SC - Frumenty - yet one nore question!

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 3/19/99 2:35:51 PM Eastern Standard Time, Gerekr at aol.com
writes:

<< I was expecting the sweetened recipes, had never run across an 
 unsweetened one particularly.  Are these early enough?  No particular 
 connection to Christmas in these sources, however. 
  >>

Why were you expecting sweet versions? Sugar was used as a spice which  is how
I use it. A teaspoon or so of sugar adds a smoothing influence on a dish and
enhances the other flavors present much the same way as MSG does without the
attendant migraines. IMO, when used in appropriate proportions in medieval
recipes it does not produce a 'sweet' dish. In my own experience, I have never
come across a recipe for frumenty that is particularly sweet. Certainly not
sweet enough to come even close to being considered a 'sweet' dish.

Vestiges of the way sugar was used in the middle ages are still retained in
the modern practice of adding a spoonful of sugar to fresh vegetables when
they are cooked to give them a garden-fresh taste.

Ras

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