No subject

To make Biskets of Almons very dainty, and knowne of few

Almond Cookie

p.       19, Mrs Sarah Longe her Receipt Booke [c. 1610] from Fooles and
Fricassees:  Food in Shakespeare's England (Published by the Folger
Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, 1999)

 Take a pound of Almons, blanch them, then beate them in a morter [;] then
put in a little rosewater to them, that they may not turn to an Oyle in
their beating; when they are beaten very small take them up and put them
into a Dish [;] then take half a pound of sugar beaten very small and put t=
o
them the whites of 4 Eggs, with a little Quantity of musk, and Ambergrease
[;] then beat it altogether a quarter of an hour, then put it upon papers i=
n
what fashion you will.  You must be carefull in the making of it, that it b=
e
not coloured to[o] much.

 Redaction-Minowara Kiritsubo  (makes about 4 =BD dozen cookies)

 2 cups blanched almonds                      1/2  teaspoon rose water

1 cup sugar                                            4 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1.     Grind almonds in a mill or food processor.  Add the rosewater to kee=
p
them from getting oily.

2.     Add sugar, egg whites and almond extract and blend thoroughly in the
food processor.

3.     Put teaspoonfuls of the batter onto a greased cookie sheet.

4.     Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.  Be very careful to check the
bottoms of the cookies as they tend to get too brown.  The cookies should b=
e
VERY lightly "coloured" as the recipe above states.

 Notes:

I added almond extract to intensify the almond flavor.  This is a slightly
perfumed taste and would, I believe, approximate the ambergris and/or musk
the recipe called for.  I was unable to locate either of these ingredients.
Also, I've heard differing opinions on the safety of cooking with these
ingredients so prefer to stay away from them.

I hope these help.  If you need further documentation on the Shellbread
recipe, let me know and I'll get the original source from the Lorwin book,
along with a copy of the original recipe.

Kiri



----- Original Message -----
Hello!  For a "rose in any medium" contest (they did not specify that it ha=
d
to be pictorial or sculptural) I am thinking of entering lots of
food-oriented items.  I have someone who can give me rose wine, and am
working on rose beads, and looking for all my recipes that contain rosewate=
r
in taste-able quantities.  Does anybody have suggestions?  I have a couple
of months to prepare, but want to try to offer as many documentable items a=
s
possible.  Since I'm not overly fond of roses (the scent it cloying to me),
I'm going mostly from scratch here.

                                            ---==Morgan