gingerbread-msg - 3/24/08
Medieval gingerbread. Recipes. Not like modern gingerbread cake.
NOTE: See also the files: ginger-msg, desserts-msg, gilded-food-msg, pastries-msg, candy-msg, cookies-msg, honey-msg, sugar-msg, sotelties-msg, Cndied-Ginger-art.
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From: Margritte <margritt at mindspring.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 15:31:21 -0500
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes/gingerbread
>Lady Margritte may grace us with the exact recipe. She makes a
>WONDERFUL period gingerbread :o)
The dark gingerbread (see below) is the one I made for fra nic's
feast. I also entered 2 types of gingerbread in the most recent Kingdom A&S
competition. The documentation appears below. As nic said, the dark
gingerbread is wonderful (if I do say so myself :-). The fine gingerbread
was a disappointment. I made it several times before I came up with
something edible. I tried both wax paper and foil, and it stuck to both of
them, to the point that I couldn't pull it off. What should I have used
instead? The redaction says "kitchen parchment". What is it?
- -Margritte
The History of Gingerbread
Modern gingerbread uses flour as a thickener, but in the Middle
Ages, either bread crumbs or ground almonds would have been used.
Gingerbread made with bread crumbs was considered "coarse" gingerbread. The
crumbs were usually mixed with honey and spices, with either sandalwood or
red wine to make the mixture red.
Gingerbread was one of the most popular confections of the Middle
Ages. It was often sold at fairs, molded into gingerbread men. Likewise, it
was also served at nobles' high tables, carefully sculpted and gilded with
real gold.
White Gingerbread (Fine Gingerbread)
Dining With William Shakespeare gives the following recipe and redaction:
To Make White Gingerbread: Take halfe a pound of marchpaine past, a quarter
of a pound of white Ginger beaten and cerst, halfe a pound of the powder of
refined sugar, beate this to a very fine paste with dragagant steept in
rose-water, then roule it in round cakes and print it with your moulds: dry
them in an oven when the breade is drawne foorth, upon white papers, & when
they be very dry, box them, and keepe them all the year. (From John
Murrell, A Delightfull daily exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen).
Redaction:
1/2 pound almond paste
2 tbsp rose water
1 tsp gum arabic
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tbsp ground ginger
Rub the almond paste throught the medium holes of a grater into a
mixing bowl. Put the rose water into a saucer, add the gum arabic, and stir
until the gum disolves. Sift the sugar with the ginger, stir in the
dissolved gum arabic, and mix until well blended. Add this to the almond
paste and work it in quickly but thoroughly.
Divide the paste into twenty-four pieces. Roll each piece into a
ball, flatten it to 1/4 inch thick, and print a design on the top with one
of the small ceramic or wood molds used for printing individual servings of
butter, or make criss-cross patterns with a fork.
Cover a cookie sheet with a piece of rice paper or kitchen
parchment and place the cakes on it. Bake at 200=B0 for twenty minutes, then
turn off the heat and let the cakes cool in the oven for fifteen minutes.
Remove the cakes from the paper and finish cooling on a wire grill. Store
in single layers in an airtight container.
When I made this recipe, I used small linoleum blocks to print
designs in the tops of the cookies. The biggest problem was the gingerbread
sticking to any surface it was cooked on.
This same book also mentions an ordinary or "coarse" gingerbread,
made from grated bread crumbs with spices, and held together by wine or
clarified honey, although it does not give a recipe.
Dark Gingerbread (Coarse Gingerbread)
The Tudor Kitchen Cookery Book give the following recipe for "Gyngerbrede".
Their source is T. Austin: Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books, 1888.
Take a quart of honey and sethe it and skime it clene; take Safroun, pouder
Pepir and throw theron; take gratyd Brede and make it so chargeant that it
wol be y-lechyd; then take pouder canelle and straw ther-on y-now; then
make it square, lyke as thou wolt leche yt; take when tho lechyst hyt, an
caste Box leves a -bowyn, y-stykyd ther-on, on clowys. An if thou wold have
it Red, colour it with Saunderys y-now.
Redaction from the above book:
1 lb. Clear honey
1 lb. Fresh white bread crumbs
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground black pepper
fresh box leaves and whole cloves to decorate
1. Warm the honey until quite runny (modern honey does not give off a scum
so needs no cleaning). Pour into a large bowl and mix in the breadcrumbs
and spices. It should be very stiff, if not add a few more breadcrumbs. If
you wish to follow the Tudor example and colour the mixture red, then add a
few drops of red food colouring or powder to the honey before mixing.
2. Line a shallow rectangular cake tin (or gingerbread tin) with non-stick
paper or foil and press the mixture into it. If it is a little difficult to
do this, then press down with your fingers dipped occasionally in cold
water.
3. Ensure the top is quite level, allow to firm up in the fridge for an
hour or two then turn out onto another sheet of paper and cut into small
squares.
4. Stick two small box leaves into each square with a whole clove in the
centre.
5. For a better effect, divide the mixture in two and colour one half red,
then make two lots of squares and arrange them alternately on a large
plate, chequerboard style.
The above is the recipe I used as a basis for my gingerbread with a
few modi-fications. First of all, I added the spices to the honey before I
added the breadcrumbs, so that the spices would be well-distributed. I used
food color to redden it just slightly. To flatten the mixture, I rolled it
with a rolling pin between two pieces of wax paper.
I also found out something very important about this recipe-- The
first time I rolled out the mixture, it never set properly because it was
too moist. Several days later, I gave up and plopped the whole mess back
into the sauce pan, re-heated it, and added more breadcrumbs. It worked
like a charm.
