whisks-msg

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whisks-msg - 5/8/11

Period whisks.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

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

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

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous

Stefan at florilegium.org

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Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 16:29:42 -0400

From: Daniel Myers <eduard at medievalcookery.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] whisk

To: hlaislinn at earthlink.net, Cooks within the SCA

<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Jul 5, 2006, at 4:29 PM, Stephanie Ross wrote:

> Does anyone know if whisks are period and if there are any extant

> examples? Internet searches are bringing up nothing for me.

The answer is "sort of".

The recipe for "A dyschefull of Snowe" from "A Proper newe Booke of

Cokery" instructs the cook to make a primitive whisk by cutting the

end of a stick lengthwise into four parts.

"To make a dyschefull of Snowe. Take a pottell of swete thycke creame

and the whytes of eyghte egges, and beate them altogether wyth a

spone, then putte them in youre creame and a saucerfull of Rosewater,

and a dyshe full of Suger wyth all, then take a stycke and make it

cleane, and than cutte it in the ende foure square, and therwith

beate all the aforesayde thynges together, and ever as it ryseth take

it of and put it into a Collaunder, this done take one apple and set

it in the myddes of it, and a thicke bushe of Rosemary, and set it in

the myddes of the platter, then cast your Snowe uppon the Rosemarye

and fyll your platter therwith. And yf you have wafers caste some in

wyth all and thus serve them forthe."

[A Proper newe Booke of Cokerye (mid-16th c.)]

- Doc

Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:50:59 -0500

From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <dailleurs at liripipe.com>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] whisk

To: hlaislinn at earthlink.net, Cooks within the SCA

<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>, Daniel Myers

Doesn’t the picture from scappi show a guy using a whisk? I'm thinking

of the one where he's making "sweet butter" or

something like that....there might even be whisk pictures in scappi,

now that I'm pondering...

--Anne-Marie

Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 00:37:52 -0500

From: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>

Subject: [Sca-cooks] whisk

To: SCA-Cooks maillist SCA-Cooks <SCA-Cooks at Ansteorra.org>

Aislinn asked:

<<< Does anyone know if whisks are period and if there are any extant

examples? Internet searches are bringing up nothing for me. >>>

Good question. I think horsehair strainers and such were often used

to get a similar result as we often use whisks for.

However, I finally found this in the dairy-prod-msg file in the

Florilegium:

<<< Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 20:09:47 -0400

From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)

Subject: Re: SC - Whipped Cream

> I've just recieved my copy of Pleyn Delit, and I love it : )

> There are a couple of question marks though - the authors repeatedly state

> that medieval cooks did not whip either cream or eggwhite. Does anyone

> know if this is really true?

> I find it hard to believe

> Lady Uta

Hello! I've got a recipe for Crustade Lumbard (Harl. 279, Dyuerse Bake

metis, #17) that says "Take gode Creme, & leuys of Percely, & Eyroun, [th]e

[3]olkys & [th]e whyte, & breke hem [th]er-to, & strayne [th]orwe a

straynoure, tyl it be so styf [th]at it wol bere hym-self..."

If the phrase "tyl it be so styf [th]at it wol bere hym-self..." is

referring to the cream, then this is the earliest mention of whipped

cream that I've found yet. (c. 1430)

There's an illustration from Il Cuoco Segreto..., 1570, showing a cook

whipping cream with a whisk. I posted that illustration here:

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/food-art/cheese_and_butter.gif

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu

renfrow at skylands.net >>>

Although this may not be what you had in mind, there is also this

notation on whisks taken from a period document on controlling flies.

This can be found in the Pest-Control-art file in the ANIMALS section

of the Florilegium:

<<< Have whisks [little flat shovels rather like today's fly-swats] wherewith to

slay them by hand...Have your windows shut full tight with oiled or other

cloth, or with parchment or something else, so tightly that no fly may enter,

and let the flies that be within be slain with the whisk or otherwise as

above, and no others will come in'. >>>

Another bit of info from the eggs-msg file:

<<< Date: 19 May 2004 08:22:49 -0000

From: "Volker Bach" <bachv at paganet.de>

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Meringues?

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

On Tue, 18 May 2004 12:43:49 -0700 (PDT), Huette von Ahrens

<ahrenshav at yahoo.com> wrote :

> According to the Oxford Companion to Food,

> "It sees to have been only in the 16th century

> that European cooks discovered that beating egg

> whites, e.g. with a whisk of birch twigs (in the

> absence of any better implement), produced an

> attractive foam.

I would dispute that statement, though 'rediscovered' might apply. Anthimus

'de observation ciborum', entry 34, describes a dish called 'afrutum',

apparently of greek origin or at least connections. he clearly states that

egg whites albumen de ovo) should be used to make it 'foamy' (quomodo

spuma) and that the result should be piled up in a dsh. THe dish looks

like a souffle, and I'd read it as clearly using beaten egg whites.

Giano >>>

Another from the utensils-msg file in the FOOD-UTENSILS section:

<<< Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 10:09:44 -0700

From: Curtis & Mary <ladymari at cybertrails.com>

To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu

Subject: Re: Whisks

> Does anyone out there know if whisks had been invented by the mid

> sixteenth century? I am getting ready to make egg tempera paints and I

> know that it is vital to whip the white very well (a spoon will not do).

