custards-msg - 11/28/06
Period custards. Recipes. Custard pies.
NOTE: See also the files: pies-msg, sugar-msg, dairy-prod-msg, puddings-msg, desserts-msg, fd-Spain-msg, fruit-pies-msg, bread-pudding-msg, jellied-milk-msg, rice-pudding-msg.
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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
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From: Stephen Bloch <sbloch at adl15.adelphi.edu>
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 1997 08:47:55 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: sca-cooks Spanish recipes, custard
Tegan Rhos wrote:
> I will be the auto-crat (or whatever term you prefer) for an event in
> October and my head cook (or whatever) wanted me to ask if anyone had
> any period spanish recipes or could guide us to a source for them. She
> also asked me to inquire about any soft custard recipes.
It may make a big difference whether you're talking about Spain pre- or
post-Reconquista. For the former, there are numerous medieval Arabic
cookbooks available in translation (reprinted in David Friedman's
_Collection of Medieval and Renaissance Cookbooks_), including one from
13th-century Andalusia. For the latter, I have a couple of Catalan
sources, and I believe there are also some surviving Castilian sources.
Some examples from our recent largely-Catalan feast are at
http://www.adelphi.edu/~sbloch/sca/cooking/st.val.feast.html.
As for custard, we served a dish of "flaons" (apparently related both to
the modern Spanish "flan" and the medieval English "flathonys") at the
aforementioned feast. I haven't included it in st.val.feast.html, but
here goes....
136 De flaons
Take fresh cheese and curds that are well [drained?] and pound them well
in a mortar together with as much eggs. And [fold?] a bit of fat
cheese which is grated and minced together with the curds with a bit of
[pols] of dried mint. And then put in the mortar a little rosewater,
not too much but rather in [appropriate] measure. And then make dough
from good farina and knead it with very fine oil, kneading it well so
that it becomes very firm. And then make of the dough [coffins?] to
place the cheeses. But before filling, heat the dough a little, but
[that?] it should [remain? become?] firm. And then fill it with the
filling. And before they are all done, take some forks or [pincers?]
and [crimp?] the edge. And then take it to the fire to cook. And when
it's cooked, and [the top is browned?] a bit, then [from edge to edge?]
put on honey or a syrup of sugar and rosewater.
Redaction (2/7/97):
7.5 oz. farmer cheese
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
5 eggs
4 dried mint leaves, ground finely
2 tsp. rosewater
1/6 cup honey
1 9-in. piecrust
Blind bake piecrust. Meanwhile, mix cheeses, egg, mint and rosewater
until smooth. Bake 40 min. at 350 degrees (at which point it has
inflated), then brush with honey and let cool.
mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
Stephen Bloch
sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu
http://www.adelphi.edu/~sbloch/
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 19:52:01 -0400
From: Phil & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - A question of Custard
> I have a question about custard pies.
> How well do they keep?
> How far in advance can I cook them ?
>
> Arabella
Custards don't freeze very well, in my experience. It's kind of like freezing
cheese; the protein matrix holding the water in and thickening the custard
wasn't "designed" to hold ice crystals, the water leaks out and you may find
it has become both watery and tough, if you can imagine such a thing. There
will be a textural change, and any pastry involved is very likely to become
soggy. (Custards stabilzed with various starches, like pastry cream, freeze
fairly well in comparison to other custards.)
What you _can_ do is cook and refrigerate them a day or two in advance, maybe
three if you're lucky and don't have anything else in the fridge with them to
contribute funky, non-custard flavor overtones. Say, salami and onions, salt
herring, that sort of thing...maybe a cover of some kind, laid over the tops
but not touching the custard, if you can avoid it, might help keep the custard
from drying up and also keep out off-flavors.
What I normally do is "blind" bake (bake empty except for something like a
pound of dry beans to help them hold their shape) the shells (if any) in
advance, allow them to cool completely, wrap them and store them. They
basically need no refrigeration, pastry has very little water in it when
baked. Then I fill them, either with a yolky stirred custard, and chill them,
or else fill with raw custard mixture and bake till the custard is done. If
you're going to do that, you should bake them somewhat less so they don't get
overly brown in the second baking.