Another similar recipe comes from Curye on Inglyessch, p. 154 (Goud Kokery
no. 18), as quoted on Cariadoc's web page:
(http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/miscellany.html)
To make gingerbrede. Take goode honey & clarifie it on the fere, & take
fayre paynemayn or wastel brede & grate it, & caste it into the boylenge
hony, & stere it well togyder faste with a sklyse that it bren not to the
vessell. & thanne take it doun and put therin ginger, longe pepper &
saundres, & tempere it vp with thin handes; & than put hem to a flatt
boyste & strawe theron suger, & pick therin clowes rounde aboute by the
egge and in the mydes, yf it plece you, &c.
One final recipe for coarse gingerbread comes from Gervase Markham's "The
English Hous-wife" (1615), as quoted in To The Queen's Taste:
Take a quart of Honey clarified, and seeth it till it be brown, and if it
be thick, put it to a dish of water: then take fine crumbs of white bread
grated, and put to it, and stirre it well, and when it is almost cold, put
to it the powder of Ginger, Cloves, Cinnamon, and a little Licoras and
Anniseeds: then knead it, and put it into a mould and print it. Some use to
put to it also a little Pepper, but that is according unto taste and
pleasure.
Bibliography
The Tudor Kitchen Cookery Book, Recipes adapted for modern use by Roz Denny,
Dining With William Shakespeare, by Madge Lorwin; Atheneum, New York, 1976.
To The Queen's Taste: Elizabethan Feasts and Recipes Adapted for Modern
Cooking, by Lorna J. Sass; the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
A History of Food, by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, translated from the
=46rench by Anthea Bell, a Blackwell Reference book.
The Complete Book of Gingerbread, by Valerie Barrett; Chartwell Books, Inc.
Gingerbread: Ninety-Nine Delicious Recipes from Sweet to Savory, by Linda
Merinoff, a Fireside book published by Simon and Schuster, Inc. New York,
London, Toronto, Sydney, and Tokyo.
From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at abel.MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 15:46:33 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes/gingerbread
I tried both wax paper and foil, and it stuck to both of
them, to the point that I couldn't pull it off. What should I have used
instead? The redaction says "kitchen parchment". What is it?
Margritte, parchment is a type of "paper" that is relatively burn proof, and
is frequently used in baking. (For example, baked fish or chicken in
parchment, with herbs, are WONDEROUS).
The solution (I expect: and have used) is to grease the paper heavily.
Modern gingerbread uses flour as a thickener, but in the Middle
Ages, either bread crumbs or ground almonds would have been used.
Hmmm. Just to nitpick for a second, I would not say that modern gingerbread
uses flour as a thickener... it is used as an ingredient, including the
steps where it forms gluten, and makes a rising dough.
Gingerbread was one of the most popular confections of the Middle
Ages. It was often sold at fairs, molded into gingerbread men. Likewise, it
was also served at nobles' high tables, carefully sculpted and gilded with
real gold.
Not doubting you in the slightest, but source, please? I'd like to know
more.
I've found that coarse gingerbread (in the medieval fashion) is a "pick it
up and work it with your hands" kind of material. Dust them with
confectioners sugar.
This is probably a good time to remind people that modern confectioners
sugar is adulterated with non-period ingredients, generally.
Tibor
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 17:42:57 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes/gingerbread
Mark Schuldenfrei wrote:
> This is probably a good time to remind people that modern confectioners
> sugar is adulterated with non-period ingredients, generally.
>
> Tibor
To wit, cornstarch. Seems as if the modern dusting with confectioners'
sugar as a sort of lubricant would have been done with an oiled marble
stone and wet hands, in period. Partly this would have been because it
was very difficult to make fine powdered sugar by hand. I speak with the
authority of one who made about two pounds of marzipan in a big stone
mortar at a demo a few weeks ago, using whole blanched almonds and a
block of sugar.
Adamantius
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Date: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 20:11:44 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes/gingerbread
At 3:31 PM -0500 6/19/97, Margritte wrote:
>but in the Middle
>Ages, either bread crumbs or ground almonds would have been used.
The almond recipe given below is either 16th of 17th century (anyone know
the exact date of Murrell), not medieval. Does anyone know of any medieval
recipes using almonds instead of breadcrumbs? There is another gingerbread
in the medieval sources, but it is not anything like the recipe given
below--basically cooked honey plus spices, apparently used as a confection
or as an ingredient in other things.
So it looks, absent further evidence, as though the "coarse" and "fine"
gingerbread, if that is what they were called, were not medieval
contemporaries but a Medieval dish and a Renaissance dish, with the
medieval dish surviving (as per the Markham recipe) into the Renaissance..
>White Gingerbread (Fine Gingerbread)
>
>Dining With William Shakespeare gives the following recipe and redaction:
>
>To Make White Gingerbread: Take halfe a pound of marchpaine past, a quarter
>of a pound of white Ginger beaten and cerst, halfe a pound of the powder of
>refined sugar, beate this to a very fine paste with dragagant steept in
>rose-water, then roule it in round cakes and print it with your moulds: dry
>them in an oven when the breade is drawne foorth, upon white papers, & when
>they be very dry, box them, and keepe them all the year. (From John
>Murrell, A Delightfull daily exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen).
>
>Redaction:
>1/2 pound almond paste
>2 tbsp rose water
>1 tsp gum arabic
>1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
>1 tbsp ground ginger
Note that the original has quantities--and the "redaction" ignores them.
Based on the almond paste, this is supposed to be one full recipe. But it
has converted a quarter of a pound of ginger into a tablespoon(!!!) and a
cup (half a pound) of sugar into half a cup.
With regard to the dark gingerbread, which has been one of my standards for
many years, since it is easy to make, popular, and keeps, I normally bring
the honey to a boil, as per the original ("sethe it"), then stir in the
bread crumbs and the spices, and when it is cool enough to handle knead it
to a smooth texture by hand.
