[Sca-cooks] whisks

[Stefan li Rous]

Katherine asked:

<<< The flowers are tiny and white, but turned brownish as they wilted in
the milk. They added a delicate flavor to the mix. I used a whisk to
stir in the flour, which got the job done, but was not used by cooks in
Rumpolt's time. 

Guillaume
********************************

Question about the whisk.  So far as I know they didn't have our modern
equivalent but (IIRC) at least one of the German recipes for 'schnee' or
'snow' or some other beaten egg white recipe calls for the use of a besom,
which I gather would perhaps be like a small broom-like bundle of thin
branches that could be used to whip much like a whisk.  Am I on the wrong
mental track here?  Should I track down where I read this and share? If it
was a kitchen implement, why wouldn't they use it when needed? >>>

Please do track down where you read this. If you can.

Here is some previous discussion we've had on previous whisks. Usually twigs. I believe. Okay, this may be the same as this besom you mention, although this is the first I've heard that term.
whisks-msg (8K) 9/ 4/06 Period whisks.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-UTENSILS/whisks-msg.html

<<< Geeking out on period cooking equipment, >>>

Well, if you haven't been there, perhaps some of the files in the FOOD-UTENSILS section of the Florilegium might be of interest. For instance:
cooking-pots-art (12K) 4/11/06 "The Vassal with the Vessel" by Mistress Andrea MacIntyre, OM, OSC, OBT.

lea-cook-uten-msg (14K) 11/24/06 Leather cooking vessels and utensils.

mortar-pestle-msg (18K) 3/13/09 Mortar and pestles. Sources.

p-stoves-msg (6K) 6/ 5/02 Period cooking stoves.

pottery-cookng-msg(22K) 1/29/08 Cooking in clay pots. Do and don'ts.

strainers-msg (28K) 1/25/04 Period sieves and strainers.

utensils-msg (214K) 3/20/08 Utensils, plates, trenchers, cast iron pots.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
   Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****