SC - Cranberries?

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Griff41520 at aol.com wrote:
> 
> Greetings Good Gentles,
> 
>      I  have a few "newbie" questions.  I am recently removed from the
> distant north of East Kingdom (ie Maine) where we have been blessed with
> cranberries in abundance.  Now I live in Trimaris, where cranberries are not
> in abundance but my love for them still overfloweth.  I have desired to share
> this abundant love with the other shire folk but have no knowledge of the
> periodness of my beloved berries.  Hast any goode Gentle come across a
> mention of the humble cranberry.  I once read in passing that the
> Russians/Scandinavians had a word in their vocabulary for cranberry but all
> other evidence that i have seen points to cranberries being indigenous to the
> New World.

The standard variety of cranberry that one commonly finds in things like
commercial cranberry sauce does appear to be native only to the new
world. There are other varieties of cranberry that are found in
Scandinavia and Russia, though, as well as various other berries that
are fairly similar, like cloudberries.

>      In conjuntion with that, I have made cookies using the dried cranberries
> in the past want to make them for an upcoming event.  Is baking soda/ baking
> powder period, or is there a period replacement for them.

Various cooking sodas (esp. sodium carbonate, commonly known today as
washing soda) were in use in Roman cookery, although apparently not as a
leavening for baking. Baking powder as made and used today is a pretty
recent development (perhaps the early nineteenth century?). On the other
hand, there are plenty of modern cookie recipes that don't call for any
type of leavening other than eggs, shortening, and air. Probably the
best thing to do is to take one of the period recipes for small cakes
(Digby's Excellent Small Cakes come to mind, although really
post-period) and substitute your dried cranberries for the raisins or
currants the recipe would almost invariably call for.

Adamantius
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
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