Title: whisks-msg
Subject: Period whisks.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: medieval, period, cooking, utensil, whisk, strainer, stir, mix

whisks-msg - 5/8/11

Period whisks.

NOTE: See also the files: strainers-msg, utensils-msg, mortar-pestle-msg, ovens-msg, cooking-pots-art, p-stoves-msg, spits-msg, querns-msg.

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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.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Wed, 5 Jul 2006 16:29:42 -0400
From: Daniel Myers <eduard at medievalcookery.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] whisk
To: hlaislinn at earthlink.net,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Jul 5, 2006, at 4:29 PM, Stephanie Ross wrote:
> Does anyone know if whisks are period and if there are any extant
> examples? Internet searches are bringing up nothing for me.

The answer is "sort of".

The recipe for "A dyschefull of Snowe" from "A Proper newe Booke of
Cokery" instructs the cook to make a primitive whisk by cutting the
end of a stick lengthwise into four parts.

"To make a dyschefull of Snowe. Take a pottell of swete thycke creame
and the whytes of eyghte egges, and beate them altogether wyth a
spone, then putte them in youre creame and a saucerfull of Rosewater,
and a dyshe full of Suger wyth all, then take a stycke and make it
cleane, and than cutte it in the ende foure square, and therwith
beate all the aforesayde thynges together, and ever as it ryseth take
it of and put it into a Collaunder, this done take one apple and set
it in the myddes of it, and a thicke bushe of Rosemary, and set it in
the myddes of the platter, then cast your Snowe uppon the Rosemarye
and fyll your platter therwith. And yf you have wafers caste some in
wyth all and thus serve them forthe."

[A Proper newe Booke of Cokerye (mid-16th c.)]

- Doc

Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2006 15:50:59 -0500
From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <dailleurs at liripipe.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] whisk
To: hlaislinn at earthlink.net,	Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>,	Daniel Myers
	<eduard at medievalcookery.com>

Doesn’t the picture from scappi show a guy using a whisk? I'm thinking  
of the one where he's making "sweet butter" or
something like that....there might even be whisk pictures in scappi,  
now that I'm pondering...

--Anne-Marie

Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 00:37:52 -0500
From: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks]  whisk
To: SCA-Cooks maillist SCA-Cooks <SCA-Cooks at Ansteorra.org>

Aislinn asked:
<<< Does anyone know if whisks are period and if there are any extant
examples? Internet searches are bringing up nothing for me. >>>

Good question. I think horsehair strainers and such were often used
to get a similar result as we often use whisks for.

However, I finally found this in the dairy-prod-msg file in the
Florilegium:

<<< Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 20:09:47 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: Re: SC - Whipped Cream

> I've just recieved my copy of Pleyn Delit, and I love it : )
> There are a couple of question marks though - the authors repeatedly state
> that medieval cooks did not whip either cream or eggwhite. Does anyone
> know if this is really true?
> I find it hard to believe
>
> Lady Uta

Hello!  I've got a recipe for Crustade Lumbard (Harl. 279, Dyuerse Bake
metis, #17) that says "Take gode Creme, & leuys of Percely, & Eyroun, [th]e
[3]olkys & [th]e whyte, & breke hem [th]er-to, & strayne [th]orwe a
straynoure, tyl it be so styf [th]at it wol bere hym-self..."

If the phrase "tyl it be so styf [th]at it wol bere hym-self..." is
referring to the cream, then this is the earliest mention of whipped
cream that I've found yet. (c. 1430)

There's an illustration from Il Cuoco Segreto..., 1570, showing a cook
whipping cream with a whisk.  I posted that illustration here:
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/food-art/cheese_and_butter.gif

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net >>>

Although this may not be what you had in mind, there is also this
notation on whisks taken from a period document on controlling flies.
This can be found in the Pest-Control-art file in the ANIMALS section
of the Florilegium:

<<< Have whisks [little flat shovels rather like today's fly-swats] wherewith to
slay them by hand...Have your windows shut full tight with oiled or other
cloth, or with parchment or something else, so tightly that no fly may enter,
and let the flies that be within be slain with the whisk or otherwise as
above, and no others will come in'. >>>

Another bit of info from the eggs-msg file:
<<< Date: 19 May 2004 08:22:49 -0000
From: "Volker Bach" <bachv at paganet.de>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Meringues?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On Tue, 18 May 2004 12:43:49 -0700 (PDT), Huette von Ahrens
<ahrenshav at yahoo.com> wrote :
> According to the Oxford Companion to Food,
> "It sees to have been only in the 16th century
> that European cooks discovered that beating egg
> whites, e.g. with a whisk of birch twigs (in the
> absence of any better implement), produced an
> attractive foam.

I would dispute that statement, though 'rediscovered' might apply.  Anthimus
'de observation ciborum', entry 34, describes a dish called 'afrutum',
apparently of greek origin or at least connections. he clearly states that
egg whites albumen de ovo) should be used to make it 'foamy' (quomodo
spuma) and that the result should be piled up in a dsh. THe dish looks
like a souffle, and I'd read it as clearly using beaten egg whites.

Giano >>>

Another from the utensils-msg file in the FOOD-UTENSILS section:

<<< Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 10:09:44 -0700
From: Curtis & Mary <ladymari at cybertrails.com>
To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
Subject: Re: Whisks

> Does anyone out there know if whisks had been invented by the mid
> sixteenth century?  I am getting ready to make egg tempera paints and I
> know that it is vital to whip the white very well (a spoon will not do).

