SC - <<<SNIP>>>I make superfine sugar in my blender, could they nothave ground it very fine also? I don

[Philip & Susan Troy]

<<<SNIP>>>I make superfine sugar in my blender, could they not have ground it very fine also?  I don't have a problem with the efforts made to do period things, but sometimes practicality needs to enter the project.  All you have to do is say you used this kind of stuff and why,  and state what would have been used in period.  It shows you know what you're doing and did your research.  Judith  ***************************************************************************************************************

I have information that sugar was ground in mortar and pestal in order to make it usable.  Up until at least 15th century in Western Europe cooks also had to use a sort of grater in order to get the sugar from the compressed loaves that the sugar came in.  They didn't so much have sacks of sugar in most of Europe, from what I have read, as we now do until closer to the end of 17th century.  The grater made it similar to crytal sugar, and a mortar was used to make it finer as needed.

Documenting your knowledge of the subject and why you made choices to diverge from cources is exactly right.  I have to do that a lot when running into spices or foodstuffs not readily available to me....like fatty pork like unto the foraging stock in Medieval Europe or medieval strains of grains.  The flip side of that same coin is to adventure as far down he road of exact replication as we can.  there isn't any really good reason not to experience grinding sugar from a loaf (you can get it in many Mexican markets) and/or with a mortar.  Even if iot isn't your preferred method of doing it, for an entry into A&S, it would make the entry that much more valuable and meaningful.

pacem et bonum,

niccolo
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
============================================================================

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".

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