David/Cariadoc
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming )
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 07:55:05 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: SC - White Gingerbread, Gums Tragacanth & Arabic
It was written:
>White Gingerbread (Fine Gingerbread)
>Dining With William Shakespeare gives the following recipe and
>redaction:
>To Make White Gingerbread: Take halfe a pound of marchpaine past, a
>quarter of a pound of white Ginger beaten and cerst, halfe a pound of
>the powder of refined sugar, beate this to a very fine paste with
>dragagant steept in rose-water (much snippage)
^^^^^^^^^
>Redaction:
>1/2 pound almond paste
>2 tbsp rose water
>1 tsp gum arabic (much snippage)
^^^^^^^^^^
Gum tragacanth (dragagant, dragon) and gum arabic are NOT the same
thing and don't necessarily _do_ the same thing in a recipe.
Tragacanth is a binder and strengthener, especially used in sugar
paste. Replacing tragacanth with arabic might lead to some of the
problems experienced. Also, note that while this recipe is called
"gingerbread" it is almond based, not bread based. It's a delicious
recipe, but not the same thing as gingerbread as one would expect
gingerbread to be.
>Cover a cookie sheet with a piece of rice paper or kitchen
>parchment and place the cakes on it.
Interesting difference. You can eat the rice paper but you can't eat
the kitchen parchment.
I don't recall having sticking problems when I did the recipe but there
were several probable differences. I don't use commercial almond paste
(too sweet) and made my own. Also the tragacath versus arabic
difference. I did bake them on parchment paper and "printed" them.
Alys Katharine
From: Margritte <margritt at mindspring.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 20:42:57 -0500
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes/gingerbread
> Gingerbread was one of the most popular confections of the Middle
> Ages. It was often sold at fairs, molded into gingerbread men. Likewise, it
> was also served at nobles' high tables, carefully sculpted and gilded with
> real gold.
>
>Not doubting you in the slightest, but source, please? I'd like to know
>more.
That information is actually distilled from several sources, but most of
the books I used are already back at the library (see bibliography at the
end of my previous post). I was able to dig up some of my xeroxes, though.
From _The Complete Book of Gingerbread_, by Valerie Barrett, pp 16-17:
"The medieval version of gingerbread would be unrecognizable today.
Bread crumbs tossed with honey and spices were dried out or baked into
hard, crumbly, flat cakes. Some of the cakes were pressed into molds to
form beautiful and elaborate pictures. Gingerbread men, called gingerbread
husbands, became popular in northern Britain. Considered a gift fit for a
king, or an appropriate ending to a great banquet, huge slabs of
gingerbread were gilded with real gold and studded decoratively with
gold-dipped cloves. Dark gingerbreads got their reddish-brown color from
sandalwood or red wine, while white gingerbread was actually
ginger-flavored marzipan."
The other books made similar comments, but I don't have them in front of me
right now.
- -Margritte
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 23:40:59 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes/gingerbread
At 8:42 PM -0500 6/20/97, Margritte wrote:
>That information is actually distilled from several sources, but most of
>the books I used are already back at the library (see bibliography at the
>end of my previous post). I was able to dig up some of my xeroxes, though.
>
>>From _The Complete Book of Gingerbread_, by Valerie Barrett, pp 16-17:
> "The medieval version of gingerbread would be unrecognizable today.
>Bread crumbs tossed with honey and spices were dried out or baked into
>hard, crumbly, flat cakes.
That passage doesn't give me much confidence in the secondary source. I
can't prove that what she describes wasn't made, but the standard recipe in
the English 14th and 15th c. sources doesn't fit either of her
descriptions--it wasn't "dried out," it wasn't "tossed with," and it wasn't
baked.
>"while white gingerbread was actually
>ginger-flavored marzipan."
Has anyone found any medieval recipes that fit this description--as opposed
to 16th or 17th century ones?
Do you remember if she says what her sources were?
David/Cariadoc
From: gfrose at cotton.vislab.olemiss.edu (Terry Nutter)
Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 14:33:39 -0500
Subject: Re: SC - Feast Themes/gingerbread
Hi, Katerine here. Cariadoc responds to Magritte:
>>>From _The Complete Book of Gingerbread_, by Valerie Barrett, pp 16-17:
>> "The medieval version of gingerbread would be unrecognizable today.
>>Bread crumbs tossed with honey and spices were dried out or baked into
>>hard, crumbly, flat cakes.
>
>That passage doesn't give me much confidence in the secondary source. I
>can't prove that what she describes wasn't made, but the standard recipe in
>the English 14th and 15th c. sources doesn't fit either of her
>descriptions--it wasn't "dried out," it wasn't "tossed with," and it wasn't
>baked.
>
>>"while white gingerbread was actually
>>ginger-flavored marzipan."
>
>Has anyone found any medieval recipes that fit this description--as opposed
>to 16th or 17th century ones?
I agree with Cariadoc's comment on bread-crumb gingerbreads, and I have not
seen a 13th to 15th C recipe for almond-based. However, there *are* two
kinds of gingerbread in the 14th-15th C corpus. One is the stuff Cariadoc
describes. The other, while it is not almond based, is pretty clearly a
candy in our terms rather than a cake-like stuff. I'm in the process of
moving, and all my sources are packed. I should be able to give details
in a month or so.
Cheers,
- -- Katerine/Terry
Date: Fri, 05 Sep 1997 12:27:00 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - SC-Gingerbread Advice Needed
GARNER at admin.hnc.edu wrote:
> My favorite non-period-so-far-as-I-know gingerbread recipe, "Uncle Mel's
> Triple Gingerbread," involves grated fresh ginger, powdered ginger, and
> minced candied ginger. Does anyone know how far back in time candied
> ginger goes?
Fourteenth century or earlier. I think there's a recipe in Chiquart's
"Fait du Cuisine", of which I have no copy, otherwise I would try to
post it.
Adamantius
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 97 09:51:23 CST
From: "Melissa Martines" <melissa.martines at mail.corpfamily.com>
Subject: SC - Gingerbread
Aoife,
About your gingerbread question.
I made a gingerbread cake, cut into a heraldic rose, for a friend's
SCA wedding.
I got the recipes from "A Fifteenth Century Cookery Book" which quoted
it from Halerian.
