SC - losenges fryes/potage of beans boiled

[rcmann4 at earthlink.net]

And it came to pass on 7 Mar 01, , that Gwynydd of Culloden wrote:

> Losenges Fryes
> 
> Take flour, water, saffron, sugar and salt, and make a fine paste thereof,
> and fair thin cakes; and cut them like losenges and fry them in fine oil,
> and serve them forth hot in a dish in lenten time.
> 
> (redaction)

> Roll out dough to about 1 / 2 inch thick.
[snip]

Is this your redaction, or one which someone else has already 
tested?  Because I would think that "fair thin cakes" should be 
closer to the thickness of pastry dough; ie., about 1/8 inch thick.

> As well, what oil would people suggest I use to fry these?  (I would like
> to keep it as period as possible, so I am guessing not peanut *smile*.)

Possibly olive oil.  C. Anne Wilson, in _Food and Drink in Britain_ 
also mentions rape-seed oil as being in use during the Middle Ages 
(known modernly as canola oil).


Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)
mka Robin Carroll-Mann
now at a new address: rcmann4 at earthlink.net