Title: almond-milk-msg
Subject: Making almond milk. Deskinning almonds.
Author: Edited by Mark S. Harris
Last saved by: Mark S. Harris
Keywords: medieval, almond milk, deskinning, nuts, almond

almond-milk-msg – 2/2/15

Making almond milk. Almond milk in period. Deskinning almonds.

NOTE: See also the files: almond-cream-msg, alnd-mlk-chs-msg, nuts-msg, dairy-prod-msg, butter-msg, fasts-msg.

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Date: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 21:43:17 EST
From: LrdRas <LrdRas at aol.com>
Subject: SC - Deskinning blanched almonds

Patricia.R.DUNHAM at ci.eugene.or.us writes:
<< Of course, I didn't have much in the way of
 fingertips left, after having blanched and slipped the skins off x-many
 pounds of bulk almonds, before we blenderized 'em. >>

A little tip> To remove most of the skin blanch the almonds, drain and place
on a towel, Wrap them up in the towel and sort of roll, rub and squeeze them
around. Rinse.  Repeat process.  This removes almost all of the brown skin
relatively easily.

Ras

Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 23:40:23 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Deskinning blanched almonds

Ras answered Patricia Dunham:
><< Of course, I didn't have much in the way of
> fingertips left, after having blanched and slipped the skins off x-many
> pounds of bulk almonds, before we blenderized 'em. >>
>
>A little tip> To remove most of the skin blanch the almonds, drain and place
>on a towel, Wrap them up in the towel and sort of roll, rub and squeeze them
>around Rinse.  Repeat process.  This removes almost all of the brown skin
>relatively easily.

Alternatively, set some number of 5- to 8-year-olds to squirting the
almonds out of their coverings into a bowl. Then rinse them again before
grinding.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook

Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 08:27:31 -0500
From: Christi Redeker <Christi.Redeker at digital.com>
Subject: RE: SC - onion soup - IP

Mordanna wrote:
 >> hmmmm
   do I perhaps see a cause?  What had been ground in the grinder before the
   almonds?  I am not defaming your cleanliness, milady, so much as attesting to
   the staying power of coffee stains.

Actually,  I think the issue is the wine in it.  Now that I go back and
read the originals, and then the redaction that I copied instead of
creating my own (bad apprentice, bad) I see the difference.  And
besides, my boyfriend bought me the coffee grinder so I could grind
almonds, not coffee, it was brand new.

The originals are as follows:

Harleian MS 279 - Potage Dyvers (Taken from "Take a Thousand Eggs or
More")

xj. Froyde almoundys.  Take blake sugre, an cold water, an do hem to in
a fayre potte, an let then boyle to-gedere, an salt it and skeme it
clene, an let it kele; than take almaundys, an blawnche hem clene, an
stampe hem, an draw hew, with the sugre water thikke y-now, in-to a
fayre vessel:  an [yf] the mylke be nogt swete y-now, take whyte sugre
an caste ther-to.

Harlien MS 4016 (Taken from "Take a Thousand Eggs or More")

109 Froyte de almondes.  Take blak sugur and colde water, and caste the
sugur and the water in a potte; and lete hem boile togidre, and salt,
and skemme hem clene, and let hit kele; And then take Almondes, and
blanche hem clene, and stamp hem in a morter al smal, and drawe hem thik
ynowe thorgh a streynour with sugar water, into a faire vessell. And if
hit so be that the mylke be not swete, take white sugur and cast
thereto; And serue hit forth in the maner of potage, A namly in lenton
tyme.

Now the redaction I followed (evidentially without checking back against
the originals, me bad) reads:

ALMOND MILK

1 cup blanched almonds
2 cups water, wine, or broth
1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
dash salt
white sugar to taste

Grind the almonds coarsely with 1 or 2 teaspoons cold water and place
them in a large bowl.  Put the water, sugar, and salt in an iron pot and
bring to a boil.  Pour the boiling water over the ground almonds and let
sit for 10 to 15 minutes.  Cool completely and serve as a pottage or
soupy dish.  If it is not sweet enough, add white sugar, a teaspoon at a
time, until the mixture is satisfactory.

Now, please remember this is not my redaction, and I do not want to get
into an argument about it comparing to the original.  When I made the
almond milk it was late at night and I just took it at face value.  I
guess I know why there is the discrepancy now between what Cariadoc,
Mordanna, and Ras all mentioned as the consistency of their almond milk
compared to mine.

Murkial
(the sheepish)

Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 10:05:56 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: RE: SC - onion soup - IP

At 8:27 AM -0500 1/15/98, Christi Redeker wrote:

>Now the redaction I followed (evidentially without checking back against
>the originals, me bad) reads:
>
>ALMOND MILK
>
>1 cup blanched almonds
>2 cups water, wine, or broth
>1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
>dash salt
>white sugar to taste
>
>Grind the almonds coarsely with 1 or 2 teaspoons cold water and place
>them in a large bowl.

One point that may not have occured to you is the "grind coarsely." Since
the objective is to get stuff out of the almonds and then throw away the
solid part, I think you want to grind them quite fine--at least, we do.

My favorite "redaction vs original" story involves a stew someone did with
lemons and oranges in it. I asked about the source, which turned out to be
14th or 15th c. English. I expressed skepticism, and was told that it was
in the source. It turned out that the lemons and oranges were in the
(published--possibly _To the King's Taste_) redaction--the original said
"garnish with fruit."

David/Cariadoc
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/

Date: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 21:16:27 -0400
From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy Renfrow)
Subject: RE: SC - onion soup - IP

<snip>
>Now the redaction I followed (evidentially without checking back against
>the originals, me bad) reads:
>
>ALMOND MILK
>
>1 cup blanched almonds
>2 cups water, wine, or broth
>1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
>dash salt
>white sugar to taste
>
>Grind the almonds coarsely with 1 or 2 teaspoons cold water and place
>them in a large bowl.  Put the water, sugar, and salt in an iron pot and
>bring to a boil.  Pour the boiling water over the ground almonds and let
>sit for 10 to 15 minutes.  Cool completely and serve as a pottage or
>soupy dish.  If it is not sweet enough, add white sugar, a teaspoon at a
>time, until the mixture is satisfactory.
>
>Now, please remember this is not my redaction, and I do not want to get
>into an argument about it comparing to the original.  When I made the
>almond milk it was late at night and I just took it at face value.  I
>guess I know why there is the discrepancy now between what Cariadoc,
>Mordanna, and Ras all mentioned as the consistency of their almond milk
>compared to mine.
>
>Murkial
>(the sheepish)
>

Hello!  Thank you, milady, for pointing out a typo and a source of
confusion in my redaction of this recipe.  Your timing is quite good, since
I am currently putting the finishing touches on the *second edition* of
Take 1000 Eggs. Another few weeks & it'd be at the print shop!

The ingredients list above should read:
2 cups water (or wine, or broth, as noted in the specific recipe**)

**This recipe for almond milk was intended to be used throughout the book,
in many different recipes.  Some of these called for a "thrifty" or thin
milk, while others called for a thick milk.  Some for wine, and some for
broth or water.

The recipe needs to be amended to give the option of grinding the almonds
to powder in order to yield a smooth pottage. "Grind the almonds coarsely"
is instructed in order to achieve a *clear* milk, which I find difficult to
do when the almonds are ground to flour - the almonds soak up the liquid,
and there are too many particulates (for my tastes) in what little does
trickle out.

BTW, if anyone has noticed anything else that needs fixing, please email
me.  Thanks!

Cindy/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net

Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 22:07:54 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: RE: SC - Almond milk - IP

> Our almond milk (made with finely ground almonds and water) comes out as
> white as milk, usually a slightly thinner consistancy.
>
> Elizabeth/Betty Cook

That would make sense from a chemistry standpoint. Some recipes call for
grinding the almonds with a  few drops of water so that "no Oil may come
to the top" or some such. Since it's pretty clear that the authors of
the recipes don't want the oil floating on top, I think it's a fairly
safe bet to say that almond milk is an emulsion of sorts.

Looking at other emulsions, like, say, cream or mayonnaise, you'd expect
it to be pale and nearly opaque. What I've made in the past has been
along the lines of skimmed milk. White but slightly translucent. I
expect grinding the almonds finer would help.

Adamantius
troy at asan.com

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 10:58:30 -0800
From: "Crystal A. Isaac" <crystal at pdr-is.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond milk

Michael Macchione (kael) wrote:
> Just had a thought.  I've been listening to the discussion on almond milk
> avidly, as I will be making a large batch of in the near future.    But I
> only just thought to ask, how long will almond milk last in a refrigerator
> (does it even need to be refrigerated??)

Yup, it needs to be refrigerated. It's made from nuts. Nuts go stale.
Nut oil gets rancid. I've never keep Almond milk for more than a couple
of days, but a cook I respect tells me it will last a week in the
'fridge. Anybody have real experince?

Crystal

Date: Fri, 23 Jan 1998 07:49:39 -0800
From: "Micheal J. Hobbs" <llewmike at iwaynet.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond milk

Having made it in the past, I would not recommend keeping it for more
than a week.  After that, it starts to discolor and taste funny.

LLEW

Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 12:13:17 EST
From: Bronwynmgn <Bronwynmgn at aol.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond milk

<< Just had a thought.  I've been listening to the discussion on almond milk
 avidly, as I will be making a large batch of in the near future.    But I
 only just thought to ask, how long will almond milk last in a refrigerator
 (does it even need to be refrigerated??) >>

We made a good bit for our fall event.  We started making it a week ahead of
time and kept it refrigerated.  What didn't get used (about a gallon and a
half) stayed in the fridge after the event for about another week, at which
point we noticed that it was starting to grow things and dumped it.  So I
would say two weeks max.  I have no idea if you can freeze it and if that
would extend the life a bit.

Brangwayna Morgan

Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 14:54:30 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond milk

Brangwayna Morgan wrote, concerning almond milk:

>I have no idea if you can freeze it and if that would extend the life a bit.

 We froze some once and it was all right when we unfroze it, as I remember.
I would experiment with it more before trying this for a feast, though.

Elizabeth/Betty Cook

Date: 30 Jan 1998 10:21:15 -0800
From: "Marisa Herzog" <marisa_herzog at macmail.ucsc.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk

<snip>Take whole almonds drop them in a pan of boiling water for about 2
minutes,take them out, do the towel rubbing,  then follow Cariadoc's recipe
for almond milk.
<snip>

yup!  that's it, but you shouldn't need to leave them in for 2 mins.  just
keep an eye on them, the skins will start to balloon a bit when they are
loose, then scoop em out and fold them up in a towel and kinda massage/knead
them and they will pop right out of their skins!
- -brid

Date: Fri, 30 Jan 1998 15:22:25 -0600 (CST)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
Subject: SC - Re: almond milk

Greetings!  I haven't tried Cariadoc's towel method for getting the
skins off almonds but sqooshing them between your fingers works fine,
or taking them between your hands and rubbing them together.  It's a
good project for when you are watching tv!  I usually let the almonds
sit in the boiling water (which is now cooling off) for 5 minutes,
sometimes longer.  If a particular almond doesn't want to "strip" for
you, plop it back in boiling water for a few more minutes.  Whole,
unblanched almonds seem to retain their flavor and "essence" longer
than those that have been slivered and blanched.

Alys Katharine

Date: Thu, 04 Jun 1998 19:20:09 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - almond milk

>     What is a good proportion of almonds to liquid to make almond milk?
>     Must one grind the almonds with the liquid or is the almond meal
> from the grinding added to the liquid and stirred/soaked?
>
> Ceridwen

I've had good results by grinding the almonds, pouring 3 or 4 cups
boiling water over each cup of ground almonds, letting them steep for 5
or 10 minutes, blending everything as smooth as possible in a blender,
then straining through a fine strainer or cheesecloth. The blender helps
minimize almond waste, and also helps keep the almond oil from floating
on top.

BTW, you can usually get a second-rate almond milk (as with small beer)
from the strained, used almonds.

Adamantius

Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 09:26:46 +1000
From: Robyn Probert <robyn.probert at lawpoint.com.au>
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk

At 03:49 PM 04/06/98 -0400, Ceredwin wrote:
>    What is a good proportion of almonds to liquid to make almond milk?
>    Must one grind the almonds with the liquid or is the almond meal
>from the grinding added to the liquid and stirred/soaked?

It depends on how rich you want your almond milk to be. Almond milk was also
made with wine and/or with stock.

I use a food processor. First process the almonds until fine (fresh ground
yields much more than buying pre-ground). For a rich almond milk I use
1 cup white wine, 2 cups water, 1.5 cups ground almonds. Put these in the
food processor and whiz for 1 minute, then leave for 5 minutes and process
again. The liquid should be cream coloured (you could wait and process again
if you were not in a hurry). Strain through a fine strainer, stirring to get
the liquid through. Save the meal and clean the strainer. Wring out a cloth
with water and line the strainer, then pour the milk through into a clean
bowl. Gather up the cloth and twist until the meal is dry. Dump out the meal
and replace with the meal from the first straining, then repeat to squeeze
out the last of the milk. This is some trouble, but makes a very smooth
almond milk.

BTW if you make soap, the almond meal is a great additive.

