lavender-msg - 1/29/08
Period use of lavender in food and elsewhere.
NOTE: See also the files: herbs-msg, spices-msg, seeds-msg, roses-art, cook-flowers-msg, gardens-msg, gardening-bib, p-agriculture-bib, p-herbals-msg, Palladius-art.
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Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1998 09:06:19 +1000 (EST)
From: The Cheshire Cat <sianan at geocities.com>
Subject: SC - Lavender
><< Any cautions on eating lavender?>>
Cooks hat *off*
Herbalist hat *on*
LAVENDER
Family: labitae
Part Used: Flowers
Constituents: volatile oils
Action: aromatic, carminative, nervine
Helps to: Improve the digestion, reduce flatulence and colic, ease nervous
tension
Historical Notes:
Lavender has been prized for it's scent since Elizabethan times. It is
native of the Mediterranean and was used by the Romans for scent and
medicine - it's use in the bath accounts for it's name, as lavare is the
Latin word for 'to wash'. It was mentioned in the Bible as the much values
'Spikenard'. Lavender was one of the herbs thought to give protection from
the plague in the Middle Ages, and there are many customs and folklore
rituals in which is figues. It was taken to the New world by the pilgrims
in the xeventeenth century.
As a medicine, lavender was thought to help against the bites of snakes
and mad dogs, and was taken to relieve pain and reduce stress and tension
problems. Extrnally it was used as a lotion or poultice for painful
problems like headaches and toothaches. The oil was used on skin injuries
like burns and ulcers.
Lavender makes a good remedy for the digestion and an excellent one for
easing nervous tension. The taste is not overly unpleasant once you get
used to it. (I make an infusion of it for just this problem).
culpepper says: 'Lavender is of special use for pains in the head and
brain to do proceed of a cold cause, as the apoplexy, falling sickness, the
drowsy or sluggish malady, cramps, convulsions, palsies and often
faintings. It strenghtens the stomach and freeth the liver and spleen from
obstructions, and provoketh woman's courses.'
Here's the only warning. Don't take Lavender in large quantities if you
are pregnant without the approval of a certified herbal practitioner.
Herbalist hat *off*
Cooks hat *on*
Sorry about that, I know that herbalism doesn't quite belong on this
list, but I couldn't help it since I have had some bad experiences with
various herbs, I am a strong believer that people should have some idea of
what it is that they are putting into their bodies. Non of my research
indicates that there is any particular type of lavender that should be
used. I always use the plain spike lavender.
- -Sianan
**************************************************************************
Marina Denton
sianan at geocities.com
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1998 21:55:04 +0930
From: "David & Sue Carter" <sjcarter at dove.net.au>
Subject: Re: SC - Lavender (long-ish)
Milady Sianan wrote, re Lavender's pedigree:
>Family: labitae
>Part Used: Flowers
>Constituents: volatile oils
>Action: aromatic, carminative, nervine
>Helps to: Improve the digestion, reduce flatulence and colic, ease nervous
>tension
But I have not seen anyone mention that there are several species of
Lavender, which differ in their fragrance, and in most cases in their
bitterness as well.
I own a useful little herb guide called Herbs For All Seasons, by Rosemary
Hemphill, Angus and Robertson 1972 and new Ed 1983 (ISBN 0 0207 14637 3), in
which she lists the cultivated varieties as:
French Lavender (Lavandula dentata)
English Lavender (L. vera, L. officinalis, L. spica)
Italian Lavender (L. stoechas)
All are said to originate in the mountainous regions bordering the Western
half of the Mediterranean and thrive on plenty of sun, dry conditions and
poor soil. This is why we can grow some truly awesome lavender bushes here
in Innilgard (Adelaide, South Australia).
Rosemary states that English lavender was not cultivated in England until
about 1568 (sadly she does not give her reference for this statement)
She says that French lavender is the hardiest and blooms all year, and that
lavender oil is made from both the flowers and the leaves.
English lavender is more highly scented and lavender oil is made from the
flowers only. It is also favoured for dried lavender.
Italian lavender is not used for oil/perfume but as a fresh strewing herb,
especially in Spain and Portugal, and its flowers are used by the Arabs for
medicinal preparations.
She also gives a recipe for Conserve Of Lavender Flowers. Again she does
not quote the original, but says it is a variation on the conserve recipe in
The Queens Closet Opened, by W.M. the Cook to Queen Henrietta Maria c1655.
