[Sca-cooks] Period Flour Query and shortbread

[Johnna Holloway]

But given that Scotland did not produce a printed recipe book
until 1736, the household accounts that are located in the National Library
are what we have. Or we can
use the 18th century recipes as the earliest ones that are available.
Or we can use those English recipes that are said to be "short" in their 
making
keeping in mind that short indicates that the cake or bread crumbled.
Geddes, Olive M. The Laird’s Kitchen. Three Hundred Years of Food in 
Scotland. Edinburgh: HMSO;
The National Library of Scotland, 1994. discusses the lack of culinary 
sources
in Scotland. Johnnae

Actually we know that shortbreads were being eaten in Scotland in 1608. 
The Earl of Angus's dated household accounts of 1608 record that in one 
instance shortbreads were purchased; in another flour was sent out for 
their baking.
>> That tells us that something called shortbread was being eaten; it 
>> doesn't tell us what it was.
>> Blancmange and gingerbread were being eaten in 15th c. England, 
>> Syllabub in 17th century England, Harisa in 13th c. al Islam--and in 
>> all four cases the dish was quite different from the later dish with 
>> the same name.
>>