Viking are cookery (was: SC - Irish period recipes??)

[Par Leijonhufvud]

Just a quick note on an earlier strand of this thread- the sugar/candy
coated seeds that are offered at Indian Restaurants are fennel. You can
get them (should you want them) for about $3 per pound at the
ever-present middle-eastern store.
Hugs & Pinches
Angelique

Cindy Renfrow wrote:
> 
> Hello!  There are several illustrations of a confectioner's shop in
> Diderot's Encyclopedia (ISBN 0-486-27429-2).  They apply a coating of gum
> arabic & then successive coats of sugar syrup & gum arabic.  The coating is
> done on a large flat pan hung by chains from the ceiling so it can be moved
> back & forth freely (over a pot of coals).  A cone/funnel full of sugar
> syrup hangs above the pan & drips into the pan.  Each coating is allowed to
> harden before the next is applied.
> 
> Yours in haste
> Cindy/Sincgiefu
> 
> >At 09
> >>Date: Fri, 7 Nov 1997 18:19:25 -0500 (EST)
> >>From: DianaFiona at aol.com
> >>Subject: Re: SC - Re: candied ginger)
> >>
> >>In a message dated 97-11-07 04:14:21 EST, you write:
> >>
> >><<
> >> I don't know specifically about comfits, but the recipe for candied peel
> >> says spread them out to dry. Also, rolling them in sugar keeps them from
> >> sticking, not make them stick together. I always roll my peel in sugar if
> >> I'm in a hurry or it's really humid. I would imagine it would work the
> >> same way for candied seeds. Roll them in sugar, spread them on cookie
> >> sheets and let them dry, turning with a spatula occassionally to keep
> >> them from sticking to the pan. Try putting them in the oven after you
> >> turn it off from baking something. You don't want to bake them, but the
> >> residual heat will help them dry out.
> >>
> >>  >>
> >>     Sure, that's fine for something as large as citrus peels, but the seeds
> >>are relatively tiny, so separating them one by one would be a major task! I'm
> >>afraid of ending up with the "seed brittle" someone mentioned........ ;-)
> >>
> >
> >It seems to me that what is needed here is a tool to help you keep the seeds
> >seperate while handling them. What I have in mind is a piece of pierced tin
> >or aluminum, (pierced with a tiny nail, a great many times, with the holes
> >very close together). Use it with the prongs facing up. Syrup will drain out
> >the holes, the seeds will stay seperated by the prongs, and you can
> >repeatedly ladel the suckers with syrup without losing all of them through
> >the holes. You'd end up with "bundles" of comfits, but that may be easier
> >when doing things in bulk.
> >
> >Alternatively (and this was my first idea), a clean board hammered through
> >with hundreds of non-galvanized nails set very close together might work.
> >Sift the seeds over the nails, and then ladle on the syrup. Drain. Dump out
> >to let dry. Sift over again, ladle syrup......
> >
> >Just a thought. The brain is in overdrive this a.m.
> >
> >
> >Aoife
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