SC - Plums period? -long

[Cindy Renfrow]

>Greetings from Ceridwen;
>
<snip>
>

Thank you, Ceridwen, for citing a source.

No mention was made in the postings of 6 Aug. by Terry Nutter and
Adamantius, of a time limit of 13th to 15th c. - that only came up after my
reply of 8 Aug.  In regards to my citing Parkinson's 1629 work, some of us
do extend this game to 1650 - making his work a valuable primary resource.
Gerard's Herball was written in 1597, and relies heavily on earlier works,
esp. Dr. Priest's translation of Dodoens' herbal of 1583, and the works of
ancient Authorities, such as Dioscorides who said "that Damaske Prunes
dried do †tay the belly..."

I do agree that fresh plums were eaten raw.   They were also eaten cooked,
as is clearly demonstrated by the previously cited recipes for bullaces,
etc.  I also agree that the name "prune" was sometimes applied to plums.
What I disagree with is Terry Nutter's statement:  "In English recipes,
there's no indication that
prunes are used dried, and expert opinion is primarily to the contrary."

The recipes for Lombardy Custard in Harleian MS. 279, c. 1430, - Dyuerse
Bake Metis
xvij. Crustade lumbard, and Harleian MS. 4016 #27 Custard lumbarde, if you
follow the steps as listed, are drying the fruit in the oven before adding
the custard to the pieshell - "...And Dates, cutte in ij. or iij. and
prunes, and put hem in faire coffyns of paast; And then put [th]e coffyn in
an oven, And lete hem bake till thei be hard, And then drawe hem oute, and
putte the licoure into [th]e Coffyns..."


Harleian MS. 4016 #33, Grete pyes, calls for prunes (in combination with
other dried fruits) to provide an interesting black color contrast to the
hard yellow egg yolks.

(*If anyone wants copies of these original recipes, please email me.)

This Lenten Tart from Ancient Cookery also calls for prunes.  If, as this
says, it is a dish for Lent, and plums don't ripen until late summer, the
plums must have been preserved for 6 months or more.*

Ancient Cookery, Arundel MS. 344, early 15th c.
Tart for Lenton.  Take figges and raisinges, and wash hem in wyne, and
grynde hem, and appuls and peares clene pared,and the corke tane out; then
take fresh samon, or codlynge, or hadok, and grinde hit, and medel hit al
togedur, and do hit in a coffyn, and do therto pouder of ginger, and of
canelle, ande clowes, and maces; and plaunte hit above with pynes, or
almondes, and prunes, and dates quartert,then cover thi coffyn, and bake
hit, and serve hit forthe.

	*In Stocking Up (Rodale Press, 1973), the method of storing fruits
& vegetables underground is described in depth.  They say "many major
fruits do not store well for extended periods of time." They go on to list
several types of fruits and their storage lengths, temps., & humidity
levels, which is abbreviated mercilessly here:
apples - 5 to 8 months;
grapes - several months;
oranges - 6 to 8 weeks;
quinces- 2 to 3 months;
peaches - several days to 2 weeks;
pears - 8 weeks to several months.
Plums are not listed, but I suspect from bitter personal experience that
they would fare little better than peaches.  (BTW, according to the Encyc.
Brit., plum trees are not self-pollinating, a minimum of 2 trees is
required.)
	There are instructions, in Apicius and elsewhere, for preserving
plums (and other fruits) in honey. Grapes are preserved by immersion in
water which has been boiled.  Chiquart, Du Fait de Cuisine, 1420, lists 8
baskets of candied prunes on his provisions list.

Additional English sources for the phrase "dried prunes":

Thomas COGAN, The Haven of Health, 1584 "The Damasin Plummes are woont to
be dried and preserved as figges, and are called in English, Prunes."

Karen Hess (Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery, recipes c.1550-1625, pp.
98-99) cites O.E.D. - "c. 1400 Drie prunis of damascenes", in a note for a
recipe calling for "dammask pruens stoned".

O.E.D. -"1626 BACON Sylva 319 In Drying of Peares, and Prunes, in the Ouen,
and Remouing of them often as they begin to Sweat."

Non-English sources:

Epulario, English translation of 1598 (Falconwood ed., p. 6) has a recipe
for a tart which calls for "dry Pruines or Cherries".

O.E.D. - "c. 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 74 Drie prunis of damascenes"

Platina's De Honesta Voluptate, 1475 (Falconwood ed., p. 129), has a recipe
for Sauce from Dried Plums which begins "Pitted plums, softened in dark
wine..."

HTH,

Mistress Sincgiefu/Cindy Renfrow
renfrow at skylands.net


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