To keep it from being too hard (like the granola bar texture you
mentioned) I made my own saffron bread (also a 15th century recipe)
and only let it sit one day (so it was still relatively soft). I used
a pound of honey, one large loaf of bread, and about a teaspoon of
each of the spices (pepper, ginger, cinnamon and saffron).
I got a great, brownie-like consistency and the spices were hot
enough to be pleasing, but not uncomfortable.
Hope that helps some.
Morgan
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 13:28:31 -0500
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - Aoife's Gingerbread recipe results
Well, I think I have the whole Gingerbread thing worked out. It's
quite tasty. I noticed the grittiness Raz mentioned, but I think this is the
way it's supposed to be. I chose to serve it in a pool of cream, for
texture/flavor contrast, and I have to brag a little. It's marvelous. I
chose to use commercial Italian style bread, as being heavier and
"wheatier", and having more mouth-feel than other types. If it was going to
be gritty, I wanted it to be gritty on purpose. Italian bread makes dense ,
fine crumbs that hold their nuttiness. It worked well with the honey and
spices, too.
Here's my redaction, along with the original. Feel free to use it and print
it other places. Please Note it was originally posted to sca-cooks by the
author. A copy of those reprints is appreciated. Please give me credit by
name for the recipe redaction, along with my information: L. Herr-Gelatt, RR
1 Box 500F, Honesdale PA 18431 USA, liontamr at ptd.net . This recipe is
copyright September 10, 1997 at 2:20 pm by L. Herr-Gelatt.
Sorry for legal folderol. I feel strongly about protecting rights on the net!
Hope you enjoy the recipe. My 3-year old ate it up!
Aoife/L/ Herr-Gelatt
Gingerbrede (Curye on Inglysch)
Take goode honye & clarifie it on (th) fere, & take fayre panemayn or wastrel brede & grate it, & cast it into (th)e boylenge hony, & stere it well togyder faste with a sklyse (th)at it bren not to (th)e vessel. & (th)anne take it doun and put (th)erin ginger, long pepere &saunders, &tempere it up with (th)in handes; & than put hem to a flatt boyste & straw (th)eron suger, & pick (th)erin clowes rounde aboute by (th)e e(d)gge and in (th)e mydes, yf it plece you.
According to Mistress Sincgiefu, another similar ms reccomends serving decorated with boxwood leaves and another suggests putting it in boxwood boxes. I'm rather partial to decorating it with something green. Not having saunders to color the mixture red, I chose some cinnamon, which darkened the mixture a little and helped add that "bite" I wes after in redacting the recipe, and is a usual "modern" addition.
Aoife's Gingerbread (It bites back!)
1-- 1 lb 4 oz loaf of italian-style sliced bread, several days old.
1 1/3 cups honey
2 tsp. powdered ginger
1 1/2 tsp. powdered cinnamon
1/8-1/4 tsp ground white pepper
Sugar
Whole Cloves (optional)
Boxwood leaves or other edible leaves, or marzipan leaves (optional)
Dry bread directly on oven racks on lowest setting until very dry but still pale. Grind the slices into very fine crumbs in a food processor. Set aside in a large bowl.
In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat honey and spices (except cloves) on high to boiling point. Reduce heat and allow to boil until a soft-ball stage has been reached. Remove from heat immediately.***Use caution! This honey mixture boils over rapidly and can cause sever burns. Please watch the pot carefully, and keep children out of the room.***
Pour honey over breadcrumbs and toss well. Allow to cool slightly, and use your hands to combine the honey and crumbs thoroughly.
Pack the mixture into 2 8x3-1/2x2-1/2 loaf pans lined with parchment, waxed paper or plastic wrap. Press down hard on the surface to compact. Sprinkle with sugar. Stud with cloves if desired. Let sit several hours, or ideally, over night, so that the flavors of the spices will mingle and the mixture will set-up.
To Serve:
Unmold and remove wrap from gingerbread. Serve whole, decorated with boxwood or marzipan leaves or other edible leaves, if desired (sliced oranges would look pretty, too). Serve on a very dark plates for color contrast.
Although the original does not suggest to do so, this is particularly good when served in a pool of unsweetened cream. The smooth richness of the cream and the spicy grittiness of the gingerbread compliment each other very well.
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 13:56:47 -0800
From: Beverly Viel <cookbevsez at forumboard.com>
Subject: SC - Mediaeval gingerbread and a little cream....dessert
To make fine Gingerbread.
Take three stale Manchets, grate them, dry them, and beat them; then sift them
thorow a fine sieve; then put to them one ounce
of Ginger beaten and searced fine, as much Cinnamon, half an ounce of Aniseeds,
and half an ounce of Liquorice, half a
pound of sugar; boyll all these together with a quart of Claret Wine till it
come to a stiffe paste; then mould it on a Table with
a little Flower, and roul it very thin, and print it in moulds; dust your
moulds with some of your powdered spices.
[This recipe came fromÓ
http://www.wwp.brown.edu/vol03num02/fromtb032.html]
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 10:31:11 -0800
From: Susan Fox-Davis <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Mediaeval gingerbread and a little cream....dessert
It's from The Cooks Guide: or, Rare Receipts for Cookery, 1664
by Hannah Wolley. Doesn't quite make the cut for SCA time period, but a
nice little collection from a VERY interesting web site, the Women Writers Project of Brown University.
Selene
selene at earthlink.net
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 21:26:43 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: SC - Panforte - OOP but perioid
Attending Wiesenfeuer Yule Revel in Oklahoma City this past weekend, I
produced a couple of items for the potluck feast. The first was a four
pound braided loaf with raisins stuffed in the braids. The second was
panforte.
On the basis of limited documentation which may be apocryphal, panforte
seems to be traceable to a tithe paid by the tenants of the Monastery of
Montecellesi in Siena to the monastery which called for a number of
panpepati e meilati or pepper and honey breads. The tithe was paid February
7, 1205.