It is thus:
10 stalks of English or French Lavender Flowers
4 tablespoons icing sugar
2 dessertspoons Rosewater
Rub the flowers off the stalks and chop finely. This should make approx 1
tablespoon of chopped flower
Beat the icing sugar and the flowers together in a bowl, add the rose water
slowly to make a stiff paste.
Spread sparingly on the top of plain sweet biscuits, or over a plain cake
and let set.
I suspect that the preference for either French or English lavender for
cooking is because you only need the petals of the flowers to impart the
lavender flavour and so avoid bitter and woody flavours that the stems and
leaves would give. Having tasted lavender shortbread and lavender ice (a
sort of gelati and in period if you are late, Italian or French) there were
very few visible lavender bits compared to the strong flavour (and lavender
oil had NOT been used because it should not be used).
I also suspect that of the English lavenders, L. officinalis is the herbal
lavender as opposed to the ornamental one.
Esla of Ifeld
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 21:38:20 +0930
From: "David & Sue Carter" <sjcarter at dove.net.au>
Subject: Re: SC - Lavender (long-ish)
Lord Ras quoted Mistress Christianna:
<< Gee, the variety that grows the best here in Atlanta, Ga. is
> called "Spanish Lavender" by the nursery, I wonder which one of the above
> that would be? (I have long lost the tag that came with it...:( >>
And added:
>French Lavender has surrogated leaves. English lavender for all practical
>purposes does not.
>
>Ras
I believe the word your spelling checker may be looking for is serrated :)
Perhaps the following descriptions may help to identify the Spanish
Lavender.
French lavender is a woody shrub that requires a hard prune every year to
keep its shape. It has sticky, serrated leaves (dentata means teeth) and
flowers on short spikes.
English lavender has smooth silver grey foliage and the flowers are on long
spikes. It can be cut back hard but doesnt require it to form a pleasing
shape.
Italian Lavender is smaller, but very bushy with soft grey, pointed leaves
and velvety flowers. It is described as being commonly used in Spain and
Portugal as a favourite strewing herb on festive days in churches and homes.
If the description fits, Spanish lavender may be a form of Italian lavender
(L. stoechas) and therefore recommended for strewing and possibly drying,
but not the preferred variety for perfume or cooking.
Then again it might be something entirely different, assembled in a
horticulturalist's laboratory for its superior marketablity but not
necessarily any other useful trait. (with reference to strawberries,
apples, and any number of other so called improved plants)
Hope to be of help..
Esla
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1998 15:02:36 -0400
From: "Gaylin Walli" <g.walli at infoengine.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Lavender
Esla wrote:
>Perhaps the following descriptions may help to identify the Spanish
>Lavender. [descriptions deleted]
According to the books I've got here on my desk at work (an online),
Spanish lavender's latin name is officially Lavandula stoechas,
which is also called French lavender in some stores and books.
If you have web access, here's an online pic from the Gardener's Library:
http://www.homearts.com/affil/gardb/plants/lavastoe.htm
Jasmine
Jasmine de Cordoba, Midrealm (Metro-Detroit area of Michigan)
jasmine at infoengine.com or g.walli at infoengine.com
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 11:27:18 -0400
From: "Gaylin Walli" <g.walli at infoengine.com>
Subject: SC - Re: Lavender varieties
Concerning lavender varieties, Lady Allison wrote:
>These are obviously different cultivars, but does anyone know whether
>USA growers are cultivating for color, flower size, perfume, drying
>qualities, etc?
I've looked this up out of curiosity and a desperate attempt to
avoid working on mundane work stuff. :) Here's what I've found.
Hope this helps people. It treads dangerously close to off topic
material, but at least might help the mundane grower pick varieties
for their herb garden when recreating cooking, herbal, and medical
botany type projects. Enjoy. -- Jasmine de Cordoba, jasmine at infoengine.com
++++
The largest listing of cultivars of lavender that I know of online
is located at the San Marcos Growers website (a wholesale company
based in Santa Barbara, California). Their website URL is:
http://www.smgrowers.com/lav.htm
Only a small number of the species of lavender cultivated in the
world today are useful to the herbalist and the perfume industry [1]
however, many more varieties might be useful to the cook of medieval
food.
