poppyseeds-msg – 7/28/05
Use of poppyseeds in period. Recipes.
NOTE: See also the files: nuts-msg, spice-mixes-msg, merch-spices-msg, p-medicine-lnks, mustard-msg.
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Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 10:21:46 -0400
From: Daniel Myers <edouard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] poppyseeds?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
On Jun 16, 2004, at 10:00 AM, Joyce Brendlinger wrote:
> I was just eating breakfast (poppyseed muffin) when it occurred to me
> that I haven't seen any medieval recipes calling for poppyseeds.
> It could be that I just wasn't looking, but were they used?
They were certainly used as a medicinal:
"Not poppy, nor mandragora,
Nor all the drowsy syrups of the world,
Shall ever medicine thee to that sweet sleep
Which thou owedst yesterday."
Shakespeare - Othello, Sc. 3.
- Doc
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Edouard Halidai (Daniel Myers)
Cum Grano Salis
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 12:36:29 -0400
From: pleves1 at po-box.mcgill.ca
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] poppyseeds?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Dalby mentions poppy seeds in page 75 of 'Flavours of Byzantium'; he's referring
to, without quoting directly, Simeon Seth, saying that 'poppy seeds with honey
[were good for the semen] but on the other hand poppy seed could cause
headache'. In page 78, he mentions that bread could be sprinkled with sesame or
poppy seed (still referring to Simeon Seth, 'On the properties of Food')
Still talking about Byzantium, Henry Marks may have mentioned poppy seeds as
well in 'Byzantine Cuisine'. It's at home, I think he actually gives out a
recipe for a poppy seed and honey sweet. I'll check this out tonight.
I seem to recall that Weaver/Dembinska mention poppy seeds in 'Food and Drink in
Medieval Poland'. How reliable the information found therein has been a
subject of past discussions, however...
Petru
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 13:06:16 -0400
From: "Mairi Ceilidh" <jjterlouw at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] poppyseeds?
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> Still talking about Byzantium, Henry Marks may have mentioned poppy seeds as
> well in 'Byzantine Cuisine'. It's at home, I think he actually gives out a
> recipe for a poppy seed and honey sweet. I'll check this out tonight.
>
<snip>
> Petru
Here it is with my version of Marks' redaction:
Koponlazoutos
"Koukoule [P. Koukoule, Byzantinon Bios Kai Politismos, Collection de
l'Instute Francais D'Athenes: Athens, 1952, Volume V, Chapters 1 and
2.]
tells us that Koponlazoutos are made from blanched, crushed almonds,
honey,
pepper, sesame and poppy seeds placed between two sheets of phyllo
dough and
baked."
1/2 lb. phyllo sheets
butter, melted
1/8 lb. poppy seeds
1/8 lb. sesame seeds
1/2 lb. blanched almonds, ground
1/2 t. pepper
3/4 C. honey
Butter pan. Butter and layer four phyllo sheets. Mix poppy seeds, sesame
seeds, almonds and pepper. Sprinkle a layer of this mixture. Repeat layers
until nuts are gone, end with phyllo layer. Cut into diamonds. Pour over
any remaining melted butter. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes; reduce heat to 350
and bake an additional 20 minutes or until browned to the desired shade.
Thin honey with a little water to form a thin syrup, which is poured over
warm pastry. Cool before serving.
Alternately, after assembling first layer, roll phyllo around nut mixture to
form a log. Cut into half inch slices and bake. Drizzle with thinned
honey.
I used this for a feast in April. Not much left over. Very good. Do not
succumb to the temptation to put some sort of sweetener in the nut/seed
mixture. It doesn't need it.
Mairi Ceilidh
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 18:01:45 +0000
From: nickiandme at att.net
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re:poppy seeds
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
There's a bread recipe Boletus(sp?) in Apicius that says to set the
bread dough to rise on a bed or poppyseeds.
Kateryn de Develyn
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 17:40:00 -0500
From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] poppyseeds?
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
From: Shannon Cox <scox2173 at aramisresearch.com>
> only the chinese poppy is known for its opium induced state
More correctly, Papaver somniferum or the opium poppy produces opium, which
in turn creates and opium induced state in humans. The particular plant you
arereferencing is P. somniferum v. chinensis, one of several variants of
the opium poppy. IIRC, Chinese poppy can refer to P. somniferum v.
chinensis, P. nudicaule v. chinensis and one of the members of genus
Meconopsis (Asiatic poppies).
I believe you will find that while other members of genus Papaver do not
produce opium, they do contain enough trace opiates to trigger a false
positive on various tests.
Bear
Date: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 23:14:50 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <rcmann4 at erthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] poppyseeds?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
There's a recipe for a hand/face cream in the Manual de Mugereswhich
includes poppyseed OIL as one of its ingredients.
Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
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