Adamantius
Date: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 20:04:54 EDT
From: TANTRALYA at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - A question of Custard
troy at asan.com writes:
<< What you _can_ do is cook and refrigerate them a day or two in advance, maybe
three if you're lucky and don't have anything else in the fridge with them to
contribute funky, non-custard flavor overtones. >>
I have found that a clean glass jar works fine. I keep large (gallon) size
old pickle jars that have been cleaned out with bleach. They work well.
<What I normally do is "blind" bake (bake empty except for something like a
pound of dry beans to help them hold their shape) the shells (if any) in
advance, allow them to cool completely, wrap them and store them. They
basically need no refrigeration, pastry has very little water in it when
baked. >
I disagree with not refrigerating. Here in the summer it would go rancid in a
day or two. I tend to bake and put them in gallon size baggies (still in
their tins) and fill on the day I am gonna use them.
Other than that, sounds great to me!
Diana
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 00:20:41 -0400
From: Phil & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - A question of Custard
TANTRALYA at aol.com wrote, regarding pre-baked pie pastry:
> I disagree with not refrigerating. Here in the summer it would go rancid in a
> day or two. I tend to bake and put them in gallon size baggies (still in
> their tins) and fill on the day I am gonna use them.
I assume weather differences are a big factor, but then the type of shortening
used is probably also a big issue. Some go rancid faster than others. Lard
probably would, butter probably less so, and one of those partially
hydrogenated vegetable shortenings like Crisco will last through the next Ice
Age. Bearing in mind that 75 percent of the SCAdians I've seen use a
commercial pastry (boo, hiss!) made from veg shortening, this may be a problem
only in really warm places...I'm not talking about leaving them for weeks or
anything, I was thinking in terms of maybe 24 hours.
Adamantius
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 19:23:24 +1000
From: Kiriel & Chris <kiriel at cybergal.com>
Subject: Re: SC - A question of Custard
> I have a question about custard pies.
> How well do they keep?
> How far in advance can I cook them ?
>
> Arabella
I find it depends a lot on the custard. Certainly modern custards seem
to be reasonably delicate. However, Mistress Ysabeau makes a really
scrumptuous period custard tart-type thing, which seems to keep for
absolute ages in the fridge. She cooked some for a feast I ran, and I
forgot to take one container of them. They were in the fridge outside,
so I forgot about them till about a fortnight later and there they were,
as good as new. So sad, I had to eat them all. : )
I shall see if she can tell me what recipe she uses, and let you know.
Kiriel
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 12:49:07 +1000
From: "HICKS, MELISSA" <HICKS_M at casa.gov.au>
Subject: RE: SC - Help with Fettiplace's custard recipe
Lorix,
> I, alas, do not have access to Fettiplace.
> However, I have previously (6 years ago) used
> a particularly nice recipe from Fettiplace
> for custard. Previously, the custard was
> used to pipe into 'horns of plenty' & I
> cannot remember if the custard recipe was a
> stand alone or not. It had lots of cream in
> it, that I remember.
>
> I am wishing to use the recipe again and
> would be grateful if someone (who is better
> endowed with recipe books then I) could post
> the recipe to me.
I finally remembered to bring my copy into work. Fettiplace's custard
recipe is as follows: If this isn't the recipe you were thinking of, please
advise and I will hunt down another one - Mel.
To Make a Custarde
Take thicke creame put some nuttmegge and suger into yt and boyle yt well on
the fire, then beate the yelkes of vi egges very well and take some of yor
boyled creame and stirr yt with yor egges then put yt to the rest of your
Creame and boyle yt apace on walme, then put yt in a dish and let yt stand
untill yt bee cold, if you make a baked custarde put yor eggs yor spice and
suger to yor Creame as soone as you have scumed yt and beate yt well
together, then straine yt through a strainer of cushoin canvase, and so bake
yt, yor spice must bee nuttmegge and Ginger.
Spurling waffles quite a bit, but her version seems to be:
1 pint single cream (is this 600 ml?)
6 egg yolks
1 rounded tablespoon sugar
powdered ginger & nutmeg to taste
Heat cream and sugar gently
Add eggs (add a little hot cream to the eggs first so they don't curdle).
