[Sca-cooks] Dredge?

[Nick Sasso]

-----Original Message-----
Sandra > But the recipe doesn't call for just coating the fruit, it
asks you to "fill vp your coffins," which is, I suspect, the confusing
part.  Unless you have very small pieces very closely packed, you're
going to end up with a *lot* of "dredge" in your coffin.

That was my initial reaction also, the cutting instructions seem clear
that you are to cut the fruit in two and remove the pit with minimal
"breaching" or breaking of the peach. I believe the halves are
intended to go into the pie as intact as possible. This leaves an
awful lot of room for "dredge". Of course, period peaches were
probably much smaller, but their rounded nature will leave a goodly
amount of head room.

Thank you all for your feedback.  Ciao!   Serena > > > > > > >


Are we assuming a large coffin?  Is there a dimension somewhere that I
missed?  If we assume a rather shallow one with dimensions rather tight to
our fruit in question, then it ain't so much as we think.  And "fill" may be
taken a bit too literally.  I've seen this as a general instruction in a few
other recipes, and took it to mean to add a fair quantity . . . rather than
"fill all remaining air space available, to the brim".  On the other hand,
pippins and peaches (at least modern ones) seem to be rather juice throwing
fruits when baked.  There would be prodigious syrup made.

On looking at the online reference, though, I found a big clue a few recipes
up.  It gives specific directions to Fill almost full . . . though again no
dimensions are given.  If we follow this trend, then we are to add great
amounts of sugar (if grated and fluffy or fine and dry) to the pie to make
some serious thick syrup to serve in.


To bake Peares, quinces, and wardens.
YOu must take and pare them, and then coare them: then make your paste with
faire water and Butter, and the yolke of an Egge, and sette your Orenges
into 	<<26a 1597>>
the paste, and then bake it well: Then fill your paste almost ful with
Sinamon, Ginger and Sugar: also apples must be taken after the same sort,
sauing that whereas the core should be cut out they must be filled with
butter euerie one: the hardest apples are best, and likewise are Peares and
wardens, and none of them all but the Wardens may be perboiled, and the ouen
must be of a temperate heat, two houres to stand is enough.


niccolo difrancesco