[Sca-cooks] Apple cider

[Robin]

Volker Bach wrote:

>>Hard cider is certainly period.  I don't know if sweet (non-alcoholic)
>>cider is period.
>>    
>>
>
>As a cooking ingredient it is - at least in Germany. It features in sauce in 
>the Königsberg MS. But I can't prove anyone drank it ATM. 
>
>Giano
>
Likewise, there is a recipe for a sauce made with apple juice and spices 
in Granado (1599).  Alonso de Herrera's agricultural manual (1551 ed.) 
has a section on apple trees.  He says that wine made from apples is 
called cider, and that they make a lot of it in Vizcaya (region of 
northern Spain).  It is a beverage that quenches thirst well.  He also 
comments that sour apples can be used to make vinegar.  No mention of 
drinking the unfermented juice.

I can't see that it would be a practical beverage.  Unpasturized apple 
juice doesn't last long without spoiling or fermenting.  There are 
descriptions of keeping apples, packed in straw, in a cool place, but 
apples are not a good choice for juicing in small quantities.

There are descriptions of spiced honey-water, if someone is looking for 
a spiced non-alcoholic beverage, but it is intended to be served cold, 
in the summer.

-- 
Brighid ni Chiarain
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom
Robin Carroll-Mann *** rcmann4 at earthlink.net