I beleive they used a twig or stick with the end split multiple times to
make a whisk.

Mairi, Atenveldt  >>>

Hope these tidbits help. I found lots of hits on "whisk", but only
these few on the period use of whisks. Of course there might have bee
a different term used for this in period.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
     Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas

Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2010 12:34:17 -0700 (PDT)
From: wheezul@canby.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] elderberries/flowers in Rumpolt

The flowers are tiny and white, but turned brownish as they wilted in
the milk. They added a delicate flavor to the mix. I used a whisk to
stir in the flour, which got the job done, but was not used by cooks in
Rumpolt's time. 

Guillaume
********************************

Question about the whisk.  So far as I know they didn't have our modern
equivalent but (IIRC) at least one of the German recipes for 'schnee' or
'snow' or some other beaten egg white recipe calls for the use of a besom,
which I gather would perhaps be like a small broom-like bundle of thin
branches that could be used to whip much like a whisk.  Am I on the wrong
mental track here?  Should I track down where I read this and share? If it
was a kitchen implement, why wouldn't they use it when needed?

Geeking out on period cooking equipment,

Katherine

Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 06:58:34 -0700
From: edoard@medievalcookery.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] whisks

-------- Original Message --------
<<< Question about the whisk.  So far as I know they didn't have our modern
equivalent but (IIRC) at least one of the German recipes for 'schnee' or
'snow' or some other beaten egg white recipe calls for the use of a besom,
which I gather would perhaps be like a small broom-like bundle of thin
branches that could be used to whip much like a whisk.  Am I on the wrong
mental track here?  Should I track down where I read this and share? If it
was a kitchen implement, why wouldn't they use it when needed? >>>

I didn't come across the German recipe in a quick search, but I did find
a similar French one:

To make snow. Take a pot of new cream, 4 ounces of sugar, 4 ounces of
rose water: take a little white broom like a large handful of twigs, &
beat very strongly the cream half an hour long, then let it rest, & you
will see scum form thereon like snow: then take a skimmer, & skim the
snow off, & put it on a plate, a trencher thereunder, after resting
taste the snow, & beat again the cream like before, until you have
enough snow: then put it into little plates, a branch of rosemary
therein, & serve so. [Ouverture de Cuisine (France, 1604)]

There are also these earlier English recipes that modify a stick to make
a simple whisk:

To make a dyschefull of Snowe. Take a pottell of swete thycke creame and
the whytes of eyghte egges, and beate them altogether wyth a spone, then
putte them in youre creame and a saucerfull of Rosewater, and a dyshe
full of Suger wyth all, then take a stycke and make it cleane, and than
cutte it in the ende foure square, and therwith beate all the aforesayde
thynges together, and ever as it ryseth take it of and put it into a
Collaunder, this done take one apple and set it in the myddes of it, and
a thicke bushe of Rosemary, and set it in the myddes of the platter,
then cast your Snowe uppon the Rosemarye and fyll your platter therwith.
And yf you have wafers caste some in wyth all and thus serve them
forthe. [A Proper New Booke of Cookery (England, 1557)]

Take a pottle of sweet thick Cream, and the white of eight Egs, and
beate them altogither with a spooone, then put them into your Creme with
a dish full of Rosewater and a dish full of Sugar withall, then take a
stick and make it clean, and then cut it in the end four square, and
therwith beat all the aforesaid things togither, and ever as it ariseth,
take it off, and put it into a Cullender, this doon, take a platter and
set an Apple in the midst of it, and stick a thick bush of Rosemary in
the Apple. Then cast your Snow upon the Rosemary & fill your platter
therwith, and if you have wafers, cast some withall, and so serve them
foorth.  [A Book of Cookrye (England, 1591)]

Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 11:03:34 -0400
From: Johnna Holloway <johnnae@mac.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] whisks

Had a moment so I looked whisk up in OED

3. An instrument, now freq. a bundle of wires, for beating up eggs,  
cream, or the like.

1666 Boyle Orig. Formes & Qual; 111 By beating the White of an Egge  
well with a Whisk, you may reduce it from a somewhat Tenacious into a  
Fluid Body.

1747 Mrs. Glasse Cookery xv. 140 First beat the Whites of the Eggs up  
well with a Whisk.

1882 Worc. Exhib. Catal. iii. 38 Egg whisk for confectioners.
For the verb
whisk

whisk, v. (adv., int.) Forms: see whisk sb.1 [In early use Sc.; prob.  
of Scandinavian origin: cf. Sw. viska to whisk (off), sponge, Da.  
viske to wipe, whisk, rub, sponge (a gun), Norw. viska to put straw,  
etc. together in a bundle = OHG. wisken (MHG., G. wischen) to  
wipe,intr. to move lightly or briskly, LG. wisken to move quickly,  
wipe off, etc.: cf. whisk sb.1 The spelling with wh was adopted as  
being symbolic (cf. whip). ]
4. To beat or whip with a rod of twigs or the like. Obs. in gen.  
sense: in later use, To stir or beat up (eggs, cream, etc.) with a  
light rapid movement (= whip v. 7), esp. by means of a whisk (see  
whisk sb.1 3).

1530 R. Whytford Werke for Housholders E i, Yf any chylde  
be..stubburne,..let it..be whysked with a good rodde.
I suppose the next step is to look up rods in cookery.

Johnna

<the end>

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