jams-jellies-msg - 3/5/11
Period fruit jams, jelly, preserves, marmalades, conserves and butters.
NOTE: See also the files: marmalades-msg, jellied-milk-msg, aspic-msg, molded-foods-msg, suckets-msg, wine-jelly-msg, candied-fruit-msg, Period-Fruit-art, sugar-msg.
************************************************************************
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
************************************************************************
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 10:16:45 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - An Introduction and a question.
DdreMacNam at aol.com wrote:
> What I need to know is how
> period are preserves and jelly? Also what types of fruit would have been
> used? One last thing does anyone have recepies or redactions?
Fruits preserved in various sugar and/or honey preparations are
exceedingly period. They range from fruit in spiced syrup, through
myriad varieties of stamped, sliceable, fruit "marmalades" (kind of like
a stack of fruit leather), to, in late period, the jams and jellies we
know today.
Ellinor Fettiplace's receipt book (AGAIN!) has quite a few recipes for
all of these, and they are late enough in period style to be used as
working recipes by relatively novice cooks.
Tops on the list of fruits would be those known to medieval/renaissance
Europeans (obviously), especially those that are high in pectin. Quinces
are quite common for this reason. Apples and pears only slightly less
so. Raspberries, strawberries, barberries, and gooseberries all appear
in several sources. Oranges and lemons appear, but generally as candied
peel or some kind of suckets.
Apart from the use of honey substituted for part or all of the sugar in
some recipes, particularly the early ones, the technology for making
pectin set by combining it with sugar and acid hasn't changed over the
years, so most of the period recipes are quite straightforward and
easily interpreted by modern cooks with some experience with making jams
and jellies. Generally you won't find, for instance, that much less
sugar being used to make a sweet fruit jelly than is used today, just
because sugar was expensive. If you don't use enough, you run the risk
of the fruit not setting until it is cooked to death and devoid of color
and flavor. So, most of the recipes are pretty similar to modern ones,
although you'll find a somewhat greater variety of styles than is
generally practiced today.
Adamantius
From: Philip E Cutone <flip+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 12:27:43 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - An Introduction and a question.
The domestroi mentions various ways fruits are preserved/cooked.
It mentions that Jellies may be given to the servents on sundays. (51)
preserve apples, pears, cherries, and berries in brine (63)
(66)it talks also of watermelons, melons, Kuzmin apples (seeming to be the
origin of candied apples, pour honey syrup over whole apples),
quinces and appls (fermented in a bucket with honey syrup), Mozhaisk
cream (not mashed. soak apples and pears in a blended syrup, without
water. (not sure what they mean))
berry candy (66)(bilberries, rasberries, currants, strawberries,
cranberries, "or any other kind of berry". here is a quick rundown of
the instructions:
Boil and strain through a fine sieve add honey and then steam
the mixture till VERY thick, stiring so as not to burn. pour
onto a board. smear the board repeatedly with honey. as
mixture sets, add a second and third layer and twirl it around
a tube. dry it opposite the stove.
my quick interpretation:
cook the berries (use minimal water, or reserve the juice for
mead/drinking later) Puree them and strain to remove
seeds.(opt) add honey to your taste. simmer on very low heat
till thick. then pour onto a honeyed marble pastry board.
let dry a bit (perhaps in oven, not sure if this is good for
marble) then add a second and third layer, letting set up some
between layers. dry in oven on lowest setting. cut as is or
roll it and then cut it. die of sugar shock.
apple candy(66): about the same as berry candy, but it appears to be left
"softer" (don't dry out in oven)
the parenthesized numbers are chapters, for the interested.
please note this was from a very quick browse through.... and typed
rather quickly as well...
BTW it also mentions that pears and apples may be preserved in syrup
or kvass. (45)
In Service to never letting the kvass thread die :)
Filip of the Marche
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 07:41:15 -0400
From: Margo Lynn Hablutzel <Hablutzel at compuserve.com>
To: A&S List <sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu>
Subject: Period Jellies
I have a cookbook dated 1604 which has a number of Jelly recipes, mostly as
a prelude to candy (suckets) but some really jelly, or you simply
undercook and stop when they are spreading consistency. It is called "Mrs.
Fettiplace's Recipe Book" and I got it at Bargain Books last year.
--- Morgan
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 20:26:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: ALBAN at delphi.com
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Period Jellies
Morgan said
>It is called "Mrs. Fettiplace's Recipe Book"
Er, ah, not exactly, if your book's the same as mine. It is called, I believe,
Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book. Author is Hilary Fettiplace.
Alban
Date: Tue, 17 Jun 1997 09:47:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Concord Grapes
I _think_ it's a sort of jelly, since he mentions that in the same sentence,
but I'm not sure. Tibor? What's a quiddony?
Alban, as near as I could figure, it was a jelly, but not quite made in the
usual way. I haven't made it in years, and my notes aren't here, but you
cut and boil the fruit in water, squeeze out the juice and pulp through a
cloth, and then boil with sugar, and set. It came out halfway between jelly
and fruit leather.
It was a method of preserving fruit through the winter months. I kept it
out on the shelf for about 4 years, until it was gone from occassional
tastes. It was quite nice.
My notes, and my books, are packed away until the kitchen rennovations are
completed. Sorry.
Tibor
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 1997 10:59:13 -0400 (EDT)
From: Mark Schuldenfrei <schuldy at MATH.HARVARD.EDU>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Period Jellies
Morgan said
>It is called "Mrs. Fettiplace's Recipe Book"
Er, ah, not exactly, if your book's the same as mine. It is called, I believe,
Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book. Author is Hilary Fettiplace.
Alban
Author Hilary Spurling.
Tibor
Date: Fri, 2 Jan 1998 14:01:12 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Apricot recipes?(was Byzantine Cooking)
Since I have Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery in front of me, here
are some recipe's from it.
Bear
TO MAKE APRICOCK CAKES
<see fruits-msg>
TO CANDY GREEN APRICOCK CHIPS
<see fruits-msg>
TO PRESERUE DAMSONS OTHER PLUMS OR APRICOCKS TO KEEP ALL Ye YEAR IN A
QUACKEING JELLY
Take a pinte of apple water & boyle 2 pound of sugar in it, till it is
thoroughly dissolved & is in a perfect sirrup. then take 2 pound of yr
fairest & ripest plums, & put into it, & let them boil very leasurely
till they are very tender, then set them aside to coole, & let them
stand in ye sirrup 3 days. then take them out & boyle ye sirrup by it
selfe, & as it riseth, scum it of very clean, & put to it yr plums, or
yr plums to it, & they will keep all ye year very well, & ye sirrup will
be A quacking Jelly.
Note: Apple water is that water in which apples have been poached. To
prepare it, pare and core green apples, cover them with water and scald
(cook just below a boil) them for 3 hours. Remove the apples and use
the water.
TO MAKE OF PLUMS PEARS OR APRICOCKS A PASTE Yt SHALL LOOK CLEAR AS AMBER
Take white pear plums of faire yellow Apricock[s]. pare & stone them,
then boyle them on a chafing dish of coles till they be tender. then
streyne them and dry the pulpe in a dish. then take as much sugar as ye
pulp dos weigh & boyle it to a candy height, with as much rose water as
will wet it. then put your apricocks or pear plums in ye sugar, & let
them boyle together & keep it stirring. then fashion it upon A leaf of
glass into halfe apricocks, & put ye stone into ye syde. then put them
into a stove or warme oven, & ye next day turn them & close 2 of them
together, & then put ye stones into them betwixt ye hollows. soe dry
them out, & box them.
TO MAKE A QUIDONY OF APRICOCKS OR PEAR PLUMS
Take 2 pound of apricocks or pear plums & put them into a deep dish
withe a pinte of fair water, in which boyle them tender. yn wring ye
liquor from them thorough a fine cloth into A basin, & put into it a
pound of sugar well clarified, & let it boyle in a [posnet] till it
comes to its full thickness, then [put it in yr] moulds, and soe box it.
Date: 30 Apr 1998 10:32:13 -0700
From: "Marisa Herzog" <marisa_herzog at macmail.ucsc.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - Dried currents
<snip>Are they the same fruit currant jelly is made from, or is that real
currants?
Renata
Currant jelly is from real currants- the red ones are beautiful tiny red
berries that are really tart. We had a couple bushes when I was little.
Usually between me and the birds my mom did not get enough to make anything
out of! "Creme de Cassis" liquer is made from the black currants, and I think
goose-berries are related, but I am not sure...
So... if currants in period recipes are the little grape raisins, were *real*
currants (red or black) used in period? and if so how were they refered to?
- -brid
Date: Thu, 04 Jun 1998 19:11:17 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Jams not period??? (was SC - Mulberry question)
From: kat <kat at kagan.com>
> So then, what is the accepted general belief on the use of preserves in reenacting period cooking?
>
> I have been happily placing my father's prizewinning apricot, berry and plum preserves on my breakfast buffets and have never heard any objection...
>
> ... I have always felt that his were "more period" than storebought; if only for the fact that he often grows the produce himself and uses less sugar than commercial jams...
>
> so... should I cease serving preserves, break my heart though it would?
Hey! Do you really think I would tell you to do something like that?
Okay. Here's the deal. You can either
a) cook your preserves (beyond the normal point where they seem done,
that is) quickly, in a wide pan like a deep skillet, until you can draw
a spoon through it and it forms clean walls -- thick enough to hold
stiff peaks, more or less. Watch out for burning, and for burns: this
stuff is hotter than boiling water, and could splash. Kinda like napalm.
When it's done (you don't need no steenking saucer pectin test) pour
into oiled molds for a marmalade or fruit cheese, which is eaten in
slices, or in wide flat drops on wax paper, for cakes or pastilles.
Pastilles are eaten drier and firmer. Serve either with bread or
biscuits (as in biscotti, not "cat-heads") and cheese. Earlier period
versions of this type of fruit paste were often made with honey.
b) serve your fruit poached in a spiced wine syrup, a reasonably similar
approach to what often was done with fruits like pears.
c) serve the preserves as you have been doing, and if anyone asks if
they are period, tell them the truth, and say, but hey, this is good
stuff, isn't it?
