[Sca-cooks] On Nattes

Susanne Mayer susanne.mayer5 at chello.at
Wed Jun 30 14:03:10 PDT 2010


I do know for a fact that you still find wafer irons (round about palm sized 
sometimes with "pictures" espercialy if they were intended for comiunion 
wafers with overlong handles) at antique markets and high class flea markets 
(pricy items and you need a wood fired stove for themn to work,...)

I will have to check if there sis a oblaten recipe in Nostradamus (he does 
use it but I haven't had it in hand for quite some time).

here is a german site with a bit of history and some pictures, maybe you 
will find some things of interest on these pages:

http://www.waffelbar.de/Waffelgeschichte.html

http://www.waffelbar.de/Waffeloblaten.html

the term nattes f. in french does also mean mat which would make sense here 
and with the love for all french (if it is not spanish it has to be 
french,... the aristocracy either followed the french or spanish / 
habsburgian court) this seem a good "translation"  Mats or Matten does not 
sound so "upity"

http://dictionary.reverso.net/french-english/collaborative/nattes/45333

French » English
nattes   n.
1) braids (pl.f.), 2) mats (pl.f.)

Katharina

> Message: 9
> Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2010 20:59:38 -0700 (PDT)
> From: wheezul at canby.com
> To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org
> Subject: [Sca-cooks] On Nattes
> Message-ID:
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>
> I think I have more questions than answers!
>
> Basically these are layered skins from evaporated milk layered with sugar,
> rosewater and wafers.  The first question I have is about the name of the
> dish "Nattes".  I don't quite know if I can translate this - maybe someone
> here knows.  To naetschen is the Swiss vernacular for making a popping
> sound when opening one's mouth.  A Natter is an adder.  Nett is a net.  I
> wonder if nett could have a wider meaning of a cover or blanket.  Then the
> name would make sense, but I can't see how net would apply to the final
> product otherwise.  However the word bestrichen does mean to cover with a
> net as well.  Maybe it's like a "Nonne" (nun) and is just a name.
>
> The next question is about wafers - ablaten/oblaten in this case.  I know
> that they refer to unleavened communion wafers and are still available for
> baking German lebkuchen.  It's used a with a little variation in Wecker,
> so I'm not sure they are always these and medievally appeared to mean some
> sort of baked good (outside of a communion host).  However, Anna Wecker
> also says that they are made from round flat irons and implies that one
> may "find them" rather than "make them".  Further, a recipe in another
> cookbook for filled oblaten specified that one should take care to make
> sure that it stayed white before frying them.  So I'm leaning toward the
> white wafer concept.  Does anyone have a period recipe for a communion
> wafer?
>
> Anyway, the recipe with the German without the diacritcal marks:
>
> Von Nattes
> Mann thut sechs oder sieben stubichen
> Milch in einen Messingskessel / lests fuenff oder sechs
> mahl auffsieden vnd scheumets alzeit rein ab / gibt sie
> darnach in etzliche Erdenescheusseln so wirdt oben eine
> haut darauff / die sol man abnehment vnnd leggen sie
> eine auff die ander in Confect schalen oder Silber
> besprenget sie mit Rosenwasser oder Zucker vnnd be-
> stricht sie mit Ablaten / seud dan die Milch fuenff oder
> sechs mahl wider auff / das thut man offt vnd nimbts
> allwege die haut davon vnd bestrewet eine jede dann-
> wenn man sie in die Confectschalen legt mit Rosen-
> wasser vnd Zucker / besticht sie mit Ablaten / etc.
>
> About Nattes
> One does six or seven stubichen [liquid measure]
> [of] milk in a brass kettle / let it five or six
> times come to a boil and skim [it] up clean all the time / give it
> next in some earthenware bowls so it will on the top
> a skin thereon [develop] / this should one take up and lay it
> one on the other in a confect dish or silver [dish]
> sprinkle it with rose water or sugar and cover
> them with wafers / bring to a boil then the milk five or
> six times again / that one does repeatedly and takes
> each time the skin therefrom and bestrews each one then
> when one lays them in the confect dish with rosewater
> and sugar / cover it with wafers / etc.
>
> Katherine
>
> p.s. I'm having a bit of trouble reading the last couple letters in the
> center gutter of my copy of the facsimile so if someone notes that the
> words at the end aren't quite right, please let me know.
>
>
>
>
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> End of Sca-cooks Digest, Vol 50, Issue 67
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