Season with spices
Stir until it coats the back of a wooden spoon
If you want to make this into a tart, pour the custard into a pre-cooked
pastry case [she doesn't mention what size] and bake for 30-40 minutes in a
slow oven (163oC or 325oF)
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 07:32:09 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: Zabaglione - was, Re: SC - Book Review WAS Verjus
Stefan li Rous wrote:
> But what is this "Zabaglione"?
Zabaglione is a classic Italian
dessert, somewhere in between a custard and a hot mousse, with maybe a
little of the character of hollandaise sauce thrown in there, too.
Flavored with white wine and often some lemon, it's sort of a beaten-up
foam of egg yolks, producing a light but thick custard, often eaten
warm.
> Does this end up being more like a flan? Or a pudding?
Hmmm. Definitely not a flan, which is normally made with milk or cream
and then baked. And to call it a pudding is kind of an understatement,
sorta like calling a turbocharged 1937 Bentley a car.
> I'd like to add it the Florilegium, but I'm not sure where to
> put it where others would look. In what general category would you look
> for such an item?
Hmm, I see your problem. Maybe you need a file entitled Meringues, Sweet
Custards, and Other Egg-Based Sweets? The trouble is that zabaglione
(which I believe means something like sea foam) is a wine-based custard,
or rather the eggs are thinned down with wine rather than with milk or
cream. In a sweet dish this is fairly unusual, I'd say. Not
unprecedented, but unusual in the big picture.
What the posted recipe fails to provide is a lot of the method, which,
as Fra Niccolo mentions, involves constant beating of eggs and etc.,
usually over hot water in a double boiler, as it becomes a mass of shiny
foam and suddenly thickens. It can be served warm or cold, but hot
zabaglione kicks butt, because it combines the whole warm-custard
comfort-food thing with the aromatic and faintly dangerous hot wine
fumes. No, under normal circumstances for most people, it is not
dangerous at all, it's just, well, hard to explain.
Adamantius, who tried anyway
Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 13:13:18 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Custard and Corned Silverside
And it came to pass on 22 May 00,, that Lee-Gwen Booth wrote:
> Unto the Gathered Cooks does Lady Gwynydd of Culloden send Greetings:
>
> Following the Tavern Event, my Lady asked me if custard - specifically
> thickened with flour - was period; I couldn't give her an answer.
There are sweet milk dishes thickened with *rice* flour, but I don't know
about wheat flour. The 16th century English custards have cream,
sugar, and spices, but no thickeners other than eggs.
Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
Date: Thu, 03 Aug 2000 06:44:42 -0700
From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - saffron
hey all from Anne-Marie
Harriet asked:
> Also -- since my folks also brought back a bit of Spanish Saffron --
> anyone have a really good saffron recipe? Paella recipes? Those
> Saffron waffers?
my favorite recipe that highlights saffron is a sweet custard. I need to be
careful not to add too much sometimes, since not everyone likes saffron the
way I do :).
Enjoy! all rights reserved, no publication without permission, of course :).
CUSTARD TARTS: Most every European source (even Apicius, from Ancient
Rome!) has a version of this. I came up with this one by combining a couple of them. You may make it one big tart or a bunch of little ones. This is a recipe I use to show modern people just how accessible medieval food can be.
Doucetes. Take Creme a gode cupfulle, and put it on a straynour, thanne take
yolkes of Eyroun, and put ther-to and a lytle mylke; then strayne it throw a
straynour in-to a bolle; then take sugre y-now, and put ther-to, or ellys hony
forde faute of sugre, than coloure it with Safroun; than take thin cofyns, and
put it in the ovynne letre, and lat hem ben hardyd; than take a dyshche
y-fastenyd on the pelys end, and pore thin comade in-to the dyssche, and fro
the dyssche in-to the cofyns; and whan they don a-ryse wel, teke hem out and
serue hem forth. Harleian MS 279 c. 1420.
To Make a Custard. Breake your Egges into a bowle, and put your Creame into
another bowle, and strain your egges into the creame, and put in saffron,
cloves, and mace, and a little synamon and ginger, and if you will some suger
and butter, and season it with salte, and melt your butter, and stirre it with
the ladle a good while, and dubbe your custard with dates or currans. The Good
Huswifes Jewell (1596).
