[Sca-cooks] Pretzels
Susan Fox-Davis
selene at earthlink.net
Wed Nov 17 08:34:23 PST 2004
Chris Stanifer wrote:
>--- Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com> wrote:
>
>>Are you asking if they were boiled in "malted" water? That is with an
>>M? I'd like hear why you think of that as a period thing to do. What
>>else was boiled in malted water?
>>
>
>
>Well, without further resources to check, I have no reason to think it was a period thing to do,
>other than my own culinary instincts (assuming that the more basic instincts would have been
>pretty much the same). If you want a slightly sweet crust to your pretzel, and you're going to
>boil it anyway, you might as well use water with malt in it. Or honey, I suppose, though I have
>no recipes (modern or otherwise) which call for boiling pretzels in honey water. I do, however,
>have recipes which call for boiling them in water with malt in it. I'm assuming (totally
>assuming) that this may well have been the process used in the middle ages, and survived to this
>day.
>
You knew that someone would come up with a contradiction, didn't you?
Here is a modern recipe using malt in water and another for honey in
water for different styles of bagels:
<http://www.weekendbrewer.com/Cooking/bagels.htm> This is part of a
brewing web site with a section of recipes using brewing supplies like
malt syrup and bread from spent grain. Thrifty and sensible all around.
More pretzel stuff:
An article about pretzel history, frequently-reprinted article but some
good period pictures:
<http://www.newyorkcarver.com/inventions5A.htm>
One of the excerpted pictures is part of a picture from a prayer-book,
THE HOURS OF CATHERINE OF CLEVES, c. 1440, wherein a picture of St.
Bartholmew is supposed to be surrounded by pretzels. Further research
shows that this manuscript will be on display at the Getty Museum in
about a year, part of a larger exhibition of Painted Prayers: Medieval
and Renaissance Books of Hours. We must make pilgrimage!
<http://www.getty.edu/news/press/fut_exhib2005.html>
Gode Cookery has a good etching of a portable oven and a pretzel
merchant's stall. c. 1483.
<http://www.godecookery.com/afeast/kitchens/kit010.html>
I think I want to make one of these ovens some day! Need to get my
local pottery maven in on it of course.
Selene
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