SC - Spanish candy terminology

[harper at idt.net]

And it came to pass on 17 Dec 00, , that Serian wrote:

> My guess would be firm ball.  Hard can come awfully close to
> cracking (I've made candy before) but ouch! testing with
> teeth - ot candy!  be careful!  
> Serian

Preliminary experiments have proven that this is a recipe for taffy.  
Hard ball stage was rock-solid once it cooled.  Firm ball was 
edible, but far harder than modern taffy.  This is probably to be 
expected, since of course it has no corn syrup in it.  The only other 
ingredients, besides the pound of clarified sugar, are "a drop" each 
of vinegar and white wax, and "a little" almond oil.  When the syrup 
is ready, it is taken off the heat, beaten until it foams up, then 
poured onto an oiled marble slab.  The cook is instructed to keep 
unsticking the candy from the marble with a knife as it cools.  (I 
used dough scrapers.)  After a few minutes of this, I looked down 
at the stuff I was working with, and exclaimed, "Taffy!".

In the second experiment, when I reduced the temperature to firm-
ball, I also increased the almond oil to 2 tablespoons.  This had 
one unexpected result -- the wax (canning paraffin wax) solidified 
quicker than the rest of the candy, and formed itself into a solid 
chunk that I had to discard.

Obviously, it will take some playing with temperatures and 
ingredient quantities to get this right, but I think it's do-able.  
Suggestions welcomed.  And yes, I'll post the recipe (from 
Granado, 1599) and the redaction when I can, but the former is not 
yet translated and the latter not yet perfected.  And right now I have 
to go to the bagel store and get some appetizing, then bring it to 
have lunch with my grandmother, then go to Costco and get the 
rest of the ingredients for the goodies that we're sending in the 
Xmas box to my sister-in-law in Colorado...

Brighid, grateful that Monday is coming, so she can go to work and 
relax from her weekend


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
harper at idt.net