[Sca-cooks] Re: marmalade (and preserves)

[Nick Sasso]

----- Original Message -----
> >It depends on the area you're talking about.  The Middle East and
> >Mediterranean Europe had sugar before northern Europe.  The 14th
> >century Catalan confectionary manual that is webbed on Thomas
> >Gloning's site has 1/3 to ½ of the recipes made with sugar; the
> >rest are made with honey.
> >http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~gloning/confits.htm
> >
> >
> >Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann
> >Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
> >rcmann4 at earthlink.net

I was mostly referring to use of sugar in reference to creating
Smuckers Strawberry preserves products (ref: "The use of large
quantities of sugar to make jam-like products appears mostly after 1600,
unless someone has other info.").  I'm sorry I left that dangling and
unclear.  Marmalades were definitely made and many used sugar instead of
honey, I cannot and do not argue that at all.  Digby may actually have a
fruit spread-type recipe in it for example . . . post - 1600.

None would be described as similar to modern commercially produced
preserves or jams that are commercially available in US grocery stores
and markets.  They would be more like the guava and quince pastes I find
in our local ethnic markets and food aisles.  I didn't want to go too
far down that road until I found out what the original poster had in
mind when asking about making preserves.

pacem et bonum,
niccolo difrancesco