In a recent small survey of a botanist, fragrance researcher,
herb crafter, edible-flower chefs, plant growers, and herb gardeners
from all over the United States (including "the far north" and "the
deep south") the following varieties were the most popular for the
reasons listed [2] (note the x- varieties are lavandins, not true
lavenders):
Lavendula angustafolia 'Hidcote' tradition, strong scent
L. angustafolia 'Munstead' bluer flowers than most
L. x-intermedia 'Grosso" strongest fragrance
sweetness of essential oil
abundance of flower spikes
L. x-intermedia 'Royal Velvet' retains dark purple color dried
L. angustafolia 'Lady' prolific flowers throught summer
short lifespan (2-3 years)
ease of propagation
L. x-intermedia 'Provence' hardiness in Zone 5 or worse
L. stoechas (Spanish L.) size of plant mass
L. angustafolia 'Goodwin Creek Grey' size of plant mass
L. angustafolia 'Formasike' size of plant mass
Of the newest varieties being grown and developed in the trade for
cooking and perfumery, the following are the most popular [3,4,5]:
L. x-intermedia 'Super' Longest growth with
best oil production and
best drying strength. Most
production in France and
Tasmania.
L. angustafolia 'Betty's Blue' Scent intensity at least as
good as 'Hidcote' with better
and longer bloom time.
Most of the lavender grown worldwide is used to produce essential oils,
with lavandin cultivars predominating because they yield greater quantities
of oil. However, L. angustifolia is also grown for essential oil
production, as selected forms give very high quality oil for use in
perfumery [6] and cosmetics.
References:
[1] Snowbound Herbals website
http://www.sbherbals.com/0797HotM.html
[2] The Herb Companion magazine, April/May 1998, pp. 21-25.
[3] Personal Communication, Bordine's Nursery, 9-12-98.
[4] Personal Communication, Jennifer Arris, garden plant specialist,
9-12-98.
[5] Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA) website
http://www.attra.org/attra-pub/lavender.html
[6] Jenny McGimpsey: McGimpseyJ at crop.cri.nz
Redbank Research Station, New Zealand
New Zealand Crop & Food Research Ltd. WebSite
http://www.crop.cri.nz/broadshe/Lavender.htm
[Submitted by: "Philippa Alderton" <phlip at bright.net>]
----------
From: Gaylin Walli <g.walli at infoengine.com>
To: herbalist at Ansteorra.ORG
Subject: HERB - RECIPE: Lavender Cookies
Date: Thursday, November 05, 1998 12:01 PM
How about a food recipe for now? (I'm still trying to type in those
balm recipes and the sour tummy cordial recipe for everyone) I made
some of these last night. Yummy.
These were a big hit last year at Christmas. I've made them before for
folks and most people are suprised at how good they taste. It's not
something that most people are used to, though, so be prepared for
some "ugh!" reactions. Most people associate the smell/taste of
lavender with soap, not food. -- jasmine, jasmine at infoengine.com
JASMINE'S LAVENDER COOKIES
(makes about 2.5-3.0 dozen)
Equipment:
mixing bowls
measuring cups and spoons
mixing spoons or a good electric mixer
a small bowl (a soup bowl will work well)
a small kitchen ruler
a kitchen timer
at least 2 ungreased cookie sheets
cookie racks (wax paper on your countertop doesn't work as well)
Ingredients for the cookies:
1 cup stick unsalted butter, softened but not melted
(Do not use margarine, whipped butter, or butter substitute.)
1/2 cup white sugar or lavender sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
Lavender sugar (for rolling the cookies in)
Ingredients for lavender sugar:
1 cup dried lavender blossoms
1 cup white sugar
Mix these together in a small bowl. You'll need to keep
mixing these together as you use them because the lavender
has a tendency to separate from the sugar and float to the
top of the mix. If you make enough of this ahead of time
you can sift out some of the flowers and use the leftover
sugar in the cookies themselves (I keep some of this around
at all times).
Preparation instructions (see optional preparation below):
Cream together the butter and the sugar until it is light
and fluffy, a pale golden yellow color. To this mixture, add
the salt and the flour gradually, but without beating excessively
between additions. After the final addition of flour, mix
until all ingredients are thoroughly combined, being sure to
scrape the sides and bottoms of the bowl. Chill this dough for
about 1 hour (sometimes a little less) until it is firm enough
to handle (not excessively sticky on your hands).
