SC - Swan sources
Christi Redeker
C-Redeker at mail.dec.com
Fri Apr 18 05:12:11 PDT 1997
Greetings Cooks,
Re Yeast: - You are quite correct in that the medieval cook
couldnt go to a store and buy a package of dried yeast BUT
both the word "yest" and "berme" or "barm" (ale yeast) were
used in medieval sources (to give just a few examples):
[Royal 17. A. iii MS. British Library, London. (c. 1370)] Ad
faciendum brakott - "...put therto newe berm..."
[MS BL Add. 5016 British Library, London (c. 1380) known as
Form of Cury ] Frytour of erbes - "... a lytel yest...";
Bragget - "... do gode berme aboue..."
[Rawlinson MS. D1222 Bodleian Library, Oxford (c.1380)]
Mynceleek - "...do theryn a litel berme or a litel sourdoug"
[Harleian Ms. 279. (c.1420)] Cryspey - "... a lytel
Berme..."; Fretoure - "take whete floure, Ale yest, Safroun,
& Salt..."; Rastons - "...than take warme Berme...".
[Holkham Collection (c. 1460) known as "A Noble Boke off
Cookry ffor a Prynce Houssolde of eny other Estately
Houssolde"] To mak rostand - "...a litill yest of new ale..."
Leavening could be done two ways in the Middle Ages by either
the sourdough method or by using the froth or "barm" from the
top of fermenting ale. This was "ale yest". (Beer yeast
ferments on the bottom.) They, of course, had no idea what
yeast was (first discovered by Louis Pasteur in the 19th
century). The "yeast" in the sourdough method was airborne
wild yeasts of two kinds in medieval Europe. In the north the
wild yeasts are what were later domesticated into modern
"ale" and "beer" yeasts. In the south the wild yeasts are
what become "wine" yeasts. As the temperature increased the
limit of grape growing and airborne wild "wine" yeast moved
north and the medieval climate was, on the whole, warmer than
modern day. Modern "bread" yeasts are derived from the
domestication of North American wild airborne yeasts.
(Sourdough yeasts for starters came from N.America to France
not the other way around.) Yeasts are differentiated by their
tolerance for alcohol - a toxic waste product to the yeast.
Here in N. America we can make very good sourdough without
buying expensive starter packages, but have to protect our
wine and beer during fermentation from wild yeasts. [I worked
in R&D for Wine-Art in the seventies and read my way around
an entire room of books about wine, wine history, wine
tasting, the chemical composition of wine, and yeasts. -
thought I should explain how I know this.]
Re chewets being derived from the French word for cabbage:
Was this a joke and I just didnt get it? - Dont you think
it more likely that it derives from the same word as "chew"
meaning masticated? Chewets were made of finely chopped foods
that perhaps looked already chewed - maybe the word was
slang, someones nickname, etc - names of recipes dont
always have a meaning we can decipher now.
Re confits being Savoyard: A "confit" or "comfit" can be
either a hard sugar coated spice or seed, or a fruit or root
preserved in sugar syrup. The use of honey for the
preservation of fruit was known in ancient times and the
switch to a sugar syrup came about as it became more readily
available. I dont think Savoy had much to do with this
unless you mean something very specific and not the general
meaning of the word at all. Was this the case?
Mistress Rowenna de Roncesvalles OL. OP
Barony of Lions Gate, Kingdom of An Tir
- -------------------------------------
Name: Ilkka Heikki Salokannel
E-mail: Ilkka Heikki Salokannel<Rennes at xl.ca>
Date: 4/17/97
Time: 11:37:40 PM
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