ambergris-msg - 5/30/10 The use of ambergris in period. amber of grece. Ambergris is the excretion of whales that is composed of the undigested remains of cuttlefish. NOTE: See also the files: gums-resins-msg, spices-msg, merch-spices-msg, p-herbals-msg, seeds-msg, incense-msg, Perfumes-bib, perfumes-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: "HICKS, MELISSA" To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" Subject: RE: Re: [Sca-cooks] online glossary Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 09:58:10 +1000 It is also used in some very late period jam and confectionary recipes. I think there's one in Fettiplace. I'll dig it out tonight if no-one posts a recipe in the meantime. Mel. > > >amber of grece, ambergris > > I think my memory's not working right, because something tells > > me this is a whale by-product, and that doesn't seem right somehow. > > Nothing wrong with your memory. It's from whales, and is > used primarily as an ingredient in perfumes. > > Thorvald From: "Elise Fleming" To: Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 20:59:40 -0500 Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: On Line Glossary Query and one response: > >amber of grece, ambergris >> I think my memory's not working right, because something tells >> me this is a whale by-product, and that doesn't seem right somehow. >Nothing wrong with your memory. It's from whales, and is used primarily >as an ingredient in perfumes. It was also used in confections in late period - Tudor (IIRC), Stuart, Jacobean, along with musk. I've seen it as an ingredient in sugar/gum paste. Alys Katharine Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 10:49:48 -0400 From: Elaine Koogler To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] online glossary I know that it appears in some of the recipes from Elizabethan times. When I did a feast last year from that period, I found the following in the Folger Library's catalogue which included a reprint of recipes from Sarah Longe's Receipt Booke: p. 19, Mrs Sarah Longe her Receipt Booke [c. 1610] from Fooles and Fricassees: Food in Shakespeare=92s England (Published by the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, 1999) Take a pound of Almons, blanch them, then beate them in a morter [;] then put in a little rosewater to them, that they may not turn to an Oyle in their beating; when they are beaten very small take them up and put them into a Dish [;] then take half a pound of sugar beaten very small and put to them the whites of 4 Eggs, with a little Quantity of musk, and Ambergrease [;] then beat it altogether a quarter of an hour, then put it upon papers in what fashion you will. You must be carefull in the making of it, that it be not coloured to[o] much. I omitted both the musk and Ambergris as the only place I could find either one was a perfume supply house. I knew that the ambergris was synthetic and worried about using it in food. Kiri From: Devra at aol.com Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 11:27:56 EDT To: Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks digest, Ambergris Actually, both ambergris and musk show up in several of the original recipes in DINING WITH WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. I never did figure out what to substitute for that...I don't know whether the artificial musk is edible. Devra the Baker From: Christina Nevin To: "'SCA Cookslist'" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] online glossary Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2001 11:57:55 +0100 "Cindy M. Renfrow" wrote: Here are a few more terms to kick around. If you have sources and alternate spellings please send them along. amber of grece, ambergris No references to it yet, but I do have a photo of some here: http://www.geocities.com/~thorngrove/ambergris.jpg Lucrezia Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 16:47:21 -0700 (PDT) From: Chris Stanifer Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] strange recipe To: Cooks within the SCA --- dale elliott wrote: > Question: Where do you buy Whale Barf? > > Radei http://www.profumo.it/perfume/prodotto.asp?pid=2955&lang=en or, you can find it floating on the waves for free... WdG Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 10:37:24 -0700 From: lilinah at earthlink.net Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] strange recipe To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org "dale elliott" wrote: > Question: Where do you buy Whale Barf? > > Radei Ambergris is not really whale barf. I realize you