Preheat your oven to 350F. Form the dough you chilled into
small balls, about 1-inch in diameter (measure them with a
kitchen ruler). Roll each ball in the lavender sugar and place
it on the ungreased cookie sheet. Press down the each ball with
your thumb, but don't press all the way through, just far enough
to flatten the cookie.
Bake each sheet for roughly 12 to 15 minutes, until the
cookies are very lightly golden, not brown on the edges. Take
the cookies off the sheets as soon as they come out of the oven.
Once cooled, store in an airtight tin or cookie jar.
Optional prepartion:
Another way to prepare these cookies is to follow the
instructions for creaming everything together and chilling
the dough as instructed above. Try using the lavender sugar
that has the flowers filtered out in place of the plain
sugar in the cookies.
Once everything is chilled well enough to handle, take a
long sheet of wide wax paper an place the dough at one end. Shape
the dough roughly as a tube or rectangle and then use the wax
paper to roll the dough up into a log. Leave enough room on each
end of the log for a small amount of waxed paper to be twisted.
Close the ends of the log off from the air by twisting the extra
waxed paper in opposite directions (one clockwise, one counter-
clockwise).
Place your dough log in the freezer for AT LEAST 3 hours.
You can freeze this log up to 6 months. When you're ready to
make your cookies, simply slice them off the log, place them
on the ungreased cookie sheet, sprinkle a little filtered lavender
sugar on top of them, and bake as indicated above.
Some preparation and baking hints:
I've not gotten the hang of air-bake cookie sheets yet. I
find that when I use these non-stick sheets, I burn my cookies
because I keep thinking they aren't done. Keep in mind that the
lavender that sticks to the outside of the cookie should turn
brown, but that isn't an indicator of when the cookie is done.
I've found that the first cookies I put in the oven cook
slower than the later cookies. Keep this in mind when you're
watching your cookies to see if they're done.
While one sheet of cookies is baking, it's helpful to prepare
the second sheet to go immediately into the oven. This minimizes
the time the oven door is open and makes the baking go faster.
If you only use one cookie sheet, you should really wait for your
sheet to cool down some before you place the next batch of cookies
on it. Without doing so you not only run the risk of burning yourself,
but the cookies often are tougher and sometimes overbaked.
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 11:50:33 -0400
From: Jennifer Rushman <rushmaj at basf-corp.com>
Subject: SC - RE: SC- lavender harvest
> Yes, that was my second search after posting to the Cooks' List. I will
>also be looking about *how* to extract the essential oils from the leaves
>. . . .maybe . . . .or is that considered "distilling?" and gonna get me
>in trouble with the "revenooers?"
I can't give much insight into lavender specifically however my MS thesis
involved commercial mint production. Lavender is also an essential oil plant in
which the oil is extracted from the flowers. The flowers are gathered an then
immediately steam distilled. (See Simon, J.E., A.F. Chadwick and L.E. Craker.
1984. Herbs: An Indexed Bibliography. 1971-1980. The Scientific Literature on
Selected Herbs, and Aromatic and Medicinal Plants of the Temperate Zone. Archon
Books, 770 pp., Hamden, CT)
I have never distilled lavender oil, however I have distilled peppermint
oil by the same process. The process involves boiling the mint in a vessel
which is connected to a condenser. As the mixture of crushed mint leaves and
water boils the vapor condeses and is collected in another container. This
condensed liquid will contain water and essential oil, with the oil floating on
top. Be careful as essential oils are often very strong and could burn your
skin or sinus passages. The yield and quality of mint oil varies with cultivar,
growing conditions and post harvest handling, and could also be assumed for
lavender. As an example 500 g of dried mint yielded 1-4 mL oil, or 40-90 pounds
of oil from an acre of harvested mint. I couldn't find lavender yield info.
Hope this helps,
CH
- ---
Lady Clare Hele, Barony of Windmaster's Hill, Atlantia
Jennifer Rushman, RTP, NC
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2000 21:18:07 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Lavender
Guenevere_Nelson-Melby at needham.k12.ma.us writes:
<< Does anyone know when the first documented use of lavender as an
ingredient occurred, >>
Al-Baghdadi (1235 CE) uses lavender as an ingredient in many dishes. There
may be earlier works of which this arrogant schmuck in unawares.
.
<<and as a side note, does anyone know of an affordable source for it? >>
The spice trader's mentioned regularly on this list (Francesco's, Spice World
and the Pepper's Guild) all carry lavender. Also any local whole foods store
should stock it or be able to order it.