Adamantius
Date: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 22:03:45 EDT
From: RuddR at aol.com
Subject: Re: Jams not period??? (was SC - Mulberry question)
I find in _The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Opened_ (1669) receipts for "Jelly
of Currants" and "Marmulate of Cherries" at least (This is only a quick
glance). These seem to be straight-up fruit preserves, little different from
your father's prizewinning varieties.
Rudd Rayfield
Date: Sat, 06 Jun 1998 09:52:48 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Re: Jams not period???
> > so... should I cease serving preserves, break my heart though it would?
>
> I find in _The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Opened_ (1669) receipts for "Jelly
> of Currants" and "Marmulate of Cherries" at least (This is only a quick
> glance). These seem to be straight-up fruit preserves, little different from
> your father's prizewinning varieties.
I guess the real issue here is the efficacy of the preservative process.
Jams, jellies, and what we call preserves today, are usually sealed up
in preserving jars of some kind, or cans, or what have you. This is
necessary to avoid molds and other decay. One possible solution that
seems to have been employed in later period (and after) is some kind of
vessel (maybe a ceramic jar) topped with a brandy-soaked disk of
parchment, and covered with melted lard or beeswax. More commonly, in
period, fruits were preserved in sweet, spiced syrups of wine and sugar
or honey, or in the form of solid marmalades. The former method is found
in sources from Apicius on up, and the latter is found in, at the very
least, several of the 14th-century sources. The problem with accepting
Digby as a source typical of even late period for SCA purposes is his
date, even when you take into account the fact that his book was
published posthumously, and shave as many as ten years off 1669. Also, I
don't recall there's much reason to assume Digby's recipes are for
anything other than the slicing jellies and marmalades. I just think
Digby is assuming his reader will place the current, prevailing
definition of a fruit jelly or marmalade on the recipe, which is exactly
what his 20th-century readers often do, too.
> Surely this culinary process did not just appear full-blown in the seventeenth
> century. There must be antecedants, even if unrecorded. Are there earlier
> sources? What's the earliest date that can be put on a recipe for sweet fruit
> preserves?
As I say, I think there's one or more recipes for fruit preserved in
wine, honey, and spices, in Apicius, roughly 1st - 3rd century CE
(there's some question as to the identity, and therefore the date, of M.
Gavius Apicius). The next time they seem to crop up, in the sources I'm
familiar with, is in the 14th century.
Based on the availability of recipes (which isn't always the best
benchmark, but currently most of what we have to go on) the jams,
jellies, and marmalades we know today don't _seem_ to have been common
until the late 18th - early 19th century, which, coincidentally, seems
to be when canning technology made significant leaps.
Adamantius
Date: Sun, 7 Jun 1998 09:24:02 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - jam vs. jelly
stefan at texas.net writes:
<< What is the difference between a jam and a jelly? >>
Jam is produced from crushed whole fruit. Jelly is produced from the juice
strained off of whole crushed fruit. For all intent and purposes, Jam is
thickened fruit. Jelly is thickened fruit juice. The thickening and sweetening
in both are the same or similar.
Ras
Date: Sun, 7 Jun 1998 23:11:47 -0500
From: allilyn at juno.com (LYN M PARKINSON)
Subject: Re: SC - jam vs. jelly
Stefan,
The adding of sugar, to preserve, and to make palatable, is common, and
the cooking, to destroy microorganisms--even before they knew about
those, they figured out that if you cooked food well and sealed it, it
didn't spoil. Here are the differences:
whole or half or large chunks in the finished product=preserves
crushed fruit left in the spread=jam
fruit juice strained thru fabric (linen or cotton 'jelly bags') so that
resulting jelly is clear=jelly.
Now, just to confuse you, ;-) things can be added to a jelly, as chunks
of cooked meat and vegetables can be added to a meat jelly for a
galentine.
Allison
Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1998 19:29:20 -0500
From: vjarmstrong at aristotle.net (Valoise Armstrong)
Subject: Latwerge (Was Re: SC - Jellies vs. aspics)
Adamantius asked:
>Latwerge, huh? This wouldn't be made from plums, would it? There is a
>thick plum butter found in Poland, I believe, called lekvar. I wonder if
>there's some etymological cognate voodoo going on here...
Well, I don't know Polish or Polish cooking, but Latwerge refers to the
conserve/fruit paste in general. I guess you could make it from plums, but
the only recipes I could find at the spur of the moment were for quinces
and pears. And I swear I thought I saw a cherry recipe somewhere, but I
can't find it now that I want it.
Valoise
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 1998 19:14:22 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Will's- more recipes
Here are the few recipes my co-feastocrat at Will's Revenge, His Lordship
Thorstein, was willing to share. :-) Sorry for the lack of documentation but
this isn't my work. Enjoy. They are wonderful. :-)
Rødgrød med Fløde
1 1/2 pounds of fresh raspberries or strawberries, or a combination of the two
(or substitute 2 ten-ounce packages of frozen berries)
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of arrowroot powder
1/2 cup cold water
slivered almonds
1/2 cup light cream
Remove any hulls from the fresh berries, then wash the berries quickly in a
sieve, drain and spread them out on paper towels, and pat them dry. After
cutting the larger berries into quarters, place in the container of an electric
blender. Blend at high speed for 2 or 3 minutes until they are puréed. If you
are using frozen berries, defrost them thoroughly, then purée them in the
blender - juices and all
To make rødgrød by hand, rub the contents of the packages or the fresh
berries through a fine sieve that is set over a large mixing bowl. Place the
berry purée (which should measure about 22 cups) in a 1 to 1* quart
enameled or stainless-steel saucepan and stir in the sugar. Bring to a boil,
stirring constantly. Mix the 2 tablespoons of arrowroot and the cold water to
a smooth paste, and stir it into the pan. Let the mixture come to a simmer
to thicken the jelly (do not let it boil), then remove the pan from the heat.
Pour into individual dessert bowls or a large serving bowl. Chill for at least 2 hours. Before serving the rødgrød, decorate the top with a few slivers of
almonds and pass a pitcher of light cream separately.
<snip of other recipes>
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 1998 15:23:00 -0500
From: allilyn at juno.com (LYN M PARKINSON)
Subject: SC - Re: gooseberries + jelly
>>Gooseberries. Find me a period recipe (primary source only please)
that uses them.<<
I was looking through some of my books for your sauce, as I did not
remember seeing one when I did my sauce research. Still did not find any
gooseberry sauce, (Yes! See below) but have come across 'gelee of
gooseberries' in _The French Cook_, Francis deLaVarenne, 1653. This is
out of our period, but as we recently had a thread on jellies, I thought
it interesting. In period, the clear jellies are meat and fish based and
just 50 years later, the clear fruit jellies that we know are being
published. Raspberry jelly is made the same way. OOP, but not to be a
'spoon tease', here it is:
How to make gelee of gooseberries. Take some gooseberries, press them,
and strain them through a napkin; measure your juice, and put near upon
three quarters of sugar to one quart of juice; seeth it before you mixe
it, and seeth again together; after they are mixed, try them on a plate,
and you shall know that it is enough, when it riseth off. That of
Rasberries is made the same way.
As for other gooseberries, aside from a late period paste, and a
gooseberry verjuice, everybody seems to have preserved them and nobody
ate them! When the Brit museum continues excavating London, they will
surely find many, many pots of preserved gooseberries! Could it be that
someone tried to make paste in a rainy summer, and it wouldn't dry out?
"Here, eat this anyhow" "I can't pick it up!" "Well, put it on some
bread, then" "Oh, boy!"
As an antecedent to the mackeral/gooseberry combo, some fish sauces are
definately tart: they contain sorrell, lemon and other piquant tastes, so
your combo in in line with prevailing tastes, just not currently
documentable. Fruit jellies are so popular with meats in Europe, that
tart jellies may sometimes have taken the place of tart sauces.
Jeff says that European gooseberries are prickly. Do the prickles wash
off? Do they cook down to be non-prickly? Our landlord grew them, but I
never handled them. Would the prickles make them more or less likely to
appear in sauces, jellies, etc.?
Whoa!!! Hold!!! Just found something else in LaVarenne!
62. Fresh mackerells rosted. Rost them with fennell, after they are
rosted, open them, and take off the bone; then make a good sauce with
butter, parsley, and gooseberries, all well seasoned; stove a very little
your mackerells with your sauce, then serve.
Have just glanced at a number of her fish sauces; none seem to have cream
or milk added, yet. Is 'short broth' a reduced cooking liquid, do you
think?
Allison
Date: Tue, 07 Jul 1998 09:33:50 +1000
From: Robyn Probert <robyn.probert at lawpoint.com.au>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: gooseberries + jelly
Adamantius wrote
>I understood "jelly" in British English usage to mean a hand-held sweet.
>Do all you Americans recall Chuckles? Something along those lines...
Jelly has 3 meanings for "British English" speakers:
1. A dessert also made with fruit juice and gelatine which you set in the
fridge. Cheap variety is made with "jelly crystals" - basically gelatine,
flavour and colour. Common child dessert (aka sweet, pudding).
2. Sweets (candies), usually fruit flavoured and transluscent. The good
quality ones are made with real fruit juice and gelatine - these are soft
(about like a ripe persimmon) and usually covered in sugar (aka fruit
pastilles). The cheap variety are artificially coloured and flavoured and
are very chewy. You can buy jelly snakes, frogs, rats etc.
3. The clear type of jam previously described on the list.
Rowan
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 1999 08:04:28 -0500 (CDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
Subject: SC - Re: Fruit Conserves
Karin wrote:
>Basically, the fruit seems to have been saturated with sugar, until
>it attains an almost tough jelly like state ( jelly bean rather than
>jello ), sometimes it is then shaped into small fruit shapes, other
>times it still seems to be the basic fruit. The texture is still quite
>'solid' which seems to me that the fruit hasn't been pureed and
>reformed, but that it is done by a similar method to candying peel.
