[Sca-cooks] A Note on Steamed Puddings

[Stefan li Rous]

  Bear pointed out to us:
> Since there was a bit of question on when doughs began being steamed 
> rather
> than boiled, I can say that it occurred in Antiquity.  "Erneum" is a 
> pastry
> similar to Cato's "placenta."  It was made in an earthenware jar which 
> was
> boiled in a copper cauldron, a method similar to some of the later 
> pudding
> recipes.  To extract the cake, the jar was broken.

Huh? Now you've got me confused. Maybe you don't steam a pudding the 
way I thought you were supposed to.

This description sounds more like boiling a pudding since you put the 
earthernware jar into water and boiled it. As in a double boiler. I've 
always imagined that to steam a pudding you held it in the steam of 
boiling water in a net or cloth bag rather than in the boiling water 
itself. So if this is a description of a steamed pudding how is a 
boiled pudding different?

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          
StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
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