[Sca-cooks] cinnamon leaves

[James Prescott]

At 20:17 -0400 2005-06-28, Daniel Myers wrote:

>  Here's another thought:  period English cookbooks often mix 
> spellings of flour and flower (flowre, floure, etc...).  Did the 
> French also do this?  Could those be references to powdered cassia?


It's a judgement call.  If fine, or finely ground, spices were
described as 'fleur de', I would personally expect that more
than just cassia would be described that way in Viandier.  But
only cassia is distinguished in this way.

So I think the inherent culinary probability leans in favour
of the 'fleur de' meaning 'flower of' or 'bud of' when it
appears in the context 'fleur de cannelle' in Viandier.

Whether this refers to something like the modern dried buds that
resemble cloves, or to the modern small leaf clusters (whether
dried or preserved in brine), we may never know for certain.


Thorvald