Rowan

Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1998 22:26:49 -0400
From: mermayde at juno.com (Christine A Seelye-King)
Subject: SC - Almond Milk

>Has anyone tried subbing almond milk in for cow milk?  Results?
>Bogdan

I bought some at the health food store I work at in a Parmalat-type
container.  (About 2.99 a qt.)  I also buy Parmalat milk in those boxes
for days when we are out of milk.  One morning my lord opened the almond
milk up instead of the regular milk (it was there, he just didn't look!)
.  So, we had almond milk in our protein drinks, and in our coffee, and I
even drank some just because the container was open and I didn't have
time to cook anything special with it.  It was very tasty in all of the
above, even though I wouldn't have chosen to use it that way.
It is a little thinner than anything other than skim milk, and it would
not have the thickening qualities of cow's milk, I wouldn't think.
The taste and texture of the commercial stuff is very nice, it comes in
regular and vanilla, and the ingredients list reads like a medieval
recipie.
Mistress Christianna MacGrain
(But I'm not buying anymore until I have a specific use for it!)

Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 00:29:05 -0600From: Tim Allison <tallison at mcs.com>Subject: SC - almond milk in storesWhile shopping at an upscale supermarket in Chicago, I found in an asepticpackage a beverage labelled almond beverage. It said to use in any recipewhere dairy milk might be used. The ingredients are almonds, water, andbrown rice for sweetener. The product is packaged in Oregon, which meansit's probably available in a large part of the country. It's not cheap, butneither are almonds, and the amount of time and trouble it will save areprobably worth quite a bit.Caroline Richenda Carol Mitchell

Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 19:23:04 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk

lynnx at mc.net writes:

<< I just bought some almond milk at the supermarket. It's called Naturally
 Almond, and the ingredients are almonds, water, and brown rice
 sweetener(plus a few stabilizers). I haven't tasted it yet, but I'm not
 an expert on how almond milk is supposed to taste. >>

Both I and my co-feastocrat used this product this weekend. We did not find it
objectionable. It is slightly different from regular almond milk in several
ways, but the flavor was good, IMO. It does not seem to have the thickeneing
ability of hand-made almond milk but that was easily over come with a little
rice flour.

Would I use it again? Well, for certain dishes without hesitation but for
others I would use hand-made.

Ras

Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 21:35:25 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk

TerryD at Health.State.OK.US writes:
<< What would your criteria be for choosing between your almond milk or the
 commercial product, in general?

 Bear >>

If you think the redaction is supposed to be thickened by the almond milk the
hand-made product is superior. If your redaction is dependent on rice flour,
egg yolks, or bread crumbs for thickening or if thickening is contra-
indicated then the commercial product seems to work just fine.

Ras

From: Librarian <betpulib at ptd.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: almond milk
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 17:33:38 GMT

Heather Law wrote:
> I just bought some almond milk at the supermarket. It's called Naturally Almond, and the ingredients are almonds, water, and brown rice
sweetener(plus a few stabilizers). 
<<snip>>

Just a note: The inclusion of sweeteners (esp. brown rice sweeteners) 
will make this product incorrect for most period recipes except perhaps 
balncmanger (a bland dish made with chicken , almond milk, and rice, 
sometimes vaguely sweet, designed to be completely white)

Almond milk is sometimes used as a beveage in modern arabic cultures (and 
perhaps period ones as well, though I am not sure), but is usually simply 
used as a substitute for dairy products in recipes in Europe, during our 
period of study, and in an extremely broad generality. By and large, it 
was used for various fast/lenten/meatless days, and altered the 
taste/texture of the finished dish as compared to those made with dairy 
products. It is however, an acceptable substitute for those purposes, as 
it behaves well under the right conditions.

Almond milk is NOT a hassle to make unless you are making it in a period 
manner (ie: grinding by hand in a martar and pestle, which is not too 
terribly onerous once you have the knack). Modern coffee grinders or 
blenders or food processors make short work of grinding almonds very fine 
while adding a quantity of cool water. You then strain out any lumps. 
Voila! Almond milk. Heat it slowly, and you get almond butter, once it's 
drained of it's liquid "whey".

As a purist, I wouldn't use the store-bought variety when cooking for the 
public  because it contains things not found in medieval almond milk 
(non-period sweetner and stabilizers). In a pinch, tho, it might do. I'd 
have to see if it tasted and behaved like REAL almond milk. I suspect the 
rice is there for thickening and viscosity(mouth-feel) as well as 
sweetening, making the product a starch-based rather than a 
protein-and-fat-`based liquid.

I think what you have found is the health-food version of an almond 
milk(less)shake, meant to be a beverage and not a milk substitute, as 
almond milk was in period. But now I'm curious and have to hunt some down 
to see. Preparing 2 dishes side-by side, using store-bought versus 
home-made almond milk should settle the question nicely.

Lady Aoife Finn of Ynos Mon

From: Kevin of Thornbury <kevin at maxson.com>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: almond milk
Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 16:21:36 -0400
Organization: Kingdom of Atlantia

cellio at usa.net wrote:
> 
> Simple almond milk for the modern kitchen: take almonds, dump into a food
> processor, add water (or wine, depending on what your recipe calls for),
> turn on for a few seconds, drain off the liquid, and iterate.  When the
> liquid stops being cloudy-white in appearance, it's time to add more
> almonds.
> 
> Ellisif

I use a Braun coffee bean grinder; the almonds come out as flour.  By
the time I add water, broth, wine or whatever, the mixture is smooth and
doesn't require straining.  Stir it up with a fork and you're done.

I've done the food processor method, and it's a pain for me.
_____                                           
|+^+|  Lord Kevin of Thornbury
|/+\|  (mka Kevin Maxson)
 \_/   kevin at maxson.com   http://www.atlantia.sca.org

From: jtn at cottagesoft.com (Terry Nutter)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: almond milk
Date: Tue, 07 Jul 1998 12:54:01 -0700

Hello, Katerine Rountre stopping by for a moment.  Lad Aoife Finn wrote of
almond milk:

>Just a note: The inclusion of sweeteners (esp. brown rice sweeteners) 
>will make this product incorrect for most period recipes except perhaps 
>balncmanger (a bland dish made with chicken , almond milk, and rice, 
>sometimes vaguely sweet, designed to be completely white)

Well, sort of.  Some recipes that call for almond milk also call for sugar
(not just blancmanger); but I use primarily English sources, and medieval
English cuisine is distinguised from other regional cuisines, among other
things, by its much greater use of sweeteners.
 
>Almond milk is sometimes used as a beveage in modern arabic cultures (and 
>perhaps period ones as well, though I am not sure), but is usually simply 
>used as a substitute for dairy products in recipes in Europe, during our 
>period of study, and in an extremely broad generality. 

Well, hmmmm..... Many "almond milks" are drawn with broth or with wine; I
have not directly counted, but I suspect, more than are drawn with water. 
Water-based almond milk is an alternative to cow's milk (I hesitate to
call it a substitute; English cuisine calls for milk and cream at times,
and also for almond milk, but almond milk is by far the more common).  But
almond milks based on broth or wine do not much resemble milk, nor could
milk be used to replace them.  So I am not at all convinced that almond
milk should be viewed as "non-dairy milk".

There are a couple of English recipes titled simply Almond Milk and Almond
Butter.  These are invariably sweetened.  But they are in other ways
different from almond milks that are described as part of other recipes;
one possibility is that they were intended as "stand-alone" dishes.  (The
Almond Butter seems clearly to have been so intended.)

>By and large, it 
>was used for various fast/lenten/meatless days, and altered the 
>taste/texture of the finished dish as compared to those made with dairy 
>products. 

This may be true elsewhere, but as a description of English cuisine, it is
at best misleading.  Almond milk is perhaps the most common base for
browets containing meat, for instance.  In general, there are not
milk-based equivalent recipes for those.  In fact, almond milk is far more
common in combination with meat than cow's milk, which shows up rather
more frequently in custard-like things.

BTW, in most times and places in the middle ages, eggs, milk, and cheese
were permitted for most "meatless" days outside of Lent.

>It is however, an acceptable substitute for those purposes, as 
>it behaves well under the right conditions.
>
>Almond milk is NOT a hassle to make unless you are making it in a period 
>manner (ie: grinding by hand in a martar and pestle, which is not too 
>terribly onerous once you have the knack). Modern coffee grinders or 
>blenders or food processors make short work of grinding almonds very fine 
>while adding a quantity of cool water. You then strain out any lumps. 
>Voila! Almond milk. Heat it slowly, and you get almond butter, once it's 
>drained of it's liquid "whey".

Many medieval recipes specify that the liquid with which almond milk is
drawn should be hot.  I have found, as a rule, that if I grind almonds
fine, steep them for about 15 minutes in *hot* water or broth (i.e. liquid
that was boiling when I first poured it over), then strain the result, I
get a much more satisfactory almond milk.

-- Katerine Rountre/Terry Nutter

Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 14:39:38 -0400
From: "Groulx, Michelle" <MGroulx at NRCan.gc.ca>
Subject: SC - Almond Milk

Kinuko said...
>I also found powdered almond milk at the supermarket,
>and was wondering if this has been used/tried by anybody.
>Please let me know how it compares to the stuff one makes
>at home.  Blending and straining one's own almond milk is
>a most exasperating procedure depending on time constraints.

I too use, given time restraints and budget, powdered Almond Milk. I
purchase it from Chinatown where I can get a jar for about $1.79. It makes
more Almond Milk than I will use in a year. I am absolutely sure that
quality and authenticity suffer. But since almonds are within the
"ridiculous" price range in Cda, I feel pretty good that I have found a
suitable substitution rather than omitting it altogether. Seriously folks,
Almond Milk can break your budget up here if required in larger quantities.
Same with Pine Nuts.

Micaylah

Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 18:19:25 -0400
From: dy018 at freenet.carleton.ca (Micaylah)
Subject: Re: SC - Almond Milk really

Adamantius says...
>If I remember correctly, a can that makes 8 quarts costs between 3 & 4 dollars
>US. The problem is that, as with the other commercial almond milk products, it
>contains other stuff and only bears  a passing resemblance to the real article.
>
>Which is not to say I wouldn't use it, but since the stuff I have seen and
>bought has been sweetened a bit more than I like things to be, I'd be inclined
>to use it only for sweet dishes like daryols, etc.

I tend to agree that it is sweeter than normal home made Almond Milk.
However, I have tried it in savory dishes and have found it is acceptable.
(If just accetptable is acceptable) As I posted earlier, at the cost of
almonds in this country, it makes a pretty good substitution given the
alternative. Adamantius, it seems to be pretty highly priced compared to
here. This is confusing. Could it be because of you purchasing it in a
health food store and not in your local Asian community stores?

Micaylah

Date: Thu, 01 Oct 1998 18:54:06 EDT
From: kathleen.hogan at juno.com (Kathleen M Hogan)
Subject: SC - Greetings and Salivations <grin>

 Almond Milk
 Yield: 1 servings

           Ground almonds
           Water, stock, or wine
           Rice flour/cornflour
           Salt

  Vurst nim of alemauns, & hwyte of heom one pertie, ah hwyte summe  hole
& the other do to grinden.  Sothen nim the hole alemauns & corf  heom to
quartes; sothen nim fat broth & swete of porc other of vthur  vlehs;
tempre thin alemauns & sothen drauh out thi milke & sothe do  hit in an
veyre crouhe...

  You can make thin or thick almond milk, as suits your dish, by adapting
the quantity of almonds to the amount of liquid in your  recipe. In
either case your object is to produce a liquid or puree as  smooth as
possible. The method is the same.

  First pulverise the almonds in a blender (not a food processor) or in
a coffee or nut mill.  Put them in a bowl and pour on enough boiling
liquid to make a smooth cream.  Leave to stand for 10-15 minutes, then
rub the mixture through a metal sieve. This mixture may be
smooth enough.  If not, cream a little rice flour  or cornflour with it
and heat until it thickens slightly.  Then add any extra liquid the
recipe calls for, and a scrap of salt.

  I find that 125 g/4 oz almonds and 1 tablespoon rice flour  moistened
with 275 ml/10 fl oz/ 1 1/4 cups liquid produces a 'milk' suitable for
most purposes. Almond milk might be used whenever a flavoured liquid base
without meat products, cow's milk, cream or eggs was needed.  It could
also be used as a  thickener--or just for its aroma and flavour.

  from The Medieval Cookbook by Maggie Black Chapter 3, "Life in the
Cloister"

 Title: Almond Milk                        England, 14th Century
  Yield: 1 pint

      2     c     Milk or cream
    1/2    c     Coarsely ground almonds
    1/4    ts    Bitter almond essence
      2     tb    Orgeat syrup     *

  * made by Combier of Saumur in France

     Simmer all the ingredients together for 10 minutes and allow to
cool, covered. It can be strained or not, as desired.

  Almond Milk and VERJUICE are the two most important sauces needed  to
recreate English medieval cookery.

  From _Seven Centuries of English Cookery_ by Maxime de la Falaise 1973
 Grove Press, 1992   ISBN 0-8021-3296-0

Caitlin NicFhionghuin
Shire of BorderVale Keep
Atlantia
Augusta, GA

Date: Thu, 1 Oct 1998 21:55:54 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Wedding feast-longish

<< This is my first time to do this (for my spring wedding) ...<snip>.....So
many, (almost all) of the recipes call for almond milk.  I read that they used
that because fresh milk was hard to get and keep.  My Groom does not like nuts
at all, so I need to limit the use of
 almonds.>>

The aversion your fiance has to nuts of all kinds is unfortunate when you are
dealing with the preparation of medieval-style food.  Since a large number of
people with specific food aversions point to flavor as the primary factor
generating their aversion, the inclusion of one or two dishes with almond milk
should not be a problem.

Almonds (when compared with other stronger flavored nuts like walnuts or
hazelnuts) are very bland when raw.  The milk produced from them shares this
characteristic.  As an added advantage, almond milk takes on the flavors of
the surrounding ingredients rather well.  This combination makes it a
wonderful liquid alternative in not a few modern recipes as well.