Ras
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 02:48:49 +0200
From: Thomas Gloning <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: SC - lavender
<< ... that Lavender (lavandula spica) was noted in 1150 by Hildegard >>
"Lavendula ... homini ad comedendum non valet". (L. vera; ch. 35)
lavender for man to eat not is-healthy
The passage De spica/Lavendula spica (ch. 25) seems rather of medicinal
than of culinary value (lavender wine for medical purposes):
"CAP. XXV. — DE SPICA.
Spica calida et sicca, et calor ejus sanus est. Et qui spicam cum vino
coquit, vel, si vinum non habet, cum melle et aqua coquat, et ita
tepidum saepe bibat, et dolorem jecoris et pulmonis, et dumphedinem in
pectore ejus mitigat, et scientiam puram ac purum ingenium facit."
Are there other passages?
Best,
Thomas
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 07:29:48 CEST
From: "Christina van Tets" <cjvt at hotmail.com>
Subject: SC - lavender
There's a recipe in the Miscellany for a honey/lavender/pepper syrup - I
think (your Grace? I imagine you know rather better than I) for pouring
over the dreaded exploding Dafair. By the time I've finished wrestling with
the Dafair themselves (why the heck do they explode only when _I_ make
them?) I generally give up and use rosewater syrup instead, but I have done
the lavender thing once or twice. OTOH, I've probably misremembered the
whole thing and it's supposed to go over something else anyway...
Cairistiona
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 05:52:11 -0400 (EDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com
Subject: SC - Re: Period Recipes for Lavender
Greetings. There are some recipes in the Anonymous 12th-(13th?)Century
Andalusian recipes that are in Cariadoc's cookbook collection.
Alys
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 07:24:14 -0500 (CDT)
From: Jeff Heilveil <heilveil at uiuc.edu>
Subject: SC - lavendar
In general any flower that you pick up from a florist is a REALLY bad idea
to use in cooking. There are little to no regulations on pesticide use in
greenhouses if the food was not intended for consumption. This goes along
with the theory that you don't want florist roses for making rosewater
unless you know that they are organic, or that the grower uses biological
control agents and not chemical control agents.
Also, as for the use of lavendar in period there are a couple of recipes
in the Miscellany (as Ras posted, I believe they ARE from al-Bahgdi (SP)).
The recipe for a Counterfeit of Garbanzos (period Falafel), as well as the
original (for which I cannot currently remember the name, but is on page
32-34ish) which is made with lamb both use lavendar and the recipes are
not quite as good IMHO without said lavendar.
Bogdan _______________________________________________________________________________
Jeffrey Heilveil M.S. Ld. Bogdan de la Brasov, C.W.
Department of Entomology A Bear's paw and base vert on field argent
University of Illinois
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 10:47:52 EDT
From: "Catherine Hartley" <caitlin_ennis at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Period recipes for lavender?
The following is a recipe that I made for Meridies Crown List (for high
Table)... it never got served as we had so much food, and it was
forgotten...but it tastes wonderful.
I would expect that Lavender is a nice flavor in any subtly flavored dish.
Caitlin of Enniskillen
Source:
Libro della cucina del secolo XIV/ The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from
France and Italy, by Odile Redon et al.
Primary Source:
Togli buono vino con un poco d'aceto, e, sciumato che sia quando bolle,
meetivi, dentro il pesceie, e cotto, cavalne, e fa bullire il vino tanto,
che torni a la terza parte: poi mettivi dentro zaffarano e altre spezie, con
alloro: poi colato il vino, mettivi spico, e lassa che sia freddo; poi
metti, sopra'l pesce, nel catino.
Translation: Take good wine and a little vinegar, and when it has been
skimmed upon boiling, put in the fish, and when they are cooked, remove
them, and boil the wine so that it reduces to one third; then add saffron
and other spices, with bay leaves;then when the wine has been strained, add
lavender and leave to cool; then put it over the fish in a dish.
Date: Wed, 31 May 2000 11:04:04 -0400
From: "Gaylin Walli" <gwalli at infoengine.com>
Subject: SC - lavender
<snip>
Incidently, a nice recipe of poached pears in
grape sauce (Platina) would be excellent served with
lavender flowers. Tie a bunch together and hang
them in the pot when you're reducing the sauce
for the pears. Discard the blossoms when done
and then garnish with more fresh blossoms. The
purples would contrast nicely. A sprig of mint
in the center and *poof*, Bob's your uncle.