I beleive they used a twig or stick with the end split multiple times to

make a whisk.

Mairi, Atenveldt >>>

Hope these tidbits help. I found lots of hits on "whisk", but only

these few on the period use of whisks. Of course there might have bee

a different term used for this in period.

Stefan

--------

THLord Stefan li Rous Barony of Bryn Gwlad Kingdom of Ansteorra

Mark S. Harris Austin, Texas

Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:34:17 -0700 (PDT)

From: wheezul at canby.com

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

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] elderberries/flowers in Rumpolt

The flowers are tiny and white, but turned brownish as they wilted in

the milk. They added a delicate flavor to the mix. I used a whisk to

stir in the flour, which got the job done, but was not used by cooks in

Rumpolt's time.

Guillaume

********************************

Question about the whisk. So far as I know they didn't have our modern

equivalent but (IIRC) at least one of the German recipes for 'schnee' or

'snow' or some other beaten egg white recipe calls for the use of a besom,

which I gather would perhaps be like a small broom-like bundle of thin

branches that could be used to whip much like a whisk. Am I on the wrong

mental track here? Should I track down where I read this and share? If it

was a kitchen implement, why wouldn't they use it when needed?

Geeking out on period cooking equipment,

Katherine

Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 06:58:34 -0700

From: edoard at medievalcookery.com

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

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] whisks

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

<<< Question about the whisk. So far as I know they didn't have our modern

equivalent but (IIRC) at least one of the German recipes for 'schnee' or

'snow' or some other beaten egg white recipe calls for the use of a besom,

which I gather would perhaps be like a small broom-like bundle of thin

branches that could be used to whip much like a whisk. Am I on the wrong

mental track here? Should I track down where I read this and share? If it

was a kitchen implement, why wouldn't they use it when needed? >>>

I didn't come across the German recipe in a quick search, but I did find

a similar French one:

To make snow. Take a pot of new cream, 4 ounces of sugar, 4 ounces of

rose water: take a little white broom like a large handful of twigs, &

beat very strongly the cream half an hour long, then let it rest, & you

will see scum form thereon like snow: then take a skimmer, & skim the

snow off, & put it on a plate, a trencher thereunder, after resting

taste the snow, & beat again the cream like before, until you have

enough snow: then put it into little plates, a branch of rosemary

therein, & serve so. [Ouverture de Cuisine (France, 1604)]

There are also these earlier English recipes that modify a stick to make

a simple whisk:

To make a dyschefull of Snowe. Take a pottell of swete thycke creame and

the whytes of eyghte egges, and beate them altogether wyth a spone, then

putte them in youre creame and a saucerfull of Rosewater, and a dyshe

full of Suger wyth all, then take a stycke and make it cleane, and than

cutte it in the ende foure square, and therwith beate all the aforesayde

thynges together, and ever as it ryseth take it of and put it into a

Collaunder, this done take one apple and set it in the myddes of it, and

a thicke bushe of Rosemary, and set it in the myddes of the platter,

then cast your Snowe uppon the Rosemarye and fyll your platter therwith.

And yf you have wafers caste some in wyth all and thus serve them

forthe. [A Proper New Booke of Cookery (England, 1557)]

Take a pottle of sweet thick Cream, and the white of eight Egs, and

beate them altogither with a spooone, then put them into your Creme with

a dish full of Rosewater and a dish full of Sugar withall, then take a

stick and make it clean, and then cut it in the end four square, and

therwith beat all the aforesaid things togither, and ever as it ariseth,

take it off, and put it into a Cullender, this doon, take a platter and

set an Apple in the midst of it, and stick a thick bush of Rosemary in

the Apple. Then cast your Snow upon the Rosemary & fill your platter

therwith, and if you have wafers, cast some withall, and so serve them

foorth. [A Book of Cookrye (England, 1591)]

Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:03:34 -0400

From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>

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

Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] whisks

Had a moment so I looked whisk up in OED

3. An instrument, now freq. a bundle of wires, for beating up eggs,

cream, or the like.

1666 Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual; 111 By beating the White of an Egge

well with a Whisk, you may reduce it from a somewhat Tenacious into a

Fluid Body.

1747 Mrs. Glasse Cookery xv. 140 First beat the Whites of the Eggs up

well with a Whisk.

1882 Worc. Exhib. Catal. iii. 38 Egg whisk for confectioners.

For the verb

whisk

whisk, v. (adv., int.) Forms: see whisk sb.1 [In early use Sc.; prob.

of Scandinavian origin: cf. Sw. viska to whisk (off), sponge, Da.

viske to wipe, whisk, rub, sponge (a gun), Norw. viska to put straw,

etc. together in a bundle = OHG. wisken (MHG., G. wischen) to

wipe,intr. to move lightly or briskly, LG. wisken to move quickly,

wipe off, etc.: cf. whisk sb.1 The spelling with wh was adopted as

being symbolic (cf. whip). ]

4. To beat or whip with a rod of twigs or the like. Obs. in gen.

sense: in later use, To stir or beat up (eggs, cream, etc.) with a

light rapid movement (= whip v. 7), esp. by means of a whisk (see

whisk sb.1 3).

1530 R. Whytford Werke for Housholders E i, Yf any chylde

be..stubburne,..let it..be whysked with a good rodde.

I suppose the next step is to look up rods in cookery.

Johnna