SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #2293

[Christina van Tets]

Balthazar of Blackmoor clarified his earlier question with:
> However, I have often wondered, for my own piece of mind, how medieval cooks 
> kept things such as dairy products and eggs cool.  Thanks to all for the 
> information provided.  It makes sense.

A lot of this depends on how cold you mean when you say "cold" or "cool".
Most of the methods mentioned so far cool things but probably not as cool
as the usual chemical/compressor refrigerator.

For storing eggs, the important thing is not to wash them off. As long as
they keep the mucus they start with they will keep well, although keeping
them cool helps. For more info on this, check this file in the FOOD section
of my files:
eggs-msg         (112K) 12/17/99    Egg storage. Recipes. Substitutions.

I think there is some information on period cooling techniques, including
a form of chemical refrigeration although it was mostly a curiousity, in
this file:
food-storage-msg  (91K)  4/ 9/98    Storing and preserving food in
period. Non-
                                      refrigerated food for camping and Pennsic.

The book you want to locate is Elizabeth David's "Harvest of the Cold Months".

- -- 
Lord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
Mark S. Harris             Austin, Texas           stefan at texas.net
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****