were being humorous, but i don't want lurkers to be led astray. The sperm whale is the largest toothed whale and does not have a baleen, which is a sort of filter. Instead, it eats various things that have hard and sharp parts that are not digested, like squid beaks. Ambergris is a waxy substance produced to coat these hard sharp bits so they don't injure the whale's digestive system. Yes, it is regurgitated. But barf as i think of it is food you eat and started to digest in your stomach, but for various reasons have vomited up. Ambergris is rather different than partially digested food mixed with stomach acids. -- Urtatim, formerly Anahita Date: Tue, 12 Apr 2005 22:53:49 -0400 From: Kerri Martinsen Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] ambergris To: SCA Cooks If you are looking at it for perfume, you can purchase faux ambergris from perfume supply sellers. I wouldn't eat it though... http://www.alchemy-works.com/incense_ambergris.html Vitha Subject: [SCACreativeFrugality] Digest Number 656 Date: February 18, 2009 3:28:44 AM CST To: SCACreativeFrugality at yahoogroups.com Re: ambergris From: "Dr. Carus" darlingg at activematerials.ca newalchemist2001 Well, I did find a source for beach-harvested ambergris, in New Zealand (http://www.ambergris.co.nz/), but their minimum order far exceeds my needs. Possibly some interested Merchant might stock from there, to then accept small orders from myself and others...? Dr. Carus of Burn Abbey Past Baroness' Champion of Science (Lions Gate), 2008-05 to 2008-11 mka... Mr. Graham D. Darling, Ph.D. Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:08:02 -0400 From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] ambergris To: Cooks within the SCA <<< There is an individual on the SCA Creative Frugality list looking for a source. I seem to remember he was looking for rather small quantities of various items for a spice class. >>> I've seen this site mentioned. The price is $20 per gram, with a minimum purchase of 4 grams, including postage and packing. http://www.ambergris.co.nz/ Ranvaig Date: Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:01:27 -0400 From: "Daniel & Elizabeth Phelps" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] ambergris To: "Cooks within the SCA" Regards ambergis this bit of infornation gleaned from the web. Perhaps it will help: Ambergris occurs as a biliary secretion of the intestines of the sperm whale, and can be found floating upon the sea, or in the sand near the coast. It is also sometimes found in the abdomens of whales. Because giant squids' beaks have been found embedded within lumps of ambergris, scientists have theorized that the whale's intestine produces the substance as a means of easing the passage of hard, sharp objects that the whale might have inadvertently eaten. Ambergris can be found in the Atlantic Ocean; on the coasts of Brazil and Madagascar; and on the coast of Africa, of the East Indies, The Maldives, mainland China, Japan, India, Australia, New Zealand and the Molucca islands. Most commercially collected ambergris comes from the Bahama Islands and Providence Island in the Caribbean. Bernard PERRIN Courtage Z.I. des Bois de Grasse B.P. 91006 - Arthes 06131 GRASSE Cedex FRANCE Expert in selling and buying WHALE AMBERGRIS Telephone: +33 611745109 Fax: +33 493 709061 Mail: expert at ambergris.fr SELL YOUR AMBERGRIS TO WWW.PROFUMO.IT for expertise on quality and selling your find of please contact us Tel: 00 39 0541 86 30 13 Skype username: profumo.it profumo at profumo.it In Italian: Ambra grigia In French: Ambregris See also: www.buyandsellambergris.com Daniel Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:37:25 -0400 From: Johnna Holloway Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] ambergris To: Cooks within the SCA I hadn't paid any attention to this thread but yes I think you are right. It says here: "Ambergris falls under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 and is illegal to import in the U.S.A." http://www.netstrider.com/documents/ambergris/subject_encyclopedias/index.html It's the same law that makes importing whalebone examples illegal too. Johnnae Beth Ann Bretter wrote: <<< I haven't been a merchant for almost two years so my information is a little out of date, but isn't ambergris illegal for sale inside the US? Peyton >>> From: Arianwen ferch Arthur Date: March 23, 2009 1:30:38 AM CDT To: StefanliRous at austin.rr.com I believe Pan's Pantry has ambergris (UK though) the Wise Woman might also... Arianwen ferch Arthur Edited by Mark S. Harris ambergris-msg Page 6 of 6