SC - Small Feasts-'unpl

[Robin Carroll-Mann]

And it came to pass on 18 Oct 97, that david friedman wrote:

> For non-fizzy non-alcoholic drinks, you have sekanjabin and its
> relatives (_Manuscrito Anonimo_, a 13th c. Andalusian cookbook, has
> a whole chapter of them), possibly Platina's Oxymel (it isn't clear
> if he drank it, or was merely showing off his classical erudition),
> and I suspect other things of the same sort.
 
> David/Cariadoc
> http://www.best.com/~ddfr/

The "Libro de Guisados" has a recipe for spiced sweetened wine, 
similar to hippocras, followed by what appears to be a non-alcoholic 
version made with water. My one attempt at redacting the water 
version was not successful.  It tasted overwhelmingly of cinnamon, 
perhaps because I used cassia, but here is a translation, for those 
who might care to play around with it.

3. SPICES FOR "CLAREA"

Three parts cinnamon; two parts cloves; one part ginger, all ground 
and passed through a hair sieve, and for one azumbre of white 
wine, put an ounce of spices with a pound of honey, well mixed and 
passed through a sleeve, the linen being quite thick, and strained 
as many times as will make the wine come out clear.

4. CLAREA OF WATER

To one azumbre of water, four ounces of honey; you must cast in the 
same spices as for the other clarea; you must bring it to a boil with 
the honey on the fire, and when it is off the fire you must cast in 
the spices.

Notes:

Recipe #5 is for hippocras, which differs from clarea in that it uses 
a mixture of half white wine and half red; also, it is sweetened with 
sugar, not honey.

An "azumbre" is a Spanish measurement which is about equal to 2 
liters.

Ruperto de Nola specifies that *for the measurement of spices*, a 
pound equals 12 ounces.  So it seems that, like other precious 
substances, spices are measured in troy ounces.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain of Tethba
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
mka Robin Carroll-Mann *** harper @ idt.net
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