8" pie shell
1 c. half and half
3 egg yolks, beaten
1/8 t. mace
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ginger
3 T honey
1/8 t. salt
1/8 t. clove
1 T. hot water, plus a pinch of saffron threads, mooshed to get the color out.
chopped dates or currants (optional)
Mix all the ingredients well, add the saffron. Dub with dates or currants, if
desired. Bake 325o for 40-50 min, till a knife inserted in the center comes
out clean.
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2000 07:01:37 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Hot weather meals
Stefan li Rous wrote:
> what is a "doucette"? I'm guessing "a little <something>", but
> what? A pie of some type?
A doucette is a custard tart in the 14th-15thC English recipe corpus,
sweetened with honey or sugar, usually colored with saffron, and it may
or may not have something like marrow added to it, IIRC. It's hard to
keep track of all those vaguely custardy crustades, flaons, flathonys,
doucetys, etc.
Adamantius
From: "Nancy Kiel" <nancy_kiel at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Lemon Curd Help
Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 11:45:40 -0400
You might try looking under "pudding" or "cream" if you haven't already. La Varenne from 1653 has several "tourtes" and creams, usually with pistachios, that I would call a custard (which is what I think of lemon curd as), but nothing with lemon.
Nancy Kiel
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 22:55:10 -0400
From: "Jeff Gedney" <gedney1 at iconn.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] "Custard" Crust?
To: Cooks ithin the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> I just saw a factoid on "Good Eats" that said before 1600, the word
> "custard" referred to the crust and not the filling. I've never seen
> this, does anybody recognize this reference?
According to the webster's colliegiate on my desk here, the word is
derived from Middle English "Croustade" or Pie crust. as for WHEN the meaning changes?
I can't offer a clue
Capt Elis
-Renaissance Geek of the Cyber Seas
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:12:24 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re [Sca-cooks] "Custard" Crust?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
kingstaste at mindspring.com wrote:
> I just sawa factoid on "Good Eats" that said before 1600, the word
> "custard" refered to the crust and not the filling. I've never seen
> this, does anybody recognize this referenc?
> Christianna
OED says--- custard-coffin, the `coffin' or crust of a `custar'
1596 Shaks. Tam. Shr. iv. iii. 82 It is [a] paltrie cap, A *custard
coffen, a bauble, a silken pie.
Otherwise under custard
a. Formerly, a kind of open pie containing pieces of meat or fruit
covered with a preparation of broth or milk, thickened with eggs,
sweetened, and seasoned with spices, etc. = crustade
and crustade means
A sort of rich pie, made of flesh, eggs, herbs, spices, etc. enclosed in
a crust.
* ? C. 1390 Form of Cury No. 154 Crustardes of Flessh.
* ? C. 1390 Form of Cury No.156 Crustardes of Fysshe.
* C. 1420 Liber Cocorum 40 Crustate of flesshe.
* C. 1440 Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 452 Let bake hom as
thow woldes bake flaunes, or crustades.
Johnnae
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 09:35:41 +0200
From: Jessica Tiffin <melisant at iafrica.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] "Custard" Crust?
To: sca-cooks at asteorra.org
At 05:20 AM 4/15/05, Christianna wrote:
> I just saw a factoid on "Good Eats" that said before 1600, the word
> "custrd" refered to the crust and not the filling. I've never seen
> this, does anybody recognize this referenc?
This is an interesting point. I've just done a research paper on custards,
and actually none of the recipes I looked at call themselves "custads"
until the late 16th century - they're egg flans, darioles, doucetes,
flathonys, whatever. However, when the word "custard" does turn up, at
least in the recipes I surveyed, it's applied to a _crustless_ egg/milk
mixture, not to a tart. Both Good Huswfes Jewell (1596) and Elinor
Fettiplace (1604) quite straightforwardly assume a custard to be a
crustless creature. There's quite an interesting gap in the etymology,
if it does indeed derive from "crustade": we have a Missing Link, i.e. a
crusted custard actually called a _custard_. The Elizabethan "custard" as
a crustless dish seems to arrive out of thin blue air.
The research paper, with more custard recipes than you could shake a stick
at, is up at http://users.iafrica.com/m/me/melisant/cook/custard.htm.
