SC - Apicius
Philip & Susan Troy
troy at asan.com
Mon May 22 17:17:37 PDT 2000
Greeting to the list from Constance de LaRose,
Now that the A&S competition is over and I have the time to read all the
postings from the SCA-Cooks, I am back. <g>
I have noticed several posts regarding the various Creme' Bastarde recipes
from period sources and various problems getting it to come out correctly.
So I thought I would pass on the secrets I have discovered.
All of the period recipes call for milk, however, one was specific in stating
"fayre milk straight from the cow" (sorry, things are still a mess here so
will have to get you the reference on it later).
As anyone who has ever milked a cow can tell you, if you let milk straight
from the cow set for any length of time, the cream (and many of the sweet
fats from the milk) will rise to the top. Even modern whole milk which you
buy in the store has usually lost these parts. Since I didn't have access to
a ready, milk providing, cow, I put these parts back in when I made the
"Creme' Bastarde" which was in the competition. For each cup of milk which
the redation I worked out called for, I used 3/4 cup whole milk and 1/4 cup
cream. Also, after straining the final cooked mixture, I beat the whole
mixture 200 strokes before refrigerating and 100 strokes after an hour of
refrigeration.
This is what gave the cream it's fuller, creamier, taste and texture.
As for the other question, I did try the baking offered as an alternative in
the original recipes. The cream addition makes for a lovely fluffy baked
custard which is delicious with a sauce of any fruit liqueur and a bit of
honey heated and poured over it.
Hope this helps.
Constance de LaRose
"Crème Bastarde. Take te whyte of eyroun a grete hepe, & putte it on a panne
ful of mylke, & let yt boyle; ten sesyn it so with salt and honey a lytel;
ten lat hit kele, & draw it torw a straynoure, an take fayre cowe mylke an
draw yt withallm & seson it with sugre; & loke tat it be poynant & doucet:
serve it forth for a potage, or for a gode bakyn mete, wheder tat tou wolt"
Custard Sauce
2 egg whites, well beaten
3/4 cup whole milk
¼ cup cream
2 tsp. cream
2 T honey
pinch salt
2 tbsp sugar
Put egg whites in a sauce pan with the milk and ¼ cup of the cream and stir
over medium heat as it comes to a boil. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes,
stirring: then add the honey and salt. After simmering for another minute or
two, remove from heat and strain or blend in a blender, adding remaining
cream and sugar and beat for 200 strokes. Pour into a serving dish and chill
for one hour (it will thicken as it chills). At the end of one hour, remove
and beat again for 100 strokes then chill until ready to serve.
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