[Sca-cooks] Re: figs and thistles

[Aurelia Coritana]

Salve Eibhlin,
 
This is very helpful - thank you! I've been having trouble finding quantities, so I will definitely give this a try!
 
-Aurelia
 
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Message: 3
Date: Sun, 14 May 2006 10:45:02 -0700 (PDT)
From: Kathleen Madsen <kmadsen12000 at yahoo.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: figs and thistles
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Message-ID: <20060514174502.54445.qmail at web51512.mail.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

I've not used fig sap but I have played with cardoons,
a plant of the thistle family.  The head looks like an
artichoke that is a bit rounder with spiky leaves and
a dense clump of very thin purple petals sticking up
from the top.  Remove the head from the stem and allow
to dry for a couple of days in a cool, dark place. 
After it has dried some cut the head open in half from
petals to stem.  Remove the petals, they will be dusty
with pollen, and put in a saucepan.  Put enough water
in to cover and simmer on the stove making a tea. 
Allow to cool and strain.  Use the tea in place of
rennet.  In order to test the strength take a 1/2 cup
of milk and add an 1/8 teaspoon of the tea, check
about every 10 minutes or so to see if it is beginning
to set-up.  At normal strength the tea should set one
gallon of milk about 40 minutes, you'll need to do
math to work out how much of the tea you would need to
get the right strength.

Eibhlin