I'm not sure about the not-pureeing and then being boiled up like candy
peel. However, there are a number of fruit pastes which give a "tough
jelly" or a nice paste, depending on one's skill, etc. Here are two
I've used successfully (sometimes tough, sometimes nice paste,
sometimes it didn't set). Also, it seems that one can't really
substitute different fruits in certain recipes. I don't recall the
fruits now (it was a few years back) but the substituted fruit didn't
set up into the paste as the original fruit did.
Sir Kenelm Digby, The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Opened, 3rd edition,
1677
Sweet-Meats of my Lady Windebanks
She maketh a past of Apricocks (which is both very beautiful and clear,
and tasteth most quick of the fruit) thus. Take six pound of pared and
sliced Apricocks, put them in a high pot, which stop close, and set it
in a kettle of boiling water, till you perceive the flesh is all become
a uniform pulp; then put it out into your preserving pan or possenet,
and boil it gently till it be grown thick, stirring it carefully all
the while. Then put two pound of pure Sugar to it, and mingle it well,
and let it boil gently, till you see the matter come to such a
thickness and solidity, that it will not stick to a plate. Then make
it up into what form you will. The like you may do with Raspes or
Currants.
Redaction from 'Banquetting Stuffe' edited by C. Anne Wilson, chapter
4, Rare Conceits and Strange Delightes by Peter Brears. (Edinburgh
University Press, Edinburgh, 1986, ISBN 0 7486 0103 1)
8 oz (225 g) (when prepared) peeled and stoned apricots
3 oz (75 g) sugar (Alys: 1/2 cup; 1 lb. apricots to 1/3 lb. sugar)
Place the apricots in a heatproof jar, seal the top with a piece of
cooking foil, and stand in a covered saucepan of boiling water for an
hour. Pour the apricots into a small saucepan and gently boil,
stirring continuously until the paste is extremely thick, then add the
sugar and continue stirring. When it is so thick that it has to be
spread across the bottom of the pan with a spoon, it may be turned on
to a lightly greased plate, worked into a shallow square block, and
allowed to cool. It has a deep orange colour, and is every bit as good
today as Sir Kenelm found it three centuries ago.
Alys Katharine's revision: (1 lb. apricots to 1/3 lb. sugar. Ten
apricots (2-2 1/2") are slightly under one pound when peeled and
stoned.)
Slice the apricots, place in cooking container (Corningware 1 3/4 quart
pan holds a little over 2 lbs. of apricots). Seal with foil and rubber
band for extra security. Place in large pot, or larger Corningware
container. If you put a lid on the outer container you needn't top it
off with boiling water as quickly. Add boiling water and set on burner
at simmer for a good two hours. The apricots should have fallen into a
mush by then.
To peel apricots easily, place them in boiling water for about two
minutes and then remove them. The skins should peel off easily with a
knife or your fingers. If you let them stay in the boiling water too
long they begin to cook and get mushy under the skin. You can also
just slice the apricots without peeling them. After they have cooked
for two or more hours, puree them in a blender. It is best to use a
thick pan for cooking the pureed apricots and sugar. If you simmer
them on a low heat you need not stir them continuously until the
mixture begins to thicken and erupt into "burps." This "cooking down"
process can take 4 hours or so depending on the amount of apricots you
use and the temperature of the heat. You will need to stir the mixture
more and more as it gets thicker. The apricots are done when you can
drag your spoon through the mixture and it leaves a trail. It should
also be pulling away from the sides of the pan at this time.
While this recipe doesn't call for a sugar syrup, you can make one by
taking an amount of sugar, wetting it enough to dissolve the sugar, and
heating it to hard crack stage. Add it to the apricots, stirring as
you add it. Then cook the mixture down over low heat until you can
make a trail with your spoon. Pour into shallow, buttered pans and
allow to cool. You can cut them into squares or into shapes using
small cookie or canape cutters. Store between waxed paper or parchment
paper. With proper storage they will keep for a year or so.
TO MAKE A PASTE OF PEACHES, #S112, A Booke of Sweetmeats Martha
Washington's Booke of Cookery, transcribed by Karen Hess, Columbia
University Press, New York, 1981, ISBN 0-231-04930-7Take peaches &
boyle them tender, as you did your apricocks, & strayne them. then
take as much sugar as they weigh & boyle it to candy height. mix ym
together, & make it up into paste as you doe yr other fruit. soe dry
them and use it at your pleasure.Peel and slice peaches. Bring them to
a boil over medium heat in a thick pan. Cover pan, stirring
occasionally. Add a little rosewater if desired. (The previous recipe
for apricots includes rosewater.) Cook for approximately two or two
and a half hours until they are fully soft and "tender." I have pureed
them in a blender but that leaves a good deal of water to cook off.
Try pouring off the excess liquid through a sieve or strainer. Puree
the remaining pulp. (Save the liquid for other uses.) Weigh the pulp
and take the same amount in sugar. (Approximately 2 1/4 cups
granulated sugar equal one pound.) Gently boil down the pulp until it
is thick. When the pulp is as thick as it can get and not burn, boil
up the sugar with a small amount of water. Hess identifies candy
height as soft ball or 220 F. A modern recipe for fruit paste says to
boil to hard ball or 260 F. I have found that hard ball or even to
almost hard crack works best. Pour the sugar syrup into the cooked
pulp and stir until thoroughly mixed. Continue cooking the paste until
it leaves the side of the pan and you can draw a line in it with the
spoon. Be careful that it doesn't burn at the final stages, nor that
you burn yourself with splatters of boiling pulp. Pour it onto a
buttered cookie sheet with sides and let it cool. If it doesn't
solidify to a paste that you can cut try one of the following. Let it
sit for several days to dry out. Put it into a warm oven to dry out.
Scrape it all back into a pan and re-boil to drive off more water. You
can also make up more sugar syrup, but be sure to go to the hard crack
stage before adding it to the paste.
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 1999 20:25:58 -0700
From: "Robert C. Lightfoot" <celtcat at almatel.net>
Subject: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #1455
> The recipes, yes, please.
> Raoghnailt
>
> > Have you thought of fruit butters and cheeses? --snip--
> > This comes out like the commercial applets and cotlets.
> >
> > I can look up my recipes if anyone's interestes.
> > Siobhan
Here goes. These are from various cooking/preserving cookbooks I've collected over the years.
_Your Country Kitchen_ by Jocasta Innes
Damson Plum Cheese
4 lbs. plums
1 & 1/4 c. water
Sugar
Rinse the plums, place in a kettle with the water and simmer gently until quite soft. mashing occasionally. Strain/sieve pulp. Weigh the pulp, and measuring oput 1 & 1/2 c. sugar to every pound of pulp -- DO NOT COMBINE YET. Put the sugar where it will stay warm. Return the pulp to the kettle and cook very gently until thick, with no visible liquid. Pour in the warmed sugar, stirring hard to dissolve it, then turn upop the heat a little and continue cooking and sturring until pressing the spoon down on top of the mixture leaves a mark. This gives a cheese a firm enough texture to be turned out of a mold.. For a very firm, almost jellied consistency, go on cooking until a spoon drawn across the kettle parts the mixture and the bottom shows. Turn into oiled molds and seal/cover with a peice of wax paper pressed over the hot preserve. Cover with palstic wrap and close. This should keep in a cool place for several months.
Cranberry Cheese
2 lb cranberries
1 quart water
4 c. sugar.
Pick over the cranberries then rinse the. Simmer the berries in a kettle with the water until quite sift. Cook as for the Damson cheese, but stop at the first sppon stage. Pot and seal.
Siobhan
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: lavender sugar
From: "Christina L Biles" <bilescl at okstate.edu>
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 08:27:03 -0600
I said:
> If you accidentally forget to add pectin, it makes a great syrup for
> waffles. ;>
Stefan said:
>>>I assume from this, that this little tidbit was learned from practical
experience. Is there some reason you can't heat this syrup back up and
then mix the pectin in at that point?<<<
If you try to add pectin after the sugar, you get a really strange texture
and it doesn't jell well, if at all. The end result still tastes good,
and can be incorporated into banana bread and muffins or other baked
goods, but isn't something I'd want to spread on toast.
-Magdalena d.C.
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: RE: [SCA-cooks] Fruit Paste Question
Date: Tue, 06 May 2003 18:51:01 +0000
Bring it to room temperature and from there slowly heat it back up. If you
shock it it will burn the sugar. It should finish nicely from there. I
used to make fruit leather and it can be finicky but if you don't rush it
you end up with a quite nice result. I trust you are using a heavy pan,
preferrably an enamaled one or corningware/visionware.
Olwen
> I have a technical question for the food scientists here:
>
> This past Sunday I was messing around with one of the fruit paste recipes
> from Granado. This one calls for five pounds of pears, one and a half
> pounds of quince, and five pounds of sugar. The fruit gets cooked and
> mashed through a strainer, then the sugar gets added and the whole business
> gets cooked down until a spoon leaves a clear path across the bottom of the
> pan. I cooked the stuff for several hours, but I had to leave the house
> before it was to the recommended point. I put the stuff in the fridge to
> cool down. It's a lovely deep rose-red from the quince, and has the
> consistency of jam, but it's not as stiff as I'd like. I was thinking it
> would be more along the lines of a cotignac.
>
> Anyway, can I keep cooking it down after cooling it, or should I just put it
> in jars and eat it on toast?
>
> It's actually quite yummy...
>
> Vicente
Date: 16 May 2004 08:03:24 -0000
From: "Volker Bach" <bachv at paganet.de>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jams and Jellies in period
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
On Sat, 15 May 2004 21:53:34 EDT, Varju at aol.com wrote :
> A question came up on a message board I'm on about if there was anything
> similar to modern jam or jelly in the Middle Ages. I wasn't able to find any
> in the small group of cookbooks I have, so I was wondering if you fine people
> could give me a more definitive answer than that.
