[Sca-cooks] Strawberries and Snow

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Also sprach Lis:
>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.

A little rosewater also goes a long way. I've added too much on occasion.

What I'm curious about is the fact that everybody seems to ignore the
actual whipping method described in the recipe. I have, too, when
I've made this, because it goes against everything I've been taught
about food chemistry and proper technique, and it is undeniably
faster to use the separate beating technique.

So why and how did the author of the Proper Neue Boke accomplish
this, beating the egg whites and cream together, lifting off the foam
as it accumulates. One of the things modern cooks tend to be taught
is that egg whites have their proteins "shortened" by the presence of
fats, and therefore you don't want cream or egg yolks in with any egg
whites you intend to beat stiff. Observation suggests that this is a
reliable rule, and yet when you beat them together, you _do_ get some
foam. You just don't get as much, or really the same, foam.

I'm deducing that the science for the two ingredients, mixed, is
somewhat different, and that the final product may be different. This
may just be one of those cases, as with Prince Bisket, where you just
have to try the recipe, as insane as it may sound, and see what
happens, and try to figure out why.

I haven't done this [in the manner described in the recipe], and
probably won't get to it anytime soon. If anybody does, would they
let us know?

Adamantius