[Sca-cooks] candies and sweets

[Johnna Holloway]

The subject heading is confectionary or confectionery with the later
being the preferred term today. There are a number of original works
that deal just with confections
like Confiturier françois : où est enseigné la maniere de faire toute
sorte de confitures, dragées, liqueurs, & breuuages agreables : ensemble
la maniere de plier le linge de table, & en faire toute sorte de
figures from 1650.
There are French editions of this available of course. In English Sir Hugh
Plat of course contains a number of these recipes. Dawson has a few,
although
he rips off Alessio. Peter Brears' All the King's Cooks.
The Tudor Kitchens of King Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace.
covers a lot of these English sweets.
You also might want to read or check out all the sweetmeat recipes
included as the second manuscript published in

Martha Washington’s Booke of Cookery.
Edited by Karen Hess. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981. It's
out in a paperback edition
with an awful cover featuring George Washington eating a cherry.
This is comprised of two Tudor- Jacobean manuscripts that ended up being
owned by Martha Washington.
Lots of commentaries on sweets and sugar things.

As for a basic great history of candy and confections with a good
bibliography--

The book you need to buy or loan in and read is Laura Mason's
Sugar Plums & Sherbets which has been reprinted and released in a
paperback edition for - $24.95
Laura Mason’s renowned history of sweets in England now available in
paper. Of particular interest to Scadians are the chapters on sugar
boiling (including a table of sugar names and tests for various boiling
heights), confits and sugar plate, as well as food colourings. Each
chapter contains clear recipes for a number of the sweets discussed
therein. Paper, 250pp. B/w contemporary illos, modern sketches. Appendix
includes glossary of ingredients, equipment, pulling sugar, more. Notes
on each chapter, excellent biblio & index.
Prospect Books. [Devra carries it and this was her write-up of course!]

You might also check out the bibliographies to my TI articles on Alessio
and Nostradamus.
They both published works in 1555 that deal with sweets and confections.

Hope this helps.

Johnnae llyn Lewis



Would some of
you knowledgeable folks point me towards source material for: candies in
the period of 1450-1500 in the areas of London, Florence (and other
Itallian States), Vienna, or I guess any other European region.
snipped
SI am not sure what to
look for. Kind of like looking up a word in the dictionary when you
don't know the word. Anyay, I am looking for nougats, boiled sugar
candies, honey based, candied fruits, sweets with nuts, etc.

Book references are also appreciated!

Thanks!
Aoghann.
(I will be hitting the Florillegium during Thanksgiving.)