SC - Notes re Quinces in Paste

[david friedman]

At 1:31 PM -0400 10/25/00, Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
>Hullo, the list!
>
>Now you've done it!
>
>In an attempt to help drown out some of the more objectionable material
>on this list lately, I will inflict on you my documentation for Quinces
>in Paste, which sat on the EKU A&S display table a couple of feet from
>the Peach Pits and the Four Condiments from Platina...
>
>>  Quyncis or Wardouns in past
>>
>>  “.xxj. Quyncis or Wardouns in past. -- Take & make fayre Rounde 
>>cofyns of fayre past; (th)an take fayre Raw Quynces, & pare hem 
>>with a knyf, & take fayre out (th)e core (th)er-of ; (th)an take 
>>Sugre y-now, & a lytel pouder gynger, & stoppe (th)e hole fulle ; & 
>>cowche .ii. or .iij. wardonys or quynce3 in a cofyn, & keuer hem, & 
>>lat hem bake ; & for defaut of Sugre, take hony ; but (th)en putte 
>>pouder Pepir (th)er-on, & Gyngere, in (th)e maner be-for sayd.”
>>  -- Harleian Ms 279, ~1420 C.E. “Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books”
>>  ed. Thomas Austin, pub. Early English Text Society, printed by
>>  The Oxford University Press, 1888, reprinted 1964 and 1996
>>
>>  XXI. Quinces or wardens in paste. -- Take and make nice round 
>>piecrusts of good pastry, then take good raw quinces, and peel them 
>>with a knife, and neatly take out their cores. Then take enough 
>>sugar, and a little powdered ginger, and stuff the core holes full; 
>>and lay two or three wardens or quinces in each piecrust, & cover 
>>them, and let them bake; and if you have no sugar, take honey; but 
>>then put powdered pepper on them, and ginger, in the same manner as 
>>above.
>>
>>	This is a pretty straightforward recipe; the method not too 
>>far from an apple pie made with an uncooked filling. Quinces 
>>require longer cooking and, usually, more sugar or other sweetening 
>>to be palatable. I used honey because I had a lot in the house, and 
>>because I thought it would make for a more complex flavor.
>>	The filling consists of four quinces, three cored, peeled and 
>>whole, plus one cut into smaller pieces to fill up any large, empty 
>>spaces in the pastry.

Why did you modify the recipe? The original is pretty specific--two 
or three whole quinces. It sounds as though you are aiming at 
something that will look more like people expect, and less like what 
comes out from the original--which is, in my experience, pretty lumpy 
but good.

It might be worth noting, incidentally, that essentially the same 
recipe also appears in Du Fait de Cuisiine. Are there other sources 
as well?

>  >	The pastry poses some research problems...


Indeed.

I wonder if "paste" unmodified may be intended literally--a flour and 
water dough. I've never tried doing quinces in paste that way, but it 
might be an interesting experiment.

I suggest that an interesting article for T.I. or Mary Mormon's 
newsletter might be a serious attempt to put together what we know 
about period crusts, along with experiments.
- -- 
David/Cariadoc
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/