[Sca-cooks] Honey butter was lunch ideas- feedback

[Johnna Holloway]

I did the honey butter research back in late 2006-2007 because His Royal
Majesty let it be known that he preferred honey butter above
all other treats. (The Midrealm preference of decades past continues you see
into the 21st century.)  I had come across the butter sculpture 
references in Doc's
translation of /"Ouverture de Cuisine" /and /// /filed them away for a 
rainy research day.
(One never  knows when one  will need something to write about.)
 
The Ouverture butter sculpture references are of course quite
appropriate. The passage describes
"THE BANQUET OF THE ENTRANCE of Monsieur Robert de Berges Count of 
Walhain, Esquire & Prince of Liege, made in the palace in Liege, the 
year 1557 in the month of December..."
It's quite a description.The book was
actually written in the mid 1580's, according to Scully. It was finally 
published in 1604.
Doc's translation really should have opened the door to more work on it 
and its recipes
but it's not been the subject of much comment or work.

 The original article as submitted actually originally led off, I think 
with
the references to butter sculpture, but it was edited in this
fashion in this publication to focus on the aspects of honey butter.

The lions were created for 12th Night 2007; the swans were created for 
Crown 2007.
I also created another honey butter lion that was gold dusted for the 
Coronation that was held in between.
The swans were dusted with gold dust, and in the original photograph 
against the blue background
they do look golden. (Patrick Photoshopped the background out for 
publication.)
 The subtletie was actually the size of a regular dinner
plate, so it's not as large as it looked. There was quite a bit written 
up about the subtleties
in 2007. That can be found in the files in the SCA Subtleties list.

Glad you liked it.

Johnnae


Stefan li Rous wrote:
> I don't remember this article being mentioned before, but I could have 
> just missed it. I don't always have the time to go explore all the 
> interesting links folks post here. It is worth reading, folks.
> <<< The article is: Honey Butter and Butter Sculptures 
> http://www.midrealm.org/pentamere/pdfs/Gauntlet_Jan-Mar08.pdf >>>
>
> I like the idea of the butter sculpting/molding, although without this 
> evidence I would have said it was more likely to be French of 
> Victorian British.
>
> The photograph in the newsletter of the swans is interesting. A lot of 
> butter for one table though, even the headtable. Was it later divied 
> up and passed around to the other tables? Also, on my screen at least, 
> the gold dust looks more like a sprinkling of paprika than gold. Or 
> was it more golden/shiny in real life?
>
> These butter sculptures might not work in the outdoor summer feast we 
> were discussing, but I like the idea.
>
> Stefan