[Sca-cooks] fruit preserves and marmalades

[Stefan li Rous]

Brigit asked:
> so what about perserves.  My family has been doing
> homeade perserves for generations.  Wouldn't they have
> done that?

Yes, they did.

> when did perserves start being made?

You need a source of pectin and sugar or honey. I believe quinces were
the first done because of their large amount of available pectin.

> It would make sense to me that they did that in wintertime.
Not necessarily. You need to make the preserves when the fruit is

still fresh. If that season is winter, then winter. If that season
is summer or fall, then the preserves were made then. Yes, I imagine
you could make preserves with say, a pickled or dried fruit. But why?
For more info, see these files in the FOOD-FRUITS section of the
Florilegium:

fruit-quinces-msg (64K) 12/14/02    Period uses and recipes for quinces.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-FRUITS/fruit-quinces-msg.html

Period-Fruit-art  (60K)  1/13/02    "Fruit of Period Times" by Baron
                                        Akim Yaroslavich.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-FRUITS/Period-Fruit-art.html
And in the FOOD-SWEETS section:
marmalades-msg    (60K)  5/17/02    Period marmalades and fruit jellies and jams
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-SWEETS/marmalades-msg.html
--
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris            Austin, Texas         StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****