[Sca-cooks] Re: figs and thistles

[Kathleen Madsen]

Cordelia,

The tea is made from the petals only, scoop them out
of the head and put them in the saucepan and then
cover with water.

Eibhlin
 
> Eibhlin,
>    
>   Are you making the tea from the petals or from the
> other parts.  I'm a little confused.  Otherwise I
> think your directions are very clear.
>    
>   Cordelia Toser
> 
> Kathleen Madsen <kmadsen12000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>   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
> 
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