SC - syrup of lemon

[Chicago Jo]

> 	Do we have any sort of information on the foods of Spain and
> Portugal
> from that time 
> 
> 	the 16th century, do we have a European recipe for sponge cake from
> that
> time period? 
> 
> 	Yumitori
> 
Questionable source warning!  Trager's The Food Chronology in an entry for
1543 states:

"Japan gets her first European visitors as some Portuguese from a Chinese
ship land on the island of Taneko off Kyushu.  The Namban, as they are
called introduce baked bread to the Japanese.  They will also bring in
tomatoes, maize, and other Western Hemisphere foods, but initially just as
curiosities.  Dutch visitors will introduce sweetcakes, which the Japanese
will call castella (from Castile) and will continue to bake at Nagasaki for
4 1/2 centuries."  

Trager does not state a source nor can I find a supporting reference. I'm
also a little puzzled why the Dutch, rather than the Portuguese,  would be
introducing a Castilean food.  I would be interested in the references you
have found, as this conundrum has been a minor irritation since I came
across it.

Being near my notes, I went digging.  A possible source for the information
you seek is :

Marquesa de Parabere, Historia de la Gastronomia, Madrid:  Espasa-Calpe,
S.A., 1943.

I, unfortunately, do not have a copy of the book.

Since sponge cake is flour, eggs and a sweetener beaten together, it could
be period, but I have seen no references placing it in period.  The recipes
I have seen use sugar as the sweetener and in quantities that suggest the
recipes would be no earlier than Tudor.  But there is also the possibility
the recipes represent improvements on older recipes.  Provenance on all of
these recipes is questionable.   

There is something from the early 16th Century called Milan cake.  I have
yet to find a description or recipe of Milan cake, but I suspect it may be
panettone, which has a long association with Milan. 

Hopefully, one of our associates on this list will have more positive
information.

Bear

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