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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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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    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>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	p-snack-foods-msg	2 of 4