoods, estate sales,
and flea markets. There should still be some before snow flies.
I think the liquid in the honey might ooze stickiness through the cork,
even if it didn't spill.
Allison
allilyn at juno.com, Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, Pittsburgh, PA
Kingdom of Aethelmearc
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 08:02:10 -0700
From: "Schumacher, Deborah (AZ15)" <Deborah.Schumacher at iac.honeywell.com>
Subject: RE: SC - additional period food gift ideas wanted
Stefan had said
>I'd throw this out for discussion and see if anyone has any
>new period food gift ideas to add to those in this file.
With all my friends and family elsewhere I am sending lots of foodie kinda
gifts. This years big project was the millennium mead that we made and is
going to friends local and not so local if we can figure out how to legally
ship across state borders (international would be nice to, but I don't think
that's going to happen.)
The other item that is getting sent is orange syrup and lemon syrup, based
on the lemon syrup recipe from the Miscellany. The syrup is always nice to
have for those friends who event, and it is really good over ice cream too
for those who don't. (Plus citrus is cheap down here right now: 5lbs of
oranges for a buck)
We are also considering including bottles of Sekanjabin.
Other ideas?
Spice rubs based on medieval spices (similar to Gunthar's suggestion earlier
in the week)
Quince paste and suckets (When are Quinces in season?)
Preserved Cherries and Preserved Pears
Orange marmalade (Delights for ladies has a marmalade in it I think, I can
post it later if you wish)
Just some ideas off the top of my head,
Zoe
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 11:22:17 EST
From: DianaFiona at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - additional period food gift ideas wanted
Deborah.Schumacher at iac.honeywell.com writes:
<< The other item that is getting sent is orange syrup and lemon syrup, based
on the lemon syrup recipe from the Miscellany. The syrup is always nice to
have for those friends who event, and it is really good over ice cream too
for those who don't. (Plus citrus is cheap down here right now: 5lbs of
oranges for a buck)
We are also considering including bottles of Sekanjabin. >>
I did both the orange syrup and sekanjabin a couple of years ago. I added
suggestions for the orange syrup on the gift tag, but one of the recipients
used it to glaze a poultry dish, and said it worked very well indeed! So
that's another use to add to the list.......... ;-)
Ldy Diana
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 09:42:26 -0700
From: Sue Clemenger <mooncat at in-tch.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: period recipes for holiday gifts
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> Anyone have a good period recipe that can be made as gifts for the
> upcoming holidays?
>
> Andrea
You betcha!
How about mustards or Elizabethan wash balls (okay, so those aren't
edible, but it still takes a recipe!) I mostly "do" mustards for gifties
for royalty to give out, but they're quite popular. I put the stuff
into little 4 oz. jelly jars and water bath 'em to seal them.
Or Cider Sauce (I'm actually making that one for local friends this
year). This might be a little more problematic to mail out.
Or spice blends! Hippocras powder, or Powder Forte, or Powder Douce.
Or maybe a basket with enough of the right kind of goodies in it to make
a small "feast" for 2 or 4 (like those ethnic baskets one often sees
this time of year).
--maire
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 10:33:09 -0800
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] period recipes for holiday gifts
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
I make a mix of the Specia Negre e Forte that Francisco Sirene posted
to this list a while back and give that to folks in nice glass jars.
LXXV. SPECIE NEGRE E FORTE PER ASSAY SAVORE.
Specie negre e forte per fare savore; toy mezo quarto de garofali e
do onze de pevere e toy arquanto pevere longo e do noce moscate e fa
de tute specie.
LXXV. A STRONG BLACK SPICE FOR MANY SAUCES.
Black and strong spice for making sauces; take half a quarter (an
eighth) of an ounce of cloves and two ounces of pepper and the same
of long pepper, and two nutmegs, and make them all into spice.
