Cindy's cookbook, was Re: SC - mustard sauce

[Shari Burnham]

<snip>
>One of the issues (but not the only question, obviously) was whether
>salt should be included in redactions of Le Menagier's mustard recipe,
>even though he doesn't mention it.

Salt was not mentioned in this recipe.  Salt was not mentioned in the other
2 mustard recipes in Le Menagier either.  I think this was deliberate on
his part, since the only recipe I can find of his that calls for mustard
sauce as an accompaniment are recipes for salt cod or stockfish.

<snip>
 Yes, it does seem as if Redon et al have made
>some kind of assumption, possibly along the lines that you'll be making
>the spice mixture they redact elsewhere in the book, rather than using
>any of the various spice mixtures Le Menagier specifies.

Thank you for answering my question.

<snip>
>
>Hmmm. I'm with you up to the sugar. Le Menagier, as I recall, gives this
>spice mixture for hippocras, then says to mix it with sugar and add it
>to wine (and then strain it) for hippocras. He goes on to say the spice
>mixture, already mixed with sugar, is called the Duke's Powder. How
>would you feel about these spices being used without the sugar, which I
>think is more likely, especially in a mustard sauce calling for honey as
>well? Now, if you actually used this mixture _after_ it had been
>strained out of hippocras, it would have some sugar (and some wine) in
>it, but since the sugar is wine-soluble, while the spices aren't, sugar
>would be only minimally present, I suspect.

The spices and sugar are added to the wine.  The wine is heated, the sugar
melted, and the wine is filtered through a strainer until it runs clear.
The spices have flavored the wine, and in turn, the spices have absorbed
some of the wine and sugar. This particular recipe from this particular
source does not call for honey.

<snip>
>But, Le Menagier says the spices are more or less optional, so I suspect
>he doesn't care too much what they are. It seems to be more of an
>economy expedient rather than a medical or gastronomic necessity. He
>also says, for example, that one should bray the spices first, and then
>the bread, to get all the spices out of the mortar, so I think he is
>more concerned with eliminating waste than with getting any particular
>effect.

Not exactly.  He says "Item, if you would make good mustard and at leisure,
set the mustardseed to soak for a night in good vinegar, then grind it in a
mill and then moisten it little by little with vinegar; and if you have any
spices left over from jelly, clarry, hippocras or sauces, let them be
ground with it and afterwards prepare it."
He does not say "if you have *any* leftover spices", he specifies their
source, namely jelly, clarry, hippocras or sauces. And in his sauce recipes
which are to be strained before service, I can find nothing resembling the
Strong Black Spice Mixture.

<snip>
>
>Sure there are. There are also many that don't. The question is whether
>it's viable to include salt in a recipe that doesn't mention it, like Le
>Menagier's mustard sauce. I don't think we've established enough of a
>pattern in which recipes do, and which don't, mention salt, to assume it
>is not intended to be included in the recipes that don't mention it, or
>at least would be seen as out of place if it were there. I know
>Taillevent frequently speaks of "no sauce but salt", but then Ein Buoch
>Von Guter Spise often tells us not to oversalt things, in recipes that
>otherwise don't mention it. This suggests to me that salt would be added
>discreetly _as needed_, whether the recipe mentions it or not (at least
>in early 14th century German court cookery, FWIW), rather than
>suggesting that since the recipe specifies not to use too much, and
>doesn't use the magic words, "add some salt", none is added.
>
>This is kinda like whichever Sherlock Holmes story it was that refers to
>"the curious incident of the dog in the night", or some such. Dr. Watson
>says there _was_ no dog barking in the night, and Holmes replies that
>"that was the curious incident."

Silver Blaze.

I think it is best, when we find a recipe that appears to be missing an
ingredient, that we look at other, similar, recipes, preferrably from the
same source, or, if not available, from a closely related work, to see if
that ingredient is routinely omitted from that type of dish.  If so, it may
be a deliberate omission, as I believe is the case of salt in Le Menagier's
mustard sauces.

I believe that in a formal (competition, publication, etc.) setting, you
should state that you are adding an ingredient not called for in the
original recipe & state your reason why.  The same goes for methods used,
if they differ grossly from the original.

Regards,


Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
renfrow at skylands.net
Author & Publisher of "Take a Thousand Eggs or More, A Collection of 15th
Century Recipes" and "A Sip Through Time, A Collection of Old Brewing
Recipes"
http://www.alcasoft.com/renfrow/


>Adamantius
>Østgardr, East
>--
>Phil & Susan Troy
>
>troy at asan.com


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