[Sca-cooks] Sugar Plums

[Stefan li Rous]

Micaylah asked:
> > Anybody have any idea whether the plum variety called 'sugar plums' 
> are
> > similar to a period variety?
>
> All I can think of is that I remember reading a book about sugar plums
> dancing in their heads......lol
>
> Wern't they a confection of some sort in the mid 1800's?
Actually a bit older than this and "plum" used in this way appears to 
be a term meaning generically a fruit and not necessarily just the 
fruit we think of as a plum. We've discussed this here before, but I 
don't remember the exact files I've save the info in. This file in the 
FOOD-SWEETS section does have the following opening paragraph.
Sugarplums-art    (19K)  7/15/98    "Visions of Sugarplums" by Mistress
                                        Renata Kestryl of Highwynds.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-SWEETS/Sugarplums-art.html

> Visions of Sugarplums
> by Mistress Renata Kestryl of Highwynds
>
> The dictionary defines a sugarplum as a small round or oval piece of 
> sugary candy. English being the flexible language it is, the name 
> could have come from the resemblance to a small plum. Or it could have 
> come from actual plums preserved in sugar, a relatively new idea in 
> 16th Century England. Prior to this time sugar was so expensive that 
> it was used very sparingly, much as we would use a spice today. In the 
> 1540’s, however, sugar started being refined in London which lowered 
> the price considerably, although only well-off families were able to 
> use it lavishly. Preserving with sugar allowed the sweet fruits of 
> summer to be enjoyed all year round, especially during the holiday 
> season.

Stefan
--------
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 ****