Ludovico Frati, ed., Libro di Cucina del Secolo XIV, Livorno:
Raffaello Giusti, Editore, 1899, p. 40. (from a 14th c. cookbook from
the Venetian region, not the city)
I have trouble with coarsely ground black pepper (something in the
skin), although finely ground works fine, so i use the very fine.
Since i have found my long peppers, i'll use them in this years batch.
Not having them in the past, i mixed black pepper, cubebs, grains of
paradise, nutmeg and cloves.
I use it where other people use black pepper. I think it's great on
scrambled eggs.
Anahita
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2004 11:11:32 -0800
From: Ruth Frey <ruthf at uidaho.edu>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Holiday gift ideas.
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
> From: "D Wolff" <scadian at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Anyone have a good period recipe that can be made as gifts for
> the upcoming holidays?
For sending sweets, gyngerbrede (in one of its many incarnations),
comfits made from spices and nuts (not sure if the nuts are Period, but
people love 'em), and candied citrus peel top my list. They're all
relatively quick to make and last a loooong time, so they ship well.
They are also physically durable if your shipping agency isn't gentle.
:)
I don't have specific recipes at my fingertips for any of those,
though I could look up my versions, if desired. But they're pretty
common in most historical cooking resources . . .
Some of the "jellies" would be good, too. I remember the recipe
for a very nice one off the top of my head: take equal weights of honey
and pureed or grated raw apples (the most flavorful you can get), and
cook them together over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until
the mixture begins to get stiff and comes away from the side of the
pan, forming a coherent mass. Mix in your favorite "sweet spices"
blend (apple pie spice would work great, though you could get more
period-specific if you wished), spread in a pan or on a baking sheet,
about 1/4" thick, and let air-dry/cure for several days. Cut into
squares, diamonds, whatever shapes you wish, dust again above and below
with your sweet spice mix, and it's ready to go. It keeps quite well,
and is totally delicious (like distilled apple pie!). The downside is,
it's at least a couple hours of cooking and constant stirring to get
the right texture. I couldn't tell you exactly *how* long, it will
depend on the juiciness of your apples, and the water content of your honey.
I adapted the above jelly from a Period recipe in Redon and
company's "The Medieval Kitchen" (don't remember what the original
source was at the moment), and those authors recommended using bay leaf
as a substitute for an undefined "leaf" in the Period sweet spice
mixture. They also recommend (and I can't remember if this has any
Period basis or not) layering the pieces of jelly with bay leaves for
storing/serving, which I have tried once. It seemed like a nice
presentation, and I was making the stuff for a formal feast, so I did a
decorative circular-pyramidal layout on the trays, arranging smaller
and smaller cirlces of jelly on top of each other, with dried bay
leaves and a sprinkle of spice in between. People were incredibly
impressed with it, though really the only hard part was the length of
cooking -- and dried bay leaves are really quite inexpensive. A high
per-pound cost, but you have to consider how many dry leaves are in a
pound!
Anyway, you could probably adapt that to packing the jelly in a
box layered with bay leaves, for a pretty presentation. But I'd only
ship it in cold weather, when the stuff didn't have a chance to melt
together into a solid lump! :)
Something else I have done for gift baskets is to make "frumenty
kits," with wheat berries, sugar (the little teeny sugar cones you can
sometimes get in the Mexican section of grocery stores are perfect for
gift baskets!), saffron, a good quality sea salt, and a recipe. The
recipients add water and milk. I picked frumenty in particular because
where I live (Palouse region of WA/ID in the US) is a major
wheat-growing area, so wheat is something of a "local" specialty. I
imagine you could come up with a similar "kit" for other grain-type
dishes.