I am not aware if your fiancee's aversion to nuts includes coconuts but If
authenticity is not a major issue, you might try experimenting with replacing
the almond milk with coconut milk.  My own experiments using this substitution
have been successful when I have based a modern creation on period sources of
inspiration.  You might want to try an experiment or two of your own in that
area.

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 10:33:01 -0800 (PST)
From: Laura C Minnick <lainie at gladstone.uoregon.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - Needing help with almond milk

On Mon, 15 Mar 1999, Jennifer Carlson wrote:
> Could someone tell me what is the most efficient device for straining
> almond milk?  The only sieve I own that is fine enough to trap the almond
> grounds is a small one and plugs up with the grounds too quickly to be of
> much use.  Do coffee filters work?  Or should I strain it through a muslin
> bag?  I always wind up using my hands to press the milk out of the grounds,
> and this is neither effiecient, tidy, nor thorough enough for me.

I put a layer of cheesecloth inside my standard seive, and use a spatula
or back of a big spoon to press it out. of course, I can't keep from
snitching bits of the almond paste stuff that's left, so staying clean
isn't really what I'm after. But the spat gives more leverage more evenly
than my fingers do.

'Lainie
- -
Laura C. Minnick
University of Oregon
Department of English

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 13:53:45 -0500
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Needing help with almond milk

On Mon, 15 Mar 1999 11:58:40 -0600 Jennifer Carlson
<JCarlson at firstchurchtulsa.org> writes:
>Do coffee filters work?  Or should I strain it through a muslin
>bag?  I always wind up using my hands to press the milk out of the grounds,
>and this is neither effiecient, tidy, nor thorough enough for me.
>
>Talana
>Northkeep, Ansteorra

A clean, cotton, white kitchen cloth (not terry cloth like most dish
cloths, more  like a clean large hankerchief) works quite well.  I made
Almond Milk and Cheese just recently, and that method worked quite well.

        Mistress Christianna MacGrain

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 14:35:58 EST
From: Jgoldsp at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Needing help with almond milk

JCarlson at firstchurchtulsa.org writes:
<< Could someone tell me what is the most efficient device for straining  >>

I use a jelly bag place it in and go about my other business come back later
and squeeze the bag to get the last bits works for me. Good luck

TTFN Joram
  East Kingdom, Barony of the Bridge

Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 21:42:10 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Needing help with almond milk

JCarlson at firstchurchtulsa.org writes:
<< Could someone tell me what is the most efficient device for straining
 almond milk?  >>

A double layer of cheese cloth works well. Simply line your strainer, our in
the almond/liquid combo  Pull up the ends. If you have the time you can
suspend it over a bowl over night in a cool place. If not simply twisting the
bag from the top will squeeze out the liquid. The resulting mass can be used
again to make a slightly less rich batch and then the 2 batches can be mixed
together.

Ras

Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 00:05:23 -0500
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - more almond milk questions

On Mon, 15 Mar 1999 21:32:05 -0600 Helen <him at gte.net> writes:
>How much milk yield do you get out of a pound of almonds?

You can get about 1 gallon of almond milk for every pound of almonds.

The method Ras describes works well, but you can re-grind your almonds
3,4,or 5 times with new water, as you will get more almond solids and oil
out of every grind.  When we did it last month, what was left tasted like
sawdust.  We drained it well, and a friend took it home to incorporate
into soaps as almond fibre.  Mix all of the batches together.

To make almond cheese, take the milk (say 2 cups worth) and put it in a
pot with about 2 tsp. sugar and a splash of rose water.  Let it boil for
some time (a large enamel pot works well, as the small volume of liquid
when boiling will climb the sides of the pot just like milk). When it has
boiled for a while, you will see that it has separated into curds and
whey.  Using your trusty cloth and collander again, pour your mixture
into it and let it strain.  The foam on top of the liquid is your curds,
and the whey that drains out is very pale, moreso than skim milk.  (We
fed the whey to the dogs).  Take the cloth with the drained curds, and
squeeze it to remove leftover moisture.  I put a plate on mine and
pressed it for a while, and then squeezed again.  When it is drained, it
will form a ball.  Refrigerate this and let it rest for a while.  It sets
up to the consistancy of firm sour cream, or whipped cream cheese.  It is
delightful as a spread.   I would do it without the rosewater for a more
savory spread.  There are several recipies for this in Digby, Plat, and
Guter Spice.  They are called Almond Cheese and Almond Butter, both names
pretty much describe the same product.  It makes a nice alternative to
dairy for Lent (or for those of us doing with less dairy).

Mistress Christianna MacGrain

Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 11:21:15 -0800
From: kat <kat at kagan.com>
Subject: SC - Packaged Almond Milk

Made a recipe last night--Blaunche Porrey, from Pleyn Delit--with
store-bought almond milk (the brand name of the one I bought was Blue
Diamond's "Breeze") and it *really* was a very good experience.  In
texture, color and smell, the almond milk was extremely similar to my
homemade.

Since part of the purpose of the almonds in the recipe seems to be a
thickener,  I took a few ounces of slivered almonds, ground them to powder
in my Braun coffee grinder (love those things!) and threw them in for
texture.  Tasting the soup later, it was for all intents and purposes
identical to a batch I'd made a few weeks before; the only difference being
that I didn't spend an hour blanching and skinning almonds...  ;-)

Any other folks used this product, with or without success?  I know a while
back Ras had tried a commercial almond milk that he wasn't pleased with the
results of (can't remember if he gave a brand name or not) but this one
seemed to work pretty good...

        - kat

Date: Fri, 19 Mar 1999 21:07:02 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Packaged Almond Milk

kat at kagan.com writes:
<< Any other folks used this product, with or without success?  I know a while
 back Ras had tried a commercial almond milk that he wasn't pleased with the
 results of (can't remember if he gave a brand name or not) but this one
 seemed to work pretty good...

        - kat >>

I have since found out why I was displeased with the product and have changed
my viewpoint to one in favor of the product. :-)

Why did I initially have a negative experience? Welllllll......I can only say
....don't forget to SHAKE the container before pouring. :-) <blushing in
embassassment>

Ras

Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 10:29:59 -0500
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: Re: SC - more almond milk questions

And it came to pass on 18 Mar 99,, that david friedman wrote:
> At 9:32 PM -0600 3/15/99, Helen wrote:
> >For all those on the other list I am on, I am sorry but I need all the
> >input I can get..... How much milk yield do you get out of a pound of
> >almonds?
>
> By the recipe we use (in the Miscellany), 1 cup = 7 ounces of almonds
> yields 4 c almond milk.
>
> Elizabeth/Betty Cook

I have not tested these directions, but the "Libro Del Arte de
Cozina" (1599) has some recipes with specific quantities.  The
directions for almond milk differ according to the thickness desired
for each dish, but the yield in the recipes I looked at is 3-4 pounds
of milk from 1 pound of peeled almonds.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1999 21:16:34 -0500
From: Helen <helen at directlink.net>
Subject: Re: SC - grinding almonds oop

> helen at directlink.net writes:
> <<
>      Just saw someone (will not say her name) grinding almonds in her food
>  processor, and she said adding a tablespoon of sugar will keep them from
> getting oily as you pulse them.
>   >>
>
> A tablespoon full of sugar to how many almonds?
>
> Mordonna

6 1/2 oz by weight.  Looked like a cup and a half.

Date: Mon, 09 Aug 1999 22:59:26 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - grinding almonds oop

>     Just saw someone (will not say her name) grinding almonds in her food
> processor, and she said adding a tablespoon of sugar will keep them from
> getting oily as you pulse them.
>
> Helen

The standard medieval/Renaissance European wisdom about this seems to be
to add a small amount (a few drops) of water or rosewater every so
often. Of course if you need really dry almond "flour", and are not
making marzipan or almond milk, it could cause problems.

Adamantius

Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 01:28:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: cclark at vicon.net
Subject: Re: SC - uses for leftover almond crumbs?

Lord Stefan li Rous wrote:
>You mentioned leftover walnuts and it made me think of the leftover almond
>crumbs left from making almond milk. I'm thinking of the stuff that is
>strained out of the almond milk solution after your mix the ground almonds
>in the water or broth. The liquid becomes the almond milk, but what do most
>folks do with the almond crumbs or mash? I think there are some period recipes
>that use this mash. Can this be used for marchepane? ...

I would guess that they might have been considered waste products unsuitable
for further use in feast cookery. Or they might have been used in marchpane.
They might have been used for cheap filler in some less glamorous food. But
this is just speculation.

What I do with them is cookies. A bunch of leftover ground almonds, some
butter, some sugar, optional eggs, a little spice and salt, perhaps a few
drops of almond extract and/or vanilla, and flour. They can have some
chopped nuts added, or pecan halves on top.

Thanks for reminding me; I've still got some sitting in the freezer.

Alex Clark/Henry of Maldon

Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 14:42:50 -0500
From: LYN M PARKINSON <allilyn at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - uses for leftover almond crumbs?

Stir it into a stew, or a soup, let dry and sprinkle over a salad, put
through a blender with enough water to make a second running and use it
to cook rice or barley, or even veggies.  Some  of our recipes call for
things to be cooked in a second running, the first saved for mixing into
the finished dish.

When mine goes through the blender, I get a thick, only slightly coarse
milk.  Unless it specifically says to strain because it wants clarity, I
often use the whole thing.  They were perfectly capable of producing a
paste consistency even finer than my blender can do.

Henry of Maldon gives us his cookie usage.  If you had a huge amount at a
feast, making up this cookie dough and handing it to the Children's
Activities co-ordinator could give our little darlings a great time
making cookie shapes--hey, metalworkers! how about some medieval themed
cookie cutters?--provided that you had the oven space to let the cookies
bake.  A plate of the best for High Table, presented by the children, and
the not-so-perfect ones a good snack for the kiddies in mid-afternoon.

Failing that, go ahead and strain, throw the 'refuse' into a ziplock bag,
take home and make a delicous soothing baked custard.  Put up feet, and
relax.

Allison
allilyn at juno.com, Barony Marche of the Debatable Lands, Pittsburgh, PA
Kingdom of Aethelmearc

Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 15:07:27 -0500
From: "Sharon R. Saroff" <sindara at pobox.com>
Subject: Re: SC - uses for leftover almond crumbs?

I have a recipe for Murachinos, Turkish almond macaroons that uses 3 cups
ground almonds, 3 egg whites, 1 1/2 cups sugar (I use 1 cup) and a pinch of
salt.  The recipe is out of Sephardic Holiday Cooking by Gilda Angel.  I
recently won a dessert competition with these cookies.  They seem to be a hit.

Sindara

Date: Sun, 29 Aug 1999 23:45:00 -0400
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - uses for leftover almond crumbs?

> You mentioned leftover walnuts and it made me think of the leftover
 almond crumbs left from making almond milk. I'm thinking of the stuff
that  is strained out of the almond milk solution after your mix the
ground  almonds in the water or broth. The liquid becomes the almond
milk, but what  do most folks do with the almond crumbs or mash? I think
there are some  period recipes that use this mash. Can this be used for
marchepane? Seems a waste  to throw this out, especially for a large
feast.
 Lord Stefan li Rous

Having just recently made almond milk from scratch, I am here to tell you
that the only thing I left in that batch of ground almonds was the
dietary fiber.  I milked them 'til they screamed.  There was absolutely
no flavor left in it when we were done, after about 5 runs.  One of the
ladies in the household took it home and was going to use it as
scrubby/pumice in homemade soap.
It was great almond milk, though, as well as almond cheese (the oils and
the solids from the almonds help it congeal.)
Christianna

Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 23:08:19 -0500 (EST)
From: cclark at vicon.net
Subject: Re: SC - Almond Cream (Was Blown Eggs& Chocolate)

Cadoc MacDairi wrote:
>Doesn't seem curdled to me, the starches are boiled from the almonds in the
>same way as almond milk and allowed to settle and then drained with a peice
>of linen.  Then they use the resulting paste in the rest of the recipe.  Or
>at least that's how it reads to me.

The most detailed recipe I know for "Fried creme de almondes" (in Harl.
4016), instead of "draw it up," says "drawe hem [th]orgh a streynour." It
then continues to refer to the strained almonds in water as "hem" (them). I
would assume that this means that the other recipes may be interpreted as
calling likewise for strained almond milk, although the straining process is
sometimes referred to only by such phrases as "draw it up."

I am not aware that almonds contain any significant amount of starch (though
I haven't got exact nutritional info handy), but they (and their milk)
contain a good deal of protein. Boiling causes some thickening of the
proteins by coagulation. In some recipes, a little vinegar is added to
promote further coagulation. When the uncoagulated proteins with the excess
liquid (whey) are drained out, what remains is a kind of curd. Even though
the almond milk is not cooked to the point of lumping and separating in the
pot, it may still be reasonably described as having been curdled.

So the way I interpret it, froid creme de almandes is a drained curd of
almond milk, usually salted and sugared, sometimes mixed with other
ingredients such as wine and currants. The times that I've made it, it's
come out to a texture vaguely similar to whipped cream.

Alex Clark/Henry of Maldon

Date: Sat, 4 Mar 2000 10:20:20 -0600
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond Milk - a silly question

Anahita the ever curious asks:
> So, trying to find something else to drink at feasts, besides water
> and sekanjaben, i ask:
>
> Was almond milk drunk as a beverage in period?

 From Le Menagier:

ALMOND MILK. Parboil and peel your almonds, then put in cold water, 
then grind and soak in water in which onions have been cooked and 
strain through a sieve: then fry the onions, and add a little salt, 
and boil on the fire, then add the sops.  And if you make almond milk 
for sick people, do not add onions, and in place of the onion water 
to soak the almonds as spoken of above, add and soak them in clean 
warm water and boil it, and do not add salt, but lots of sugar. And 
if you want to make it as a drink, strain through a sieve or through 
two pieces of cloth, and lots of sugar to drink it.