This recipe, while not provable Medieval, is similar to period gingerbreads.
The result is very rich and should be served in small pieces.
Bear
Panforte
2 cups blanched, toasted almonds, coarsely chopped or slivered
1 cup raisins, Zante raisins (currants), or golden raisins
1 cup chopped dates
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup honey
3 tablespoons butter
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside.
Grease a 9 to 11 inch springform or tart pan with a removable bottom. Line
it with baker's parchment and grease the parchment.
Combine the sugar, honey and butter in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil
over medium heat. When the syrup is between the soft and firm ball stages
(about 245 degrees F), thoroughly mix the syrup into the dry ingredients to
make a stiff batter.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Spread and smooth it.
Bake in a pre-heated 300 degree F oven for about 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool about 15 minutes. Separate the walls from
the base.
Allow the panforte to cool on the base.
Remove from base. Peel off parchment and serve.
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 11:13:54 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Nerve Bisquits???
At 10:17 PM -0600 1/27/99, Lady Di wrote:
>I believe the
>site that actually referred to 'Nerve biscuits' is in another site which
>gives the history of gingerbread, but it could be this one. Did you try
>searching for 'pepparkaker'?
That search found me " The History of Gingerbread By Tarla," which does
not seem to be a very reliable source of information. For example, it says:
"The term may be imprecise because in Medieval England gingerbread meant
simply "preserved ginger" and was a corruption of the Old French gingebras,
derived from the Latin name of the spice, Zingebar. It was only in the
fifteenth century that the term came to be applied to a kind of cake made
with treacle and flavored with ginger."
This is wrong several times over. Gingerbrede, in the form of a mixture of
breadcrumbs, honey, ginger and other spices, appears in the 14th c.
cookbooks. Neither that nor the 15th c. version is a "cake"--the texture is
more like fudge. The sweetening was honey, not treacle. Treacle doesn't get
used in England for culinary (as opposed to medicinal) purposes until
substantially later (see C. Anne Wilson's discussion in her book).
David Friedman
Professor of Law
Santa Clara University
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 1999 08:54:00 EST
From: Seton1355 at aol.com
Subject: SC - my medieval dinner party - long
Last night I had some mundane friends over and served them a medieval feast.
They really enjoyed it and were interested in the background of the recipes.
The evening went off well so I thought I'd post the recipes I used.
Phillipa
<snip of ***Winter Squash or Pumpkin Soup*** recipe>
<snip of ***Chicken Ambrogino With Dried Fruit*** recipe>
<snip of ***Green Poree for Days of Abstainence*** recipe>
***Gingerbread***
1c honey
1c breadcrumbs
1t ginger
1/4t pepper (I used the pinch method)
1/4t saunders (sandlewood) I omitted this because I was in a hurry and didn't
have any
1T sugar
30-40 whole cloves or 5t sugar and a pinch of powdered cloves
Bring honey to a boil, simmer two or three minutes,
stir in breadcrumbs with a spatula until uniformly mixed.
Remove from heat, stir in ginger, pepper and saunders.
When it is cool enough to handle, knead it to get spices thoroughly mixed.
Put it in a box (square plastic container with a lid)
squish it flat and thin (it REALLY says squish),
sprinkle with sugar and put cloves ornamentally around the edge.
Leave it to let clove flavor sink in;
do not eat the cloves.
**An alternative way of doing it (this is the way I did it) is to roll into
small balls, roll in sugar mixed with a pinch of cloves.
[Cariadoc's transcript of the original recipe is as follows:
To make ginerbrede. Tanke goode honey & clarifie it on the fere & take
fayre paynemayn or wastel brede & grate it & caste it into the boylenge hony
& stere it weel togyder faste with a sklyse that it bren not to the vessell.
& panne take it doun and put therein ginger, longe pepper & saundres, &
tempere it up with thin hands & than put hem to a flatt boyste & strawe
thereon suger & pick therein clowes rounde aboute by the egge and in the
mydes, yf it plece you, & c.]
When I made it, the mixture seemed a little runny, so we added some extra
breadcrumbs.
I have made this recipe several times, always with good success. For some
reason, the mixture didn't want to "hold up" so I ended up adding a total of
another whole cup of bread crumbs to the mixture.
Anyway, this was my menu...oh yes, I also made fried potatoes, no recipe.
Everyone liked everything, includeing my picky son!
IS,
Phillipa
ate: Sun, 05 Dec 1999 17:21:00 -0800
From: Valoise <varmstro at zipcon.net>
Subject: Re: SC - structural gingerbread
Margali asked:
> Anybody have a good gingerbread recipe for the type of flat gingerbread
> that you make houses and sotleties out of? I want to do a gingerbread
> castle or treasure chest for our christmas party at work this year...
I'm sure there are plenty of recipes and directions for modern
gingerbread houses out there. Does anyone know of any period
references for them? I've never found a recipe for them, but I do have
a picture from _Kunstgeschichte des Backwerks_. It's a woodcut of a
Lebkuchenhaus, late 15th C.. I can't tell if it's supposed to
something that was actually made to be eaten or an allegorical
picture. Looks like round and oval Lebkuchen attached to the surface
of a house. Can't tell what the structure of the house is made of.
Valoise
Date: Wed, 8 Dec 1999 11:21:04 -0500 (EST)
From: Michael Macchione <Michael.Macchione at widener.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - structural gingerbread
On Wed, 8 Dec 1999 cclark at vicon.net wrote:
> Just stick to the honey version and you'll be much closer to period than
> most of the recipes that have turned up on this thread. I think I'll try
> this one sometime soon, though I'm going to add a little more ginger and
> replace some of the cloves with grains of paradise.
I have made the "period" version of gingerbread on multiple occasions.
(warmed honey and spices poured over and mixed with bread crumbs) I have
found that the type of bread you use and how dry it is greatly changes
the end product. I once made it with loaves of French bread that were
dry.... I mean Sahara Desert Dry... used two-three times the amount of
honey mixture that was called for... and still had it come out sandy.