-- Ruth
Date: Wed, 24 Nov 2004 13:20:36 -0500
From: "Sharon Gordon" <gordonse at one.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Period Gifts in Jars and Baskets
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
***Gifts in jars or some ingredients in jars***
(everything to include recipes and instructions)
1) Flour, Yeast, Herbs (other ingredients) for bread
2) Beer ingredients
3) Mead ingredients
4) Cordial or spiced wine ingredients
5) Mustard flour and roughly ground mustard, dried herbs, vinegar, wine for
making mustard
6) Vinegar and dried herbs for making flavored vinegars
7) Olive oil and dried herbs for making flavored oil. Include a warning
that people should make only as much as they will use for that dinner that
day and keep it refrigerated to avoid botulism.
8) Olives, dried herbs, olive oil (all separate) for making spiced olives
9) Oatmeal, dried fruits, honey for a festive breakfast
10) A spice mix typical of a particular region and several recipes to use it
with. This might be a spice mix you create based on a collection of spices
repeatedly being used together where you have figured out consistent
proportions in a variety of recipes.
11) Herbs, vinegar or wine, oil, etc for a particular grilling marinade
12) Conserves, and can it according to latest canning safety info
13) Syrups. May want to can them too.
14) Colorful seed packets for a 2005 garden
15) Soups with dried peas, grains, herbs, vegetables. May want to mix 2
colors of peas to add extra sparkle.
16) Homemade dried pasta. Sauce ingredients.
17) Homemade canned pickles.
18) Dried fruit
19) Sourdough starter
20) A short illuminated cookbook (nicely printed or photocopied if you want
to do this for lots of people) featuring an ingredient and a jar of the ingredient.
21) Potpourri for sitting around or simmering made from a region's
strewing herbs or medically oriented aromatic herbs.
***Gifts in Baskets***
1) Elongated basket with plastic liner planted with live herbs. I
sometimes give this as is and sometimes with a bottle of olive oil so people can
make freshly herbed bread dipping oil.
2) Homemade bread, cheese, olives, wine, dried fruit
3) Decoratively arranged dried/candied fruit and nut platter
4) Soup ingredients for a particular recipe that includes lots of basket
friendly ingredients: Peas, lentils, chickpeas, canned broth/paste/bullion,
grains, dried mushrooms, herbs, spices, nuts, garlic, root vegetables,
cheese, wine/beer/ale, dried fruit, dried vegetables, olive oil, honey,
sugar, vinegar. Homemade bread.
5) Health basket (anti-flu basket with more positive name). Elderberry
syrup/wine, ingredients for anti-flu soup, strengthening herbs, several
high thread count finely woven embroider linen handkerchiefs.
Sharon
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2005 10:51:12 -0500 (CDT)
From: Cat Dancer <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Twelfth Night Gifts
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
On Mon, 24 Oct 2005, Sharon Gordon wrote:
> With the weather becoming a bit cooler, I've started thinking more
> about upcoming holiday events? What are some of your favorite gifts
> to give (or receive) for Twelfth Night that are food or broadly
> food related? What's on your holiday wish list or dream holiday
> wish list :-)?
When I had money, I gave glass jars of hypocras spices that I'd mixed up
to specific people, and just carried around a basket of Ghirardelli
Squares: http://www.ghirardelli.com/products_sq.html to hand 'round to
whomever I ran into.
This year I might make marzipan fruit, because I already have the almond
paste, and I can assembly-line the fruit now that I've picked up the trick
of it. If I can find spare time.
Margaret FitzWilliam
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 09:39:10 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Favorite Food Gift Ideas
To: <grizly at mindspring.com>, "Cooks within the SCA"
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
I like panforte. It keeps well wrapped in a cloth and doesn't need
refrigeration. Of course, most of the ones I've given haven't lasted
the night. The recipe is in the Florilegium.
Bear
> I will ceertainly check the florilegium for articles, but I am also
> interested in people's recent ideas of nmostly non-perishable food items
> used as gifts. Also slow to perish items. I am building some gift ideas
> for a gift closet for my wife and me to dole out for apprciation gifts, and
> am stuck for NEW ideas. I have the following ideas that I use over and
> again:
>
> powder forte, poder douce, hypocras spice, various mustard sauces, and whole
> spices such as long pepper, ceylon cinnamon and saffron (for those who have
> never used them especially)
>
> What other very simple food-related gift ideas has anyone recently used that
> connects to our food hobby. Food, generosity, appreciation and gifting to
> me are all intertwined, so I live with them that way.