JdH
Baroness Jehanne de Huguenin (Jessica Tiffin) * Drachenwald Chronicler
Shire of Adamastor, Cape Town, South Africa
melisant at iafrica.com *** http://users.iafrica.com/m/me/melisant
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 00:43:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Huette von Ahrens <ahrenshav at yaoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] "Custard" Crust?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
--- kingstaste at mindspring.com wrote:
> I jus saw a factoid on "Good Eats" that said before 1600, the word
> "custard" referred to the crust and not the filling. I've never seen
> this, does anybody recognize this reference?
> Christianna
> From the Oxford English Dictionary:
custard
[app. a peverted form of CRUSTADE, with which it is connected by the
forms crustarde and
custad(e. The fashion of the thing appears to have altered about 1600.]
1. a. Formerly, a kind of open pie containing pieces of meat or fruit covered with apreparaton of broth or milk, thickened with eggs, sweetened, and
seasoned with spices, etc. =
CRUSTADE. b. Now, a dish made with eggs beaten up and mixed with
milk to a stiff consistency,
sweetened, and baked; also a similar preparation served in a liquid frm.
[c1390 Crustarde: see CRUSTADE.] c1450 Two Cookery-bks. 74
Custarde..Custard lumbarde [Recipes identical with those on pp. 50, 51, for Crustade and Crustade lumbard]. c1460 J. RUSSELL Bk.Nurture 802 Bakemete, or Custade Costable, when eggis & cayme be geson. 1530 PALSGR. 211/2 Custarde, dariolle [ÔDarioles, small pasties filled with flesh, hearbes, and spices, mingled, andminced togetherÕ (Cotgr.)]. a1592 GREENE Jas. IV (1861) 208 Cut it me like the battlements Of acustard, full of round hles. 1628 EARLE Microcosm., Cook (Arb.) 47 Quaking Tarts, and quiueringCustards, and such milke sop Dishes. 1665 Phil. Trans. I. 118 White like the white of a Custard.1688 R. HOLME Armoury in Babees Bk. (1868) 211, Custard, open Pies, or without lids filled withEggs and Milk; called also Egg-Pie. 1740 SOMERVILLE Hobbinol iii. (1749) 158 The Custard's jelly'dFlood. 1864 MRS. CARLYLE Lett. III. 231 To take always the new milk and the custard at twelve.1887 R. N. CAREY Uncle Max xv. 114 [Her] custads and flaky crust were famed in the village.
crustade
obs.
[Evidently a. F. croustade, although this is not given by Godefroy, and is known to Hatzfeld onlyas a modern word after It. crostata Ôa kinde of daintie pye, chewet, or such paste meateÕ(lorio), f. crostare to encrust: see -ADE.]
A sort of rich pie, made of flesh, eggs, herbs, spices, etc. enclosed in a crust.
?c1390 Form of Cury No. 154 Crustardes of Flessh. ibid. No. 156 Crustardes of Fysshe. c1420Liber Cocorum 40 Crustate f flesshe. c1440 Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 452 Let bake homas thow woldes bake flaunes, or crustades.
Huette
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 06:40:08 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] "Custard" Crust?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Also sprach Jessica Tiffin:
> At 05:20 AM 4/15/05, Christianna wrote:
>> I just saw a factoid on "Good Eats" that said before 1600, the word
>> "custard" refered to the crust and not the filling. 've never seen
>> this,
>> does anybody recognize this referenc?
> This is an interesting point. I've just done a research paper on
> custards, and actually none of the recipes I looked at call
> themselves "custards" until the late 16th century - they'r egg
> flans, darioles, doucetes, flathonys, whatever. However, when the
> word "custard" does turn up, at least in the recipes I surveyed,
> it's applied to a _crustless_ egg/milk mixture, not to a tart. Both
> Good Huswifes Jewell (1596) and Elinor Fetiplace (1604) quite
> straightforwardly assume a custard to be a crustless creature.
> There's quite an interesting gap in the etymology, if it does indeed
> derive from "crustade": we have a Missing Link, i.e. a crusted
> custard actually called a _custad_. The Elizabethan "custard" as a
> crustless dish seems to arrive out of thin blue air.
Well, it seems fairly possible that at some point, presumably around
1600, the standard filling for crustades, which almost always seems
to involve, in part, a liquid thickened with eggs or egg yolks,
became the main identifying characteristic of the dish, whereas
before, it might be said to be a pastry whose filling usually
contained eggs.
