[Sca-cooks] Spirits of hartshorn

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

>Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2004 13:29:36 -0500
>To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
>From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius" <adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
>Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Spirits of hartshorn
>Cc:
>Bcc:
>X-Attachments:
>
>Also sprach Phlip:
>>Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...
>>
>>>  Also sprach Phlip:
>>>  >Anybody know where I can find some?
>>>
>>>  The supermarket cleaning supply aisle. Labelled "Ammonia". Or so I've
>>>  been led to understand...
>>>
>>>  Adamantius
>>
>>Are you sure? Gene Anderson was telling me it was a leavening agent in
>>Chinese cookery... We're off on a discussion...
>
>Well, I'm sure spirits of hartshorn have been equated with aqueous 
>ammonia by [relatively] modern chemists. I seem to recall Bear 
>saying that the leavening agent was some kind of ammonia salt.
>
>Adamantius

See http://www.godecookery.com/cookies/infoba.html

Apparently this is also known as "Baker's Ammonia", and sometimes, 
hartshorn, because at one time ammonia was distilled from hartshorn, 
animal hooves, and other such proteinaceous odds and ends.

I think Gene's problem (if it really is one) is that he can't simply 
say "hartshorn" as a translator, because moderns will assume it to be 
the actual horn he's referring to, and it's not. Whereas, if he tries 
to refer to an ammonia salt used in baking, and link it to hartshorn 
by calling it "spirits of hartshorn", that name is kind of already 
taken...

I'm curious as to where the Chinese are (were?) getting their "hartshorn".

Adamantius