(by the way this sandy stuff mixed with butter made a great crumb crust
for a ginger/spice flavored cheescake.)
By using loaves of normal sliced white bread, that were basically dried
for a while in the oven, the end product is almost a fudge consistency
which can be used to make structures out of..... I know this because I
have. At an event a few years back, I made a castle out of this stuff,
wrapping it around coffee cans for the towers (and putting different
desserts in each tower) It worked out well...
here are some pics of it....
http://www2.widener.edu/~mxm0034/castle1.jpg
http://www2.widener.edu/~mxm0034/castle2.jpg
http://www2.widener.edu/~mxm0034/castle3.jpg
Kael
Date: Wed, 08 Dec 1999 11:29:31 -0500
From: Angie Malone <alm4 at cornell.edu>
Subject: SC - gingerbread
>By using loaves of normal sliced white bread, that were basically dried
>for a while in the oven, the end product is almost a fudge consistency
>which can be used to make structures out of..... I know this because I
>have. At an event a few years back, I made a castle out of this stuff,
>wrapping it around coffee cans for the towers (and putting different
>desserts in each tower) It worked out well...
I just did our fall event, and I made this gingerbread also. I waited til
the last minute to dry the bread, we ended up laying all the slices of
bread out in the kitchen and they dried overnight, like maybe 12 hours and
it made a wonderful gingerbread, although I would make sure I did the
bread crumbs in a food processor or blender and that there weren't any lumps
in the bread crumbs, they really need to be finely ground.
Angeline
Lady Angeline di Aquila
Seneschal--Dominion of Myrkfaelinn, Kingdom of Aethelmearc
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 01:03:35 -0800
From: "James F. Johnson" <seumas at mind.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Oogy gingerbread problem
Lurking Girl wrote:
> Tonight, I upped the voltage to 2 cups breadcrumbs. STILL too oogy! I
> want to be able to roll them into balls for a dessert board this weekend.
> I have ceased to believe that the amount of breadcrumbs is the problem.
> What step am I missing? (A brief attempt at kneading led to glops of
> honey crud all over me, the counter, and an investigating feline.)
Being the bad and ill disciplined cook that I am, I didn't bother so
much with measuring. I heated the honey and added breadcrumbs until they
absorbed all the honey and I couldn't stir without risk of breaking the
spoon or my wrist. Gut feel was around a 2:1 ration of crumbs to honey,
maybe more crumb. I did grind the crumbs finely, and not until the bread
had dried thoroughly (I helped it along by cutting the bread thin and
placing it in the oven on the lowest setting with the door ajar - dried
but not toasted.) The gingerbread came out like firm marzipan and took
some effort to cut. Pliable, but not gooey. Some of the leftover bread I
gently baked in the oven and it is more firm and bready. Given the sugar
content, this stuff should keep fairly well for a short time, and
actually dehydrate a bit while it sits.
Seumas
Date: Thu, 20 Jan 2000 17:00:37 -0700
From: "Karen O" <kareno at lewistown.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Oogy gingerbread problem
>James F. Johnson wrote:
>> Being the bad and ill disciplined cook that I am, I didn't bother so much
>> with measuring. I heated the honey and added breadcrumbs until they
>> absorbed all the honey and I couldn't stir without risk of breaking the
>> spoon or my wrist.
and Vika responded:
>Ohhhhh. Rain-BOW. I guess I do need more breadcrumbs then. The stuff
>I've always ended up with still had honey nature--definitely not all
>absorbed.
and Caointiarn chimes in:
DRY breadcrumbs is probably the best answer, and while a 1:1 ratio has
worked for me, I also had extra standing by, (just in case I needed more)
the idea is to stir *rapidly* the crumbs into the boiling honey -- like
cream of wheat --until the mixture is too hard to stir/ is sticking to the
side of the pot. and since you are trying to roll it into balls, you're
obviously letting it cool enough to handle. If it's still too sticky, try
kneading very fine breadcrumbs (bread dust?) into the mixture/ coating your
hands with it.
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 23:22:08 -0500
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: OOP: sourdough gingerbread ( was Re:private-Re: SC - Happy Groundhog Day!)
> Sourdough gingerbread? This sounds interesting..........:-)
It was tasty, though I'm not sure that I could really detect the sourdough
under all the spice and sweetness. The recipe was out of "World
Sourdoughs from Antiquity" by Ed Wood, who is one of the leading
authorities on sourdough baking. [I got my copy from Poison Pen
Press at Pennsic.] The gingerbread uses active sourdough starter as
an ingredient, but gets most of its leavening from baking soda.
And to forstall the inevitable request, here is the recipe:
2 cups proofed sourdough starter (ie., fed, and left out for about 6-8
hours, or until bubbly
2 TBS melted butter
1 cup molasses
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 egg, beaten
2 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup white bread flour
Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 10-inch square pan (not
owning such a thing, I used a 9-inch round).
Place measured starter in large mixing bowl. Add butter, molasses,
spices, egg, sugar and salt. Mix well. Add baking soda to the mixture
and stir. Add flour and mix until smooth.
Pour into baking pan and bake 55-60 minutes, until gingerbread pulls
away from sides and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out
clean.
Cook in pan for 10 minutes, then turn onto a rack to finish cooling.
Misc. notes: I used all-purpose flour. I only had 1/2 cup molasses in
the house. Since it was nearly midnight, and I didn't want to drive to the
supermarket, I substituted 1/2 cup honey for the rest, and omitted the
sugar. The end product tasted like a hybrid between traditional modern
gingerbread and a Jewish honey cake. I think, in my tiredness, I
inadvertantly increased the baking soda to 1 tsp., which may explain
the texture, which was a trifle chewier than I expected. Next time, I'll try
the recipe as written, just to see how it's different.
