SC - lye, fish, pastry, japanese and horehound

[CHRISTINA van Tets]

Hi people,

1.  Is all this stuff about copyright international or really only 
relevant to you who are in the USA?  I've been skipping it because I 
assumed it was of no importance to the rest of the world.  
Incidentally, just how many non-Americans are there on this list?  I 
can count at least a dozen without trying.

2.  Lye can be too strong.  I am told that the correct strength is 
when it will float a hardboiled egg but not dissolve a feather.  
The people here who demonstrate skills like soapmaking from ash say 
that you have to boil the lye and fat together for about an hour.  
Bother.  Forgot to bring quantities of lye and fat needed.  Will mail 
them at a later date.

3.  Do people want the recipes from the Compleat Angler?  There are 
six that I have found, all 'too good for people who are not anglers' 
and designed for very fresh inland fish.  One is minnow tansy, which 
he specifies as a breakfast dish, IIRC, to be eaten on returning to 
the house after fishing in the early morning.  Walton was writing 
this stuff in 1631, FWIW.

4.  I understand that it is unwise to have too much horehound or 
eucalyptus:  no more than 5 tsp of syrup a day for no more than a 
week, is what I was told, because of its propensity for causing liver 
damage.

5.  Pastry:  I did post this some months ago, but it seems that it is 
needed again.  Payne puff is mentioned (line 497) in John Russell's 
Book of Nurture (Harl. MS 4011), c. 1452, given in F. J. Furnivall's 
Early English Meals and Manners, Early English Text Society, London, 
1868.  His footnote states that the last recipe in the Forme of Cury 
is for payn puff.  His quote, unfortunately, does not appear to be 
complete, or to give adequate directions for the pastry.  What he 
does provide is this:
        Payn puff, Forme of Cury, # 196
        
        Eodem modo fait payn puff.  but make it more tendre 6e past, 
and loke 6e past be rounde of 6e payn puff as a coffyn & as a pye.  

Perhaps someone else can help further?  I think it sounds reasonable 
to assume this was not a flour and water crust, and also that 
Adamantius' (and my) raised pies are a distinct possibility.

6.  Yumitori-dono, what would my 16th C. Dutch lord have come across 
food-wise while travelling in your part of the world?  I'd like to 
plan a meal to follow a shogi challenge.

Thanks

Cairistiona nic Bhraonnaguinn
Christina van Tets
ivantets at botzoo.uct.ac.za

*****************************************************
Dr. Ian van Tets
Dept. of Zoology
University of Cape Town
Rondebosch 7701 RSA

ph: +27 +21 650 3641 (w), 650 3301 (fax), 47 5324 (H)
*****************************************************

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