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p-snack-foods-msg - 7/1/18

 

Period snack foods.

 

NOTE: See also the files: Hot-Pies-Hot-art, Vigil-Snacks-art, chicken-legs-msg, fish-pies-msg, Calontr-Jerky-art, comfits-msg, candied-fruit-msg, 14C-Sweets-art.

 

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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.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

 

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous

                                          Stefan at florilegium.org

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Date: Sun, 5 Jul 1998 18:54:04 -0400

From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)

Subject: Re: SC - period snack foods? (was corn chips)

 

>Are there any medieval recipes or evidence for anything like our modern

>snack foods? You know, fried dough, lots of grease, salt and flavorings? Or

>is this just a late 20th century thing?

<snip>

>Stefan li Rous

 

Hello!  The recipes for Cruste Rolle (Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez

#61), Lesenges Fries (Harl. 4016 #134) are for fried dough chips.  The

recipes for Bryndons (Harl. 279 - Potage Dyvers #49) and Prenade (Harl.

4016 #110) call for fried dough chips to be served with a spicy chutney.

 

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu

renfrow at skylands.net

Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th

Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing

Recipes"

 

 

Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 07:13:16 -0500

From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>

Subject: RE: SC - period snack foods? (was corn chips)

 

The two come closest in mistembecs, where the batter is deep fried and

served with syrup.  A mistembec is made from yeast leavened dough and, to my

eye, has a lot in common with home-made doughnuts.  Funnel cakes also come

to mind.

 

Bear

 

 

Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2003 16:50:42 -0500 (CDT)

From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Snacks

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

 

On Tue, 7 Oct 2003, Zachary Kessin wrote:

> Snacks.

> Ok our new (and yet unnamed) shire is holding a movie night tomorow,

> does anyone have any good ideas for period snacks to serve while we

> watch movies? (Simple and cheap would be good)

> --Zach

 

There are all sorts of fried things that are period.

 

You can put pretty much anything in fritters, then there are cryspes,

pipefarces, and a few other things. Start here:

 

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/desserts.html#27

 

Then there is hais and also gingerbrede, which are up at the top of that

page. Both are very quick and very good, and pareve if you use oil for  

the hais instead of butter.

 

Margaret

 

 

Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2005 14:43:03 -0400

From: Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise <jenne at fiedlerfamily.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] nibbles

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

 

> I am looking for references to savory nibbling, not the sweet kind. In

> general, I am interested in most times and locales within the SCA period

> and scope. Specifically, I am interested in the European and English

> courts of the 15th century.

 

Hm.. I think raw celery and raw or pickled fennel bulbs were mentioned

in Platina; the Rus seem to have liked raw radishes; I have somewhere a

reference to raw turnips, I believe...

--

-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net  

 

 

Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 10:30:50 -0400

From: <kingstaste at mindspring.com>

Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] nibbles

To: <jenne at fiedleramily.net>, "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

 

Fennel seeds as well.  I have a reference but don't know where it came from,

about keeping fennel seeds in one's pockets to nibble on during long church

services. It sweetens the breath and is an appetite suppressant.

 

Christianna

 

 

Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 11:49:03 -0400

From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Nibbles

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

 

Lonnie D. Harvel wrote:

> Elise Fleming wrote:

>> Might not this insistent snacking that we take for granted be a much

>> more modern phenomenon?

> Inquiring minds want to know!

> Aoghann

 

You might want to get a copy of this paper:

Carlin,Martha. "Fast food and Urban Living Standards

in Medieval England."  appears in Food and Eating in Medieval England,

edited by Martha Carlin and Joel T. Rosenthal. London: The

Hambledon Press, 1998. ISBN: 1-85285-148-1.

Pages: 27-51.  112 footnotes.

 

The footnotes are very good and will take you into lots of things to  

read. Otherwise I'd start with C. Anne Wilson.

 

Johnnae llyn Lewis

 

 

Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 10:23:41 -0700 (PDT)

From: Heather Musinski <rachaol at yahoo.com>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Nibbles

To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

 

Nibbling "in period" would fundamentally be very different than today.  

From a cultural and social standpoint, nibbling would depend very much  

on what you could afford. As always, a wealthy household or nobility  

would be more likely to have to resources to have snacks. Another part  

of modern snacking is the easy availability of ready made noshes. Even  

someone with wealth would be at the mercy of seasonal availability, and  

what the kitchen was able to put out. And the middling classes probably  

would see those same snacks as occasional treats. The poor would  

probably see something we call a nibble as a welcome addition to daily  

survival.

 

   Aromatic herbs and spices certainly end up being in the realm of the  

wealthy. Depending on what grows in the area, they may have had wider  

availability. Certainly, fresh vegetables and fruits would be the most  

common nibbles. In season, and with a good harvest, those things would  

have been at hand for many people. Castelvetro mentions several fruits  

and vegetables as being enjoyed by women and children (don't have a  

copy, so specifics are beyond me). I suppose I interpret that as being  

somewhat frivolous, and not sustaining in the way "real food" would be.

 

   So nibbles at that time would be pretty alien to people in a culture  

who can bop into the Quickie Mart and get a Moon-Pie, R-C and a bag o  

peanuts. Though I suppose it is the same in that their snacks would  

also be simple and easily available.

 

Rachaol

 

 

Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 12:31:29 -0500

From: "otsisto" <otsisto at socket.net>

Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] nibbles

To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

 

I think Hildegard mentions to have fennel in the pocket during church.

 

-----Original Message-----

Fennel seeds as well.  I have a reference but don't know where it came from,

about keeping fennel seeds in one's pockets to nibble on during long church

services. It sweetens the breath and is an appetite suppressant.

 

Christianna

 

 

Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2005 17:56:10 -0400

From: Robin <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Nibbles

To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

 

> Hm.. I think raw celery and raw or pickled fennel bulbs were mentioned

> in Platina; the Rus seem to have liked raw radishes; I have somewhere a

> reference to raw turnips, I believe...

> --

> -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net

 

The "Arte de Cortar" (Spanish, 1423) mentions small, tender turnips as

one of the root veggies that can be eaten raw, along with carrots and

parsnips.

--

Brighid ni Chiarain

Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom

 

<the end>



Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
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Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org