[Sca-cooks] cherry pottage, what's a #1 can?

[Stefan li Rous]

There was a request on the Lochac list asking for recipes for a period  
cherry pottage. Doing a search in the Florilegium I found a recipe  
done by Kiri:

Alys Dietsch asked:
<<< I am looking for a recipe for Cherry Pottage to eat at festival.
I have eaten the wonderful cherry pottage made by Marion of Abbotsford
and would love her recipe (hint hint) but will take any recipe
available. >>>

Doing a search in the Florilegium, using the search engine found on
the top page, finds a number of cherry recipes including this file
specifically on cherries in the FOOD-FRUITS section:
cherries-msg      (74K)  5/ 9/09  Period cherries and cherry dishes.
Recipes.
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FOOD-FRUITS/cherries-msg.html

Searching specifically for "cherry pottage" finds a recipe in this
file in the FEASTS section:
Coron-Fst-BP-art  (31K)  1/26/01    Coronation feast based on 14C
recipes by Baroness Minowara Kiritsubo
(Kiri)
http://www.florilegium.org/files/FEASTS/Coron-Fst-BP-art.html

======
33.  To make a syrosye.  Tak cheryes & do out the stones & grynde hem
wel & draw hem thorw a streynoure & do it in a pot. & do thereto whit
gres or swete botere & myed wastel bred, & cast thereto good wyn &
sugre, & salte it & stere it wel togedere, & dresse it in disches; &
set thereyn clowe gilofre, & strew sugre aboue.

33.  To make a syrose (cherry pottage).  Take cherries and stone them
and grind them well and draw them through a strainer and place it in a
pot and add white grease or sweet butter and good white bread and add
good wine and sugre and salt, and stir it well together, and put it
into a dish and garnish (?) with cloves and "strew sugar about".
(III.  Utilis Coquinario from Curye on Ingysch)

Redaction:  (Serves 8)

2 1# cans Tart Red Cherries packed in water
2 1/2 tsp. sugar		
2 Tbsp. Butter
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 Cup White bread crumbs
1/2 Cup sweet white wine
whole cloves
Caster sugar	

1.  Process cherries until they form a smooth sauce.
2.   Add in butter, bread crumbs, wine, sugar, and salt, and process
until smooth.
3. Garnish with cloves, sprinkling sugar about on dish
======

After posting this to the Lochac list, the following question was asked:

<<<Stefan li Rous wrote:
> <snip>
>
> 2 1# cans Tart Red Cherries packed in water
> </snip>
An't please thee, good my lord, what is a 1# can?  1 lb?  1 oz?
I've translated a few recipes from US to Aus :) but haven't come across
that one before.

Bianca Valois.>>>

So, Kiri, is this a 1 pound can? Or a number 1 can? (whatever that is)  
or something else?

*I* was wondering about this even before I posted it to the Lochac  
list. And is this an American recipe or something else? I don't  
remember caster sugar being a type of sugar used here, so I'm assuming  
British.

Thanks,
   Stefan

PS: Also this is the only "cherry pottage" recipe I seem to have. Does  
anyone else have another period cherry pottage or something similar?
--------
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 ****