[Sca-cooks] Re: Flaming Subtleties (was Piecrust revisited, was, Books for Cooks)

[Jadwiga Zajaczkowa / Jenne Heise]

 > Apologies for my ignorance/innocence.  I am more than a bit new at 
>this.  We had flaming subtleties in period?  I may be mistaken so 
>please somebody correct me.   Desserts didn't flame (too late), but 
>subtleties did?

Dessert? What's a dessert in period?

OED gives the origin of that term:
[a. F. dessert (Estienne 1539) .removal of the dishes, dessert., f. 
desservir to remove what has been served, to clear (the table), f. des-, 
L. dis- + servir to serve.] 

Since what was served at the clearing of the tables appears to have been 
spices/comfits, fruit and spiced wine, that could be a dessert. But hard 
to set on fire, I'd think. 

The first quote in OED for the term dessert is:  1600 W. VAUGHAN Direct. 
Health (1633) II. ix. 54 Such eating, which the French call desert, is 
unnaturall

And yes, subtleties did all kinds of things in period. There was one 
that had little explosive cannon in it-- I think it's described in the 
otherwise useless Edward Mead's _English Medieval Feast_.

-- 
-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net 
"Information wants to be a Socialist... not a Communist or a 
Republican." - Karen Schneider