SC - cream

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Terry Nutter wrote:

> Concerning whipping/beating, Rosalinde cites the recipe for A Dyssheful
> of Snowe.  If I remember right, that's a 16th (or possibly 17th) C
> recipe.  This leads to a  quick observation having to do with how to
> interpret remarks by recognized scholars outside the SCA.  My best
> impression is that *none* of them consider European cuisine after
> the 15th C medieval; that's renaissance, and it's a different
> cuisine.  So a professional remark to the effect that medieval cooks
> did (or didn't, or could, or couldn't do) something does not entail,
> in our terms, that it was true for all of period; only that it was
> true through the 15th C.  This point is particularly relevant to
> people whose interest lies in renaissance cookery, since most of
> the scholarship people in the SCA are aware of applies to medieval
> cookery, and once you pass through the changes that happened in the
> early 16th C, all bets are off.

Agreed. I knew about the dishful of snow, which in some forms is sort of
a like a mousse, but without the yolks (and obviously without chocolate,
etc., for all you Creative Anachronists out there!) I also know that
instructions to whip cream, except as a way to mix it with something
else, in medieval sources (English ones, anyway) are, at best, rare.

What confuses the bejabbers outta me is the implication that whipping
cream (or other aeration until fluffy and/or stiff) is impossible. I'll
grant that it appears not to have been a standard procedure, at least in
the Middle Ages. It may have been nonexistent, in fact. However, if it
was impossible in the Middle Ages, why? And if so, what happened after
the Middle Ages that suddenly made it possible? Perhaps Elizabeth Rex
passed a law to that effect?

In hopes of enlightenment, I went through "Pleyn Delite" again, looking
for the reference. I couldn't find any. Perhaps someone could point me
in the right direction? A hint? Pretty please? This is one of those
things I lose sleep over.

Adamantius 
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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