Which makes it clear that it could be used as a drink, but not clear 
whether that was only for sick people or not.

David/Cariadoc
http://www.best.com/~ddfr/

Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2000 22:04:53 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Rabbit tips?

Sue Clemenger wrote:
> Has anyone out there ever gotten almond milk to actually
> _thicken_ anything? I can't seem to get it to work.  Any hints would be
> appreciated!

Almond milk, per se, doesn't really thicken other liquids. It will,
however, get pretty thick if you reduce it by simmering. You'd need a
fair amount of good almond milk, say, maybe a quart or so, and reduce it
in cooking to perhaps 1-2 cups. Rather like those Thai or Singapore
curries made with coconut milk. In the case of an almond milk sauce, you
probably want to stop reducing it just before it starts to break and
produce surface oil.

Adamantius

Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 15:52:30 +0200
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Rabbit tips?

> Has anyone out there ever gotten almond milk to actually
> _thicken_ anything? I can't seem to get it to work.  Any hints would be
> appreciated!

Make the almond milk with powdered almonds & use the almond milk unstrained.

>  And while I'm asking questions, can anyone tell me how easy it is to make
>  almond milk without use of electric appliances?.

It's a bear if your almonds are hard.  You might soak them in a cold place
overnight to soften them, or grind them before you leave for pennsic.

Cindy

Date: Sun, 9 Apr 2000 11:19:34 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: SC - Almond meal

Yesterday, while picking up some rosewater at the Indian grocery, I 
discovered that in their nut section they carry almond meal -- blanched 
almond, ground more finely than I've ever been able to manage in my 
food processor.  I think this might be a good solution for almond-milk at 
Pennsic.  Also I plan to try turning some of it into almond paste.  At 
$3.99 a pound, it's rather more expensive than unblanched almonds for 
$1.50 a pound, but it's still cheaper than commercial almond paste.  
And then there's the convenience factor...

Brighid

Date: Mon, 22 May 2000 23:52:32 EDT
From: allilyn at juno.com
Subject: Re: SC - Substitutions-hazelnut milk

I hadn't thought of the reduced volume of water in milk or cream.  It's
not for OOP rice pudding, although I like that.  Several recipes in the
period corpus call for rice to be cooked in milk or cream, and if I can
get it just right, I think it makes a nicer feast dish.

Just spotted this reference:
Hazelnut Frumenty		Diversa Servicia 89.         Curye on
Inglysch Book II p. 79.
For to make formenty on a fichssday, tak the mylk of the hasel notis. 
Boyl the wite wyth the aftermelk til it be dryyd, & tak & coloure yt with
safroun; & the ferst mylk cast therto & boyle wel, & serue yt forth.

For to make frumenty on a fish day, take the milk of the hazelnut.  Boil
the wheat with the second running of the hazelnut milk until all liquid
is absorbed., color it with saffron, add the first running of the
hazelnut milk, boil well, and serve.
APdeT

My apologies--Chiquart's #78 was for barley with almond milk.

Allison,     allilyn at juno.com

Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 11:39:37 EDT
From: DianaFiona at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Almond Milk, Again

lilinah at earthlink.net writes:
<< 
 1) How necessary is it really to remove the skins from the raw 
 almonds before grinding? Do the skins impart an unpleasant flavor? Or 
 is the objection just that the milk is less white? Or is there some 
 other reason? I am using the almond milk for Andalusian and Near 
 Eastern recipes which call for water as the diluant. Some European 
 recipes call for wine or verjus as the liquid or in addition to 
 water. Will either of these liquids interact differently with the 
 almond skins than water?
  >>
    I'm lazy, and hate the tedium of skinning almonds, so I often leave the 
skins on if the dish will be dark when I'm through. I haven't noticed a major 
flavor/texture difference, even when the pulp is left in the dish. It does 
help to grind the nuts in a coffee/spice grinder, rather than a blender or 
food processor, though--you get a much finer grind, which reduces the 
detectability of the skins.........
    Also, I store my bags of nuts in the freezer routinely, and the only ill 
effects I've noticed are the occasional off odors from the chopped leeks 
stored next to them, and such........... (G) I would certainly plan to freeze 
any pre-ground almonds, rather than even refrigerating them. I don't imagine 
that they'd keep well at all!

                Ldy Diana

Date: Mon, 29 May 2000 16:05:43 EDT
From: Seton1355 at aol.com
Subject: SC - Almond Milk flan from Scully

Today I was moved to make Almond Milk Flan from my new cookbook.  It came out 
tasting wonderful but there were some problems:

It thickened but it didn't set up.  
I used a litre of boxed almond milk instead of making my own.
When I used a *pinch* of saffron, the custard did not change color.  I added 
more (too much probably) and it came out a nice yellow-y color.  So how much 
saffron is too much?
I didn't have rice flour so I ground up 3/4 C of abrorio rice.  I chose the 
type of rice for it's sticky quality and the amount beacuse I used a litre of 
almond milk not  1 C gr almonds to 1 1/4 C water.....
Well , as I said it tastes good and I shall serve it over berries tonight.
Phillipa

EARLY FRENCH COOKERY
D. Eleanor Scullu & Terence Scully

*Almond Milk Flan*   (P282)

The use of almond milk in these flans makes them a lean-day counterpart for 
standard medieval milk or cream flans which would incorportate animal milk, 
eggs and butter, as well as spices and saffron on non-fasting days. The 
Menagier lists * Flaons de creme* / Creme Flans as part of the issue or 
dessert of the meal, although neither he nor various copiers of the Viandier 
have thought it worthwhile to provide a recipe for this preparation.

The variety of flan that Chiquart has left us is a delectable use of almonds. 
 Despite the absence of ingredients that we might nowadays think necessary 
for a custard, baking a combination of almond milk and rice flour produces 
highly palatable results that are not greatly different in texture from 
modern flan, but perhaps more interesting in flavor.

Prepare sufficient pÇte bris»e or other pie dough for a single crust, 9" pie 
or 10-12 tartlet shells.  Pre-bake blind or prick with a fork and bake for 10 
min  at  375F / 190 C.

1 C ground almonds
1 1/4 C water

1 1/2 C sugar
pinch salt
pinch saffron
1/4 C rice flour
Garnish: 2 T blanched, sliced almonds or some fresh berries

Combine almonds and water well. (Blender may be used).  Strain thjrough 
several layers of damp muslin or cheese cloth to obtain almond milk.  

In a pot, bring almond milk just to the boiling point.
Add sugar and dissolve.
Add salt and saffron.
Add half of this hot mixture to the rice flourwhile stirring.
Combine with remaining hot almond milk.
Pour prepared custard mixture into prepared pastry.
Bake 20 - 25 minutes  at  375F / 190 C until light crust appears on surface.
Sprinkle with almonds or berries.

To serve: Serve warm garnished with fruit

Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 00:26:48 -0400
From: "Bethany Public Library" <betpulib at ptdprolog.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond Milk, Again

To make almond butter you run the "milk" through the almonds several times
as they are grinding, getting as much of the good stuff out of the nuts as
possible. Then the mess is strained, and you gently heat the condensed
almond milk in a sauce pan or double boiler (agitating continually) until it
gets incredibly thick. Almonds thicken like starch does, when grounds finely
in liquid and with applied heat. Let it cool and it gets even thicker.
Refrigerate, and it gets hard, like butter---but it does tend to weep a bit,
so be sure to drain it before serving.

I love it sweetened with some honey and a bit of orange or lemon peel in the
manufacture (not medieval), served with a dollop of seville marmalade on
some extremely crisp pastry or a croissant.

See Dawson's Huswife's Jewel for a recipe for "Almond Butter in the Newest
and Best fashion" or some similar title.

Aoife

Date: Tue, 30 May 2000 17:01:37 -0400
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond Milk, Again

The below process is how we made almond cheese, with one more step. 
After the gentle boiling process, the almond milk was put into a cloth
over a colander to strain out the 'whey', or very thin liquid.  After it
has had a chance to hang or drip for a while, the thick 'curds' that are
left are gently squeezed in the cloth to make them clump together, and
then let rest in a cool place (like the refridgerator) and it makes a
very nice almond cheese, about the texture of thick sour cream or whipped
cream cheese.  With the addition of a little rosewater, it is a very nice
spread on lots of foods (or just good on your finger, when you snitch a
taste ;)
Christianna
I have a class handout around here somewhere with several references to
this technique from period sources, but I don't know where that is just
now :(

<betpulib at ptdprolog.net> writes:
> To make almond butter you run the "milk" through the almonds several times
> as they are grinding, getting as much of the good stuff out of the nuts as
> possible. Then the mess is strained, and you gently heat the condensed
> almond milk in a sauce pan or double boiler (agitating continually) until it
> gets uncredibly thick. Almonds thicken like starch does, when grounds finely
> in liquid and with applied heat. Let it cool and it gets even thicker.
> Refrigerate, and it gets hard, like butter---but it does tend to 
> weep a bit, so be sure to drain it before serving.

Date: Tue, 11 Jul 2000 09:23:38 -0700
From: "E. Rain" <raghead at liripipe.com>
Subject: SC - nut milks

Hi all,
in doing some translating this week I came across a reference to an
alternative to almond milk.  In the anonymous 14th c. Tuscan cookbook two
different recipes so far call for "nut milk" as an alternative to almond
milk. You could argue that this is specifically walnut milk, but the word
noci is generally used to mean nuts generically .

Personally I like almonds, but if you were allergic it's good to know that
at least in 14th c. Tuscany you've got an alternative.  I also think it
might be interesting to try & see how differently flavored other nut milks
would be - hazelnuts yumm!

Please note I am not advocating that you run out & make pistachio milk for a
Viking dish or even walnut milk for a 14th c. French dish.  I don't recall
coming across this option in another recipe corpus, and would use it
sparingly even with 14th c. Italian foods, but it is a very cool piece of
info :->

Eden

From an anonymous Tuscan manuscript of the 14th c.   translation c. Eden
Rain 2000:

Another way to make gourd/squash    (p. 48 in the paperback)
take dry squash, and put it to soak with hot water at vespers, and when it
is softened cut it small, and cut it over the [vessel] with onions, and with
oil, pepper and saffron: saute and put into sausage, make with vinegar and
breadcrumbs, to cook.  And in such mode you can make it with almond milk,
pepper, saffron, salt and oil and with milk of nuts.

De le zucche - Altremente.
Togli zuccche secche, et polle a mollo con acqua calda, al vespero; e quando
sono mollificate, tagliale minute, e taglia sora la taola, con cipolle, e
con oglio, pepe e zaffarano; soffrigi e poni in civero, fatto di aceto e
mollena di pane, a cocere.  E a tala modo si puo fare con latte d'amandole,
pepe, cruoco, sale e oglio e con latte di noci.

For those of you who are data junkies this recipe can be found (in Italian
of course) in L'arte Della Cucina in Italia (p. 48 in the
paperback)published by Einaudi Tascabili c. 1987 & 1992 Edited by Emilio
Faccioli.

Eden Rain
raghead at liripipe.com

Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2000 23:51:55 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net>
Subject: SC - Toasted almond milk

Two of the Spanish recipes I've been playing with call for almond milk 
made from blanched *toasted* almonds.  It's yummy stuff, and definitely 
has that hearty nut taste, unlike the usual blandness of almond milk.  
Are there recipes from other countries that do the same?

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)

Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 10:07:32 -0800 (PST)
From: Ginny Claphan <mizginny at yahoo.com>
Subject: SC - almond milk source - Almond Breeze

Blue Diamond Growers has released an Almond Milk product called Almond Breeze.
The target market seems to be those who are lactose and/or soy intolerant. 

It is available in some health food stores in the United States, but also can
be ordered by the case (27 8 oz. containers $US 16.00) from their web site at
http://www.bluediamond.com/store/natural_foods/almond_breeze.cfm

Ingredients from their nutrition label include water, evaporated cane juice,
almonds, tricalcium phosphate, vanilla extract, sea salt, potassium citrate,
carrageenan, lecithin, vitamin E acetate, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2.

Has anyone tried this yet?

Gwyneth Banfhidhleir 

Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 10:34:04 -0800
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at efn.org>
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk source - Almond Breeze

Ginny Claphan wrote:
> Blue Diamond Growers has released an Almond Milk product called Almond Breeze.
> The target market seems to be those who are lactose and/or soy intolerant.

> Ingredients from their nutrition label include water, evaporated cane juice,
> almonds, tricalcium phosphate, vanilla extract, sea salt, potassium citrate,
> carrageenan, lecithin, vitamin E acetate, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2.
>
> Has anyone tried this yet?
>
> Gwyneth Banfhidhleir

Tried it- ok to drink, but I don't think you can use it as almond milk
in a medieval recipe- too much stuff added.

'Lainie

Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 14:25:56 -0500
From: margali <margali at 99main.com>
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk source - Almond Breeze

I have tried it, but as it has added sugars it is not on my uselist!

It has a fairly bland sweet mildly almond taste, very wishy washy. All
of the solids have been filtered out and the carageenan is to texturize
it in place of all of the almond oil they seem to have filtered out.
Other than the fact it seems to be a product to replace regular milk on
cereal or to drink, it isn't too horrid. I personally wouldn't cook with
it, unless I was making a fairly sweet rice or bread pudding or a
dessert.
margali
[and the chocolate is horrid]

Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 13:59:20 -0800
From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk source - Almond Breeze

margali wrote:
>It has a fairly bland sweet mildly almond taste, very wishy washy. All
>of the solids have been filtered out and the carageenan is to texturize
>it in place of all of the almond oil they seem to have filtered out.
>Other than the fact it seems to be a product to replace regular milk on
>cereal or to drink, it isn't too horrid. I personally wouldn't cook with
>it, unless I was making a fairly sweet rice or bread pudding or a
>dessert.

