p-food-terms-lst

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p-food-terms-lst - 9/25/00

A list of various period food terms, gathered from various sources, that might be useful in redacting period recipes. Gathered by Phillipa Seton.

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NOTICE -

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

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

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Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous

Stefan at florilegium.org

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Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2000 08:43:07 EDT

From: Seton1355 at aol.com

Subject: SC - MY GLOSSARY - A FEW MORE ENTRIES

GLOSSARY

BERME

Yeast.

BLUE

a cooking method involving poaching an unscaled fish in an acidic water,

making the outer skin turn bluish)

BROCH

a skewer or spit.

CANEL OR CANELLE

Cinnamon

CURLEW

A shorebird.

CLOWYS

Cloves

DOUCETTE

a custard tart in the 14th-15thC English recipe corpus, sweetened with honey

or sugar, usually colored with saffron,

EFFLUVIA

ef*flu*vi*um also ef*flu*via (noun), plural -via or -vi*ums

[Latin effluvium active of flowing out, from effluere]

First appeared 1651

1 : an invisible emanation; especially: an offensive exhalation or smell

2 : a by-product esp. in the form of waste

FAYRE

decent sized pieces

FORCEMEAT

is a stuffing, often, but not always, made from meat. By extension, various

foods such as the mixture from which veal, poultry, or fish quenelles are

made, are also considered forcemeats.

FRANGIPANE

an almond pastry cream, made today with a thickish pastry cream containing

flour, eggs, milk, sugar, butter and flavorings, to which is added crushed

almonds or crushed almond macaroons. Usually used as a crepe, pate a choux,

or tart filling.

FRYES

is related to the modern French word for cold, froid.

GALYNGALE

Galingale, a root. ("Galingas").

Galingal does have an aroma that includes hints of tumeric. The two do not

taste at all similar though. Galingal resembles in flavor ginger more than

anything else with an added flavor that I can't quite describe with any real

accuracy. It is a sort of peppery ginger flavor. I don't think tumeric would

be a good substitute for galingal.

GRAINS OF PARADISE

Sensoric quality Spicy, hot and warm, a little bitter.

GYNGERE

Ginger

I -

i- more oftentimes y- signifies the past tense,

IDON ﬁRYN IDON (TH)RYN

done like this

IGROUNDEN

is something that is ground, like meal or almonds

LARDED

scatterd through

LASER

Laser is an aromatic, resinous root used fairly frequently in Roman cookery.

IIRC,

laser is the older form which describes Cyrenaican sylphium, which I believe

became extinct in the reign of the Emperor Nero (r. 54-69 C.E.). Subsequently

Persian sylphium, still occasionally referred to as laser in later Roman

recipe sources, such as Apicius, became the universally accepted substitute.

Now, Persian sylphium appears to have been asafeotida. I may have some of

these details reversed or incorrect, but

it's almost irrelevant since asafeotida is all modern adaptors of Roman

cuisine have to work with. It is unclear whether there was any real

similarity between the two types of sylphium, other than that both are

described as aromatic, resinous roots. A little asafeotida goes a long way --

too much makes your food reek somewhat of rotting garlic, while a tiny bit

acts as an amazing flavor enhancer in fish dishes and various

others. Available in Indian groceries as "hing"

LECHES

slices

LESH IT

slice it; cut it into pieces

LIQUAMEN in Platina is pork fat; it seems to have no connection with the

liquamen used extensively in Roman cooking.

LOPPORD

This merely refers to the coagulated cream that has formed on the top.

LYE

Mix or combine.

LYR

flesh, i.e. boneless meat,

MACYS

Mace

MARW

Marrow

MARY BONYS

Marrow bones

MASH

porridge

MURRI

which is fairly similar to Soy sauce

MYLKE OF ALMOUNDYS

The simplest form is made by dissolving finely ground almonds in water and

straining off the residue. The result looks like milk and is used in many

medieval recipes.

NICE DRIPPINGS

Meats that have been grilled, fried, etc., produce drippings that can range

from very dark ones filled with particles and flavor to sweet white fats

that have a very soft flavor.

"Nice drippings" refers to the bacon grease at the top of the jar without all

the brown bits.

NYM

Take

PEPYR

Pepper

POWDRE DOUCE

is made from sweet spices which might include cloves and cinnamon, possibly

mace

POWDRE FORTE

is made from strong spices such as pepper, nutmeg, galingale, grains of

paradise,

PUGIL

a fistful [of pepper]. Pugilism is boxing

PYNES

pine nuts

RACE

a rhizome or root. (A piece of ginger)

RYS

Rice

SALERATUS

was a precursor to baking soda,

is sodium or potassium bicarbonate. In other words, baking soda.

sal*e*ra*tus (noun)

[New Latin sal aeratus aerated salt]

First appeared 1837

: a leavening agent consisting of potassium or sodium bicarbonate

From"The Boston Cooking School CB, by Mrs. D.A. Lincoln, 1884:

"...Pearlash is purified potash.

Saleratus is prepared from pearlash by exposing it to carbonic acid gas.

Pure, strong alkalies are powerful corrosive poisons, eating the coats of the

stomach perhaps quicker than any other poisonous agent. This caustic or

burning property is somewhat weakened by the carbonic acid united with them,

and is therefore less in bicarbonate of soda than in the potash compounds...

Soda has a great affinity for water; and when wet, a combination takes place

which allows some of the carbonic acid gas to escape. This may easily be

seen by the effervescence which occurs when soda is dissolved in hot water.

Soda alone, when mixed with wet dough, will give off gas enough to raise the

dough; but it leaves a strong alkaline taste and a greenish yellow color,

and, being poisonous must be neutralized by an acid, or else its use is not

admissible..."

So saleratus is/was stronger than baking soda, but was soaked in liquid

before use to expel some of the gas which causes the 'effluvia' & deep yellow

color mentioned in your recipe.

Saleratus was also used mixed with a weak acid such as cream of tartar.

SAWNDERYS

Saunders, a condiment used for its red coloring.

Saunders is produced from a red dyewood that is not very aromatic. This red

wooded sandalwood is what we use in medieval cookery to produce color in

various dishes. My sources do not indicate if it is an actual member of the

Santalaceae family.

SEARCE

a sieve

SETHE

Boil

SIMNEL

a bread first boiled then baked

SKEWET

rotissery

STEPE

Soak

SUGAR CIPRE

sugar from Cyprus

SWERDE

Rind

TAIL

is fat from sheep tails, commonly used as a cooking oil in medieval Islamic

recipes.

TEMPER

Mix with

THE THIRD SPICE

nowadays almost always means MSG,monosodium glutamate, but in older recipes,

it may mean allspice.

THRIDDENDELE

the third part, so: for every two parts of honey, add one part of pine nuts,

and add powdered ginger thereafter.

VERJUICE

The juice of unripe grapes, crabapples, or other sour fruits. I frequently

substitute dilute vinegar.

WORTES

vegetable greens and members of the onion family, such as cabbage leaves,

spinach, beet greens, leeks, etc., as well as the plants used for seasonings

and spices: borage, parsley, sage, and so forth.

Y-FERE

Together

Y-NOW

Enough

YRAYD

arrayed