[Sca-cooks] Meringues?

[Volker Bach]

On Tue, 18 May 2004 12:43:49 -0700 (PDT), Huette von Ahrens 
<ahrenshav at yahoo.com> wrote :

> According to the Oxford Companion to Food, 
> 
> "It sees to have been only in the 16th century
> that European cooks discovered that beating egg
> whites, e.g. with a whisk of birch twigs (in the
> absence of any better implement), produced an
> attractive foam.  

I would dispute that statement, though 'rediscovered' might apply. Anthimus 
'de observatione ciborum', entry 34, describes a dish called 'afrutum', 
apparently of greek origin or at least connections. he clearly states that 
egg whites albumen de ovo) should be used to make it 'foamy' (quomodo 
spuma) and that the result should be piled up in a dish. THe dish looks 
like a souffle, and I'd read it as clearly using beaten egg whites. 

Giano