In German cookbooks, there are 'Mus' recipes that come somewhat close -
basically boiled or baked and mashed fruit that are sweetened and thickened
for storage. There is also one recipe that calls for boiling fruit juice
with sugar until it thickens and sets. The result can be used in 'pieces
the size of a walnut', so I assume something like an old-style jelly. It's
in an untranslated source, though.
Renaissance 'Confect' are also somewhat like that - fruit or juices boiled
with sugar, then poured into boxes to cool and set. Sometimes the jam/jelly
is poured over whole fruit. Rumpoldt and de Rontzier both have those, but I
recall similar things from British and French cookbooks, too. They are
pretty international.
A still life by Georg Flegel (1566-1638, probably dates to almost exactly
End-of-Period) shows what they looked like. It really looks like someone
poured jam into a box. Unfortunately I have no electronic medium of this.
It is titled 'Grosses Schauessen' (Great Show Banquet) and may be found at
the Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
Giano
Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 02:41:19 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jams and Jellies in period
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
--- Varju at aol.com wrote:
> A question came up on a message board I'm on
> about if there was anything
> similar to modern jam or jelly in the Middle
> Ages. I wasn't able to find any in
> the small group of cookbooks I have, so I was
> wondering if you fine people
> could give me a more definitive answer than that.
>
> Noemi
This is the book you need:
Wilson, C. Anne.
The book of marmalade : its antecedents, its
history, and its role in the world today,
together with a collection of recipes for
marmalades and marmalade cookery / C. Anne
Wilson. Rev. ed. Philadelphia : University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1999.
184 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.
0812217276 (alk. paper)
Here is a website that has the Queen's Delight,
Or the Art of Preserving, Conserving and Candying.
http://www.bib.ub.es/grewe/showbook.pl?gw020
> From "A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye" [circa
1557-1558]:
¶. For to make wardens in Conserue.
Fyrste make the syrope in this wyse,
take a quarte of good romney and putte a
pynte of claryfyed honey, and a pounde or a
halfe of suger, and myngle all those
together over the fyre, till tyme they
seeth, and then set it to cole. And thys
is a good sirope for manye thinges, and
wyll be kepte a yere or two. Then take
thy warden and scrape cleane awaye the
barke, but pare them not, and seeth
them in good redde wyne so that they
be wel soked and tender, that the wyne be
nere hande soked into them, then take and
strayne them throughe a cloth or through
a strayner into a vessell, then put to them
of this syrope aforesayde tyll it be almost
fylled, and then caste in the pouders, as
fyne canel, synamon, pouder of gynger
and such other, and put it in a boxes and
kepe it yf thou wylt and make thy
syrope as thou wylt worke in
quantyte, as if thou wylt
worke twenty wardens
or more or lesse as
by experience.
The Good Huswifes Jewell [1596]
To make Marmelat of Quinces
You must take a pottle of Water, and foure pound
of Suger, and so let them boyle together, and
when they boyle, you must skumme them as cleane
as you can, and you must take the whites of two
or three Egges, and beat them to froth, and put
the froth into hte pan for to make the skum to
rise, then skimme it as cleane as you can, and
then take off the Kettle and put in the Quinces,
and let them boyle a good while, and when they
boyle, you must stirre them stil, and when they
be boyled you must bore them up.
Huette
Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 10:01:12 -0400
From: "Daniel Phelps" <phelpsd at gate.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jams and Jellies in period
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Was written:
>> From "A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye" [circa 1557-1558]:
I've translated this line by line as follows:
> ¶. For to make wardens in Conserue.
For to make pears in a conserve
> Fyrste make the syrope in this wyse,
First make a syrup in this wise
> take a quarte of good romney and putte a
take a quart of good romney and put a
> pynte of claryfyed honey, and a pounde or a
a pint of clarified honey and a pound or a
> halfe of suger, and myngle all those
half pound of sugar, and mingle all those
> together over the fyre, till tyme they
togeather over the fire, until they
> seeth, and then set it to cole. And thys
Seeth (boil?) and then set to cool. And this
> is a good sirope for manye thinges, and
is a good syrup for many things, and
> wyll be kepte a yere or two. Then take
will keep a year or two. Then take
> thy warden and scrape cleane awaye the
the pears and scrape away their
> barke, but pare them not, and seeth
peel, but leave them whole and seeth (boil?)
> them in good redde wyne so that they
them in good red wine so that they
> be wel soked and tender, that the wyne be
are well permeated and tender, the wine is
> nere hande soked into them, then take and
permeated in to the pears, then take and
> strayne them throughe a cloth or through
strain the pears through a cloth or through
> a strayner into a vessell, then put to them
a strainer into a vessel, then put over them
> of this syrope aforesayde tyll it be almost
the syrup previously mentioned until the almost
> fylled, and then caste in the pouders, as
full and then put in as powders
> fyne canel, synamon, pouder of gynger
fine canel, cinnamon, powder of ginger
> and such other, and put it in a boxes and
and such other, and put it in boxes and
> kepe it yf thou wylt and make thy
keep it if as you will and make the
> syrope as thou wylt worke in
syrup as you would to work in
> quantyte, as if thou wylt
in quantity so that if you would
> worke twenty wardens
work 20 pears
> or more or lesse as
or more or less
> by experience.
by experience
I've a few questions:
It does not seem as if the syrup is reduced very much but just brought
to a boil?
"good romney"
I think that this is a wine but is it red or white, sweet or dry? What
would be a good modern reasonable substitution?
"fyne canel, synamon, pouder of gynger and such other"
I thought that canel and cinamon were essentially the same spice? What
other spices might be added? I can think of clove, nutmeg and/or mace
and cardamon but I'm not sure if cardamon is period.
Daniel
Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 17:57:44 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette on Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jams and Jellies in period
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
--- Danel Phelps <phelpsd at gate.net> wrote:
> I've a few questions:
>
> It does not seem as if the syrup is reduced
> very much but just brought to a boil?
True. But the honey is already thick. I think
the boiling is just to break down the sugar
so it would ot be so grainy. It really doesn't
need more thickening, IMHO.
> "good romney"
> I think that this is a wine but is it red or
> white, sweet or dry? What would be a good
> modern reasonable substitution?
According to Cindy Renfrows glossary:
Rompney, Romenay, Rumney, Romney, etc. = a sweet
wine
In another glossary they equate Romney wine with
Rhenish wine or Rhine wine. Since the Rhine
wines I know of are white and sweet or semi-sweet
I would say that a reasonably modern substitute
would be a GermanAuslese or another sweet white
wine.
> "fyne canel, synamon, pouder of gynger and such other"
> I thought that canel and cinamon were
> essentially the same spice? What other spices
> might be added? I can think of clove, nutmeg
> and/or mace and crdamon but I'm not sure if
> cardamon is period.
Cardamom is period. Its origins are from Sri
Lanka and India. It is allspice that is New
World.
Huette
Date: Mon, 17 May 2004 21:38:53 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler1 at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Kiri's feast
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> Wow Kiri,
> Your menu sounds totally delicious!! Can ou please share the recipe
> for the Alaju, in particular.... it sounds just wonderful!!!
>
> Phillipa
Thanks for your kind words.
Here is the recipe for the Alaju:
Manual de mugeres translated by Meistrine Karen Larsdatter (a 16th C.
Spanish manuscript)
Recipe for making a conserve of alajú (a delicacy of Arabic origin,
basically a paste made of almonds, walnuts, or pine nuts, toasted
breadcrumbs, spices, and honey).
Knead together well-sifted flour with oil and water. And leave the dough
somewhat hard and knead it well. And make thin cakes and cook them well,
so they can be ground; and grind them and sift them. And then take a
celemín of ground cleaned walnuts, and two pounds of ground toasted
almonds. And while you crush the walnuts and almonds, mix them. Put a
well-measured azumbre of honey to the fire, and the best that you can
find, skim it and return it to the fire. And when the honey rises, add
the walnuts and almonds in it. And cook it until he honey is cooked.
And when it is, remove it from the fire and put with it a half a celemín
of the grated flour cakes, and mix it well. And then add a half-ounce of
cloves and another half (ounce) of cinnamon, and two nutmegs, all
ground-up. And then repeat the stirring a lot. And then make it into
cakes or put it in boxes, whichever you desire more.
My redaction (with the assistance of Mistress Rose of Black Diamond):
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup Walnuts, ground
1 cup almonds, toasted and ground
1cup honey
/8 tsp. cloves, ground
1/2 tsp. cinnamon, ground
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Toast almonds. Grind almonds and walnuts together.
Heat honey until it boils up. Add the almond/walnut mixture and
continue cooking until 250º on a candy thermometer.
Add the breadcrumbs, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together well.
Press into molds or a pan, and turn out to finish drying.
Made 3 doz. Small heart cakes.
Hope you enjoy it!
Kiri
Date: Thu, 26 Aug 2004 14:09:52 -0700
From: Ruth Frey <ruthf at uidaho.edu>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Mustard, wine issues, fruit sweets.
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Finally, as for fruit sweets, I had very good luck once with an
apple jelly candy recipe from _The Medieval Kitchen_ (don't remember
which original source it was in, though) made from equal weights pureed
fresh apples and honey, with spices added. It took *forever* to cook
down to the point where it would "gel" when it cooled (the mix has to
be really coming away from the sides and bottom of the pan, and it has
to be on high-medium heat and stirred constantly to keep it from
burning, for, oh, a couple hours), but it was very, very good. I bet
one could do the same thing with pears. (Not necessarily in the same
line as the other pear sweets being discussed, but the comment jogged
my memory about the apple jellies, so I thought I'd share . . .). :)
-- Ruth
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 02:58:29 -0800 (PST)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Preserves?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
--- Arianwen ferch Arthur <caer_mab at yahoo.com>
wrote:
> I noted a mention of pear preserves. What is the
> difference between a pear preserve and a pear jam or
> jelly (and I do know that a jelly is made from the
> strained juice and should be clear) And what about a
> conserve? (I have seen jars of blackcurrent conserve etc.
