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. NOTE: See also the files: redacting-msg, p-menus-msg, food-sources-msg, herbs-cooking-msg, spices-msg, herbs-msg, sugar-msg, spice-mixes-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 ************************************************************************ 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 Edited by Mark S. Harris p-food-terms-lst 6 of 6