>
> niccolo difrancesco
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 11:16:16 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Favorite Food Gift Ideas
To: grizly at mindspring.com, Cooks within the SCA
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Cookbooks are good. Pottery too. Spoons, aprons,
cool kitchen magnets. promises to do dishes, etc.
Johnnae
grizly wrote:
> interested in people's recent ideas of nmostly non-perishable food
> items used as gifts. snipped
> niccolo difrancesco
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:01:48 -0400
From: "Stephanie Ross" <hlaislinn at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Favorite Food Gift Ideas
To: "SCA-Cooks" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Niccolo wrote:
<<< I am building some gift ideas for a gift closet for my wife and me to
dole out for apprciation gifts, and am stuck for NEW ideas.>>>
What about Shrewsbury cakes? People love them, they keep awhile, they can
be flavored with different spices/extracts and decorated as you see fit
also. My lord and I received a seasoned salt as a gift from the Crown
recently. How about lavender or rose flavored sugars? A small bag of
comfits? Candied ginger, lemon or orange peel etc.(called "suckets" in
Martha Washington's Cookery)? Sugared or spiced nutmeats?
Are hard candy suckers period?
~Aislinn~
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 13:19:27 -0400
From: "Sharon Gordon" <gordonse at one.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Favorite Food Gift Ideas & mix idea
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Mix of simple and more complex ideas
Olive Oil
Vinegar
Flavored vinegars, but not flavored oils
Wine/Beer/Mead
Verjuice
Cheese
Breads with fruit in it
Rose hips
Live herb plants
Garlic
Ginger
Some really good apples or pairs
Live heirloom fruit or nut trees/shrubs/plants or similar modern variety
Live rose plants with good rose hips
Heirloom seeds for period or period-looking vegetables
Honey, honey with comb
Period food cookbooks
Period herbals
Modern herbals for safety checks
Books about period dishes/pots or kitchens
Books about period gardens
Books about period or natural dyes
Books on period or modern beekeeping
Pottery
Glassware
Silverware
Cooking utensils
Iron cookpots
Grates, pot supports, raised fire pans
Dried fruit
Dried vegetables
Sourdough starter (dried or fresh)
Linen napkins
Linen tablecloths, embroidered or not
Fruit syrups
Less common bottled fruit juices
Baskets for holding produce, picnics, or shopping
Cloth for straining items or making cheese (not the cloth labeled
cheesecloth)
A basket with the nonperishable ingredients for a meal and the recipe
Mortar and pestle
Beeswax candles
Candle lanterns
Candle lantern hangers
Hand salves
Food safe firewood
Cookfire tools
Nuts
Marzipan
Commercially dried meat or fish
Food safe string
Linen pouches for food storage
Linen dish towels
Pennsic camping kitchen, cabinet, or chest
Trestle or folding table, folding chairs
Natural sea salts
Nut cracker and nut picks
Copies of redactions plus originial recipe) you have worked out and tested
Natural food dyes
A selection of 3-7 packets of herbs/spices on a theme
Another thing that I think would be really fun is to make up spice mixes or
just add water and a perishable food mixtures. I would love to hear
different ideas for these and what you'd name it if you were the marketing
guy/gal in the middle ages.
Take Bear's version of Brodo of red chickpeas for example
*******************************
Brodo of red chickpeas. To make eight platefuls: take a libra and a half (1
libra = about 10 1/2 oz. (300 g.)) of chickpeas and wash them in hot water,
drain them, the put them in a pot in which they will be cooked. Add half an
oncia (1 oncia = about 1 oz. (30 g.)) of flower (of wheat), a little good
oil, a little salt and about 20 crushed peppercorns and a little ground
cinnamon, then thoroughly mix all these things together with your hands.