> =====
> Arianwen ferch Arthur
Here is a simplistic comparison.
Jelly: a sweet spread made from fruit juice,
sugar and pectin. The result should be
translucent and jelled.
Jam: sweet spread made from crushed fruit
pulp, sugar and pectin. The result should be
opaque and thick, although I have occasionally
gotten jelled jams from the natural pectins
combined with the added pectins.
Preserves: a sweet spread made from whole
fruits or large slices of cored and peeled
fruits and sugar, cooked until a thick
consistency is achieved. Not to be confused
with fruits canned in a sugar syrup. Preserves
are much thicker.
Marmalade: a sweet spread made from chunks
of citrus fruits, including peels, sugar and
pectin. Should be thick almost to the point of
jelling. Although I have heard of quince
marmalade.
Conserves: a sweet spread made from large chunks
fruit and sugar, usually with nuts and raisins.
Although I have found companies tha confuse
conserves with preserves and use the words as
synonyms.
Butter: a sweet spread made from pulverized
fruit, sugar and spices and cooked to a thick
consistency. Pectin usually is not added, but
I have seen recipes that call for it.
I hope that this helps.
Huette
Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 07:59:29 -0500
From: "elspeth" <elspeth at nc.rr.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Period German Mustard Recipes (pear
preserves)
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cook at ansteorra.org>
> Saint Phlip, wrote
> First, if you want to use Sabina Welserin's Pear Mustard, start looking
> for pear preserves now- they're very hard to find- I'm still looking.
Just searched the net and came up with a couple of sites that sell pear
preserves:
http://www.flyinggeesepreserves.com/pear_preserves.html
http://www.gourmetgroceryonline.com/inc/detail?v=1&;pid=778
http://www.hometownfavorites.com/shop/candy_cat.asp?c=32&;p=1&id=173&newp=
http://store.yahoo.com/spchoc/pearbutter.html (okay this one is pear
butter)
And if your really enthusiastic you can make it. There are a lot of
recipes on the net.
Elspeth Macalpin
Newbie to the list.
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 2005 15:09:46 +1300
From: Adele de Maisieres <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cranberry sauce (was Re: Report on
Thanksgiving experiments) OOP
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Daniel Myers wrote:
> This leads me to a medieval-relevant question: Are there any lists
> out there of period fruits with high pectin contents? I know that
> quince has quite a lot of pectin, and that gooseberries are also
> supposed to be good for jellies. Any others? Commercial pectin is
> made from apples, yes? Can apples be cooked to a jelly (and not be
> just thick applesauce)? How about plums?
Yes, apples can most definitely be cooked to a jelly, as can red or
black currants, quinces.
More about fruit pectin levels:
http://www.pickyourown.org/pectin.htm
--
Adele de Maisieres
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 11:51:01 +0000
From: "Holly Stockley" <hollyvandenberg at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Cranberry sauce and pectin
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Doc asked:
> This leads me to a medieval-relevant question: Are there any lists
> out there of period fruits with high pectin contents? I know that
> quince has quite a lot of pectin, and that gooseberries are also
> supposed to be good for jellies. Any others? Commercial pectin is
> made from apples, yes? Can apples be cooked to a jelly (and not be
> just thick applesauce)? How about plums?
Martha Washington's cookbook gives a recipe for Damsons in quaking jelly
that instructs you to cook the fruit in apple water (water in which apples
have been cooked). Same principle.
I make my own pectin stock from apples instead of using the powder.
Basically, I chop up apples, peel, core and all, and cook them in just
enought water to cover. Once they're soft through, I dump them in a jelly
bag overnight. Take the resulting juice and boil it down by about half, and
process in whatever size jars are useful for you. It will be stronger in
pectin if you use greener apples. If you've got a local orchard, you might
even ask for the small apples when they thin the fruit in the summer. That
way, they don't go to waste. ;-) I've never tried with plums. Apples are
neutral enough in color and flavor not to interfere with most other fruit
preserves.
In my experience, apples, pears, strawberries, some varieties of plums,
raspberries, and those you mentioned will set up without additional pectin
if you cook them to the jellying point. Sour cherries are iffy, black ones
very frustrating without pectin.
Femke
Date: Mon, 9 Oct 2006 18:53:29 -0400
From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Apricot Paste: Was Cotignac
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Hi, all. Lots of chat about making fruit pastes, so here is a recipe that
worked pretty well. I found that substituting one fruit for another wasn’t
exactly a one-to-one ratio. This recipe worked for apricots but didn’t
work well for apples. Maybe I should try“raspes next time??
SWEET-MEATS OF MY LADY WINDEBANKS, Sir Kenelm Digby, The Closet of Sir
Kenelm Digby Opened, 3rd edition, 1677
She maketh a past of Apricocks (which is both very beautiful and clear, and
tasteth most quick of the fruit) thus. Take six pound of pared and sliced
Apricocks, put them in a high pot, which stop close, and set it in a kettle
of boiling water, till you perceive the flesh is all become a uniform pulp;
then put it out into your preserving pan or possenet, and boil it gently
till it be grown thick, stirring it carefully all the while. Then put two
pound of pure Sugar to it, and mingle it well, and let it boil gently, till
you see the matter come to such a thickness and solidity, that it will not
stick to a plate. Then make it up into what form you will. The like you
may do with Raspes or Currants.
Modernized recipe from 'Banquetting Stuffe' edited by C. Anne Wilson,
chapter 4, Rare Conceits and Strange Delightes by Peter Brears. (Edinburgh
University Press, Edinburgh, 1986, ISBN 0 7486 0103 1)
8 oz (225 g) (when prepared) peeled and stoned apricots
3 oz (75 g) sugar (Alys: 1/2 cup; 1 lb. apricots to 1/3 lb. sugar)
Place the apricots in a heatproof jar, seal the top with a piece of cooking
foil, and stand in a covered saucepan of boiling water for an hour. Pour
the apricots into a small saucepan and gently boil, stirring continuously
until the paste is extremely thick; then add the sugar and continue
stirring. When it is so thick that it has to be spread across the bottom
of the pan with a spoon, it may be turned on to a lightly greased plate,
worked into a shallow square block, and allowed to cool. It has a deep
orange colour, and is every bit as good today as Sir Kenelm found it three
centuries ago.
Alys's revision: (1 lb. apricots to 1/3 lb. sugar. Ten apricots (2-2
1/2") are slightly under one pound when peeled and stoned.)
Slice the apricots, place in cooking container (Corningware 1 3/4 quart pan
holds a little over 2 lbs. of apricots). Seal with foil and rubber band
for extra security. Place in large pot, or larger Corningware container.
If you put a lid on the outer container you needn't top it off with boiling
water as quickly. Add boiling water and set on burner at simmer for a good
two hours. The apricots should have fallen into a mush by then.
To peel apricots easily, place them in boiling water for about two minutes
and then remove them. The skins should peel off easily with a knife or
your fingers. If you let them stay in the boiling water too long they
begin to cook and get mushy under the skin. You can also just slice the
apricots without peeling them. After they have cooked for two or more
hours, puree them in a blender. It is best to use a thick pan for cooking
the pureed apricots and sugar. If you simmer them on a low heat you need
not stir them continuously until the mixture begins to thicken and erupt
into "burps." This "cooking down" process can take 4 hours or so depending
on the amount of apricots you use and the temperature of the heat. You
will need to stir the mixture more and more as it gets thicker. The
apricots are done when you can drag your spoon through the mixture and it
leaves a trail. It should also be pulling away from the sides of the pan
at this time.
While this recipe doesn't call for a sugar syrup, you can make one by
taking an amount of sugar, wetting it enough to dissolve the sugar, and
heating it to hard crack stage. Add it to the apricots, stirring as you
add it. Then cook the mixture down over low heat until you can make a
trail with your spoon. Pour into shallow, buttered pans and allow to cool.
You can cut them into squares or into shapes using small cookie or canapé
cutters. Store between waxed paper or parchment paper. With proper
storage they will keep for a year or so.
Alys Katharine, apricot lover
Elise Fleming
alysk at ix.netcom.com
http://home.netcom.com/~alysk/
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:08:34 -0700
From: Susan Fox <selene at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Apricot Paste: Was Cotignac
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Cat Dancer wrote:
> Something to do with all those currants I've been collecting!!
>
> I have lots of red currants that I've been picking then stashing in
> the freezer every year until I have "enough to do something with".
> They tend to be fairly small--the big ones are about 1/4" across, and
> they're very seedy. Could I just start cooking them down in a little
> bit of water and then force them through a sieve to take the seeds out?
>
> Margaret
Yes, I would do that with any seedy fruit, currants, raspberries, even
rose hips. I don't much like getting that crunch in my fruit paste,
others may like it? A chaq'un son gout.
Selene
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 08:59:28 -0400
From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] period fruit pastes (long and whiny and with
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Urtatim wrote:
> Of course there's the beet sugar vs. cane sugar issue. I've got a
> huge sack of pure cane sugar in my kitchen, but i suspect that most
> commercial preserves are made with the cheapest sugar they can get.
> Anybody have any idea if the sugar source will matter for fruit paste?
I wouldn't personally use any with beet sugar. I had purchased 5 pounds of
sugar which, I believe, was mixed cane and beet. It didn't perform the way
the pure cane sugar did. Perhaps someone else might have had different
results and this _was_ quite a while ago when I was still working with
fruit pastes. Didn't like the results _at all_!
Alys Katharine
Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 18:10:17 +0000
From: "Holly Stockley" <hollyvandenberg at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] period fruit pastes (long and whiny and with
questions)
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
> Additional pectin may not be bad, but i dunno... anyone have any idea
> about that? I don't think i've ever made jam before. Or maybe i have,
> but if, so it was well over 30 years ago. I remember making Indian
> lime pickle and mango chutney in 1967, but i don't recall doing
> anything like it again.
