[Sca-cooks] Re: Flaming Subtleties (was Piecrust revisited, was, Books for Cooks)
Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius
adamantius.magister at verizon.net
Thu Mar 10 14:55:06 PST 2005
Also sprach Samrah:
>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?
>
>Thanks,
>Samrah
Subtleties definitely did, on occasion; there are instructions for
fire-breathing dragons and such calling for ignited alcohol and
various resins such as camphor, IIRC, and servers to blow through
tubes to provide oxygen to the flames as they carried the subtlety
into the hall. Such subtleties weren't always edible, but I believe
some were.
As for flaming foods, yes, this is a clearly edible, or mostly
edible, dish, which might conceivably qualify as a flaming subtlety.
Clearly they weren't as common as they became in the 18th-19th
centuries and later, but I believe there's some evidence to suggest
medieval people flamed foods occasionally, or at least burned alcohol
for the theatrical effect. See Chiquart's recipe for flaming boar's
head, for one example (okay, it's not flaming, it's spitting fire --
what is burning is brandy mixed with camphor, soaked into a cotton
wick, as I recall).
I don't have references at my fingertips at the moment, but I'm sure
28 people will respond more definitively (you know who you are) ;-) .
A.
>
>Also sprach Adamantius:
>
>[much snippage]
>
>BTW: the mistake in the translated recipe, as far as I know, is in
>their translation of "eau/ew ardent" as "Hot water". Eau ardent is
>brandy, I believe. This is probably a flaming subtlety... [Phlip, are
>you getting all this?]
>
>
>
>
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