SC - cubeb berries / grains of paradise

[Brian L. Rygg or Laura Barbee-Rygg]

Susan Laing wrote:
> 
> Hi All -
> 
> Have just been asked a bit of a puzzling question and hoping I can seek some
> guidance from the "Learn'd ones"(tm) :-)
> 
> Apparently (not having seen it myself yet) there is a Fritter recipe that
> includes Yeast as an ingredient.  The Query is regarding what precise
> category (for Lochac Cooks Guild ranking) this would fall under - ie. A.
> Breads & Doughs OR B. Pies and Pastries or C.(none of the above)
> 
> I would normally declare it to be more Pastry-ish than bread-ish if it
> weren't for the Yeast (will be getting more information on recipe and source
> tonight [was in fact told but the brain shut down during "back has gone out
> AArrrgghhh! hour that followed phone call])
> 
> Any thoughts on this would be appreciated!
> 
> Mari de Paxford
> Brisbane, Australia

The short (but possibly evasive) answer? Put them wherever you'd put
pancakes. To some extent they fill a similar role, being either a fried
dainty eaten either early in a meal (the fat and the sugar both
considered to open the chest and stomach) or as a good way to use up
your lard or suet before the onset of Lent. I think I'd put them in
pastries, myself, because unlike most breads, a typical yeast-risen
fritter is made from a batter, not a kneaded dough.

There are numerous yeast-raised fritter batters in the Anglo-Norman
recipe corpus, BTW, nysbek, myncebek, and maybe even mynceleek, IIRC,
being a few similar names for dissimilarly-made fritters. Another would
be emeles. Of course, similarly-named recipes might be raised with barm
in one source and egg white in another, but yeast-raised ones out there.

Adamantius
- -- 
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com