Not a problem. In fact, the recipe for Damsons in Quaking Jelly in Elinor
Fettiplace's receipt book directs the cook to start with "green apple
water." Which is being used her for pectin. I tend to make pectin stock
from green apples this time of year and can it for jam-making next year.
It's just a little insurance, and gives a bit more "snap" than commercial
pectin. It won't do anything but maybe help the pastes set up better.
> Of course there's the beet sugar vs. cane sugar issue. I've got a
> huge sack of pure cane sugar in my kitchen, but i suspect that most
> commercial preserves are made with the cheapest sugar they can get.
> Anybody have any idea if the sugar source will matter for fruit paste?
I've used beet and cane and not had a problem either way. I usually DO use
at least ceylon cinnamon, sometimes other spices, and some rosewater or
orange blossom water. That might make pastes made from commercial preserves
"feel" more period??
Apple paste also goes quite well with cinnamon stick comfits. ;-)
Femke
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 01:15:43 +0000
From: "Holly Stockley" <hollyvandenberg at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] period fruit pastes (long and whiny and
withquestions)
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
> Fettiplace specifies "green apple water" and you mention using green
> apples. Do green apples have more pectin in them than red (ripe?)
> apples? Hmmm, does green in this case simply refer to a type of
> apple, or does it mean an unripe apple?
Green as in unripe. Green fruit has more pectin than ripe, whatever the
fruit. The ripening process involves increasing levels of pectinase enzyme,
softening of the fruit, and a concurrent drop in pectin levels. Local
orchards often thin their trees in the heat of the summer. Those apples
work great, or just the earliest apples of a given variety that are often on
the greenish side. I chop them up, seeds, peel, and all, and put them in a
stock pot with enough water to cover. Boil them until they're soft, then
drain them overnight in a jellybag. Return the liquid to the stove, and
reduce by half, then can like jam or jelly. I end up using about 8 oz of
pectin stock per 2-2 1/2 quarts of fruit for jam or jelly. Depends on the
fruit - more for cherries, less for raspberries, etc. Proper set requires
specific ratios of acid, sugar, and pectin. You develop a feel for it with
time. Pastes are a little easier because they're drier, and you're unlikely
to run into a batch that won't set. If you do, just leave them out to dry a
bit more.
> I think of comfits as being candied seeds. This use of cinnamon
> sticks to make comfits sounds interesting, although perhaps a bit
> more difficult to eat because they will have to be sucked on, or
> chewed for awhile. Sounds like an interesting soteltie item.
>
> Stefan
I used ceylon cinnamon, and broke up the sticks somewhat. They're candy.
You can just crunch on the little bits. Actually, I used Mistress
Hauviette's basic instructions, as filed on your site already. ;-) This
time of year, apple paste and a dish of cinnamon comfits tend to go over
pretty well. Or I just dress the plate with the paste up with a sprinkling
of the cinnamon comfits.
Femke
Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 18:50:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Helen Schultz <meisterin02 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Medieval questioniare
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Alys, didn't you say you didn't know of a period jam recipe (as
opposed to a jelly)?? That cookbook I just mentioned has one I just
found ...
English translation:
2.27. If you want to keep cherry jam for a year.
Add just as much sugar for cherry jam. Take 2 pounds cherries, take
out the stones, and a pound sugar. Boil together until it has
thickened and put it in the sun.
Modern Dutch translation:
2.27. Als U kersenjam een jaar wilt bewaren.
Doe nog eens zoveel suiker [erin] voor kersenjam. Neem 2 pond kersen,
doe de pitten eruit, en een pond suiker. Kook samen tot het ingedikt
is en zet het in de zon.
Middle Dutch:
27 Wyldy keerscruyt houden een jaer
Doet noch alsoe vele suyckers om keerscruyt neempt ij pont
keersen doet die steenen vuyt ende een pont zuyckers ziedet te
samen tot al dick is ende settet in die son
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meisterin Katarina Helene von Sch?nborn, OL
Shire of Narrental (Peru, Indiana) http://narrental.home.comcast.net
Middle Kingdom
http://meisterin.katarina.home.comcast.net
Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 21:59:51 -0400
From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Jam (was Medieval Questionnaire)
To: alysk at ix.netcom.com, Cooks within the SCA
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> I disagree with their equating jam with jelly. They aren't the same. Jam
> is definitely a later "invention". Or, can anyone show me a "jam" recipe?
Rumpolt Confect 23. Ungarische Pflaumen Confect / es sei wei? oder
braun. Nimm die sauren Weichesl / und thu die Stengel darvon / setz
sie in einem Kessel auf dz Feuwer oder Kolen / und la? auf sieden /
denn sie geben von sich selbst Saft genug. Wenn sie kalt sein / so
streich sie durch ein H?rin Tuch / thu sie in ein uberzindten
Fischkessel / und setz auf Kolen / la? sieden / und r?rs umb / da?
nicht anbrennet. Und wenns halb eingesotten ist / so nimm gestossenen
Zimt und Nelken darunter / machs wohl s?? mit Zucker / und la? darmit
sieden / bi? wohl dick / setz hinweg / und la? kalt werden / so
kanstu es aufheben / so helt sichs ein Jar oder zwei.
Hungarian Plum Preserves/ be it white or brown. Take the sour
cherries/ and take the stems from it/ set them in a kettle over the
fire or coals/ and let simmer/ until they give from themselves enough
juice. When it is cold then strain it through a hair cloth/ put them
in a tinned fishkettle/ and set on coals/ let simmer/ and stir up/
that it doesn't burn. And when it is half cooked/ then take a little
ground cinnamon and cloves in it/ make well sweet with sugar/ and let
simmer together/ until it well thickened/ take away/ and let cool/ so
you can lift it/ and keep it in a jar or two.
Ok, 1581 for Rumpolt, while period, might not be "medieval". Rumpolt
has recipes for a number of other fruits confects too. This came out
very jam-like, although I think it was probably meant to be eaten as
a spoon-sweet, rather than spread on bread.
Ranvaig
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 13:54:35 -0700
From: aeduin <aeduin at roadrunner.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jam was Medieval Questionnaire
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
I've seen it as jellies are clear, jams are
not. And with homemade product as opposed to
store bought, preserves are canned jams.
Definitions from 1st ed. of the Penguin Guide to Food:
Jam: a mixture of fruit and sugar boiled
together, poured into jars and sealed to give a
long-keeping preserve with a wet, semi-solid consistency.
Jelly: a word applied to items made from
flavoured solutions mixed with a setting agent
and then allowed to cool. Farther down in the
entry it refers to 'jelly preserves' are like jam
but use strained fruit juice rather than
pulp. In N. America, however, jelly is a general term for jam.
aeduin
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:02:38 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jam was Medieval Questionnaire
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Except, AFAIK, the standard USA usage calls for jelly to be a
strained, clear or semi-transparent, pulp-free product, jam containing
some vaguely recognizable fruit pulp or solids, and preserves to
contain actual fruit blobs, hunks or chunks...
I still think the Rumpoldt recipe quoted in this thread is actually
for a fruit paste/"cheese".
Adamantius
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:17:28 -0400
From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jam (was Medieval Questionnaire)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> Rumpolt Confect 23. Ungarische Pflaumen Confect / es sei wei? oder
> braun. Nimm die sauren Weichesl / und thu die Stengel darvon / setz
> sie in einem Kessel auf dz Feuwer oder Kolen / und la? auf sieden /
> denn sie geben von sich selbst Saft genug. Wenn sie kalt sein / so
> streich sie durch ein H?rin Tuch / thu sie in ein uberzindten
> Fischkessel / und setz auf Kolen / la? sieden / und r?rs umb / da?
> nicht anbrennet. Und wenns halb eingesotten ist / so nimm
> gestossenen Zimt und Nelken darunter / machs wohl s?? mit Zucker /
> und la? darmit sieden / bi? wohl dick / setz hinweg / und la? kalt
> werden / so kanstu es aufheben / so helt sichs ein Jar oder zwei.
>
> Hungarian Plum Preserves/ be it white or brown. Take the sour
> cherries/ and take the stems from it/ set them in a kettle over the
> fire or coals/ and let simmer/ until they give from themselves
> enough juice. When it is cold then strain it through a hair cloth/
> put them in a tinned fishkettle/ and set on coals/ let simmer/ and
> stir up/ that it doesn't burn. And when it is half cooked/ then
> take a little ground cinnamon and cloves in it/ make well sweet
> with sugar/ and let simmer together/ until it well thickened/ take
> away/ and let cool/ so you can lift it/ and keep it in a jar or two.
Ok, I made a translation mistake. It should be "Jahr" or "year".
Keep it a year or two.
The other word used for this fruit substance is "Latwerge" which
comes from the word "Electuarium, from Greek "ekleikhein", to lick
up. Modern definitions of "Electuary" say it is a medical remedy in
syrup.
Ranvaig
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:32:51 -0400
From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Jellies and Jams and Fruit Pastes, Oh My!
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Greetings! There are a number of jellies in the English cookery books that
aren't like what we think of when we spread jelly on our bread. Many
jellies of the Tudor and Elizabethan times were unsweetened, based on fish
or the jelly from the feet of pigs and calves. These were often colored
and served during the "banquet" (dessert) course as well as during the main
meal. There's some discussion of this in C. Anne Wilson's "'Banquetting
Stuffe'". From what Wilson implies, even if sweetened, many of these
jellies were not made from fruit at this time. And, if they were, the
result was usually clear, albeit colored.
Jam - to me, at least - has pureed or mashed up fruit pulp. It isn't
clear. Modern jam is at least spreadable whereas fruit pastes (or cheese?)
isn't really spreadable. You can slice (leach) a fruit paste. You can't
really slice jam. I don't know how the Rumpolt recipe would come out. I'd
take Adamantius's word that it looks more like a "fruit paste/'cheese'".
