[Sca-cooks] non-grape period wines
Johnna Holloway
johnnae at mac.com
Fri Oct 16 08:00:58 PDT 2009
Here's the beginning of what
Maison rustique, or The countrey farme¨ Compyled in the French tongue
by Charles Steuens, and Iohn Liebault, Doctors of Physicke. And
translated into English by Richard Surflet, practitioner in physicke.
Now newly reuiewed, corrected, and augmented, .... by Geruase Markham.
1616
says:
CHAP. XLIX.
A briefe discourse of making of drinkes of the iuices of Fruits.
_IN such Countries as the vine cannot beare fruit in, because of the
cold distemperature and churlish roughnesse of the aire, and whereas
not|withstanding there grow singular good fruits, and in great
aboundance in recompence of the same (as in Britaine, Normandie, the
countrie of Mans, Chartraine, and Touraine) although there be the
meanes to make Wine of a certaine kind of corne, called Bier: yet by
reason of the lesse cost and charges, as also by reason of the greater
profit, they vse to make diuers sorts of drinkes of fruits: and to
giue them their seuerall and particular names from the seueral and
particular fruits whereof they are made. As for example, that which is
made of apples, cider or citer, and so the Normans and other countries
bordering thereupon doe call it, as hauing a smell or other excellent
qualitie resembling the citron. Perrie which is pressed out of the
Peares, and ceruise Wine, quinceWine, pomegranat Wine, mulberrie Wine,
gooseberrie Wine, and slo•Wine, vvhich are made of the juices of these
fruits pres|sed out. And hereof vve are to obserue that all fruits are
not fit to make Wine of; but onely those vvhich vvill not putrifie
easily, and haue great quantitie of Wine juice vvithin them, of vvhich
kind these are vvhereof I haue now spoken. For of cherries there is
not any Wine to be pressed, because their juice doth easily corrupt
and putrifie verie quickly: neither yet of Almonds, Common nuts,
Filberds, Pine, nuts, or other such fruits, for they yeeld an oylie
and not a Wine-like humour. But for as much as we are not determined
to speake in this place of all these sorts of fruit drinkes, but onely
of them vvhich are called cider, perrie, and carasie, vvhich next vnto
the juice of the vine, are the most profitable and necessarie liquor
for the life and health of man: vve vvill set downe before hand a
certaine summarie, and as it vvere a transition and plaine declaration
of and vnto as well the making, as also of and vnto the qualities and
vertues of the said cider, perrie, and carasie, and will referre the
Reader vnto the Latine Booke now long agoe looked for from Moun|sier
Paulmie Doctor of Physicke at Paris, therein to read and learne the
intire and perfect knowledge of this so pleasant and delightsome a
drinke. And to begin with our purposed matter, I intend not here to
stand about the finding out of the first in|uentour and deuisour of
this drinke; onely I will say, that as Noe carried away with the
pleasant taste of the juice, vvhich he pressed out of the grape of the
wild vine planted by him, was the first inuentor of making and
drinking of vvine: so a certaine Norman hauing his taste vvonderfully
pleased vvith a delicate and daintie taste and rellish of the iuice of
Apples and Peares, inuented the making of Cider and Perrie I say, a
certaine Norman, for this is in base Normandie called the Countrey of
Ne-z, where this drinke had first his beginning.
The way then to make these kinds of drinkes generally, is to gather
the fruit not all out ripe, and after to let them ripen some certaine
time in the open ayre or to drie them in the Sunne, for the spending
and wasting of their waterie humour; then to breake and crush them
with Mil-stones, or such other heauie instruments; and lastly, to
presse them out: but withall you must obserue this speciall qualitie
in certaine Apples, which the longer they are kept, and the riper they
be, the better and greater store of iuice they yeeld, though then
indeed it be not so durable.
On the contrarie, wild Peares doe yeeld more liquor, and of a better
tast, and withall of longer continuance, than doe the tame and garden
ones. When the iuice is pres|sed out from the fruit, it must be put
into caske, for to boile therein a certaine time, and to be ordered
after the manner of the ordering of the iuice of Grapes, as we intend
to declare more particularly.
The 1658 English edition is up now on Google Books by the way as is
the 1640 French edition. The work appeared as early as "published in
1564 as L'Agriculture ou la maison rustique."
Johnnae
On Oct 14, 2009, at 7:11 PM, Stefan asked: Does anyone know of other
references to or recipes for non-grape wine?
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