Then add three measures of water, a little sage, rosemary and parsley roots.
Boil until it is reduced to the quantity of eight platefuls. And they
are nearly cooked pour in a little oil. And if you prepare this soup for
invalids, add neither oil nor spices.
I didn't have red chickpeas, so I substituted dried yellow. The soup was
To feed 24, so I cleaned and soaked 4 cups of chickpeas overnight. Should I
prepare this again, I'll use 5 cups of chickpeas per 24 people.
I crushed about 25 peppercorns and stirred them, about 4 tablespoons of
flour, and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon into a 1/4 cup of olive oil. I
drained the chickpeas and mixed them and the spiced oil in a large pot. I
covered the chickpeas with water and brought it to a boil. A gray-brown
scum formed on the surface and was skimmed off. I had to add more pepper in
the cooking, so if I make this quatity again, I'll start with about 40
peppercorns. The heat was set set to low and the soup simmered for about
two hours.
I added a teaspoon of rubbed sage, a teaspoon of rosemary needles crushed
into the pot and 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley (no root available). Toward
the end of the cooking I added about a teaspoon and a half of salt for seasoning.
The soup is rich and flavorful. Everyone at the dinner tried it and the
majority found it to be excellent. It reheats well. I would be tempted to
use this recipe at a feast. As I prepared it, the recipe makes just under a
gallon or one cup of soup per person. Using 5 cups of chickpeas per 24
people insures that everyone will get fed without having to scrape the
bottom of the pot.
****************************
For the gift you could have a glass jar with chickpeas in the bottom. For
visual interest you might even mix red and yellow chickpeas if you can find
some of the same size. Very different sizes are likely to result in the
smaller ones being overcooked. In tightly woven small fiber foodsafe
unbleached cloth pouches:
Pouch 1: peppercorns
Pouch 2: flour, cinnamon, sage, reosemary, chopped dried parsley root
Instructions on an illuminated recipe sheet in an easy to read calligraphy
hand (color photocopied) that tell how to make it and how much olive oil,
water, and salt to add. Sheet folded, and tied to jar with string.
Sharon
Date: Mon, 14 Aug 2006 21:35:28 -0600
From: "Sue Clemenger" <mooncat at in-tch.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Favorite Food Gift Ideas
To: <grizly at mindspring.com>, "Cooks within the SCA"
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
What about various fruit things? Dried fruits, marmalades, fruit pastes,
preserved fruits? Or pickled veggies (ISTR recipes in Fettiplace for
mushrooms and asparagus)? Or comfits? (sugared seeds, etc.)
Or biscotti-like cakes/cookies? Or something along the lines of those gift
mixes to which one just adds egg or whatever--why not use period recipes,
for, oh, say, Shrewsbury Cakes?
Other long-term keepers would be flavored vinegars, or small bottles of
sekanjabin or other drink syrups.
I've used many of these over the years as contributions to various largesse
chests, although my standards tend to be Lombardy Mustard, and either
Pomegranite Jelly or Cherry/Rose Jelly, all of which go rather nicely into
little 4-oz. sealable jam jars. I'm thinking of expanding into other
mustard forms (like some of the dried kinds), and am working on making small
linen bags to hold the salt crystals I'm planning on starting to give away
as Pelican tokens of appreciation (the laurel side of me gives little glass
leaf charms away).
--Maire
Date: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 09:52:32 -0400
From: "Sharon Gordon" <gordonse at one.net>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Medieval Mix Market
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
If you were an early ancestor of McCormick, Sauer, Knorr, or Dean and
DeLuca, what would you have in your line of value added foods? For
example you could create a spice mix of herbs and spices that are
commonly used together, a linen pouch with a bread mix, some pasties
for your deli-like stall, flavored drinks, pickles, flavored
vinegars, sauces for meats, dried soup mixes, etc.