There is another brand - Pacific Foods Naturally Almond - which i 
think has a better flavor than the Blue Diamond brand, and which can 
be found in health food stores. I only buy the "original" flavor - NO 
vanilla for me.

Original Naturally Almond contains:
almond base (filtered water, almonds)
brown rice sweetener (filtered water, brown rice)
natural flavor
malt (barley)
sea salt
guar gum
xanthan gum
carrageenan
locust bean gum

That's a lot of vegetable gums, but this "healthy non-dairy beverage" 
(to quote the box) doesn't feel "gummy".

I've used commercial almond milks to cook with at camping events. As 
i have no medical issues, the sugars aren't a problem for me 
physically, but i don't like sweet things, and i found that Naturally 
Almond doesn't taste particularly sweet. Since many Medieval recipes 
utilizing almond milk also have some added sugar, i just don't add 
the sugar or only add it to taste.

Commercial almond milks are useful for camping and on-the-fly 
cooking. But for feasts and home cooking, they can't compare with 
"home made".

However now that i've been to Morocco, i have to say that giant 
American almonds don't have half the flavor of the tiny Moroccan 
almonds - and i am very careful to buy the freshest almonds i can, 
and never the sad stale almonds one finds in little sacks at the 
supermarket.

Mmmmm, Moroccan almond milk...

Anahita al-shazhiyya al-Andalusiyya

Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 20:03:31 EST
From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - almond milk source - Almond Breeze

mizginny at yahoo.com writes:
<< Has anyone tried this yet? >>

I've used it several times for initial experimentation and for Pennsic use 
and haven't found it much different from the hommade stuff when all is said 
and done.  I don't think I'd use it for a feast, though, just because it does 
have the extra ingredients.  But if I see a recipe I want to try, and don't 
feel like milking nuts, I'll use it for the first trial or for home cooking.

Brangwayna Morgan

Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 12:03:34 -0500
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond butter?

On Fri, 19 Jan 2001 12:03:49 +0000 kirsty <kirsty at dcs.st-and.ac.uk>
writes:
> Talking about almond milk I am cureouse to know how to make almond
> Butter/ cream/ cheese etc. dose anyone know?

As Bear has said, for a product called almond butter, you would grind the
almonds into a paste.  If you roast the almonds first, you will get a
richer flavor.  

However, if you are talking about a creamy cheese/spread made from almond
milk, that is also a period use of the almond.  After making almond milk
(grinding blanched, peeled almonds with water until all of the milky
solids have drained out - this process requires several re-grindings,
usually about 4, so that one pound of almonds will yield approx. 1 gallon
of milk), the liquid is placed in a deep pot and brought to a boil, a
small amount of sugar and some rosewater is called for in some recipes. 
After the liquid has foamed up (the reason for the deep pot, as it will
try to boil over just like boiling cow's milk),  it is removed from the
heat and poured into a strainer lined with a clean kitchen cloth.  The
'whey' is drained out of the milk, and after about an hour or more of
this, the solids left behind will bind together in a form resembling
softly whipped cream cheese or stiff sour cream.  If I recall correctly,
the cloth is squeezed at the end to finish the draining and to help the
mass bind together.   It is delightful on wafers or other mildly flavored
foods.  We have eaten it for breakfast, lunch and dinner on various
things, and it is delicious.  I have not tried it without the sugar and
rosewater to see if the sugar makes a difference in it's texture, but I
think it would be very good as a non-sweet as well.  I can easily see
using this product as a dairy substitute during a Lenten fast, for
example.  

The store-bought almond milks will not work for this sort of recipe,
because they lack the almond oils and solids necessary.  

Christianna

Date: Tue, 23 Jan 2001 10:56:38 -0500
From: "Bethany Public Library" <betpulib at ptdprolog.net>
Subject: Re: non-member submission - Re: SC - Almond butter?

Huswife's jewel has a recipoe for almond butter that is 'in the newest and
best fashion" or some such similar title. It isn't curdled at all. The
almond milk is simply strained from the almonds after prodigous grinding,
and the resulting milk is then boiled to take advantage of the natural
thickening properties of the almonds. This almond butter (cheese, some call
it) will weep quite a bit. But the recipe is worth taking advantage of if
you're interested. It helped me win a category at Ice Dragon (huge mucking
A&S competition).

Aoife.

Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2001 03:28:26 EDT
From: LadyPDC at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Almond milk left overs

prescotj at telusplanet.net writes:
> Can one make good marzipan with almond [milk] leftovers?

made some, tasted pretty good to me,  worked pretty good too.

Constance

Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 05:50:57 -0700
From: Sue Clemenger <mooncat at in-tch.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan Request

Cool recipe <g>. It sounds more like an almond cheese than marzipan,
though (I've seen several similar recipes in english-language texts).
They're basically made by making almond milk, and coagulating that.
It's unclear from your recipe if you're supposed to be heaping the
remaining crushed almonds onto the cloth (which would make it more like
a marzipan), or if you're supposed to be heaping the almond cheese,
which would give you a sweetened cheese.  Hmmm.....and I have several
pounds of almonds here at the house....hmmmmm (weekend project, anyone?
<g>)
Never seen one, before, though, that's done up as a hedgehog--how
adorable <gg>
--Maire

Martina Sch=E4fer wrote:
> ,,Kochbuch aus dem Inntal" (cookbook from the Inn valley), late 1500/begin.1600, Bavaria. The german version is made by Danner, Ostbair. Grenzmarken 12/1970. That's all bibliographical information about the book I could find. I don't know if there is a version translated into english.
>
> As well as possible translated the recipe for hedgehock from almonds says:
> Put fine crunched Almonds into a clean pot and mix the stuff with a small stick (maybe cinnamon?). Put it on a cloth so it makes a heap and let it drip until it gets dry (That makes only sense if you made almond milk before. Otherwise there is no liquid to "drip"). Than put sugar over it. Now take almonds, cut in 4th, colored with safran and stick with it the hedgehock. Put thick almondmilk to it and put it in a bowl.
>
> The question still is, did the put milk/water/wine to the crunched almonds and thisaway made almond milk or not. I tend to say, they did not. Because if you'd do that you would'nt get it dry enough anymore to take it away from where you worked and "put it in a bowl" without destroing your work.
>
> Whats your opinion?
>
> Marcellina

From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 08:50:28 EST
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond milk
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

afmmurphy at earthlink.net writes:
> I've seen that almond milk is used in any number of recipes. I've a
> question. Does this at all resemble commercial almond milk? Can that be
> substituted, if time is a factor? Is it different?  Or does it just make
> more sense to make your own, because you don't want a full quart, or
> it's expensive, or...

Homemade vaguely resembles commercial almond milk.  The commercial ones tend
to have a couple of natural additives like carragenan (which I belive is
something from seaweed which helps keep it from separating?), and sometimes
flavoring added.
I have used commercial almond milk for quick tests of dishes, or at camping
events if I didn't want to deal with making my own (and didn't think to grind
the almonds ahead of time to take with me :-))- the commercial stuff is good
for that because it doesn't have to be refrigerated until you open it.

For anything where I'd be serving it to someone other than myself or my
household as a period dish, like at a feast, I make my own.  It really isn't
that difficult.  I believe I've used roasted almonds before; I currently have
a bunch of raw slivered unblanched almonds I'm working with, because for some
reason Forme of Cury specifically requests unblanched almonds drawn up with
whatever.
I grind them up in the food processor with whatever the specified liquid is
and then strain through cheesecloth.  You can reuse the same amount of ground
almonds a number of times; I easily got 8 cups of milk from 1 cup of almonds
over about 4 strainings, and could have kept going with the same batch.  Just
stick them back in the food processor with more liquid and whirl them a
little more, then strain again.

Brangwayna Morgan

From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 10:33:19 -0800
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: R: [Sca-cooks] Almond milk

A F Murphy <afmmurphy at earthlink.net>
>I've seen that almond milk is used in any number of recipes. I've a
>question. Does this at all resemble commercial almond milk? Can that be
>substituted, if time is a factor? Is it different?  Or does it just make
>more sense to make your own, because you don't want a full quart, or
>it's expensive, or...

Actually there are several brands of commercial almond milk available
and they don't taste the same nor have the same mouth-feel. And
naturally they don't behave the same.

I use it at camping events, but for feasts i have my minions, errr,
my kitchen staff make it to order.

I buy the brand with the fewest additives. I don't like the
mouth-feel of the gums in my almond milk and i don't want vanilla or
sweetener in mine either.

>I've never made it, (and I guess I have to find directions - grind 'em
>up with water and strain? Raw or roasted?

It depends on the recipe. Some are made with water, some with broth,
some with wine, some with verjus.

>I've also only tried the commercial kind once,
>and learned that it doesn't set up as tapioca pudding - pity, sounded
>like a good idea- so I don't know what its properties are, either.

Do you mean you used it to make tapioca pudding? If so, i'm surprised
it wouldn't set. I thought it was the mixture of the starches in the
tapioca, plus the egg and milk that made it set. And i don't quite
see why almond milk wouldn't work - unless it had to do with some
additive in the specific brand you used.

Do you recall which brand it was? Each brand is different in terms of
additives besides water and almonds.

Anahita

From: lilinah at earthlink.net
Date: Sun, 20 Jan 2002 22:27:18 -0800
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond milk

>So, either raw or roasted almonds work? The second are usually easier to
>get, of course, though I have to avoid the salted ones, of course! And
>if I can get 4-8 cups of milk from 1 cup of almonds, that's not bad at
>all. I gather it depends on the recipe?

Generally almond milk is made from raw almonds. There are a few
recipes i've seen that use toasted almonds, but they are by far in
the extreme minority. I think, if the old brain is running on all
cylinders - that most of the ones that use toasted almonds are
Spanish.

So raw almonds most of the time, and the liquid called for will vary
with the recipe. Most of the recipes i've seen have specified the
liquid.

Anahita

From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2002 09:28:25 EST
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond milk
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

afmmurphy at earthlink.net writes:
> And
> if I can get 4-8 cups of milk from 1 cup of almonds, that's not bad at
> all. I gather it depends on the recipe?

Well, how much you make depends on the recipe.  How much you can get from a
certain amount of almonds seems to depend on how much of the almond oil you
need in it to call it almond milk...You see, the first few strainings are
creamy looking and a bit thickened.  It starts to get thinner after that.  I
got 8 cups of milk from one cup of almonds without a significant change in
creaminess.  Eventually, the liquid would have become less creamy and more
watery - well, more like whatever liquid you started with.  Then it's up to
you to decide how far you want to push it.

Brangwayna Morgan

From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 11:45:00 EST
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk...place to find it
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

jjdeclet at yahoo.com writes:
> Is this almond milk in cans sweetened?  Could almond milk be replaced with
> almond flavored cow's milk?  I know this is not period but it might help
> in a bind.

The commercial almond milk I've seen has been boxed (and not refrigerated)
rather than canned.  Many of them do seem to be sweetened somewhat.  I'm not
sure almond-flavored cow's milk would substitute appropriately - almond milk
looks like cow's milk to a certain extent, but doesn't necessarily behave
the same way - and is not strongly almond-flavored, at least to my taste.

Brangwayna Morgan

Date: Tue, 05 Feb 2002 15:37:20 -0800
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at efn.org>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk...place to find it

Jaime Declet wrote:
> That is the reason why I am asking because I a few weeks ago I tasted what I was told was almond milk and to me it tasted like flavored milk with a heavy almond taste and somewhat sweet.   I have never made almond milk but by reading the recipes I always thought it was more along the lines of milky water.  Is it like coconut milk?
> Jaime
>   Bronwynmgn at aol.com wrote:
> The commercial almond milk I've seen has been boxed (and not refrigerated)
> rather than canned. Many of them do seem to be sweetened somewhat. I'm not
> sure almond-flavored cow's milk would substitute appropriately - almond milk
> looks like cow's milk to a certain extent, but doesn't necessarily behave the
> same way - and is not strongly almond-flavored, at least to my taste.

Nope.

Almond milk and cow's milk are not comparable, and I am not sure why one
would want to substitute a flavored cow's milk. Also, the commercial
almond milk is not, in my estimation- and we have discussed this before
on the list but I don't remember when- suitable for cooking. But we are
mixing two issues here.

First- almond milk vs cow milk. Almond 'milk' is of course not really
milk. True milk is made by a kind of subaceous gland that is hormonally
stimulated to produce the fluid we call milk. It is a blend of fats,
proteins, vitamins and minerals, and carbs, depending or course on the
animal. Cows produce milk with a lot of protein and a LOT of calcium.
Humans produce milk that is lower in calcium and somewhat of protein but
higher in teh fats needed to develop braincells. Etc. etc.

Almond milk is made by grinding your almonds, adding water, smooshing,
then squeezing teh moisture out. What goes out with the moisture is what
makes it look like milk. You have some almond flour, which will impart
some protein- BUT- it is not animal protein, and specifically not milk
protein which contains casein. This is the main reason why it doesn't
behave like a milk product in a pudding or thick sauce. The almond will
also impart some small amount of fat to the liquid, but again, it is not
the same sort of fat and doesn't compare to moo juice.

