SC - Steppes 12th Night Report (real freaking long)

[david friedman]

Adamantius writes:

>As has been said elsewhere, foods designated as being Saracen in nature
>always seem to include almonds in some form, and are usually red or, or
>more properly, mahagony in color. If you've ever used red sandalwood in
>cooking, you've seen the color they're aiming at. Not a blazing red, but
>more like the color of an unpainted, cedar pencil. Reddish beige, I
>guess. This shouldn't be too hard to achieve.

My impression is that "saracen" recipes have almonds and/or sugar, not that
they are necessarily red; almonds and sugar, after all, were getting
imported from the south.  If you do the recipe discussed with white wine,
you get (if I remember correctly) a sort of tannish/whitish color.

For comparison, here is a related recipe, also English but 15th century.

Bruette Sareson

Take Almaundys, & draw a gode mylke & flowre of Rys, & Porke & Brawen of
Capoun y-sode, or Hennys smale y-ground, & boyle it y-fere, & do in-to Ýe
mylke; & than take pouder Gyngere, Sugre, & caste a-boue, and serue forth.

Elizabeth/Betty


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