Sweetened Butter? (was Re: SC - Harvest Moon Shoot proposed menu)

[Decker, Terry D.]

The problem with honey butter is there is no direct evidence to demonstrate
it was prepared in period.  In this case, the objective is to alter the
taste of the butter without leaving visible evidence.  Honey tends to
liquify the butter, where a fine sugar powder will cream into butter leaving
little evidence of its presence. 

Honey butter may have been made in period.  It's easy enough to do.  But
without a description or a recipe, the statement honey butter is period is
an unproven assumption.  Many of us believe honey butter is period, but we
can't prove it.

BTW, Plat was an Elizabethan, and while honey may have been more prevalent
than sugar, sugar was not in short supply.  Increased production by the
European nations, primarily Spain and Portugal had cut into the Islamic
sugar trade.  As a result, sugar prices dropped to the place where sugar
became an upper and middle class indulgence rather than a low volume luxury
good.  The Elizabethans loved their sugar.

Bear  

> This last paragraph, mentioning the working of sugar into 
> butter, along
> with the fact that butters served with the essential oils of 
> cinnamon, mace
> and cloves implies to me that folks may have had a taste for 
> sweet butters.
> honey was more readily available than sugar.  So why do we 
> believe that
> honey butter is not period (again, I realize that this may be an old
> argument and a pointer to the flori-thingy will suffice if 
> it's been over
> done>) ?
> 
> Which brings me to my next question, but I'll post it 
> seperately as it's a
> seperate topic.
> 
> I remain, in service to Meridies,
> Lady Celia des L'archier