Oh, and the best source of sourdough info on the web (recipies, FAQs,
and where to get a starter) is at:
http://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/sourdoughfaqs.html
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2000 08:36:34 -0400
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - molds for gingerbread
http://www.houseonthehill.net/
margali
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 16:25:25 +0200From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>Subject: Re: SC - Begging A Favor>I have served gingerbread at demos, and most kids like it. I did cut back a>little on the pepper and ginger as it otherwise seems to be little highly>seasoned for some people. My recipe follows:>>19. To make gingerbrede. Take goode honey & clarefie it on the fere, & take>fayre paynemayn or wastel brede & grate it, & caste it into the boylenge honey,>& stere it well togyder faste with a sklyse that it bren not to the vessell. &>thanne take it doun and put therein ginger, longe pepere & saundres, & tempere>it up with thin haldes; & than put hem to a flatt gboyste & straw thereon sugar,>& pick therein clowes rounde aboute by the egge and in the mydes, yf it plece>you, &c.>>19. To make gingerbrede. Take good honey and clarify it on the fire, and take>good white bread or good bread and grate it, and put it into the boiling honey>and stir it together fast with a spatula so that it will not burn not to the>vessel. And then take it down and add ginger, long pepper and sanders, and mix>it with thin handles ; and then put it in a flat box and sprinkle it with>sugar. And pick cloves round about by the egg and in the middle, if it please>you. (Sloan, 468 from Curye on Inglysch)Hello! Yes, gingerbread is an excellent dish for kids. (Two suggestedcorrections to the above translation, if I may -- "with thin haldes", withthine hands; and "by the egge", by the edge.)Here is another gyngerbrede recipe from Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez:iiij. Gyngerbrede. Take a quart of hony, & sethe it, skeme it clene; takeSafroun, pouder Pepir, & [th]row [th]er-on; take gratyd Brede, make it sochargeaunt [th]at it wol be y-lechyd; [th]en take pouder Canelle, & straw[th]er-on y-now; [th]en make yt square, lyke as [th]ou wolt leche yt; takewhen [th]ou lechyst hyt, an caste Box leves a-bouyn, y-stykyd [th]er-on, onclowys. And [3]if [th]ou wolt haue it Red, coloure it with Saunderysy-now.4. Gingerbread. Take a quart of honey, & seethe it, skim it clean; takeSaffron, powdered Pepper, & throw thereon; take grated Bread, make it sostiff that it will be cut; then take powdered Cinnamon, & strew thereonenough; then make it square, like as thou would cut it; take when thou cutit, and caste Box leaves above, stuck thereon, and cloves. And if thouwill have it Red, color it with Sandalwood enough.Here's another good crowd-pleaser that can be made ahead of time. The honeysauce can be served with crackers:"Pokerounce is reminiscent of warm mead on toast, and is quite delicious insmall quantities. The honey mixture may be made in advance and preservedeither by canning or refrigeration.Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez<snip. See candy-msg> Cindy Renfrow/SincgiefuAuthor and Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More" and "A Sip Through Time"http://www.thousandeggs.comcindy at thousandeggs.com
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 12:02:25 +1200
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
From: Robert Garnett <carnelian at inet.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Gyngerbrede (finally!).
>A note on coloring: Period recipes stress
>that gyngerbred should be colored red with the
>addition of red sandalwood.
I have used red sandal wood to color several of my gyngerbred products. I
found that it gives the gyngerbred a really beautiful soft red color. I
would recommend everyone have a go at using red sandal wood as it is really
fun to see the results.
Duncan Kerr.
Herald and master of the hounds.
Barony of Southron Gaard.
From: Druighad at aol.com
Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 14:03:12 EDT
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Gyngerbrede.
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
ruthf at uidaho.edu writes:
<< Random side note: the Elizabethen recipe I have describes
kneading the dough and then pressing it into a mold to shape it.
Unless Elizabethen cooks had cast-iron hands, I'm guessing their
version ended up being much more malleable when it cooled, sort of
a play-doh type texture. It would be possible, with fine enough
crumbs and the right proportions, I think. >>
From having worked as both a baker and pastry chef, let me tell y'all that we
have no nerves left in our hands. It's very possible that the Elizabethens
also kneaded when the mixture was very hot, but used ice water baths (to
dunk hands in) to keep their hands very cold, and not burn. It's a technique
that anyone who does pulled or blown sugar uses religiously.
Finnebhir, the nerveless. too many burns and callouses.
Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2003 18:22:39 -0600
From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] More White Gingerbread
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Greetings. I've been behind in reading digests. You found the recipe you
were looking for, but there are earlier versions of white gingerbread that
are much different.
John Murrell, 1617, _A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen_, has this
version. "Take halfe a pound of March-pane-Past made with Almonds,
Rose-water and Sugar, and a spoonefull of Aqua vita, season it very hot
with Ginger, mould it up stiffe, rowle it thin, and print it with your
moulds."
In 1621 Murrell gave this version in _A Delightful Daily Exercise for
Ladies and Gentlewomen_. "Take halfe a pound of marchpaine past, a quarter
of a pound of white Ginger beaten and cerst, halfe a pound of the powder of
refined sugar, beate this to a very fine paste with dragagant steept in
rose-water, then roule it in round cakes and print it with your moulds: dry
them in an oven when the bread is drawn foorth, upon white papers, &
when they be very dry, box them, and keepe them all the yeare."
Peter Brears gives an even earlier version from 1587 along with a modern
adaptation. It's in _Banquetting Stuffe_, p. 101-103. The original from
A.W., _A Book of Cookrye_, reads: "Take Gumma Dragagantis halfe an ounce,
and steep it in rosewater two daies, then put thereto a pound of Sugar
beaten & finely serced, and beate them well together so that it may be
wrought like paste, then role it thin into two Cakes, then take a fewe
Jordain almonds and blaunch them in colde water, then dry them with a faire
Cloth, and stampe them in a morter very finelye, adding thereto a little
rosewater, beat finely also the whitest Sugar you can get and searce it.