If you try to substitute one for the other in a medieval recipe it
*might* work. After all, they did it. But in a modern recipe? Wouldn't
do it. Wouldn't be prudent.

Now- the commercial almond milk- I wouldn't touch 'em. They aren't real
almond milk. I think the basic problem is that the makers don't
understand almond milk either. If they think it is a milk substitute
made of almonds, or worse, almond flavored milk? Oh joy. Ever read the
label? There's so much stuff added it's frightening. Real almond milk
should be: Almonds, water. That's it. For shipping, I can concede a
small amount of preservative. But the stuff they've added to it is not
preserveatives. Reading it I am guessing that: They believe that almond
milk is just as unstable as a dairy product on the shelf, so you have to
do things to it lest it rot. They believe that people won't like it
unless it is either 'just like real milk' or tastes like a milkshake.
All those stableizers and thickeners and carrageenan and all that stuff-
that isn't because they need to be there, it's because that's what
people expect when they open the box. They aren't marketing to people
who really want almont milk- they are marketing to people who want fake
cows milk.

Bleah. Gimme the real stuff. I do it in the blender or food processor.
It's cheaper than the boughten stuff and it's better. I can cook with
it. If I want to take some with me and not make it in camp, I make it
ahead, put it in a canning jar, and put it in the 'cool' but not 'cold'
section of the cooler, near the cheese. It keeps fine.

'Lainie

From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com
Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2002 18:41:30 EST
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk...place to find it
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

goldberg at nymc.edu writes:
> Hmmmm.... I need to make "rice in almond milk" for 75 for a feast on
> Saturday. I'm estimating a need for about 12 quarts of almond milk on the
> basis of the recipe I have... looks like you're getting almost a gallon (16
> cups) from half a pound of almonds? How do you make your almond milk? If
> you can get that quantity, then it's certainly a LOT cheaper to make it
> myself... I just hope the store will let me return what I bought....

You should be able to get the gallon easily, maybe even a gallon and a half.
Just keep squeezing out the almonds until the "milk" starts to get a little
thin and watery, then get rid of some of the ground-up ones and add fresh.
I use an 11 cup food processor, put in about a cup of almonds to start and
grind them up a little, then add about 2 cups of liquid at a time.  I really
can't do more than that at once or it gets messy :-)  Whirl them around for a
few 10 or 15 second bursts, maybe let them sit a minute or two, and dump the
mess into cheesecloth; let the liquid drain through into whatever you want it
in, then squeeze the rest of the liquid out and dump the almonds back into
the food processor for another go.  It's a bit messy, but not difficult.  You
can keep it under refrigeration for a couple of days, although you'll have to
shake it to mix it back together - it tends to separate.

Of course, if they won't let you return what you bought, use it - you can
cook with it, it's just not quite the real thing.  I've used it for quick
trials and stuff before.

Brangwayna Morgan

Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 15:18:18 +0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] olwyn the odd... help?
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

> we are going to make a bunch of almond milk for the feast and can the
> almond refuse be turned into marzipan?
>
> -- Pani Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net

As for your second question, the answer is no.  All the oils are leached
right out of the nuts.  You could perhaps use the remains for a garnish
sprinkled over a dish, just make sure you let folks know about the nuts.
You can take them home and use them for mincemeat pie, you can crush them
completely and incorporate them into a piecrust, you can put them in banana
nut bread, you can feed them to your chickens, you can add them to stuffing,
you can do lots of things with them but you can't make marzipan from 
them.

Olwen

Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 18:09:53 -0500
From: "PhilTroy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond milk question
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Also sprach AEllin Olafs dotter:
> So I'm finally trying this. Working with a recipe that blithely
> tells me to take my good almond milk...
>
> Do I strain it first? I'm then going to be thickening it, and
> draining it, and using eveything left in the cloth... but I'm not
> sure if "everything" includes the suspended solids or not. I do know
> I should blanch the almonds first, so I don't have any peel, which
> suggests I don't strain? I was originally assuming that to get milk,
> I would - but now I'm not sure.
>
> AEllin

Period people used a fairly large amount of almonds to get a smallish
amount of milk. They were known to re-use almond draff to get more
than one batch of milk, just as brewers did to make different grades
of ale. n general, though, almond milk was strained. The reason some
modern recipes don't always recommend this is that they assume you're
using a blenderrather than a mortar, and that any solids in your milk
will be so finely ground as to be indistinguishable frm the little
curds you get when you cook the milk.

_Could_ be true! ;-) (Dat's da ticket!)

In any case, the theory behind almond milk is that some of the
thickness comes from emulsified almond oil. some, perhaps, from
gelatinized starches, but (again, i theory), almost none of it comes
from almond solids. In practice this may not be completely true.

In theory, if you're using one of the neato fifteenth-century (I
think I remember that was where they come from) English recipes for
almond cheese and/or butter, you strain the milk. You blanch and peel
the almonds first not so much to prevent coloring the stuff, but also
to keep unpleasant tannin flavors from getting into your milk. For
some savory applications (maybe mirrauste or Le Menagier's
tile-coloreddish) this is less of an issue, but I'm thinking you
strain the milk, which will, we hope, still be fairly thick when
you're done, if you did it right and used the right proportion of
almonds to water, said your prayers, etc.

You then bring it to a boil nd, depending on your recipe, curdle it
like cheese with an acid, or simply boil it until the emulsion starts
to break, the proteins start to coagulate somewhat, and it all
becomes somewhat reduced, and you end up with what looks like
significantly thickened almond milk. (I think the recipe you're
talking about is the one that calls for boiling with no vinegar or
other coagulant added; the one which, when sweetened, would make a
great filling for cannole?)

Anyway, you boil your strained milk until it's thick, being careful
not to let it burn (it thickens a bit faster than you might expect,
and if you stir it frequently, it shouldn't burn). As it cools it'll
thicken further. Pour this creamy stuff onto a suitable cloth, like a
tea towel, which will absorb some excess liquid, without being nappy
enough to get almond crud stuck in its fibers. You should be able to
gather up the corners and let it hang up and drip, but it also
shouldn't really be necessary unless you want it really solid. If you
spread it fairl thinly on a large enough towel (and I suppose only
experience will really settle these questions), it should become the
consistency of a thick custard or ricotta fairly quickly. I believe
the recipe says to sweeten the stuff.

As I say, it would be real good in cannole or perhaps in little
tartlets (think in terms of an early frangipane cream).

Adamantius

Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 07:22:23 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
	<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] coconut milk and rice milk
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Also sprach Sharon R. Saroff:
> I have a cooking competition coming up and I am interested in
> knowing how period coconut and rice milks are.  I have seen coconut
> milk a an ingredient in Indian recipes and occasionally in middle
> eastern recipes.  I need a substitute for yogurt because my personna
> would not use it in the same recipe as meat.  I have come up dry on
> my sources at home so far.

I assume (rightly or wrogly) we're delving into period Kashrut? If
so, are we talking about European or Middle Eastern Judaic practices?

As Doc suggested, almond milk turns up in an amazing number of
European recipes as a substitute for milk, cream, and even eggs. It
does, howeer, lack the tang of yogurt. Even the couple of European
recipes that curdle the almond milk using vinegar don't give a
sour-tasting final product. But then, almond milk is also used in
some Persian and Mughal Indian recipes even today.

I suspect the reason why coconut milk and rice milk never took off in
Europe (until, arguably, today) is because the former doesn't keep as
well as almond milk (coconut can get rancid fairly easily), and that
that niche can easily be filled by a more local product, even
asuming almonds aren't local to, say, Yorkshire, and for the latter,
again, there were more easily available substitutes.

To substitute for the tang of yogurt as it is used in places like
India, but without a dairy product, it seems like places like
tropical SE Asia (where you sometimes find obviously Indian-inspired
cookery, but in a non-dairy form, places like Myanmar), citrus juices
like lime play a large role, sometimes even in dishes with similar
names to their Indian counterparts using yogurt.

I guess we'd need a little more info about exactly what you're trying
to accomplish.

Adamantius

Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 10:25:50 +1200
From: Adele de Maisieres <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk Question
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

tom.vincent at yahoo.com wrote:
> I'll again put out my suggestion to use Blue Diamond's packaged  
> almond milk.

I haven't tried the stuff (I don't think anyone sells it here), so I
don't really know what it's like, but I read the ingredients:
Purified water, almonds, tapioca starch, calcium carbonate, sea salt,
potassium citrate, carrageenan, soy lecethin, natural flavour, etc,  
etc...

vs

Adele's own almond milk ingredients:
Water, almonds.

The inclusion of starch, carrageenan, lecethin, salt, and flavour
basically says to me "we didn't use enough almonds to make this tasty
and creamy, so we put some other stuff in instead".
-- 
Adele de Maisieres

Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 10:29:28 +1200
From: Adele de Maisieres <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk Question
To: dailleurs at liripipe.com, Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Anne-Marie Rousseau wrote:
<<< doesnt the packaged stuff have a ton of sugar and other impurities (such as new world vanilla) in it? if you're using it for a dessert which is going to be sweet already, you can get away with it, but as the base for a savory sauce/dish?

the only almond milk I've seen on the shelves here has a ton of sugar added :(
>>>

Blue Diamond has a plain, unsweeted version.  It has a number of
ingredients that aren't water or almonds, but not sugar or vanilla.

(annoyingly, the sugar in the sweetened version is listed in the
ingredients as "dried cane juice").
-- 
Adele de Maisieres

Date: Thu, 18 May 2006 23:48:36 -0600
From: "Caointiarn" <caointiarn1 at bresnan.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Sausageand Almond milk
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>,
	<SilverR0se at aol.com>,	<avrealtor at prodigy.net>

First Renata asked:
> I will be celebrating my 25th Anniversary in the SCA this November and, I
> want to prepare a more-or->less authentic feast for my household.  No
> matter what dishes I finally choose, it is obvious that I am going to need
> a great deal of almond milk. My question is, does it freeze well so I can be
> making batches all summer long) or should I just make a huge batch as I
> need  it?

YES!  Almond Milk freezes well.  It will separate, and look yellow, but once
thawed & shook vigorously it will be fine.  I have even used milk plastic
jugs  {washed}to hold the almond milk.  Just remember to not fill it to the
top, leave room for expansion.

Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 04:56:52 -0700 (PDT)
From: <tom.vincent at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk Question
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Here's the URL for details on all varieties.  http:// 
www.bluediamond.com/shop/natural/almondBreeze32.cfm

The packages aren't that big (32 oz.), so they really don't have a  
ton of *anything* in them.  With 75% of the calories coming from fat,  
it's abundantly clear that they're coming from the almonds and not  
from any of the other minor ingredients.

Recommended.

Duriel

Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 19:57:00 -0400
From: Tom Vincent <Tom.Vincent at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk revisited
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I thought I'd mention that at this past weekend's Alles Faire, we used
several quarts of the Blue Diamond unsweetened, unflavored Almond Milk
to prepare various dishes.

All of us cooks agreed that the expense of almonds and the time to make
almond milk from scratch just wasn't worth it when you're cooking for  
200.

Duriel

Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2006 12:14:54 +1200
From: Adele de Maisieres <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk revisited
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Daniel Myers wrote:
> Did it behave like regular almond milk?
>
> Anyone using it for a feast might want to take extra care - there
> might be a potential allergen issue.  The ingredients list has (among
> several other things) evaporated cane juice and soy lecithin.

Evaporated cane juice = sugar.   And it's not in the unsweetened  
version.
-- 
Adele de Maisieres

Date: Wed, 31 May 2006 20:15:29 -0400
From: Tom Vincent <Tom.Vincent at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk revisited
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

*Unsweetened*.  It worked just fine.  Although, I must say that almond
milk is such a subtle flavor easily overwhelmed by others that I think
it simply adds richness and calories without much benefit.  I prefer
using it in dishes that would really benefit from it.

Duriel

Daniel Myers wrote:
> Did it behave like regular almond milk?
>
> Anyone using it for a feast might want to take extra care - there
> might be a potential allergen issue.  The ingredients list has (among
> several other things) evaporated cane juice and soy lecithin.
>
> - Doc

Date: Thu, 01 Jun 2006 12:27:29 +1200
From: Adele de Maisieres <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk revisited
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Daniel Myers wrote:
> D'oh!  Must have got the wrong link on the Blue Diamond web site.
>
> Huh.  The unsweetened one lists tapioca starch instead of the cane
> juice.

Hrm, I know.  It lists a number of things that are neither water nor
almonds.
-- 
Adele de Maisieres

Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 08:37:27 -0500
From: Johnna Holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] dessert onions
To: alysk at ix.netcom.com, Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

This is the only one that I have found that might come close
and I suspect that it only fits depending upon what one's idea
of a sweet dish should be--

<snip>

There is also this oddball one for an Almond milk that includes onions

/This is an excerpt from *Le Menagier de Paris* (Janet Hinson, trans.)
The original source can be found on David Friedman's website
<http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Menagier/ 
Menagier.html>./

ALMOND MILK. Parboil and peel your almonds, then put in cold water, then
grind and soak in water in which onions have been cooked and strain
through a sieve: then fry the onions, and add a little salt, and boil on
the fire, then add the sops. And if you make almond milk for sick
people, do not add onions, and in place of the onion water to soak the
almonds as spoken of above, add and soak them in clean warm water and
boil it, and do not add salt, but lots of sugar. And if you want to make
it as a drink, strain through a sieve or through two pieces of cloth,
and lots of sugar to drink it.

But of course their idea of a dessert varied in a number of ways from  
ours.

Johnnae

> Stefan wrote:
>> (snip) but does anyone know of any
>> period desserts that contain onions?

Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 13:22:47 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] butter from almond milk?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On May 22, 2007, at 7:33 AM, Tasha wrote:

> I've previously made and used almond milk a few
> times and was intrigued to find a web site that
> said it could be churned into butter but I can't
> find instructions for making it. I've
> successfully made butter before with an electric
> mixer and I tried to do the same with the almond
> milk but all I got was frothy almond milk. How is
> butter made from almond milk?
>
> Eyd?s

Hello, Eyd?s!

  From what I can see, the process for making "butter" from almond
milk is probably  more like making cheese from milk than it is like
making butter from milk or cream or grinding "butter" from nuts.

After a brief search of a couple of sources, I found these in MS S,
ff. 80r-92r (which is essentially Part III, the "Utilis Coquinario"
section, of Curye On Inglysch):

5 For to make crem & botere of almoundes. Tak blaunched almaundes &
bray hem wel in a morter, & tempre hem with luk water. & draw (th)
erof melk as thikke as (th)ou my(gh)t, & do it in a newe erthen pot,
& do (th)erto vynegre hett a litel. Whan (th)e melk & (th)e venegre
be put togedere perce je pot beneth (th)at (th)e licoure may renne
out, & whan it is all ronnen tak (th)at (th)at leueth in (th)e pot &
do in a fayre twayle & left it vp & doun; & whan (th)e licoure is out
clene, tak it of (th)e twayle & it is botere & creem.

7 Botere of almand melk. Tak (th)ikke almound melk & boyle it, & as
it boyleth cast yn a litel wyn or vynegre, & (th)an do it on a
caneuas & lat (th)e whey renne out. & an gadere it vp with (th)yn
hondes & hang it vp a myle wey, & ley it after in cold water, & serue
it forth.

In both cases you're mixing almond milk with acid after contriving to
warm up the aggregate mass, presumably to help the curdling process,
then draining off the clear whey. In the second recipe you're
chilling the end product before serving to firm it up, perhaps to
make the illusion more successful.

Adamantius

Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 10:54:13 -0400
From: Karstyl <karstyl at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] butter from almond milk?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius wrote:
> On May 22, 2007, at 7:33 AM, Tasha wrote:
>> I've previously made and used almond milk a few
>> times and was intrigued to find a web site that
>> said it could be churned into butter but I can't
>> find instructions for making it. I've
>> successfully made butter before with an electric
>> mixer and I tried to do the same with the almond
>> milk but all I got was frothy almond milk. How is
>> butter made from almond milk?
>>
>> Eyd?s
>> (finally making her first post)
>
> Hello, Eyd?s!
>
>  From what I can see, the process for making "butter" from almond
> milk is probably  more like making cheese from milk than it is like
> making butter from milk or cream or grinding "butter" from nuts.
>
> *Snip a couple or recipes*
> In both cases you're mixing almond milk with acid after contriving to
> warm up the aggregate mass, presumably to help the curdling process,
> then draining off the clear whey. In the second recipe you're
> chilling the end product before serving to firm it up, perhaps to
> make the illusion more successful.
>
> Hope this helps!
>
> Adamantius

I guess I will de-lurk on this thread, as it was stared by someone doing
the same.  I have made this, and it worked rather well.  I got the
almond milk boiling, added lemon juice (any acid should work, lemon
juice was the one I had on hand,) I think I used about 1Tbs for a quart,
boiled it for a while longer, maybe 10 min. or so.  I then drained it
thru muslin, it took a while to drip, the curds are small and would go
right through a big weave or a strainer, but they did plug up the muslin
some.  I had to wring it to get the last of the liquid out (a press
would also work, but I don't have one.)  Fresh and room temp it was soft
and creamy with a light almond taste, after it was chilled the texture
was like a fine-grained ricotta.  It was very yummy on bread.  Some of
the period recipes call for adding rose water, which would go very well.

A few points:
I would make sure the almond milk was well-strained before hand or it
could get grainy, I used the same cloth to strain the milk and cheese.
It does not melt like cheese.
It does brown a bit, but not bubbly like cheese, more like it has a
browned crust.
Rennet does not work, and annoys the housemates when left out overnight.
Just boiling the milk thickens it some, but it does not curdle the same,
I am not sure you could get a cheese-like product out of it.  But it is
yummy with chick-peas.
The quart of milk got me about 1.5 cups of cheese, but this is from
memory so the amounts are an estimate.

Reyni-Hrefna

Date: Thu, 13 Sep 2007 22:20:51 -0700
From: Britt <tierna.britt at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond milk dregs
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> I'm going to be making 12 lbs of almonds into almond milk.  What  
> can you do with what is left? Does it have enough flavor to make  
> marzipan?  Some kind of cookie?

There's enough flavor for baked goods, but not marzipan.  I also like
to dry the remnants and grind them to powder and use them as a
thickening agent.  For modern uses I use the powdered almonds in
batter - my almond chicken is a batter of powdered almonds and enough
flour to make it sticky with an egg and maybe a bit of water as
needed.  Dip pieces of chicken into it and fry.

The pulverized but not powdered almonds can also be added to batter
for fish or chicken where they'll add texture as well as flavor.

A spoonful of pulverized almonds under cupcakes or muffins before
gives a lovely surprise at the bottom, and of course the crushed nuts
can be sprinkled on a ton of things.

Add to salads for a little flavor and crunch.

And there's a medieval recipe that works well with the almond milk
leftovers. The original is from Hieatt, Constance B. and Jones, Robin
F., 'Two Anglo-Norman Culinary Collections Edited from British Library
Manuscripts Additional 32085 and Royal 12.C.xii' and I found it online
at http://recipes.chef2chef.net/recipe-archive/3/A03132.shtml

27. Emeles. E une friture k'ad a noun emeles. Pernez sucre e sel e
alemaundes a payn demeyne, e brauez les ensemble; e pus metez des
oefs; e pus gresse ou oile ou bure, e pernez une quilere e oignez les;
e pus pernez sus e rose les de sucre sec, &cetera. Explicet.

27. Emeles (almond cakes). Here is a fritter which is called emeles.
Take sugar, salt, almonds, and white bread, and grind them together;
then add eggs; then grease or oil or butter, and take a spoon and
brush them [i.e. the emeles, while they arefrying]
and then remove them and sprinkle them with dry sugar, etc.

12 pounds of almonds?  Egad, what're you going to do with (from my
experience and guesstimation) more than 6 gallons of almond milk?

- Teceangl

Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 16:38:34 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk
To: lilinah at earthlink.net, Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On May 29, 2009, at 3:27 PM, lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
<<< On our local Kingdom cooking list, we're having a discussion of  
almond milk. This topic was brought up by a new cook.

Does one make almond milk of:
-- almonds with skin on;
-- almonds soaked overnight in cold water, skin left on;
-- almonds soaked overnight in cold water & skinned;
-- almonds blanched (dropped in boiling or simmering water & skinned;
-- purchased already blanched;
-- almonds with skin on toasted;
-- almonds with skin off toasted;
or some variation thereof. >>>

The short answer (what, me, give short answers???) is that thee recipe  
usually specifies details as per usage, appearance of the overall dish  
in which it is to be used, etc.

In general, unless stated otherwise, you want the almonds as moist as  
you can get them, as with soaking them a bit, which prevents the  
resulting milk from breaking its emulsion (to a greater extent,  
anyway). Since this is milk, it should be white, all other things  
being equal. So, in general, the ideal would be blanched almonds,  
peeled either before or after soaking. It probably depends on which  
you can get in bulk, cheaper. Whole, unblanched almonds generally are  
cheaper, and have the longest shelf life, but the bran should usually  
be removed before grinding.

Unless the dish is something intended to be in a russet or brown  
sauce, such as a mirrauste, le Menagier's meat tile, etc.

<<< How finely does one process the almonds:
-- coarsely chopped;
-- finely chopped;
-- ground into meal;
-- ground into flour;
-- purchased already chopped;
-- purchased already ground into meal;
-- purchased already ground into flour;
or some variation thereof. >>>

The finer, the better. Essentially, your milk is thicker and has more  
almond-ey goodness if it has more microscopic particles of almond in  
it. You can still strain out the most obvious hunks of almond dross.

For events, I generally a five or ten-pound bag of blanched almond  
meal from someone like Honeyville Grains, and use it for almond milk  
and marzipan. It's cheating, but only slightly, IMO.

<<< How do the commercial almonds milks compare to homemade,  
particularly in flavor and in texture?
I only know of two brands:
-- Pacific Naturals Organic Almond Milk
and
-- Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almond Milk
NOTE: Both now make unsweetened almond milks, but previously only  
had sweetened. >>>

I get the impression that most commercial almond milks have Stuff in  
them that almonds do not contain; of course, if they're milk  
substitutes, and get added to coffee, or are used for baking or simple  
drinking, this is not a problem and users of those products may expect  
a more milky, and less nutty, product anyway. But in general, my  
experience is that you get a better almond flavor using almonds and  
water than you do from commercial milks. YMMV.

Adamantius

Date: Sat, 30 May 2009 09:33:42 +1200
From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk
To: lilinah at earthlink.net, Cooks within the SCA
	<sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
<<< Does one make almond milk of:
-- almonds with skin on; >>>

Yes, generally, I make almond milk out of whole, blanched, plain almonds 
purchased as such

<<< -- almonds with skin off toasted; >>>

Not generally, but I have a recipe for a Catalan Mirrauste that 
specifies almond milk made with toasted almonds, so I make it for that.

<<< How finely does one process the almonds: >>>

I put them in the food processor, and I run the motor until they're 
about as fine as they get.  Then I start adding liquid, so they get 
pureed so much as anything else. 

<<< -- purchased already ground into meal; >>>

I've never done this, but I've seen it done, and I wasn;t to impressed.  
My strained almond milk looks very much like a bucket of fresh, rich, 
creamy  cow's milk (bar the slight colour difference).  The almond milk 
I've seen made from pre-ground almonds looks, at best, like skimmed 
milk, and sometimes worse-- it's very thin, and not properly white or creamy.

<<< How do the commercial almonds milks compare to homemade, particularly in flavor and in texture?
I only know of two brands:
-- Pacific Naturals Organic Almond Milk
and
-- Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Almond Milk >>>

Dunno... I'm not sure I've even seen them for sale here.
-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

Date: Wed, 3 Jun 2009 19:27:25 +0200
From: "Susanne Mayer" <susanne.mayer5 at chello.at>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Almond milk
To: <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

We once made Almond milk for Pudding and had whole unshelled almonds, shelled 
in hot water, purried still wet in a Blender and added water as necessary, 
left to stand a bit (can't remember how long). Then strained through a 
cheesecloth and REALLY pressed all the liquid from it. repeat until you cant 
get anything more out of the ground almonds (we used those sucked out 
almonds as sauce thickener)

This was then used to make almond pudding: (Mondseer Kochbuch, transcript 
Doris Aicholzer in "wildu machen ayn guet essen" #73 "wie man macht ain mous 
von vey?l"

In this book  you can find 4 recipes with almond cheese, 5 with mus, 49 with 
almond milk and 2 with topfen /ziger a sort of creamcheese from the 3 
manuscripts the Mondsseer and dorother cookbook have both a bit more than 
20, the Innsbrucker sript has only 9.

Just by scimming through I found some with detailed instructions, like the 
ones from Cariadoc.

As far as I can remember we used Cariadoc recipe:

http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/recipes_introduction.html

Scroll down to the end of page

btw I  put: almond milk recipe Cariadoc in my g.... search engine and got 428 
citations ;-)

And just for fun:

I just found this on the net:

Nut and Almondmilk recipes on

http://www.paleofood.com/nmilks.htm

Regards Katharina

Drachenwald

Date: Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:35:09 -0400
From: Suey <lordhunt at gmail.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

I do not remember who gave a recipe for almond milk with skins still 
attached. Lladonora directs that the almonds be peeled before crushing 
them in a mortar. See Josep Lladonora, La Cocina Medieval, p. 158. It 
has never occurred to me to leave the skins on.

Suey

Date: Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:17:45 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius1 at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Jun 8, 2009, at 3:35 PM, Suey wrote:
<<< I do not remember who gave a recipe for almond milk with skins still  
attached. Lladonora directs that the almonds be peeled before  
crushing them in a mortar. See Josep Lladonora, La Cocina Medieval,  
p. 158. It has never occurred to me to leave the skins on.
Suey >>>

Most recipes seem to call for peeled, blanched almonds, since the  
object will be something that looks like milk.

However, some recipes (usually calling for a brownish, russet or  
reddish-colored sauce in the final product) call for unpeeled and/or  
unblanched, and sometimes toasted, almonds for this purpose. Most  
mirrauste recipes and le Menagier's tile of meat and crayfish come to  
mind as examples of the latter.

Adamantius

Date: Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:27:32 -0800
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at jeffnet.org>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Best way to make almond milk?

<<< I have read so many ways to make almond milk, both modern and medieval.

I'm wondering what you all think is the best way to get rich almond milk
for a Lenten recipe. I'm testing the Genestada recipe from Sent Sovi.

Madhavi >>>

I do it in the blender- the grinding part, that is. Run them until 
they're mealy sort of powder, about the texture of of corn meal. The add 
some water, blend until it's mixed. Then I put a cheesecloth in a 
strainer that is set over a bowl, put the almond slurry in it,  then 
pull the cheesecloth into a sort of bag, and twist the top to squeeze 
the milk out. Do it until you can get anymore out. Put the almonds back 
in the blender, add water, and do it all again, until you stop getting 
'milk' out and get something about the consistency of nonfat milk. 
Squeeze the almond one last time, as hard as you can. Set the almond 
milk aside for an hour or so. It will settle out some, and the richest, 
the 'cream' is at the top. If you want really rich almond milk, that's it.