Here's an example of how I might turn Bear's version of
Brodo of red chickpeas into a mix.
*******************************
Brodo of red chickpeas. To make eight platefuls: take a libra and a half (1
libra = about 10 1/2 oz. (300 g.)) of chickpeas and wash them in hot water,
drain them, the put them in a pot in which they will be cooked. Add half an
oncia (1 oncia = about 1 oz. (30 g.)) of flower (of wheat), a little good
oil, a little salt and about 20 crushed peppercorns and a little ground
cinnamon, then thoroughly mix all these things together with your hands.
Then add three measures of water, a little sage, rosemary and parsley roots.
Boil until it is reduced to the quantity of eight platefuls. And when they
are nearly cooked pour in a little oil. And if you prepare this soup for
invalids, add neither oil nor spices.
I didn't have red chickpeas, so I substituted dried yellow. The soup was
To feed 24, so I cleaned and soaked 4 cups of chickpeas overnight. Should I
prepare this again, I'll use 5 cups of chickpeas per 24 people.
I crushed about 25 peppercorns and stirred them, about 4 tablespoons of
flour, and 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon into a 1/4 cup of olive oil. I
drained the chickpeas and mixed them and the spiced oil in a large pot. I
covered the chickpeas with water and brought it to a boil. A gray-brown
scum formed on the surface and was skimmed off. I had to add more pepper in
the cooking, so if I make this quatity again, I'll start with about 40
peppercorns. The heat was set set to low and the soup simmered for about
two hours.
I added a teaspoon of rubbed sage, a teaspoon of rosemary needles crushed
into the pot and 3 tablespoons of fresh parsley (no root available). Toward
the end of the cooking I added about a teaspoon and a half of salt for
seasoning.
The soup is rich and flavorful. Everyone at the dinner tried it and the
majority found it to be excellent. It reheats well. I would be tempted to
use this recipe at a feast. As I prepared it, the recipe makes just under a
gallon or one cup of soup per person. Using 5 cups of chickpeas per 24
people insures that everyone will get fed without having to scrape the
bottom of the pot.
****************************
For the gift you could have a glass jar with chickpeas in the bottom. For
visual interest you might even mix red and yellow chickpeas if you can find
some of the same size. Very different sizes are likely to result in the
smaller ones being overcooked. In tightly woven small fiber foodsafe
unbleached cloth pouches:
Pouch 1: peppercorns
Pouch 2: flour, cinnamon, sage, reosemary, chopped dried parsley root
Instructions on an illuminated recipe sheet in an easy to read calligraphy
hand (color photocopied) that tell how to make it and how much olive oil,
water, and salt to add. Sheet folded, and tied to jar with string.
Sharon
gordonse at one.net
Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2006 19:13:48 -0700
From: "Sue Clemenger" <mooncat at in-tch.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] 12th Night Gift Baskets
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> I'd love some ideas for 12th Night food oriented gift baskets. And
> I'd love some ideas for ones with a theme. Themes you've been thinking
> of would be welcome too.
>
> Sharon
> gordonse at one.net
Mustards. Easy to make (I do it often), and keep indefinitely, especially
when you put them in little 4 oz jam jars and water-bath 'em for 10 mins or
so to seal them.
Spice mixtures.
A bottle of wine with hippocras powder and some wafers or biscotti
Marzipan
Fruit pastes in clever shapes (use those miniature "cookie cutters" I've
seen available for canapes)
Well-sealed bottles of drink syrups
Well-sealed bottles of cordials
Themes--
Stuff for a picnic
A basket of "comfort goodies" for stressful times
Chocolate anything ;o)
Complete non-perishable ingredients for a meal from X country/time
(include beverage)
--Maire
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:48:18 -0400
From: "Elaine Koogler" <kiridono at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jars/Bottles
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Yeah, they're 'way cool...and they are great to do business with. I'm
waiting for my second order to arrive...I've ordered the 2 oz hex jars to
put a spice mixture in...I made the atraf al-tib that is in Dame Hauviette's
new ebook and found that her original quantities made enough to last me the
rest of my life if I used it every day. So....lots of folks are getting it
for Christmas/Twelfth Night!
