[Sca-cooks] honeyed milk- quote from Milham's Platina

[Susan Browning]

Ahh, so the honey is to keep it from spoiling in the stomach, not to
preserve it for later use.

Eleanor

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phlip" <phlip at 99main.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2002 3:34 PM
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] honeyed milk- quote from Milham's Platina


> Platina, Book II, 16.
>
> < Much not directly pertinent snipped>
>
> "(Milk) is better in spring than in summer, and better in in summer than
in
> autumn or winter. It ought to be drunk on an empty stomach, warm as it
comes
> from the udder, and one ought to abstain from other food until it has
> settled in the stomach. It is least harmful drunk as curds at the first
> course of spring and summer, for taken after the meal, as we are generally
> accustomed to do, it either spoils immediately or draws other undigested
> food with it to the bottom. One should also be quiet after taking it so
that
> it will not sour in the stomach from shaking. Drunk with either sugar or
> honey it is kept from spoiling. I have said it should be drunk on a
cleared
> and empty stomach because it is easily converted to those humors which it
> first seizes upon in the stomach. One must, however, avoid too much use of
> milk, for it makes the keeness of the eyes duller and generates stones in
> kidneys and bladder. We use the whey, which results when the cheese is
> removed from the milk, as a medicine because it cools the liver and blood
> and makes a way to purge the body of poisons."
>
> Phlip
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
> To: "SCA-Cooks maillist (E-mail)" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2002 4:31 PM
> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] honeyed milk
>
>
> > On Mon, 26 Aug 2002, Harris Mark.S-rsve60 wrote:
> >
> > > Phlip commented:
> > > I did scan Platina, since I've noticed a fair amount
> > > of similarities between Platina and Anthimus, but
> > > there was no honey butter mentioned, although honey
> > > was mixed with milk to prevent the milk from spoiling.
> > > ------------
> > >
> > > Interesting. Has anyone tried this? Did it keep the
> > > milk from spoiling? Honey has some anti-bacterial
> > > properties but it also has to do with its density
> > > where through osmosis it draws the water out of the
> > > bacteria and thus kills it. But that depends upon
> > > having a fairly high concentration of honey. That is
> > > why you have to dilute honey to make mead. But to
> > > preserve the milk, it seems like you would have to
> > > have a very high proportion of honey.
> >
> > I have noticed that skim milk lasts longer than "whole" milk or 2%, but
> > I've never tried mixing honey. I'd want to get my hands on raw milk,
> > though, rather than pasteurized, to minimize variables. That probably
> > makes somewhat of a difference. Also, we don't know how long he's
> > expecting the milk to last if unpreserved. It depends on the
> > climate--northern Italy uses/used butter, while southern Italy uses/used
> > oil, because in warmer climes uncultured milk products have a very short
> > lifespan.
> >
> > If my aunt still had her two milk cows, I'd give it a try.
> >
> > So, skimmed vs. whole, raw vs. pasteurized, climate and seasonal
> > variables.
> >
> >  >
> > > I wonder how you would have used such milk? Or how
> > > you could use it today. Since honey was so much more
> > > expensive than milk, like using imported spices to
> > > cover the taste of bad meat, the use of this sounds
> > > unlikely. I think I will just stick to keeping my
> > > milk in a cool ice chest or in those sealed boxes
> > > for events.
> > >
> > > Stefan li Rous
> >
> > Do we know the prices of honey and milk in Italy? And does Platina say
> > anything about *when* it is useful to preserve milk with honey--better
in
> > the winter than in summer, that sort of thing? Hmmm. Reading to do when
I
> > get home, I suppose.
> >
> > Margaret