[Sca-cooks] Strawberries and Snow

[Lis]

I'm probably not the first person to marry these two dishes, but really, you
simply must try this. Incredible. Thanks for those who helped me locate the
Snow recipe.

A Dish of Snow with French Wafers (Gloning, 16th cent. A Proper Neue Book of
Cokery)

To make  dyschefull of Snowe:
Take a pottel of swete thycke creame and the whytes of eyghte egges, and
beate them altogether wyth a spone, then putte them in youre creame and a
saucerful of Rosewater, and a dyshe full of Sugerwyth all, then take a stick
and make it cleane, and than cutte it in the ende foure squsre, and therwith
beate all the aforesayde thynges together, and as ever it ryseth takeit of
and put it into a Collaunder, this done take one apple and set it in the
myddes of it, and a thick bushe of Rosemary, and set it in the myddes of the
platter, then cast your Snowe uppon the Rosemary and fyll your platter
therwith. And yf you have wafers cast some in wyth all and thus serve them
forthe.

Make the snow as directed (my proportions: 1 pint extra-heavy whipping
cream, whipped, 4 egg whites whipped semi-stiff, 1/2 cup sugar, and having
no Rosewater I omitted it, but it would have imporoved the dish. Fold all
those ingredients together). Omit the rosemary bush and apple, and reserve
the wafers (I had shortbread, not exactly wafers, but it worked great,
luscious soaked in the strawberry wine and used as a dipper to eat the
dish). Refrigerate the snow, covered. Then Make the following recipe
omitting the crust of the tarte:

To Make a tarte of Strawberries. (Dawson, 1596. The Good Huswife's Jewel)

Wash your strawberries, and put them into your Tarte, and season them with
suger, cynamon and Ginger, and put in a littl red wine into them.

I used 2 qts strawberries and about 1 cup red wine (a good burgundy)and 1/4
cup sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp powdered ginger. The strawberries
are better if kept for several hours in the red wine mixture before use. The
snow will keep for several hours, covered, in the refrigerator.

When ready to serve, mound the snow into the deep platter or large shallow
bowl,  and then surround the edges with the strawberry mixture.Poke the
wafers around the edges and serve immediately.

This makes more than enough to serve 8, and they came back later
specifically to clean off the platter when I wasn't looking, using the
remaining cookies to soak up the red strawberry-and-spice wine sauce. A huge
success!

Enjoy, but please don't serve this at a feast before Memorial Day Weekend,
as that's when I'm unveiling this dish.

Cheers

Aoife