Then take Ginger, pare it and beat it very small and serce it, then put in
sugar to the almonds & beat them togither very well, then take it out and
work it at your pleasure, then lay it even upon one of your cakes, and
cover it with another and when you put it in the molde, strewe fine
ginger both above and beneath."
Alys Katharine
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 23:27:02 -0500
From: "Kingstaste" <kingstaste at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Gingerbread
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 9:54 PM, <chawkswrth at aol.com> wrote:
<<< Good Evening! I am in the process of making my very first gingerbread and
I find I need to ask, as the loaf of Old Bread lies spread out on the counter,
drying.
Just how finely ground should the breadcrumbs be? What I usually do is put
them though a fine mesh strainer. Obviously, the bread has to be really dry,
and the crumb is VERY fine, indeed.
Also-has anyone ever put freshly grated ginger in it, or does it have to
dried and finely ground, as well? (I have a thumb-sized lump of fresh ginger
in the fridge, and a nutmeg grater that I also use for lemon zest)
With breadcrumbs under my nails....
Helen >>>
Wow, I never worry about getting it that fine. I usually toast the bread
and let it dry out a bit, then put it in a food processor and grind it up.
I have made it with dried ginger (usually) and with fresh ginger root
steeped in the hot honey. The dried ginger is usually stronger. Either
works fine. Here's the thing, this is a fairly adaptable recipe. It is
honey and breadcrumbs and spices. It can be brown bread, white bread, mixed
loaves, semi-dry, really dry, wildflower honey, clover honey, whatever you
have on hand. It doesn't "have" to be anything one way or the other. The
period recipe specifies that the honey be clarified, get the wax and bee
parts out of it. It calls for waste bread, so obviously it was going to
change from time to time when being made in the average medieval household.
I have even had it made with rye crumbs, and that was darned tasty.
Christianna
Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2008 00:24:31 -0500
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Gingerbread
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Dec 13, 2008, at 11:27 PM, Kingstaste wrote:
<<< parts out of it. It calls for waste bread, so obviously it was going to
change from time to time when being made in the average medieval household.
I have even had it made with rye crumbs, and that was darned tasty. >>>
Isn't that "wastel bread"? I thought it was...
If so, it's a fine, cakelike white bread eaten by the wealthy. I'm
wondering if perhaps "wastel" and "gateau" share a common French root...
Adamantius, Bad Cop
Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2008 23:43:01 -0800 (GMT-08:00)
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Gingerbread
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Adamantius wrote:
<<< Isn't that "wastel bread"? I thought it was...
If so, it's a fine, cakelike white bread eaten by the wealthy. I'm
wondering if perhaps "wastel" and "gateau" share a common French
root... >>>
I lack an French dictionary that gives etymologies, however it seems highly likely.
Gateau has a circumflex over the first "a" indicating it was originally followed by an "s". Additionally quite a few modern French words that end in "eau" ended with "el" in Medieval times, such as modern "chateau" from Medieval "chastel". So now we can say that it may well have been "gastel". And since French doesn't use a "w", a "g" sometimes replaces a "w" in words that came from another language.
So while "wastel" may not (or may) have originally French, it's likely that "wastel" and "gateau" are related.
--
Urtatim (that's ur-tah-TEEM)
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 06:59:04 -0500
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Gingerbread
To: lilinah at earthlink.net, Cooks within the SCA
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Dec 15, 2008, at 2:43 AM, lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
<<< Gateau has a circumflex over the first "a" indicating it was
originally followed by an "s". Additionally quite a few modern
French words that end in "eau" ended with "el" in Medieval times,
such as modern "chateau" from Medieval "chastel". So now we can say
that it may well have been "gastel". And since French doesn't use a
"w", a "g" sometimes replaces a "w" in words that came from another
language.
So while "wastel" may not (or may) have originally French, it's
likely that "wastel" and "gateau" are related. >>>
The dropping of the "s", as in etude/study, hotel/hostel, hopital/
hospital, etc., is fairly common in word pairs appearing in both
French and English, and the G-W transposition is pretty common, as
well, as in Guillaume/William, gaufrette, etc.
Most dictionaries appear to suggest that the French gateau derives
from the Frankish and, in turn, Germanic, wastil, which appears to
derive from proto-Indo-European terms meaning nourishment or food.
Yeah, okay ;-)
Adamantius
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 07:15:54 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Gingerbread
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
OED lists wastel as:
*wastel* wo/enticons/ogon.gif.st'l. Obs. exc. Hist. Forms: wastell, (
vastell), wastelle, (wastle, wastyl(le, wastil), Sc. wastell, - wastel;
also, by confusion with /wassail/, wassell.
[a. OFr. /wastel/,
north-eastern var. of /guastel/, /gastel/ (mod.Fr. /g?teau/). In
Anglo-L. records the word often occurs latinized as /guastellum/,
/wastellum/: see examples under simnel and treat.
Defined then as "Bread made of the finest flour; a cake or loaf of this
bread" which goes back to the 12th century.
2. Her. = torteau
1. and torteau means [a. Fr. /tourteau/ `a large round cake or flat
bannock of bread', a mass of oilcake, a wooden disk used as a crusher,
and in heraldry as below; in OFr. /tortel/ (12th c. in Hatz.-Darm.),
* *1486* /Bk. St. Albans, Coat-arm./ b iv b, Tortlettis be calde in
armys wastell.
* *1562* Leigh /Armorie/ 151 b, He beareth or, x torteauxes... These
haue been called of olde blazoures, wastelles, and are cakes of
breade.
*2. * A flat cake, a pancake. Obs.
(Cf. quot. 1562 in 1.) *1625* Purchas /Pilgrims/ II. ix. xix.
/enticons/sect.gif3. 1652 Torteaux and Bignets, and many other sorts of
food... They make pottage, and Torteaux and Galletus.
Johnnae
<the end>