SC - Syllabub Was: SC-Lebkuchen

[LHG, JRG]

- ------------------------------

Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 23:25:29 -0400
From: Phil & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Syllabub - was: SC - Lebkuchen recipie

Mordonna22 at aol.com wrote:
 
> Okay, I'm ignorant.  What was syllabub before it was cream and sugar with
> flavorings?
And Adamantius replied:
>I believe it was originally a bowl of ale or white wine into which a cow
is
>milked. Finely rasped sugar and spices could be sprinkled very gently on
top
>so as not to disturb the naturally occuring foam on top. Similar to what
the
>Scots used to call "hatted kit", which by now has evolved into a much more
>effete dessert-type item, as has syllabub.

BTW, the English invented a wooden machine (essentially a
high-pressure hose!) that worked on lever action so that one did not have
to take one's silver bowl out to milk Bessie. It's OOP but fascinating.    

 You loaded it with the cream,
pulled down the plunger, and it squirted the cream via pressure on an
internal bladder into the alcohol and fruit juice. Before that, the
"approved" method of getting the frothy foam was to stand on a ladder and
pour the cream into the bowl from a great height. Earlier still, you simply
milked the cow into the bowl, risking a little extra "flavoring" from the
barnyard.

Shortly after  or probably during the squirting machine era, (can you say
"squirtgun?" I knew you
could!), the foam became the point of the dish and the alcohol, orange and
lemon juice with sugar and spices was simply the means of flavoring it. The
cream was lifted off the liquid, drained, and served in a scottish recipe
from the 17th century that I have.
>From there we got the modern version of flavored whipped cream.

For your next school or scout demo try this:

Non-alcoholic Syllabub

A bowl of sweetened fruit juice in a punch bowl that gives splashing room
Either A) A ladder and a pitcher or heavy cream (put a tarp down to protect
the carpet),
or B) A squirt gun loaded with cream to simulate the cow, or C) A
pressurized can of whipping cream, which you submerge under the surface of
the juice to spray.

This simulates the milked cow/ladder/pressure injection, and provides a
great talk about how cooking has evolved but tastebuds have stayed the
same.

Of course, now that you know all this you'll have to serve the appropriate
version of syllabub with the appropriate dated meal (VBEG). Reasearch! It
all boils down to real history.

Toodles


Aoife


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