[Sca-cooks] Need Help with a recipe...

[Olwen the Odd]

>Here is the recipe.... Original.... See below...
>
>ORIGINAL RECEIPT:
>
>Take Eyroun, & blow owt that ys with-ynne atte other ende; than waysshe the 
>schulle clene in warme Water; than take gode mylke of Almaundys, & sette it 
>on the fyre; than take a fayre canvas, & pore the mylke ther-on, & lat 
>renne owt the water; then take it owt on the clothe, & gader it to-gedere 
>with a platere; then putte sugre y-now ther-to; than take the halvyndele, & 
>colour it with Safroun, a lytil, & do ther-to pouder Canelle; than take & 
>do of the whyte in the nether ende of the schulle, & in the myddel the 
>yolk, & fylle it vppe with the whyte; but noght to fulle, for goyng ouer; 
>than sette it in the fyre & roste it, & serue f[orth].
>
>- Austin, Thomas. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Harleian MS. 279 & 
>Harl. MS. 4016, with extracts from Ashmole MS. 1429, Laud MS. 553, & Douce 
>MS 55. London: for The Early English Text Society by N. Trübner & Co., 
>1888.
>
>Ok now I know some of ya'll have seen that recipe.  Here is the Modern...
>Snipped.....
>
>MODERN RECIPE:
>
>    * 1 C blanched almonds
>    * 2 C water
>    * 1 C sugar
>    * 6 large eggs
>    * Yellow food coloring
>
>1. Grind blanched almonds to a fine paste in a blender or food processor, 
>adding about half a cup of the water, a tablespoon at a time, during the 
>grinding. You might want to grind the almonds in two or three batches.
>
>2. In a saucepan, combine almond paste with the remaining water and the 
>sugar, stirring to blend smooth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, 
>stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes.
>
>3. Pour and scrape the mixture onto a large, clean white cloth, such as a 
>dinner napkin or tea towel, laid on a large plate or cookie sheet. Spread 
>the mixture out and let it cool, Then gather up the cloth by the corners, 
>and gently wring it out over a cup or bowel. Tie the cloth up like a bag, 
>and hang up the mixture in the cloth over a cup or bowl for at least three 
>hours.
>
>4. Dish the almond cream into a lightly oiled bowl. Refrigerate until cold.
>
>5. Separate out one third of the almond cream, and put it into a separate 
>bowl. Stir in yellow food coloring a few drops at a time until it is the 
>color of egg yolk.
>
>6. Carefully poke holes into both ends of the eggs, a large hole at the 
>wide end, and a pin hole at the narrow. Holding each egg over a bowl, blow 
>through the pin hole, blowing out the yolk and the white into the bowl. You 
>may refrigerate the yolks and whites for later use. Rinse out the empty egg 
>shells with warm water.
>
>
>Here is my problem the modern recipe does not seem to tell you which to 
>use... do I use the squeezed out juices that I drained out? (The "milk" so 
>to speak) or do I use the almond paste that is in the towel.  I was 
>thinking the paste that is in the towel. would be what is used.  Katrina 
>was thinking the sugary milk run off....
>So my question is which is right?
>Any help is appreciated.
>Nichola
>
Nichola, this translation doesn't make any sense.
Frist off, the original says to start by blowing out and washing the 
eggshells.  This is done first so the shells have time to dry out as the 
excess water in them will make problems with the process.  Then the original 
recipe calls to start with almond milk, not the almonds.  Then you simmer 
down the almond milk to thicken it.  I have done this and if you don't have 
good thick almond milk to begin with then you may have to add a bit of 
issinglass to make this work.  You then strain the thickened milk through a 
cloth, just like in making soft cheese.  You ditch the 'whey' and use the 
stuff in the cloth, adding sugar is done after that separation part because 
it will change the consistency of the almond milk.  The stuff should still 
be warm enough to melt the sugar and saffron/cinnamon.  Using powdered sugar 
is ok but I find it more effective to use white sugar that has been put 
through a food processor or ground in a morter.  The saffron should colour 
the third removed and the addition of just a little cinnimon gives it the 
more natural orangy kinda colour.  Putting the mixture into the eggshells is 
sometimes a bit of trouble but that can be avoided by simply using a baby 
ear/nose syringe for putting in the white and a basting syringe inserted 
into the center of the white part and inserting the yellow 'yolk'.  Then 
bake them gently, turning occasionally to keep the yellow more or less 
centered.  They only have to bake for 15 or 20 minutes till the almond cream 
sets (insert toothpick to check).
Olwen

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