SC - OOP question: Snapdragon?

[Phillippa Venn-Brown]

Hello the List

> Any Anglophiles out there with some idea on the "snapdragon?"

Snapdragon!!!! How well I remeber playing this with my grandparents when I
was little.

We used to play it on New Year's Eve at my grandparent's home with all the
family.

Here is what we did:-
Do not use a metal platter for reasons which should be obvious!
 Take muscatels ( these are a large flat dried fruit made from muscatel
grapes) You could probably use sultanas if you can't buy muscatels but
sultanas are not as dry and absorb more of the hot brandy than is
comfortable in the mouth and if you leave them to cool then you miss the
point).
Make sure you remove the muscatels from the stems. They are usually dried
on the buch and come with the whole branch. (Grandma forgot to do this one
year and caused a near riot when my father pulled out what he thought was a
large grape and came away with a burning bunch which shattered before he
could place them on his plate, sending showers of burning and molten
muscatels everywhere, including us kids who were clustered inside the adult
circle so we could have a fair go at the snapdragons.)
Place the muscatels on a large platter in a heap and douse liberally with
brandy (We always used a porcelain meat/carving plate)
Place the plate in the centre of a table where it is within easy reach of
all who are playing and light the muscatels.
You must pick out the fruit as quickly as you can so as not to get burnt.
The aim is to clear the plate before the flames die out. I would suggest
that each player has a plate for the reason explained above, i.e.
accidents.
The higher the sugar content of the fruit the longer they retain the heat
and the greater chance of burning your tongue. Another reason to use
muscatels! Also, when you burn them in the brandy you get little sparks and
snapping noises amongst the flames.
Grandpa used to say that that was the dragons shooting bursts of flame and
if you weren't quick getting the muscatels out they would "snap off your
fingers"! Hence the name. He also said that it was a family tradition to
play the game. He was born in 1870 in Australia and his parents had played
it in England as children and it was already a firmly established tradition
in my great-grandfather's family when he was a boy.

I have to unsubsribe now as I am going on our school summer holidays (7
weeks without children! What Bliss!) I hope you have a very pleasant, happy
and healthy Christmas and New Year.
It has been an interesting experience being on the list.
Filippa Ginevra
- ----------
> From: kat <kat at kagan.com>
> To: 'cooks' <sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG>
> Subject: SC - OOP question:  Snapdragon?
> Date: Thursday, 3 December 1998 6:27
> 
>
> 
> The second item was a festive dish referred to as a "snapdragon."  The
most information I could glean from the book was that it had *something* to
do with raisins soaked in (presumably brandy) and lit afire.  They never
outlined the procedure for the dish itself.
> 
> Any Anglophiles out there with some idea on the "snapdragon?"
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> 	- kat
> 
>
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