flower-waters-msg - 6/26/10

Period flower waters. Making them. Recipes.

NOTE: See also the files: flowers-msg, roses-art, rose-water-msg, rose-oil-msg, rose-syrup-msg, orng-flwr-wtr-msg, p-herbals-msg, perfumes-msg, Perfumes-bib.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:15:37 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae at mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Edible Violet Water?

Elise Fleming wrote:
<<< I'm aware of violet sugar from around the 13th c. but don't recall 
reading anything about violet water in the English recipes.

Alys K. >>>

But violet water or water of violets does turn up in English cookery and 
medicinal recipes.
 A quick search this evening yielded over 120 quick matches in just 
EEBO-TCP.
Here are a few of them:

In an hote season it is good to temper the sayd wine with a litle
rosewater or of violettes. Some other take .v houres afore diner, thre
times a weke, the weight of half a crowne of mithridatum, or of fine
treacle, tempered in a litle good wine. But in time of heat and for hote
complexions, it is good to put in it a litle conserua roses, & to mingle
them with water of sorell, or of borage, or of buglosse.

Goeurot, Jean. The regiment of life, whereunto is added a treatise of
the pestilence, with the boke of children, newly corrected and enlarged
by T. Phayre. 1550
-------------

Thomas Moffett Healths improvement calls for "Take of Orenge flower
water, water of Violets". It was published in 1655, but written in the
1590?s . Moffett died in 1604.

--------------------
Recipes like this one are more common. Here you make in essence a violet
water before making the syrup.

To make Syrupe of Violets.

TAke your Violets, and pick the flowers, and weigh them, and then put
them into a quart of water, and steepe them vpon hot embers, vntill such
time as the flowers be turned white, and the water as blew as any
violet, then take to that quart of infusion and take foure pound of
clarified Suger, & boyle it till it come to a syrupe, scumming them and
boyling them vpon a gentle fire, least it turne his colour, and being
boyled, put the Syrupe vp and keepe it.

A closet for ladies and gentlevvomen. 1608

-------------

In the 1616 Maison rustique, or The countrey farme, Markham talks
about "the water of Violets"and again in 1623 in Countrey
contentments. "Syrup of violets" shows up in The English Housewife.

----------
1620 VENNER Via Recta vii. 125 If there be neede of cooling with Rose,
or Violet~water and Sugar.

-------------

A "pound and an half of white Sugar, dissolved in Rose or Violetwater"
is called for in the 1649 A physicall directory.

---------------

The queen-like closet by Hannah Wolley has recipes for violet conserves
and syrup, but no violet water.

-------------
191. To make the Capon-water against a Consumption.

Take a Capon, the Guts being pull'd out, cut it in pieces, and take away
the Fat, boyl it in a close Vessel in a sufficient quantity of
spring-water: Take of this Broath three pints, of Barrage, and
Violet-water a pint and a half, White-Wine one pint, Red-Rose leaves two
drams and an half, Burrage-Flowers, Violets, and Bugloss, of each one
Dram, pieces of bread out of the Oven half a pound, Cinamon bruised,
half an Ounce; still it in a Glass still, according to Art.

This is a sovereign Remedy against Hectick-Fevers, and Consumptions; let
such as are subject to those Diseases, hold it as a Jewel.

The Accomplish'd lady's delight. 1675.

----------------

Although it is late, I just have to include this definition as found in 
An English dictionary by Elisha Coles. 1677.

He defines that far older confection Manus Christi as

Manus Coristi, Sugar boild with Rose-water, (sometime violet or Cinnamon
Water.)

(There are a number of violet recipes by the way in Martha Washington's 
Booke of Cookery too and of course in the Concordance there's that 
rather interesting Vyolet recipe which is a violet pottage. It's there
in 3 recipes.)

Johnnae


Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:53:45 -0400
From: Gretchen Beck <grm at andrew.cmu.edu>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Edible Violet Water?

Not a place to buy, but this page has an easy violet water recipe:
<http://18thccuisine.blogspot.com/2006/04/you-are-dainty-violet.html>

toodles, margaret


Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:58:52 -0700
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Edible Violet Water?

Huette wrote:
<<< I picked up some Kewda Water, because it called itself Iris Water. 
But looking it up, it really isn't made from iris.  Have you had 
experience using Kewda water? >>>

I have Kewra. It is pandan flower. It has a somewhat nutty scent. It 
is commonly used in Southeast Asia - Thailand, Malyasia, and 
Indonesia - in sweets.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita


Date: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:46:55 -0700
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Edible Violet Water?

<<< Not a place to buy, but this page has an easy violet water recipe:
<http://18thccuisine.blogspot.com/2006/04/you-are-dainty-violet.html>

toodles, Margaret >>>

Only easy if one has access to Sweet Violets/English Violets, aka 
Viola Odorata, which i cannot get here in California.

as i wrote:
While there are many flowers in the Genus Viola, only one
has the fragrance used in cuisine, confectionery, and
perfumery. That is Viola odorata, aka Sweet Violet and
English Violet
SNIP
Alas, Viola odorata does not grow naturally or happily in
Southern or Northern California, where I live.
SNIP
So, while "recipes" for making one's own violet water may
help those living in the right climate and with the skill
and land to grow Viola odorata, they won't help me :-(

That's why I'm looking for edible violet water I can
purchase.

Again, this is good for those who can grow Viola odorata - but beware 
of the beautiful, but comparatively scentless Viola sororia - it's 
edible and looks lovely, but won't scent your water.
-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita


Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:18:34 -0400
From: Mary + Doug Piero Carey <mary.doug at pierocarey.info>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Edible Flower Waters

Oooh, yes, what does one do with that?  My bottle says:
KEY BRAND
KEVDA WATER
ORIS WATER
product of India

on the front, and

Marque de Key
Eau de Iris

on the back along with some Arabic lettering.  It is labeled as coming 
from Bombay.  It's very lightly vegetative & floral smelling.  I grabbed 
it at an Indian speciality shop that I almost never get a chance to go 
in.  I asked the clerk if it was used like the orange flower & rose 
waters that it was shelved with, and he said yes, but I'm not at all 
certain he understood my question!  He definitely didn't have answers to 
my other questions about some of the other foodstuffs.  I'm pretty sure 
he could have told me EVERYTHING about their line of Bollywood videos.  
But cooking, not so much.  <grin>

Mary, who grabs rare items first, and worries about usage later

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	flower-waters-msg	5 of 5