There are also preserves which - to me, at least - have chunks of fruit in
them and can be quite thick. And, I don't believe (personal opinion only)
that preserves equate to either jam, jelly or fruit paste. My opinion is
that they are four different products which use sugar, fruit (in most
cases) and some type of liquid (which might be boiled out of the final
product). Again, just to repeat, there are a number of jellies in English
and German cookery books that don't contain fruit.
You betcha it's confusing!
Alys Katharine
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:43:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jam was Medieval Questionnaire
To: alysk at ix.netcom.com, Cooks within the SCA
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
I think that we are getting stuck on semantics and not the actual
item here.
Yes, the word "jam" doesn't appear in the English language until 1730. However,
"preserves" appears in 1600 and "conserves" appears in 1555. The Penguin Companion to Food says, 'The words "preserve" and "conserve" are also used more
specifically to indicate an (often expensive or unusual) jam. Although this is
generally regarded as pretentious today, both words were used this way at least a century before the word "jam" became common.'
And looking up "jam" in the same work, it does indicate that jam as such was the decendent of "all the rather solid fruit and sugar conserves, preserves and
marmalades of the 17th and 18th centuries." It later states "The development which took jam from a solid confection to a soft, spreadable paste was the increased understanding of hygiene, such as the necessity for clean processing and for sealing the jars, that developed in the 19th century."
What I am saying is that if we make jam, we may not call it jam in period, but we can call the same product a conserve and still be accurate. In other words, a jam by any other name is a conserve.
Huette
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 21:49:30 -0400
From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jellies and Jams and Fruit Pastes, Oh My!
To: alysk at ix.netcom.com, Cooks within the SCA
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> Again, just to repeat, there are a number of jellies in English
> and German cookery books that don't contain fruit.
When you talk about what "Jelly" means in German cookbooks, you are
discussing translation issues, the cookbooks use different words for
sweet and non-sweet gel type dishes.
Non-sweet gels are "Galrat" which might be better translated as
galantine than jelly, a clear rich broth that gels when cold and is
sometimes used to decorate a dish of meat. One dish is a feathered
bird poised on a "lake" of galrat.
"S?lze" which is usually translated as aspic is cold meat in a gelled
broth. Both of them sometimes/usually are flavored with vinegar.
Fruit gels are "Confect" or "Latwerge".
Ranvaig
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:21:56 -0400
From: Daniel Myers <edoard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jam (was Medieval Questionnaire)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Oct 29, 2007, at 5:55 PM, Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
> On Oct 29, 2007, at 4:18 PM, jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:
>> It sounds like a marmalade to me, which is *a preserve* meant to be
>> eaten with a spoon, and for which there are lots of 16th c. recipes.
>
> It was my understanding that marmalades that aren't basically cotignac/
> quidony, IOW, quince pastes, are 18th or 19th century for spoonable
> versions. I think Elinor Fettiplace has some recipes for jam-like
> preserves, but she's not really medieval and she calls them preserves, IIRC.
It's hard to tell if this is "preserves" like or more "cotignac" like...
Source [A Book of Cookrye, 1591]: To make Conserve of Orenges. Take
Orenges and pare them very thin the red of the out sides away and
quarter them in four, and take away the white of the inside, then
seeth them in faire water softlye for breaking, ofte change them in
warm water til they be lost: as the yelownes dooth seeth away, so
weareth away the bitternes, then take them out of the water and lay
them in a fair vessell that the water may run away from them, then
beate them small with a spoone, and put to every pound of Orenges one
pound of sugar, and half a pound of Rosewater, and boile them
togither and box them.
The earliest marmalade recipe I've got is late 17th century...
Source [The English Housewife, G. Markham]: Marmalade of Quinces,
red. To make red Marmalade of Quinces, take a pound of Quinces and
cut them in half, and take out the cores, and pare them; then take a
pound of Sugar, and a quart of fair water, and put them all into a
pan, and let them boyl with a soft fire, and sometimes turn and keep
them covered with a pewter dish, so that the steam or air may come a
little out: the longer they are in boyling, the better colour they
will have: and when they be soft take a Knife, and cut them cross
upon the top, it will make the syrup go through that they may be all
of the like colour: then set a little of your syrup to cool, and when
it beginneth to be thick, then break your Quinces with a slice or
spoon, so small as you can in the pan, and then strew a little fine
Sugar in your boxes bottom, and so put it up.
As others have said, without the quantities and cooking times, some
of the compotes and such could easily be "jam-like".
- Doc
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:46:38 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Markham was Jam (was Medieval Questionnaire)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
But Markham is anything but late 17th century.
It first appears in 1615. We use and cite the edition from 1631
largely because we are using the McGill-Queens University Press
edition edited by Michael Best and he used the 1631as his copy-text.
Johnnae
Daniel Myers wrote:
> snipped
> The earliest marmalade recipe I've got is late 17th century...
>
> Source [The English Housewife, G. Markham]: snipped
>
> As others have said, without the quantities and cooking times, some
> of the compotes and such could easily be "jam-like".
>
> - Doc
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:49:53 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jam (was Medieval Questionnaire)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
On Oct 29, 2007, at 10:21 PM, Daniel Myers wrote:
> The earliest marmalade recipe I've got is late 17th century...
>
> Source [The English Housewife, G. Markham]: Marmalade of Quinces,
> red. To make red Marmalade of Quinces, take a pound of Quinces and
> cut them in half, and take out the cores, and pare them; then take a
> pound of Sugar, and a quart of fair water, and put them all into a
> pan, and let them boyl with a soft fire, and sometimes turn and keep
> them covered with a pewter dish, so that the steam or air may come a
> little out: the longer they are in boyling, the better colour they
> will have: and when they be soft take a Knife, and cut them cross
> upon the top, it will make the syrup go through that they may be all
> of the like colour: then set a little of your syrup to cool, and when
> it beginneth to be thick, then break your Quinces with a slice or
> spoon, so small as you can in the pan, and then strew a little fine
> Sugar in your boxes bottom, and so put it up.
>
> As others have said, without the quantities and cooking times, some
> of the compotes and such could easily be "jam-like".
I agree, it's hard to tell. But the reference to the extra boiling for
extra color (possibly a throwback to the quince paste being white --
which is really sort of amber -- and red, which is a russet so deep it
almost looks black), and the lining of boxes with sugar seems to me to
make a solid paste that continues to dry and solidify in the box more
likely.
Adamantius
Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:55:02 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jam (was Medieval Questionnaire)
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Dragging Anne Wilson's revised edition of The Book of Marmalade off
the shelf-- she includes a recipe for Condoignac from Le Menagier, a
Chardequynce from A Leechbook, and A.W.'s To make drie marmalde of peaches
from 1587. One of the main sources to look at is the 1608 A Closet for
Ladies and Gentlewomen.
Johnnae
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 07:51:02 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Wilson on 'Jams'
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Echoing what Huette and Alys wrote, here's some more
on the emergence of jams in English cookery: This may help in our
discussions.
On the topic of jam, C. Anne Wilson in the revised edition of The Book
of Marmalade (1999) writes:
The British themselves have not always had their soft-fruit jams. The
word "jam" began to creep into manuscript cookery-books in the last
quarter of the seventeenth century, and into the printed ones early in
the eighteenth. It had entered the English language only about a hundred
years before; and perhaps it had a middle eastern origin, for there is
an Arab word "jam" which means "close-packed" or "all together". From
its more general usage in English for things that were jammed against
one another, the word passed into the realm of confectionery, to denote
those preserves where soft fruits cooked with sugar were crushed
together, rather than sieved, and could thus be described as "jammed",
or "in a jam". pp. 16-17
Recipes for the marmalades of home-grown fruits other than quinces
appeared in the preserving books all through the seventeenth century.
The latter ones show a somewhat softer conserve, still dense and sticky,
but potted, not boxed, made from such fruit fruits as raspberries,
mulberries, cherries, white or red currants, gooseberries, apricots or
damsons, and it was for this type of conserve that the name "jam" was
coined. P.45
The revised edition of The Book of Marmalade is still in print. The
Florilegium carries a number of endorsements regarding the book.
Johnnae
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:21:41 -0400
From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Jam
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Huette wrote:
> And looking up "jam" in the same work, it does indicate that jam as
> such was the decendent of "all the rather solid fruit and
> sugar conserves, preserves and marmalades of the 17th
> and 18th centuries." It later states "The development which took
> jam from a solid confection
> to a soft, spreadable paste was the increased understanding of
> hygiene, such as the necessity
> for clean processing and for sealing the jars, that developed in
> the 19th century."
Okay... How I interpret the paragraph above is that jam, as we know it
today (mashed/pureed, spreadable fruit) is a later development - a
descendent of conserves and preserves. Descendents aren't the same
thing as their ancestors. There are changes.
My picky-ness is because (as I think I mentioned) a person has been making
excellent jams but has been saying that the recipes are medieval. From
everything written so far, and especially what Huette wrote and what I
found last night (below), the thing we Americans call "jam" (mashed/pureed,
spreadable fruit and sugar) is not "medieval" and appears not to have
truly developed until post SCA period.
C. Anne Wilson, in "The Book of Marmalade" talks about the divergence of
meaning between "marmalade" and "jam" (p. 122) with the British tending
towards using "jam" and the Americans keeping the older form of
"marmalade". She does write (p.45): "Recipies for the marmalades of
home-grown fruits other than quinces appeared in the preserving books all
through the seventeenth century. The later ones show a somewhat softer
conserve, still dense and sticky, but potted, not boxed, made from such
fruits as raspberries, mulberries, cherries, white or red currants,
gooseberries, apricots or damsons, and it was for this type of conserve
that the name 'jam' was coined." (Alys notes - Her time frame says
17th century (1600s) and she also specifies "later" recipes.)
So, yes, semantics is involved because words describe (or try to!)
what we mean. I'd really like to be able to help the jam person prove that
the mashed/pureed, spreadable(sometimes with seeds) fruit concoction that
she makes is within SCA period but given Huette's quote and Wilson's
quote, I'm not convinced that "jam" (as Americans describe it) is within
period.
