[Sca-cooks] Dredge?

[Gretchen Beck]

--On Thursday, August 07, 2008 2:23 PM -0400 Barbara Benson 
<voxeight at gmail.com> wrote:

> Saluti!
>
> Very similar. Has anyone stumbled across anything similar. It has to
> be some sort of additional filling or technique. Any thoughts would be
> greatly appreciated.

The OED gives:

 {dag}1. A sweetmeat; a comfit containing a seed or grain of spice; a 
preparation made of a mixture of spices; cf. DRAGÉE. Obs.
c1350 Med. MS. in Archæol. XXX. 390 Ye sed is good fastende to ete, And ek 
in drage after mete. [1377-86 see DRUG n.1] 1401-2 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) 
III. 208 Et in jlib. dragge empt., 5d. [1402-3 dragy]. 14.. Noble Bk. 
Cookry (Napier) 27 Cast on a dridge mad with hard yolks of eggs. c1440 Anc. 
Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 454 Make thenne a dragee of the yolkes of 
harde eyren broken. c1440 Promp. Parv. 130/1 Dragge (v.rr. dragy, dradge), 
dragetum. 1481-90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 367 Item..payed for a box of 
drege xx. d. 1530 PALSGR. 215/1 Dradge, spyce, dragee. 1544 T. PHAER Regim. 
Lyfe (1560) Ivjb, By eatyng of a litle dredge, made of anyse seede and 
coriander. 1601 HOLLAND Pliny II. 108 A drage or pouder of it [thyme] with 
salt, brings the appetite againe. 1616 SURFL. & MARKH. Country F. 48 Take 
fasting a Dredge made of Annise, Fennell, Caraway, and Coriander seed.

The DOST (Dictionary of the Scots Tongue):
Dragy, Dregy, n. Also: dragie, draigie, dregé, droggie; pl. drageis, 
dregis.  [ME. dragy, dregé (c 1350), dregé (1481-90), OF. dragie, dragee.]
    1. A kind of sweetmeat or comfit. Also pl. comfits of this kind.  (1) 
Per empcionem ... duodecim librarum de dragy, expenditarum in domo; 1329 
Exch. R. I. 141.  Sexaginta librarum de dregy; Ib. 221.  De ... lx libris 
de  drege ; 1331 Ib. 409.  Dragy na sic thing brekis nocht fasting, na 
drink sa that it be sobirly tane; Asl. MS. I. 41/11.  For sax quartis vyne 
and sax buistis dragie; 1583-4 Misc. Spald. C. V. 55. (2)  Ane pund of 
grene and reid dregis; 1575 6th Rep. Hist. MSS. App. 657/2.  Tua dosane 
buistis of drageis; 1582 Edinb. Test. XI. 355 b.  Tua pund wecht cullourit 
drageis; 1597 Ib. XXXI. 175 b.

The Middle English Dictionary has essentially the same thing:
(a) A sweet confection, sweetmeat; a sweet sauce or condiment; (b) a sweet 
medicinal preparation; (c) fig. a reward or bribe; ~ of sin, pleasure of 
sin, incentive to sin.

As I recall, Markham (the English Huswife) says about the same thing with 
his cherry tart recipe, but doesn't use the word 'dredge':

Take the fairest Cherries you can get, a npicke them cleane from leaves and 
stalkes, then spread out you coffin as for your Pippin-tart, and cover the 
bottome with Suter, then cover the Suger all over with Cherries, then cover 
those Cherries with Sugar, some sticks of Cinamon, and here and there a 
Clove, then lay in more cherries, and so more Suger, Cinamon and Cloves, 
till the coffin be filled up; then cover it and bake it in all points as 
the codling and pipping tart, and so server it; and in the same manner you 
may make Tarts of Gooseberries, Strawberries, Rasberries, Bilberries, or 
any other Berrie whatsoever.

toodles, margaret