My kids used to eat the leftover almond meal. It doesn't taste 
particularly almondy, after having all the fat milked out. but it can be 
fun to play with- a medieval sort of play dough. :-)

'Lainie

Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:25:47 +1300
From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Best way to make almond milk?

Judith Epstein wrote:
On 22 Nov 2009, at 8:27 AM, Laura C. Minnick wrote:
<<< I do it in the blender- the grinding part, that is. Run them until they're mealy sort of powder, about the texture of of corn meal. The add some water, blend until it's mixed. >>>

You can also buy ground almonds. I believe Bob's Red Mill has it on their product list.
-------

Nix.  Pre-ground almonds usually make terrible almond milk.
-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:28:26 +1300
From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Best way to make almond milk?

<<< Do you add hot water or cold? I have always used hot water in the food processor with the almonds, does cold work better?

I use sliced almonds because they're cheapest around here, do whole
almonds give richer milk?

My almond milk always looks like something between low-fat milk and
skim >>>

Sorry, I know this was directed at Lainie, but this is a subject I can't say enough about.

Whole almonds give the richest milk-- comes out looking like a pail of 
very rich (not-low fat!) milk.

I use water that's hot but not boiling.
-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo

Date: Wed, 5 May 2010 13:39:58 -0700 (PDT)
From: wheezul at canby.com
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cutting capons into 7ths, Chicken Ambrosino
	from Libro di cucina

Although I can't speak for any kind of cross-over culturally, the very
first recipe in the German Wecker cookbook is for almond milk.  The use of
almond milk as an ingredient is common in the recipes in this particular
cookbook.  In this first recipe there are careful instructions to lay the
almonds in hot water and remove the skins and then further to wash them. 
It even goes so far to instruct not to use an iron pestle in the grinding
process because it will turn the almonds dark and bitter.

Apparently the whiteness of the almond milk is thought of as a desirable
quality, because the potential whiteness is mentioned later in some of the
almond compounds made with an almond milk (which could be almonds and
water or almonds and milk).

There are also notations of the 'thickness' of the almond milk, which I
interpret to come perhaps from the almond to water ratio.  I may be just
me, but I find the almond skins a wee bit bitter.

Katherine, still a rank newbie, who is not pleased with the current
'brains' preparations she is slogging through on the bus in the morning. 
Queasy making, it is.

<<< That's a very good point, I hadn't thought of that possible translation
issue. I know we have unskinned almonds at home and I'll be getting whole
skinned ones. I may make a small bowl of almond milk with each and
document if there are any color or flavor variations as a result. As the
solids are removed, there may not be much if any change between the two.
Raffaella >>>

Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2012 17:57:43 -0400
From: Guenievre de Monmarche <guenievre@erminespot.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] How to strain almond milk through a cloth

<<< This is driving me crazy as it takes so long. I have tried everything
coffee filters, burlap, you name it and the liquid just sits there. Does
anyone have a way that is faster then just giving it a whirl from time to
time?
Suey >>>

I find that it helps - or at least makes me feel like I'm doing something -
to continuously stir the mixture as it sits in the strainer.

Guenievre

Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 17:47:56 -0800
From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm@jeffnet.org>
To: sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk

On 11/23/2014 3:25 PM, Susan Lord Williams wrote:
<<< I don't trust store bought almond milk.

The Andalusian way is simple. Its ground peeled raw almonds. Add chicken or meat broth and strained through a cheesecloth. If I don't have broth, I mix water and a bouillon cube. With a food processor to grind the almonds its speedy.
Every week, I have recipes calling for it so I would be terribly limited if I didn't use recipes calling for almond milk. >>>

I think it is fairly safe to say that almond milk in period is generally 
*not* made with broth, as it is most often seen in Lenten/fast day 
recipes, and those days preclude meat products. Which includes broth.

Liutgard

Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2014 22:02:26 -0600
From: "TerryDecker" <t.d.decker at att.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Does almond milk curdle?

<<< almond milk and verjuice? Doesn't this curdle?

Or does almond milk not curdle if you add an acid to it? Or is verjuice not 
sour enough?

Or am I really off and adding vinegar to milk won't cause it to curdle?

Thanks,
 Stefan the Inquistive >>>

Milk is an emulsified colloid of butter fat suspended in water.  Verjuice 
and vinegar are acidic clarifying agents that force the colloids out of 
suspension.

Almond milk is a suspension rather than an emulsion.  You can get clumping, 
bacterial or mold infection, but it shouldn't curdle in the sense you are 
using the word.

Bear

Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2014 13:42:09 -0300
From: Susan Lord Williams <lordhunt at gmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Does almond milk curdle?

Stefan asked that question. 

My gut reaction was no but googling it, I found store that bought almond milk can curdle for the same protein attraction produced in milk when it curdles. Contrary to milk, curdled almond milk does not seem to be bad. Like Hollandaise sauce it can be beaten and saved. 

I have never personally bought ready made almond milk. I have not seen it on sale in any of the countries in which I have lived. I have never had almond milk made from scratch curdle on me, perhaps because I use it immediately.

Sue

Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2014 13:06:44 -0500 (EST)
From: JIMCHEVAL at aol.com
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Does almond milk curdle?

Given all the crap that's in commercial almond milk, I wouldn't use it as  
any measure of what the straight stuff will do:

Almond milk (filtered water, almonds), tricalcium phosphate, sea salt, 
gellan gum, dipotassium phosphate, xanthan gum, natural flavors, sunflower 
lecithin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin d2, dl-alpha tocopherol acetate 
(vitamin e).

http://www.fooducate.com/app#page=product&id=B36FB8FE-2F64-11E0-A55F-1231380
C180E

Good luck finding period dipotassium phosphate.

Jim  Chevallier
www.chezjim.com

Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 16:31:04 -0500
From: JIMCHEVAL at aol.com
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk

Here's the Menagier's version:

"Parboil and peel your almonds, then put them in cold water, then pound  
them and moisten with water in which onions have been cooked and strain 
through  a strainer: then fry onions, and put in a little salt, and boil on the 
fire,  then put in the sops. And if you make almond milk for the sick, do not 
put in  onions, or instead of the water of onions to moisten as is said 
above, put in  and soak them with warm water and boil, and put in no salt, but a 
great deal of  sugar. And if you want to make some to drink, strain through 
the strainer or two  cloths, and a great deal of sugar to drink."
http://books.google.com/books?id=ePY5AAAAcAAJ&dq=inauthor%3Apichon%20menagi
er%20lait&pg=PA241#v=onepage&q&f=false

Jim  Chevallier

Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 18:22:33 -0300
From: Susan Lord Williams <lordhunt at gmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk

From: "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at jeffnet.org>
<<< I think it is fairly safe to say that almond milk in period is generally 
*not* made with broth, as it is most often seen in Lenten/fast day 
recipes, and those days preclude meat products. Which includes broth.

Liutgard >>>

Quite the contrary, almond milk was made with fish broth on fish days. I don?t know how many recipes I have published in my blog that include almond milk but if you search this I think you will find that all as of to date include a meat broth. I am talking Sent Sovi, Nola, Al-Andalus 13th century and Fadalat as my subject is Spanish. By meat I mean fish, poultry and four legged animals.

My blog is: http://www.medievalspanishchef.com/ 

Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 19:46:54 -0500
From: Elise Fleming <alyskatharine@gmail.com>
To: sca-cooks <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk

Liutgard wrote:
<<< I think it is fairly safe to say that almond milk in period is 
generally *not* made with broth, as it is most often seen in 
Lenten/fast day recipes, and those days preclude meat products. Which 
includes broth. >>>

Suey responded:
<<< Quite the contrary, almond milk was made with fish broth on fish days. 
I don?t know how many recipes I have published in my blog that include 
almond milk but if you search this I think you will find that all as 
of to date include a meat broth. I am talking Sent Sov?, Nola, 
Al-Andalus 13th century and Fadalat as my subject is Spanish. By meat 
I mean fish, poultry and four legged animals. >>>

Perhaps the problem lies in the definition of "almond milk". What I saw 
on Suey's blog site were a number of dishes of chicken or other meats 
that included almonds, ground up, and mixed with a liquid such as broth. 
Suey uses the term "almond milk" in many of these titles, but I don't 
think that most of us would call what is in the recipe "almond milk".

While Wikipedia is not always an authoritative source, its definition of 
"almond milk" is what Liutgard mentioned. (See 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond_milk)

Suey's blog doesn't contain any original recipes although the sources 
are given. Ground almonds in a meat recipe certainly doesn't fit the 
commonly accepted definition of "almond milk". The problem appears to be 
in definition and translation.

Alys K.

Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 20:11:24 -0500
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcarrollmann@gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk

I did a quick check of the meat days section of de Nola.  There are at
least seven recipes in which he describes grinding almonds with broth of
hen or mutton, then straining it, and calls the resulting liquid "almond
milk".  (I am not counting recipes which merely contain ground almonds as
an ingredient.)  Most of the other recipes calling for almond milk do not
specify what liquid is to be used in making it.

Here's one example, from recipe #18 Pottage of Sheep's Trotters (my
translation):

"Take peeled almonds and grind them well in a mortar; and then blend them
with good mutton broth, and then strain them through a woolen cloth.  And
put this almond milk in a pot, and put ground ginger within it in such a
manner that it will taste of ginger..."
http://www.florilegium.org/?http%3A//www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-MANUSCRIPTS/Guisados1-art.html
It may be a cultural difference.  Any of the Italian experts want to chime
in here?

Brighid ni Chiarain

Date: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 21:49:53 -0500
From: JIMCHEVAL@aol.com
To: sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk

Indeed.

Just to be clear, the Menagier's recipe is specifically for almond milk.

But the simplest way to make almond milk seems to be to blanch the almonds, 
put them in cold water, removed the skins, crush them and then run water 
through them. You can add all kinds of stuff: sugar, salt, etc. But the most 
basic almond milk is simply crushed almonds with water run through it. 
Which is roughly what Vilanova outlines.

Jim  Chevallier

Date: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 09:12:44 -0700
From: "Daniel Myers" <dmyers@medievalcookery.com>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk

I did a quick check through the recipes I have indexed to see if a
pattern emerged.  For all the recipes that contained the words "almond"
and "milk", I looked for where it specified what the almond milk was
made with.  Note that sometimes the recipe didn't actually include
almond milk, sometimes it wasn't specified, and sometimes it was pretty
hard to tell.  Here's the rough data:

Water		51
Poultry Broth	19
Wine		17
Broth 		17
Beef Broth	15
Fish Broth	7
Mutton Broth	6
Rosewater	3
Pear Broth	1
Onion Broth	1
Cow's Milk	1

http://www.medievalcookery.com/search/search.html?term=almond+milk&file=all

Some cookbooks tended towards one ingredient more than others (most of
the mutton broth recipes came from Libre del Coch), but even then it
wasn't absolute.

- Doc

-------- Original Message --------
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcarrollmann@gmail.com>

I did a quick check of the meat days section of de Nola.  There are at
least seven recipes in which he describes grinding almonds with broth of
hen or mutton, then straining it, and calls the resulting liquid "almond
milk".

Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2014 12:53:35 -0500
From: Alexander Clark <alexbclark@pennswoods.net>
To: sca-cooks <sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk

On Sun, 30 Nov 2014 19:46:54 -0500, Elise Fleming
<alyskatharine@gmail.com> wrote:
<<< Perhaps the problem lies in the definition of "almond milk". What I saw
on Suey's blog site were a number of dishes of chicken or other meats
that included almonds, ground up, and mixed with a liquid such as broth.
Suey uses the term "almond milk" in many of these titles, but I don't
think that most of us would call what is in the recipe "almond milk".

While Wikipedia is not always an authoritative source, its definition of
"almond milk" is what Liutgard mentioned. (See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond_milk) >>>

They seem to have made unwarranted assumptions about what ingredients,
other than almonds, are to be used.

<<< Suey's blog doesn't contain any original recipes although the sources
are given. Ground almonds in a meat recipe certainly doesn't fit the
commonly accepted definition of "almond milk". The problem appears to be
in definition and translation. >>>

Are we looking at http://www.medievalspanishchef.com/ ?  I just looked
over some recipes with almond milk there, and they tended to call for
the solids to be strained out.  Are you finding recipes that don't?
If so, I would agree that it isn't almond milk until it's strained.

But if the issue is that the base is not plain water, then the
question can be easily answered by consulting the Forme of Cury.
After all, that's a standard for English-language cookery in period.
And I happen to have notes by which to look up the recipes with almond
milk.

Recipes 38, 47, 63, 90, 101, and 138 (as numbered in Curye on
Inglysch) say that they have a milk or almond milk, and call for the
almonds to be mixed with something other than water.  The first three
use broth of various kinds of flesh, 90 uses wine, 101 salmon broth,
and 138 wine plus vinegar.  Pretty many other recipes with almond milk
also call for flesh, though I'd estimate that the majority don't.

So I, for one, would certainly call a mixture of ground almonds with
broth or wine an almond milk, once it has been strained.  BTW some of
these recipes don't say to draw the milk, but I am guessing that they
only omitted that instruction casually, or for brevity.
-- 
Henry of Maldon/Alex Clark

Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2014 15:43:49 -0800
From: Donna Green <donnaegreen@yahoo.com>
To: sca-cooks@lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk

I've found that if you soak the almonds overnight to peel them, instead of blanching, you get a creamery almond milk. I think it is a function of the heat ... if the almonds aren't "cooked" until they are added to the hot broth/water/whatever you get a more milk like result.

Juana Isabella
West

<the end>

Edited by Mark S. Harris	almond-milk-msg	Page  of