Huette also wrote:
> What I am saying is that if we make jam, we may not call it jam in
> period, but we can call
> the same product a conserve and still be accurate. In other words,
> a jam by any other name is a conserve.
But given what Wilson writes (above) a jam derived from a conserve with the
recipes occurring in the later part of the 1600s. That didn't mean that
someone (as Christianna wrote) made up a recipe that turned out softer and
less solid than the conserves were expected to be. (And I'm not saying
that the conserves were "solid", just more solid than current jams.)
Doc - You might want to see Wilson's "Book of Marmalade" mentioned above.
She gives precursors that date to the 1st century AD and includes a 1587
recipe which uses the word "marmalade" in the title. (It's from
peaches.)
Flashback... Are we having a cuskynole-type discussion??
Alys Katharine
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 08:54:49 -0500 (CDT)
From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jam
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> But given what Wilson writes (above) a jam derived from a conserve with the
> recipes occurring in the later part of the 1600s. That didn't mean that
> someone (as Christianna wrote) made up a recipe that turned out softer and
> less solid than the conserves were expected to be. (And I'm not saying
> that the conserves were "solid", just more solid than current jams.)
There are a number of preserves in the 1587 _Good Huswife's Jewel_ which
call for equal weights of fruit and sugar and the use of whole fruit. When
I looked at that last night, I wasn't sure whether that was jam or fruit
in syrup. Today, it occurred to me to look it up, and the Fannie Farmer
Cookbook on Bartleby says of Jams: "require equal weight of sugar and
fruit."
Comparing the recipes from the Fanny Farmer (1918) edition
http://www.bartleby.com/87/0037.html and the Good Huswife's Jewel may be
illuminating as to the relations of the English conserves and preserves
mentioned in Good Huswife to 'modern' preserves.
--
-- Jenne Heise / Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 12:57:32 -0400 (GMT-04:00)
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jam
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Let me add another term to our list: electuary.
An electuary is a medicinal concoction mixed with sugar, honey, or
syrup. Here's a recipe from de Nola, consisting of two parts cooked,
pureed fruit to one part sugar.
98. ELECTUARY (76) OF SOUR CHERRIES FOR SICK PEOPLE WHO HAVE LOST THE DESIRE TO EAT
LETUARIO DE GUINDAS PARA LOS ENFERMOS QUE HAN PERDIDO LA GANA DE COMER
Take as many sour cherries as you wish and put them in a saucepan
upon the fire; and cast them in water by themselves,
and let them cook in that water until they turn very tender and
appear white; and then throw out that water of theirs in
which they cooked; and then take a sieve of very thin horsehair, in
which you can strain them, and rub them so much
with your hands that everything passes through. Then for each pound
of these cherries prepared like this, take half a
pound of sugar and mix it in your saucepan on a gentle fire,
constantly stirring with a cane until they are cooked; and
then put it aside; and put this electuary in a vessel of glazed
earthenware, well-stoppered; if you wish, you can put some
cloves and a little cinnamon in it.
(Ruperto de Nola, 1529; Translation copyright Robin Carroll-Mann)
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MANUSCRIPTS/Guisados1-art.text
So... is this a "jam"?
Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007
From: "Gwen Barclay" <gwenb at cvtv.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Dancing on the cap of a jam jar
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Hey, Folks - coming from someone with a family business that made
thousands of jars of jelly, jam, preserves, conserves and marmalades
through the years (20th century, not medieval) much of the difference
between the types mostly has to do with the size fruit is cut,
whether it is strained through a "jelly bag", plus the additional
ingredients that are added.
I. Clear, bright juice from crushed fruit that has been hung in a
jelly bag (usually of heavy muslin) over a bowl for several hours or
overnight and usually cooked with pectin
until a soft texture forms = jelly.
II. Small chunks of fruit which cook with sugar and usually pectin
until very soft and an almost formless consistency but not smooth = jam.
III. Medium to large pieces of fruit cooked with sugar and often
pectin = preserve.
IV. A preserve containing pieces of fruit rind or peel, primarily
citrus = marmalade. Originally marmalades were made from quince -
the Portuguese word marlelada means
"quince jam."
V. The same sized fruit cooked with sugar plus other ingredients such
as raisins, various other fruits and nuts = conserve.
Hope this may sort out the different types of spreads for breads or
to eat as an accompaniment with meats and poultry. But that's
another story for another day.
Gwen in Texas - don't have a nom de plume as yet. Maybe Lady
Guinevere - if I have spelled it correctly?
Date: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 15:14:40 -0500 (CDT)
From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Jam
To: alysk at ix.netcom.com, "Cooks within the SCA"
<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
> My picky-ness is because (as I think I mentioned) a person has been making
> excellent jams but has been saying that the recipes are medieval. From
> everything written so far, and especially what Huette wrote and what I
> found last night (below), the thing we Americans call "jam" (mashed/pureed,
> spreadable fruit and sugar) is not "medieval" and appears not to have
> truly developed until post SCA period.
Of course, pre-1600 isn't the same as "medieval" which is sort of a
problem-- something could date from around 1600 without being medieval.
If you would like to help this person, I'd recommend taking a look at
the following books. Even if you don't agree that the preserves your
acquaintance is making are similar, perhaps you can steer him/her toward
the recipes in these for comparison.
- _The Elixirs of Nostradamus_ (1555)
- _Good Huswife's Jewel_ (1597)
- "Banquetting Stuffe" (1986 Leeds Symposium. C. Anne Wilson ed.)
- "Waste Not, Want Not" (1989 Leeds Symposium)
There's also recipes 175, 176, and 178 in The English Housewife to compare
to, and "A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen" which seems to be mostly
pastes
--
-- Jenne Heise / Jadwiga Zajaczkowa
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 2009 22:45:59 -0400
From: Jane Boyko <jboyko at magma.ca>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] red currents
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
From "A Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen. Or, The Art of Preferving,
conferving, and Candying. ..."
To make Quodiniaks of Raspice or English Coriants.
Take Rafpices ripe and well coloured, and put them in a dish and put
them foure spoonfuls rose-water, and mix them together with the backe
of a spoone : then wring the liquid substance thorow a linnen cloth :
season it by your mouth with sugar till it bee sweet enough, then
boile it on a chafing dish of coles in a dish; till it be readie to
print : then print it in your moulds, and box it, and so to keepe them.
If you have ever made jelly without pectin this would work. You could follow a basic recipe to get the juice out. I think the addition of
rose water is very interesting and I want to go find some currents now.
Cheers
Marina
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:13:01 +0000
From: Holly Stockley <hollyvandenberg at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] red currents
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Part of the problem is that most period preserve recipes are jams, rather than jellies. And currants are seedy. Not in an eat-the-seeds sort of way, either. Nor big enough for a spit-out-the-pits sort of way. So they're kind of hard that way.
You might try mixing them with an equal weight of dry ice in a (propped open) cooler until the freeze, and saving them until feast season. They'll thaw with a texture very similar to fresh. Or use them for a fruit paste.
And from slightly post-period, A True Gentlewoman's Delight, 1653: "To make Paste of Goosberries, or Barberies, or English Currans. Take any of these tender fruits, and boil them softly on a chafing- dish of coales, then strain them with the pap of a rotten Apple, then take as much sugar as it weighes, and boil it to a Candie height, with as much Rose-water, as will melt the sugar, then put in the pap of your fruit into the hot sugar, and so let it boil leasurely, till you see it reasonable stiffe, almost as thick as for Marmalet, then fashion it on a sheet of glasse, and so put it into the Oven upon two Billets that the glasse may not touch the bottom of the Oven, for if it do, it will make the paste tough, and so let it drie leasurely, and when it is dry, you may box it, and keep it all the year."
Femke
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:55:29 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Sources for Preserving Recipes
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
There's a handy two volume set on just fruit preserving recipes
that Stuart Peachey has put out. It's primarily original recipes
with some abbreviated hints on how to proceed in a modern kitchen.
*The Book of Preserving Fruit 1580-1660* Preserves, conserves,
marmalades, candies, dry fruit etc Stuart Peachey
*Volume 1: Apples - Oranges *
76p 7.00
*Volume 2: Peaches - Strawberries *
64p 7.00
http://www.stuart-hmaltd.com/types_of_food_1550_1660.php
These are sold by Stuart Peachey in the UK, but one can also buy them at
Books for Cooks in London.
In the
USA, the main vendor seems to be Sykes Sutlering.
http://www.sykesutler.com/ Write and ask or call and leave a message as
to if they have copies available and US prices.
They used to be sold at the War by various vendors too.
Johnnae
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:03:03 -0500 (EST)
From: Devra <devra at aol.com>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] new book by Peter Brears - commercial plug
Prospect Books has finally released Peter Brears; new book JELLIES AND THEIR MOULDS, a 254p paperback with material covering medieval to modern jelly (jello). Includes discussion gelatin, extensive biblio, recipes, lotsa illos of molds, and a glossary. $45.
Devra the Book-Pusher
Date: Wed, 02 Mar 2011 13:58:36 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] new Peter Brears book - with commercial plug
Peter Brears' latest book Jellies and Their Moulds is just a great
work. 256 pages with many photos and his beautiful line drawings.
Besides the chapters on gelatin, jellies, gums, & starches, there are
these chapters:
CHAPTER THREE Medieval Jellies 53
CHAPTER FOUR Tudor Jellies 63
CHAPTER FIVE Stuart Jellies 71
Anyway it is well worth the purchase.
Johnna
On Feb 25, 2011, at 9:30 AM, Devra wrote:
<<< I expect that Johnna has already got this book, but Prospect has
finally come out with Jellies and Their Moulds, by Peter Brears, part
of the English Kitchen series. Paperback, 254 pp, covering material
from how jelly/gelatin is produced, to medieval recipes, through
modern recipes. Wonderful illus of various molds, bibli, glossary. A
nifty book, which I just happen to be selling for $24 (corrected price)
Devra the Book-Pusher >>>
<the end>