SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #124

[Baaastard@aol.com]

Mark Schuldenfrei wrote:

> On a mild tangent: here is a recipe I redacted that uses butter...  and note
> that the call for cheese calls for a buttery sort of cheese.
> 
>         Tibor
> 
> Copyright Mark Schuldenfrei, 1995
> 
> Cheese and Saffron Tart ("Auter Tartus", Harleian MS 4016, #30)
> Sources found in "Take a Thousand Eggs or More", Cindy Renfrow, 1991.
> 
> -----
> Cheese and Saffron Tart
> 
>   "30 Auter Tartus. Take faire nessh chese that is buttry, and par hit,
>   grynde hit in a morter; cast therto faire creme and grinde hit togidre;
>   temper hit with goode mylke, that hit be no thikker (th)en rawe creme,
>   and cast thereto a litul salt if nede be; And thi chese be salte, caste
>   thereto neuer a dele; colour hit with saffron; then make a large coffyn
>   of faire paste, & lete the brinkes be rered more (th)en an enche of hegh;
>   lete (th)e coffyn harden in (th)e oven; (th)en take it oute, put gobettes
>   of butter in the bothom thereof, And caste the stuffe there-to, and caste
>   peces of buttur there- vppon, and sette in (th)e oven with-oute lydde,
>   and lete bake ynowe, and then cast sugur thereon, and serue it forth.
>   And if (th)ou wilt, lete him haue a lydde; but (th)en thi stuff most be
>   as thikke as Mortrewes."

I find this recipe especially interesting for a several reasons: It is
just about the only period recipe I can think of, offhand, that uses the
"blind baking" technique generally used today for things like custard
pies. Also, it uses a height specification [probably] as a way to avoid
the effects of overcooking. We would use a combination of a timer and an
oven temperature control knob for this. I also like the offhand remark
that it should be thicker by a specific factor (as mortrews, which was a
pottage thick enough to stand up a spoon in it) if a lid is to be used,
as it will dry out less in the cooking.

All in all, a quite good example of some very sophisticated, albeit
different, technology.

Adamantius, finally giving away, after all these weeks, what really
excites him about this game...