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. ************************************************************************ 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: Wed, 16 Jun 2004 10:21:46 -0400 From: Daniel Myers Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] poppyseeds? To: Cooks within the SCA 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 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" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] poppyseeds? To: "Cooks within the SCA" > 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. > > 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" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] poppyseeds? To: "Cooks within the SCA" From: Shannon Cox > 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" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] poppyseeds? To: Cooks within the SCA 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 Edited by Mark S. Harris poppyseeds-msg 4 of 4