SC - Recipe from an old Gourmet magazine

[Ben Engelsberg]

Ok, yes, this recipe uses non-period ingredients.  It would need to be
modified to use period ingredients if it was to be truely period.
Nonetheless, the recipe had a distinctly period feeling and flavour.  

For an excellent brief history of vanilla, see this URL:
http://www.comecim.ch/fr/vanille/histovani.htm

For an excellent description of Allspice, it's origin, etc, see:
http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/generic_frame.html?Pime_dio.html

This site has good info about other spices, as well.  The vanilla site,
just to forwarn you, is in French.


On Sun, 23 May 1999, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> Ben Engelsberg gives us a recipe:
>  
> > I was flipping through some old issues of Gourmet last night, looking for
> > something to bring to a mundane potluck, and I came upon this recipe.  It
> > seems particularly period, not to mention tasty.
> > 
> > This recipe is from the December 1998 issue, on page 196.
> > 
> > ROASTED SPICED PEARS & FIGS WITH ALMONDS
> > 1/2 cup sliced almonds
> > 4 firm-ripe pears (prefereably Bartlett)
> > 1/2 pound of dried figs (as soft as possible, about 12)
> > 1/2 cup sugar
> > 1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
> > 1 vanilla bean (My note:  Never been sure where/when this is period)
> > 1 teaspoon cinnamon
> > 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
> 
> It is not the vanilla bean which would concern me with the periodness
> of this recipe, but rather the allspice. It was my understanding from
> earlier discussions here that allspice is a New World spice.
> 
> Does anyone know when it was first used in Europe? I thought post 1600
> but can't remember for sure.
> 
> It does sound like a delicious recipe though.
> -- 
> 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://lg_photo.home.texas.net/florilegium/index.html ****
> ============================================================================
> 
> 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".
> 
> ============================================================================
> 

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

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".

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