Let's see if we can think of others. Blankmanger as a rice dish
(although technically the main essential was that it be white --
unless you added saffron ;-)) that could contain almond milk and/or
egg yolks, but which later became an almond or an egg yolk dish which
might or might not contain a little rice flour (and we haven't been
touched the presence of meat, usually capon, in blankmanger), finally
to morph into, essentially, vanilla pudding.
Probably a better example of the kind of shift I'm thinking of is
bechamel sauce, which, once upon a time, was a thickened sauce made
frm white veal stock, enriched with cream, but later became first a
thickened white sauce made from milk and cream, enriched by simmering
veal bones in the sauce for hours, and finally to the meatless,
thickened milk-based white sauce (cream optional at the end, but
technically this is then cream sauce), most of us know and not
necessarily love.
So maybe the concept of identity shift isn't as rare and surprising
as we might at first think...
Adamantius
Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2005 07:24:58 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] "Custard" Crust
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Way back in the dark ages-- PPC did a series of articles
on bake well tarts in PPC 2 and 5. used those articles then
as a basis for my first Period Palate column in 1980..... I guess
a quarter century ago now. Given it was limited to one half page
because that was all the room that TI could spare, it didn't really
have the room to explore the subject in a thorough manner.
Alan Davidson mentions another association besides those dishes mentioned
by Master A. Caudles and possets both, Davidson notes, have virtually
been custards.
Johnnae
Date: Fri, 5 May 2006 22:44:42 -0700
From: "Celia des Archier" <celiadesarchier at cox.net>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Re: custard pie ratios
To: "'Cooks within the SCA'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
I'm coming into the middle of this conversation, and I apologize if this has
already been mentioned, but I was taught that the key to preventing a soggy
pie bottom on a custard pie was a) to make sure that the pie crust was well
chilled before putting it into the oven and b) to begin with a very hot
oven, and then to decrease the temperature after the crust has set. It can
also be helpful to freeze your pie crust ahead of time to prevent it
over-baking. I've had success using frozen pie crusts for custard pies.
I do know that you can partially bake the pie crust ahead of time, but I've
never done that. It's always worked for me to just make sure that my crust
was frozen or chilled and that my filling was also chilled, and then to
start it in a 400 degree oven, then turn the oven down and shield the edges
of the crust with aluminum foil for the remainder of the bake time. Those
are probably pretty basic tricks for most of you, but it's just how my
country cook Mom taught me to get the best pie crust.
Celia
Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2006 00:14:39 -0700
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at jeffnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Flan of Almayne
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
At 11:11 PM 9/5/2006, you wrote:
> 'Lainie mentioned:
> <<< Yup, that's pretty tasty too. I've been thinking of something
> like that next time I make Flan of Almayne. >>>
>
> So is this "Flan of Almayne" a period dish? Recipe?
>
> Thanks,
> Stefan
Here is the version I sent to the local newsletter a year or so ago. It's
one of my favorites, and has made it's way onto our Thanksgiving dessert
table also.
> A Flan of Almayne (Apple and/or Pear tart)
>
> This recipe is from:
>
> Ancient Cookery* from A Collection of the Ordinances and Regulations for
> the Government of the Royal Household made in Divers Reigns from King
> Edward III to King William and Queen Mary also Receipts in Ancient
> Cookery, printed for the Society of London Antiquaries by John
> Nichols, 1740.
>
> This recipe is on pg. 452/39, and it is early 15th century English.
>
> First take raisins of Courance, or else other fresh raisins, and good ripe
> pears, or else good apples, and pick out the cores of them, and pare them,
> and grind them, and the raisins in a mortar, and do then to them a little
> sweet cream of milk, and strain them through a clean strainer, and take
> ten eggs, or as many more as will suffice, and beat them well together,
> both the white and the yolk, and draw it through a strainer, and grate
> fair white bread, and do thereto a good quantity, and more sweet cream,
> and do thereto, and all this together; and take saffron, and powder of
> ginger, and canel, and do thereto, and a little salt, and a quantity of
> fair, sweet butter, and make a fair coffin or two, or as many as needs,
> and bake them a little in an oven, and do this batter in them, and bake
> them as you would bake flaunes, or crustades, and when they are baked
> enough, sprinkle with canel and white sugar. This is a good manner
> of Crustade.
