SC - Hauviette's Confits

[LrdRas at aol.com]

In a message dated 10/5/99 9:22:21 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
macdairi at hotmail.com writes:

<< Have you tried this on an open fire arrangement?  >>

Not all cooking was done on an open fire or even in a fire place in the MA. 
There are pictures of a large centralized flat surfaced cooking areas with 
places underneath where the fire was started to heat the flat surface. It 
would be my assumption that this type of cooking area would have been more 
appropriate for the is type of recipe. 

Also, keep in mind that we might better be served in looking for methods of 
'manufacturing' these candies (which were in fact 'medicines' added to a dish 
to adjust the humoral qualities of the dish). Home production was highly 
unlikely. Even Chiquart emphasizes that the cases of 'dragees' he needed to 
sprinkle on the finished dishes should not be forgotten when the rest of the 
supplies were bought for his feasts. Red and White sugar coated almonds, rock 
candy and gold/silver coated sugar beads are all still readily found in most 
supermarkets. And some specialty shops carry various candied coated spices.

Of course, someone interested in making these medicines themselves should by 
all means try to perfect the technique. Candy making is an art in itself. 
IIRC, Dame Alys has made an extensive study of this area and has published 
several articles on it.

To add to this topic, I was not surprised to read in Scully's Early French 
Cooking that when first introduced to Europe, sugar was available by 
physician's prescription only.

Ras
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