SC - Rarity of Fermentation recipes

[Philip & Susan Troy]

> Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 09:31:09 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Karen Evans <tyrca at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: SC - Rarity of Fermantation recipes (was  Fermented Beverage Recipe  Question(was:RE: SC - Mic.....)
> 
> >>>>>>>>
> Judging by Digby, honey based drinks were still
> common in England in the
> 17th century.
> 
> David Friedman

> <<<<<<<<
> 
> I would tend to disagree. Aren't most of the recipes in Digby meant
> for medicinal use?  I think that mead had become an expensive 
> "cough syrup" by this time.
> 
> Tyrca

Several of the recipes in Digby _are_ specified as for medicinal use,
it's true, but they are named as such, and they represent a small
proportion, I'd say. Based just on memory, and admitting I haven't had
my tea yet, I can think of two or three offhand: Mead (or is it
hydromel?) Made Weak for the Queen Mother, and, IIRC, a Metheglin For
the Stone. I might find more from actually looking through Digby, but I
doubt there are too many more, unless the recipes could be regarded as
generally health-improving, as in "a strengthening draft". Digby is a
fairly huge source, with perhaps 65 recipes for meads, wines, etc., so
the recipes we know to be medicinal seem to be in slim proportion
overall, and the other 17th-century English sources, such as Markham,
don't mention medicinal use at all.

Using the argument about medicinal uses to support the idea that meads
were being phased out in England also doesn't explain why mead recipes
appear in English sources until the 19th century with fair regularity.

Adamantius  

- -- 
______________________________________
Phil & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
============================================================================

To be removed from the SCA-Cooks mailing list, please send a message to
Majordomo at Ansteorra.ORG with the message body of "unsubscribe SCA-Cooks".

============================================================================