[Sca-cooks] another question

[Philip W. Troy & Susan Troy]

KarenO wrote:
>
>     Greetings all!!
>
>     Searching for something different to serve for soup,  I came across
> "canabenez/ canabens"  the glossary says a white bean,  would that mean
> cannellini?
>
>    >> leaving for Pennsic &  want list of cook books!  basic beginner
> already cook books on period cookery.  So far  I have: "Take A Thousand Eggs
> "  & the "Miscalanie".  Olaf of Trollhiemsfjord<<
>
>   _1000 Eggs_ &  _Miscellany_  are an excellant start.   _An Ordinance of
> Pottage_ edited by Constance B.  Hieatt is another good one  {tho the
> lessons learned from that book is to COMPARE  the original with the
> redaction  -- there are leaps of imagination there!}   Milham's  version of
> Apicus,  T.  Sculley's books:  _Medieval French Cookery_ and another title
> that doesn't come quickly to mind {but at least you have authors/editors}
>
>         Caointiarn

Canebyns (variously spelled) seem usually to be a particular preparation
of fava beans; the medieval equivalent of the hulled, dried, split pea
or bean, probably to prevent them from sprouting and/or rancidity of the
germ portion, as well as molding. They're different from what we now
call cannellini, although not having an etymology for either term on
hand, no bets are off at this point.

Canebyns (sometimes called frizzled beans in sources translated from
French texts, I believe) are favas that have been soaked until they
swell up and begin to bust out of their hulls, after which they are
dried again, rubbed free of the hulls, and chopped into smaller pieces
with a sharp knife. These pieces are then slightly toasted in small
amounts (recipes describing the process refer to holding metal spoonfuls
of the chopped beans over a flame to toast them) -- (or am I mistaken,
are they toasted and _then_ chopped?).

Anyway, they appear to be designed to cook more quickly and have a
longer shelf life than ordinary beans.

Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98