SC - Mediaeval cookbooks to begin with

[Laura C. Minnick]

> Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000 22:44:49 EST
> From: Seton1355 at aol.com
> Subject: SC - strained eggs
> 
> I've been sorting through my recipes.  I note that several recipes talk about 
> straining beaten eggs.  Why is this?
> Phillipa Seton

I'd often wondered about this too-- then, when looking at some modern
custard recipes in _The All New Joy of Cooking_ for comparison one night,
I came upon this:  

	"Warming the milk speeds the setting of the custard and
	also dissolves the yolks and sugar, thereby liquefying the
	custard and allowing it to be strained, so that the chalazes-- the
	tough bands that anchor the yolks-- can be removed."

Since then, I've seen through experimentation, that even without the added
liquids-- if you put beaten eggs through a strainer, there is some last
little visible slimy bit that won't go through.

Allegra Beati
Outlands
jlathrop at unm.edu