Jasmine
iasmin de cordoba
Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2000 00:13:36 +0200
From: Thomas Gloning <gloning at Mailer.Uni-Marburg.DE>
Subject: SC - Period recipes for lavender?
Here are some further candidates for lavender (and/or spicanardi):
Enseignements (ed. Lozinski; ca. 1300)
134 Se vos volez fere comminee de pesson
("... puis prenez canele e espic e girofle ...")
157 Se vos volez fere gelee de pesson
("... poivre lonc, garingal, espic e un poi de safren..."
Viandier (ed. Scully; 14th/15th cent.)
68 VAT Gelee de poisson
170 VAT Espices qu'il fault a ce present Viandier
24 MAZ Soutil brouet d'Angleterre
Menagier (ed. Brereton/Ferrier; ca. 1393)
251.10 Pour faire .iiii. platz de gellee de char
("... espic ..."
270.31 Pour une quarte ou quarteron d'ypocras ...
("... espicnardi ..."
Recueil de Riom (ed. Lambert; ca. 1466)
Nr. 9 Une gelee de cher de poulailhe, lappereaux, et de cochons
("... giroffle, maxis, et espic, et garingal, ...")
Martino (ed. Faccioli; 15th cent.)
p. 130 Per fare dui piattelli di gelatina
(" ... et meza quarta di spiconardo ...")
See Platina VI.24 (transl. _spikenard_)
The German Platina 1542: "... Spicanarden ..."
Meister Eberhard (ed. Feyl; 15th cent.)
R109 Oleum nardicum
("... Man nymbt spicanardi gancz vnd seudt ...")
Ein sehr Künstliches vnd fürtrefflichs Kochbuch 1560
B5b Wie man Rephu:ener sol kochen
("Auch mag man wol Rosenwasser oder Lauendelwasser daran thun")
B6a Ein pru:ee vber Hu:enner
("nim Spickwasser oder Rosenwasser"; _Spick_ 'Lavender')
E7a Sugar with roses/sugar with lavender
"Ein Rosen zucker ein zu machen/ oder andern Zucker. NJm zu
eim lot Rosen/ drey lot zuckers/ Aber zu Lauendel vier lot/
zu eim lot Plu:emblein auch so vil" (Nr. 80).
Sabina Welser (ed. Stopp; ca. 1553)
106 Ain kreitertortten z? machen
("... vnnd ain wenig lafendel ...")
There is another German cookbook from 1609 with several lavender
recipes; Wiswe mentions 15th century recipes for beer with lavender.
_Espic_ is also listed in a 14th century French document on spices,
mentioned in one of Pichon's footnotes to the Menagier.
Sorry that I did not key in and translate all these recipes... am a bit
under pressure with other stuff.
Thomas
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: lavender sugar
From: "Christina L Biles" <bilescl at okstate.edu>
Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2001 13:25:06 -0600
>>>Which parts of the plant do you use to infuse the sugar? I have a
burgeoning plot in my front yard...
Devra the Baker <<
I take fresh or dried lavender blossoms, bury them sugar, and shake the
jar from time to time. For a presentation type gift, I would use whole
stems, but typically I use a handful of dried blossoms.
While you are looking at cooking applications, consider strawberry
lavender jam or lavender jelly.
-Magdalena d.C.
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 16:35:09 -0800 (PST)
From: Samrah <auntie_samrah at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] culinary lavender
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Michael Acord <mpacord at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>
I have come across a number of recipes calling for dried lavender
flowers, but have not yet tried any of them. I have tried to determine
which of the many varieties of lavender to use (French, English,
Spanish, sweet, etc.), but am uncertain as to which is best. Any
suggestions? TYIA.
Mike Acord
<<<
Usually we are talking English Lavender, but I believe French would
work. I have never tried using Spanish. If we are talking period
cooking, if memory serves Spanish may be OOP. The main thing is to
make sure it has been raised properly, without toxic type chemicals.
Dried lavender is available is available in cellophane packages in the
botanical/teas section of Mexican markets. Usually when using lavender
one only uses the flower portion of the plant, so sweet would not seem
to be of particular value to me, but if it is what you have growing in
your garden....
Samrah
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