[Sca-cooks] question about breads

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Jun 5, 2005, at 12:47 PM, Terry Decker wrote:

> The relationship of "mach" with "darauf" (literally "make upon it")  
> suggests to me that this may be a spice blend to dredge butter or  
> cheese in before serving.  Something on the order of a Renaissance  
> cheeseball.
>
> Bear

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. It may be a small point in the end, but  
to me, "mach darauf" is more like "make thereupon" than "make  
thereof". The combination sounds right on a humoral level, too, since  
spices provide the heat needed for digestion and dairy products tend  
to be seen as closing up the chest and stomach, rather like filling  
the fuel tank of the automobile and remembering to put the plug back  
in the gas tank.

Adamantius

>
>
>
>> Men schal nemen garophesneghele unde musschaten, cardemomen,
>> peper, ingever, alle lickwol gheweghen, unde make daraff botteren
>> edder kese
>>
>> You shall take cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, pepper and ginger, in equal
>> weight, and make butter or cheese of it (or: add butter or cheese)
>> (Wolfenbüttel MS, c. 1500, northern Germany)
>>
>> A redaction is unnecessary. I find the mixture very pleasant in  
>> butter,
>> less so in cream cheese. A generous pinch of salt improves it, but as
>> period butter was often salted for preservation that probably just  
>> comes
>> closer to the original flavour. A generous teaspoonful, with a  
>> little less
>> salt, is enough for a stick of butter.
>>
>> The recipe's intent in mentioning 'cheese' might be to have the  
>> spice blend
>> used during cheesemaking, which could give a very nice aroma  
>> indeed. I have
>> never been able to try this myself, though. Any feedback on the  
>> matter from
>> a cheesemaker will be much appreciated.
>>
>
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"S'ils n'ont pas de pain, vous fait-on dire, qu'ils  mangent de la  
brioche!" / "If there's no bread to be had, one has to say, let them  
eat cake!"
     -- attributed to an unnamed noblewoman by Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  
"Confessions", 1782

"Why don't they get new jobs if they're unhappy -- or go on Prozac?"
     -- Susan Sheybani, assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry  
Holt, 07/29/04