SC - Sir Kenelm Digby's Sippets

[THL Renata]

>Speaking of saffron amounts, I have a question.
>My lord and I will be cooking Pain Perdu for breakfast at our Royal Progress
>event in May.  This requires saffron as the primary flavoring ingredient for
>the egg mixture which coats the bread.  I am, unfortunately using the
>redaction minus original from _Seven Centuries of English Cooking_ because
>I've haven't the original available in any of my books (The book says it comes
>from _Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books_).  So, first, if anyone could send
>me the original, I'd greatly appreciate it, as I've learned not to trust this
>book's redactions.
>Second, it calls for 1/8 teaspoon ground saffron for 6 slices of bread, this
>being 2-3 servings.  I need to know how many threads of saffron makes 1/8
>teaspoon; or, alternatively,  how much I would need of ground saffron to serve
>approximately 200 people (ie 400 slices of bread.)  I could work out how many
>teaspoons I'd need, but that doesn't tell me how many ounces to buy!
>
>Many thanks!
>Brangwayna Morgan

Here are the 2 recipes in question.  There is no saffron in either of them.

Harleian MS. 279 - Leche Vyaundez
xliij.  Payn pur-dew.  Take fayre [3]olkys of Eyroun, & trye hem fro [th]e
whyte, & draw hem [th]orw a straynoure, & take Salt and caste [th]er-to;
[th]an take fayre brede, & kytte it as trounde3 rounde; [th]an take fayre
Boter [th]at is claryfiyd, or ellys fayre Freysshe grece, & putte it on a
potte, & make it hote; [th]an take & wete wyl [th]in trounde3 in [th]e
[3]olkys, & putte hem in [th]e panne, an so frye hem vppe; but ware of
cleuyng to the panne; & whan it is fryid, ley hem on a dysshe, & ley Sugre
y-nowe Ýer-on, & [th]anne serue it forht.



Harleian MS. 4016
80 Payn purdeuz.  Take faire yolkes of eyren, and try hem fro the white,
and drawe hem [th]orgh a streynour; and then take salte, and caste thereto;
And then take manged brede or paynman, and kutte hit in leches; and [th]en
take faire buttur, and clarefy hit, or elles take fressh grece and put hit
yn a faire pan, and make hit hote; And then wete [th]e brede well there in
[th]e yolkes of eyren, and then ley hit on the batur in [th]e pan, whan
[th]e buttur is al hote; And then whan hit is fried ynowe, take sugur
ynowe, and caste there-to whan hit is in [th]e dissh, And so serue hit
forth.

Here is a similar recipe which does call for saffron:

Harleian MS. 4016
79 Browne fryes.  Take browne brede, and kut hit thyn; And then take yolkes
of eyren, and som with of the white; and take meyned floure, and drawe the
eiren and the floure thorgh a streynour; and take sugur a gode quantite,
and a litul saffron and salt, And cast thereto:  and take a faire panne
with fressh grece; And whan [th]e grece is hote, take downe and putte it in
[th]e batur, and turne hit wel therein, and [th]en put hit in [th]e pan
with the grece, And lete hem fry togidre a litull while; And then take hem
vpp, and caste sugur thereon, and so serue hit hote.

HTH,

Cindy Renfrow
renfrow at skylands.net
Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing
Recipes"
http://www.alcasoft.com/renfrow/


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