SC - Syllabub - does anyone have a period recipe?

[Cindy Renfrow]

>Lorix asked:
>>Hence the syllabub idea.  Now I have some
>>lovely OOP recipes for syllabub, but I was
>>hoping that someone with a better library
>>than mine might have a recipe, please,
>>please?
>
>My files mention that there are several syllabub recipes in "A
>Sip Through Time". This file in the BEVERAGES section of my
>Florilegium mentions several other sources for period recipes but
>there are none in the file itself:
>beverages-msg     (93K)  9/ 3/99    Beverages in general. alcholic drinks.
>
<snip>

Hello!  Yes, I have 5 syllabub recipes in "A Sip Through Time".  Three are
from Digby (1669), the other 2 are from Amelia Simmons' First American CB
(1796). These are all alcoholic drink recipes.

But Lorix was looking for a recipe for frozen strawberries, no?  There are
2 recipes for strawberries in the Harleian MSS, 279 & 4016 -- Darioles, &
Strawberye.  I've adapted the latter as a sauce, but I suppose you could
make it as a thick pudding if you used thick almond milk or almond cream.
Frozen strawberries are just fine in this dish, since they're being
squished anyway.

"Harleian MS. 279 - Potage Dyvers
Cxxiij.  Strawberye.  Take Strawberys, & waysshe hem in tyme of [3]ere in
gode red wyne; [th]an strayne [th]orwe a clo[th]e, & do hem in a potte with
gode Almaunde mylke, a-lay it with Amyndoun o[th]er with [th]e flowre of
Rys, & make it chargeaunt and lat it boyle, and do [th]er-in Roysonys of
coraunce, Safroun, Pepir, Sugre grete plente, pouder Gyngere, Canel,
Galyngale; poynte it with Vynegre, & a lytil whyte grece put [th]er-to;
coloure it with Alkenade, & droppe it a-bowte, plante it with [th]e graynys
of Pome-garnad, & [th]an serue it forth.

123.  Strawberry.  Take Strawberries, & wash them in time of year in good
red wine; then strain through a cloth, & put them in a pot with good Almond
milk, mix it with White flour or with the flour of Rice, & make it thick
and let it boil, and put therein Raisins of Corinth, Saffron, Pepper, Sugar
great plenty, powdered Ginger, Cinnamon, Galingale; point it with Vinegar,
& a little white grease put thereto; color it with Alkanet, & drop it
about, plant it with the grains of Pomegranate, & then serve it forth."
(From Take a Thousand Eggs or More, p. 240.)

> The discussion about methods of making it came
> from having read a recipe where one is supposed to milk the cow
> directly into the wine.  The author tried it and found that the
> syllabub curdled and smelled very bad.

Yes, some of the recipes instruct you to milk the cow directly into the
syllabub -- 17th century party humor, I guess.  The object was to create a
frothy head on the syllabub (the beverage was drunk from special spouted
glasses, or pots). Some call for a froth of cream & eggwhites to be added
on top of the glasses of syllabub. One of the recipes, which instructs us
to milk the cow into a pint of verjuice, says to skim the resultant curd:

"Take a pint of Verjuyce in a bowl; milk the Cow to the Verjuyce; take off
the Curd; and take sweet-cream and beat them together with a little Sack
and Sugar; put it into your Syllabub pot; then strew Sugar on it, and so
send it to the Table."  (Digby, #134)

I haven't tried this one, but I have done a hypocras recipe that included
cream.  The cream did form curds when added to the wine & was very
unpleasant to look at.  ( I need to repeat this experiment, & try skimming
off the curds. I think I must have spilled some of the curds, but I don't
remember.  But I just tried the hypocras last night [lost it in the back of
the fridge for several months :-0] & it has mellowed to a rich, full-bodied
sweet wine with just enough spice to make it interesting. )  What I think
is happening, is that the fat is remaining in the drink & being broken up &
dispersed by the acid in the wine or verjuice, & this is giving the drink a
rich mellow flavor.

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.thousandeggs.com -- please come visit my new web site!





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