>
> My modernized version:
>
> 1 10" piecrust
>
> 1/2 c raisins ( golden is good, plain is fine)
> 4 apples or 4 pears (or 3 and 1 or 2 and 2), peeled and cored
> 1/4 c. whipping cream
> 3 eggs
> 1/2 c breadcrumbs
> 1/4 tsp saffron (or less if your taste requires)
> 1/2 tsp ginger
> 1/2 tsp cinnamon
> 1/2 tsp salt
> 1 Tbsp butter
> Cinnamon sugar
>
> Lay the piecrust in a 10" pie pan, poke it all over with a fork. Bake at
> 300 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until faintly golden.
>
> Take your apples and pear and raisins and run them through a food
> processor until well chopped. (You can bray them in a mortar if you like
> but it's a lot of work!) Add about 1/2 of the whipping cream and blend
> some more. Add the eggs one at a time, blending between additions. Add in
> the breadcrumbs, then the rest of the cream. Blend well. Add the spices,
> salt and butter, blend well. Pour into your pre-baked pie crust.
> (Depending on the size of your fruit, there may be extra. Pour it into a
> glass baking dish and bake it alongside the flan- it make a great snack.)
> Bake the flan at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes. It should look a bit
> like a pumpkin pie, and a toothpick stuck in should come out fairly clean.
> Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and cool before cutting. I also have made it
> into cupcake-sized tarts for potlucks.
'Lainie
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:30:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kathleen Madsen <kmadsen12000 at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Period Panacotta
To: sca-cooks <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
I found a period recipe in Gallo (1575) that Mistress
Helewyse de Birkestad translated.
Here is the translated original:
The following passages are taken from Gallo, Agostino
Le Vinti giornate dell'agricoltvra et de'piaceri della
villa (1575). This book essentially covers all
aspects of country life, from raising cattle, to
growing fruit, to making wine, to making cheese. The
book is available on line courtesy of the Fons Grewe
Site - http://www.bib.ub.es/grewe/showbook.pl?gw010
Vinc. And how do you make your head of milk.
Scal. First we put the cream to the fire in a well
cleaned casserole, the which (cream) we move
continually with a clean (white) stick, until is
starts to enlarge (the point just before a simmer when
the volume of cream appears to increase), then we take
it at that time from the fire and put to it to ounces
of sugar for each pound (the Italian libra or pound is
12 oz) of it, not forgetting to move it with the same
stick, until you can hold into it your little finger,
Then pass it through a hair strainer or piece of linen
rag. And when this is done put inside it the rennet
(coagulant) dissolved/mixed with fresh water or better
still with rose water, and all at one time put
everything in little cups or plates, in order that it
cools and takes body. And in this way we make our
head of milk very delicate, the which you other nobles
eat willingly with the fresh rolled wafers made of
flour and sugar, but it is also better than that made
in Venice and Padova.
My redaction:
Period Panacotta
Ingredients:
2 cups of cream
3 Tablespoons of sugar
1 Tablespoon of cool water
Either 1 Junket tablet or 6 drops of Rennet
Directions:
Prepare 4 dessert dishes ahead of time and have them
ready to be filled. In another small dish put the
Tablespoon of water in it and drop in your Junket
tablet or your Rennet, stir until Junket or Rennet is
well combined. Junket tablet needs to be completely
dissolved.
Heat cream until it appears to increase in volume in
the pan, which will be around 175 deg. F. Remove from
heat and stir in sugar. Allow to cool to 110 deg. F
while continuing to stir periodically, to prevent a
skin from forming. When the cream has cooled to 110
deg. F stir in Junket or Rennet with a few stirs of
your spoon. Pour immediately into dessert dishes and
allow to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes. You can
either serve immediately or allow to set up for an
additional 30 minutes at room temperature or cover and
place in the refrigerator to cool. You want to serve
it within 24 hours for the best flavor and freshness.
This recipe will make 4 half-cup servings. To
increase servings do not increase the Rennet or Junket
unless you approach a gallon of cream, then increase
your Rennet to 1/2 teaspoon or your Junket to 2
tablets.
You can also use whole milk instead of cream and can
drop fresh fruit into the bowls before pouring the
milk or cream over top. These are both modern
adaptations.
Eibhlin
<the end>