SC - Cream of Tartar

[Stefan li Rous]

> > Is cream of tartar period?
> >
> > Luveday
> >
> To my knowledge, it was not used in SCA period.  I have a number of recipes
> from the 19th Century, some of them early enough to suggest that it was used
> in the 18th Century.
> 
> Cream or tartar (potassium bitartrate), pearl ash (potassium carbonate) and
> baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) were used as chemical leavening agents. In
> combination with pearl ash or baking soda, cream of tartar, being acidic,
> boosts the production of carbon dioxide.  Modern baking powder is a blend of
> starch, baking soda and cream of tartar.
> 
> If it were used in period cooking, I would expect to find it used in
> combination with hartshorn
> 
> Bear

Now I confused (more?). Bear, I thought you said this recently:
> From:   Decker, Terry D. [SMTP:TerryD at Health.State.OK.US]
> Sent:   Tuesday, January 06, 1998 3:30 PM
> To:     'sca-cooks at Ansteorra.ORG'
> Subject:        RE: SC - FW: "Majistery of Pearl"
> 
> >- What is oil of Tartar?
> >-Margritte
> 
> Tartar in this case is probably potassium bitartrate or cream of tartar.
>  It is used in baking powder, tinning metals, and laxatives.  Oil of
> tartar is likely cream of tartar dissolved in an oil base.
> 
> Bear

Which was in referance to this original recipe. Perhaps this recipe is not
in period as I had assumed it was?

> Date: Tue, 6 Jan 1998 14:53:32 -0500
> From: Margritte <margritt at mindspring.com>
> To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu
> Subject: "Majistery of Pearl"
> 
> I've been reading through my newly-acquired copies of "A Queen's Delight"
> and came across the following "recipe":
> 
> To make a true Majistery of Pearl.
> Dissolve two or three ounces of fine seed Pearl in distilled Vinegar, &
> when it is perfectly dissolved, and all taken up, pour the Vinegar into a
> clean glass bason; then drop some few drops of Oyl of Tartar upon it, & it
> will cast down the Pearl into fine Powder, then pour the Vinegar clean off
> softly, then put to the Pearl clear Conduit or Spring water, pour that off,
> and do so often untill the taste of the Vinegar and Tartar be clean gone,
> then dry the powder of Pearl upon warm embers, and keep it for your use.
> 
> This is toward the back of the book, in a section entitled "Choice Secrets
> made known", not in the food sections.
> 
> - What exactly is a Majistery? What was the pearl dust used for?
> 
> - What is oil of Tartar?
> 
> - Does anyone know what chemical reaction is taking place here? What is it
> about the oil of tartar that makes the pearl dust precipitate back out of
> the vinegar solution? Is it really still pearl dust at this point, or
> something entirely different?
> 
> Looking forward to using those leftover seed pearls from my last embroidery
> project  :-)
> 
> Thanks for the help.
> 
> -Margritte

For those who might be interested in most of the thread of this conversation,
see my pearl-msg file.

- -- 
Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas           stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:
          http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/rialto/rialto.html ****
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