marmalades-msg - 4/30/07
Period marmalades and fruit jellies and jams.
NOTE: See also the files: fruits-msg, apples-msg, fruit-citrus-msg, fruit-quinces-msg, fruit-pears-msg, plums-msg, berries-msg, cherries-msg, suckets-msg, candied-peels-msg.
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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: Fri, 5 Jun 1998 21:36:48 -0500
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - Jellies vs. aspics
> I would find it very hard to believe that fruit
> jellies in the since that we think of them were known during the Middle
> Ages.
>
> Ras
If you are thinking about the clear strained jellies we have now, you're
probably right. If you are referring to fruit preserves in general, there
is at least one Elizabethan marmalade recipe in A Closet for Ladies and
Gentlewomen, 1608.
Bear
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 differance 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 differances:
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