SC - Socca and food migration

Wed Oct 6 13:27:43 PDT 1999

While crystaline table sugar as we know it was not readily available in Western Europe in what we know as the middle ages, They had loaf sugar.  This was brownish in color and available in 'loafs' that were shaped something like a football with one end flattened, or an artillery shell.  It was used as a spice in most cases, due in large part we suspect to the expense in bringing the spice in from the eastern Mediterranean or far east.  They did make sugar plate, but that was an extravegant project, I suspect.

They had a gracious plenty sweetners, though.  Honey was the inexpensive sweetned of the day, as was fruit juice mentioned earlier and ground dried fruits like raisins.  Le Menagier mentions getting sugar from the spicer as early as 1393 CE, but it is used sparsely in the recipes.

love that cooking talk 8-)

pacem et bonum,

niccolo difrancesco

> Whoah!! They didn't use them--I get the message! I've read that in period
> they used fruit in cakes because they didn't have sugar.

They didn't have sugar as we know it.  They did have sugar (Sucre) 
and it can be found in many many recipes.  Yep, your right Urban 
Legend.  Follows those same UL's about medieval people not taking 
baths either.  If they didn't take baths why did they make soap?

Melbrigda
Humbly Residing in the Kingdom of Meridies

Duc, Sequere, aut de via decede

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

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".

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