Kiri
---------
On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 11:41 AM, Michael Gunter <countgunthar at hotmail.com>wrote:
<<< There's a web site where you can order all sorts of bottles and jars, not
to mention small tins of various descriptions. You can find it at
http://www.specialtybottle.com/
Kiri >>>
I REALLY like some of these!
http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=11
Gunthar
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:02:17 -0400
From: "Gaylin Walli" <gaylinwalli at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jars/Bottles
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
I can also personally recommend SKS Bottle and glass (
http://www.sks-bottle.com/) as a great supplier. When I called them to find
out about a discount I could get for spice jars for the Midrealm Army War
Pay, they were exceedingly friendly and genuinely intrigued by what we were
doing.
Iasmin
Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 15:12:17 -0500
From: "Elaine Koogler" <kiridono at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Ideas for homemade holiday gifts
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
The chutney I gave the recipe for a few minutes ago works very well, and
I've canned it using the boiling water method. It's not period, but it's
good. I also made a Cider Sauce that is period:
Para Hacer Salsa de Zumo de Manzanas (Cider Sauce)
Diego Granado, Libro del Arte de Cozina, Madrid, 1599
Translated/Redacted by Robin Carroll-Mann (Brighid ni Chiarain)
1 quart sweet apple cider (non-alcoholic)
1 lb. sugar
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1/4 cup white wine (I used an inexpensive dry white wine)
1 ounce cinnamon sticks
1 whole nutmeg, cut in half
8 whole cloves
1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over medium-low heat
about 45 minutes, until the volume is reduced by half and a candy
thermometer reads 220F (105C).
2. Strain through cheesecloth.
3. Pour into a clean glass jar. Refrigerate.
Original: Take the apples, and without peeling them, grate them and extract
the juice from them, as we said of the quinces; adding a little vinegar, and
white wine, and take the clearest part, and for each pound of juice, put
eight ounces of sugar, and cook it like the juice of the quinces, with the
same spices.
Yield is 2 cups.
This is really easy to make and can be canned using the boiling water
method.
I have a couple of other things, but they are either not really period...or
they take time to age. I am including my version of Platina's Reddish
Mustard:
2 cups mustard seed
2 cups must
4 tsp. Cinnamon
3/4 cups raisins
3/4 cups dates
1 1/2 cups white wine vinegar (or, if you have access to verjus, 2 cups of
that)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup bread crumbs
1. Place mustard in a blender with vinegars and must. Liquify.
2. Add cinnamon, raisins and dates and reduce this to a liquid.
3. Add enough bread crumbs to thicken the mustard so that a wooden spoon
or spatula will almost stand in it.
4. Let cure in a crock with a cloth cover for several weeks.
Original Recipe: Grind in a mortar or mill, either separately or all
together, mustard, raisins, dates, bits of bread, and a little cinnamon.
When it is ground, with verjuice or vinegar and a bit of must, and pass
through a sieve into serving dishes. This heats less than the one above and
stimulates thirst but does not nourish badly.
This is from Mary Ellen Milham's translation, and it is my redaction. I
also let mine age for as long as possible...if you're giving it as gifts,
there's probably enough time between when you make it and when your
recipients actually use it. I make it in a large crock or jar, then, after
it's aged for a few weeks, put it into smaller jars to use as gifts.
I do have a few others that are not period, including Gunthar's Wine
Jelly...I've made that using a wonderful Black Raspberry Merlot from a
winery near us. If you're interested in any others, let me know.
Kiri
<the end>