[Sca-cooks] A question of philosophy

Johnna Holloway johnnae at mac.com
Sun Jun 5 07:23:56 PDT 2011


Or one could mention it casually and let the librarian research it.  
Here are a few recipes with apples and cinnamon. I'll check for  
earlier recipes later. There's a connection of apples with saffron too.

A Proper newe Booke of Cokerye
(England, mid-16th c.)
The original source can be found at Thomas Gloning's website

To make pyes of grene apples. Take your apples and pare them cleane  
and core them as ye wyll a Quince, then make youre coffyn after this  
maner, take a lyttle fayre water and half a dyche of butter and a  
little Saffron, and sette all this upon a chafyngdyshe tyll it be  
hoate then temper your flower with this sayd licuor, and the whyte of  
two egges and also make your coffyn and ceason your apples with  
Sinemone, Gynger and Suger ynoughe. Then putte them into your coffin  
and laye halfe a dyshe of butter above the mand so close your coffin,  
and so bake them.

The Neapolitan recipe collection
(Italy, 15th c - T. Scully, trans.)
The original source can be found at University of Michigan Digital  
General Collection

French-Style Apple Tart. Cook whatever apples you want, whether in  
water or in must syrup, whether in a baking dish in the oven or under  
the coals; then get pinenuts that have soaked a night in water, and  
are not rancid, grind them up with the apples; get a lot of sugar, a  
little cinnamon, a little ginger, a little saffron and a beaker of  
ground and strained pike eggs, and mix and strain everything with  
rosewater or some other water; then make a dough of sugar, flour, oil,  
water and salt, mix them together to make the dough, spread it over  
the bottom of a low pan, and put the mixture in so that it is no more  
than a finger deep; cook it in the oven or on the fire as is directed  
for the other tortes; when almost cooked, get wafers, crumble them  
over the Tart -those wafers should be made with good sugar; when  
cooked, garnish with sugar and rosewater.


A Book of Cookrye
(England, 1591)indexed at medievalcookery.

Tartes of Apples with covers. Mince your Apples very small, season  
them with Sugar, sinamon & ginger, and laye thereon a faire cover, and  
dresse your cover when it is halfe baked with Rosewater and Sugar.

Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin
(Germany, 16th century - V. Armstrong, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website

177 To make an apple tart. Take apples, peel them and grate them with  
a grater, afterwards fry them in fat. Then put in it as much grated  
cheese as apples, some ground cloves, a little ginger and cinnamon,  
two eggs. Stir it together well. Then prepare the dough as for a flat  
cake, put a small piece of fat into it so that it does not rise, and  
from above and below, weak heat. Let it bake slowly.

and from EEBO and 17th century

To make Fritters.

Make your Batter with Ale, and Eggs, and Yest, season it with Milk,  
Cloves, Mace, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Salt, cut your Apples like Beanes,  
then put your Apples and Butter together, fry them in  boyling Lard,  
strew on Sugar, and serve them.

from
A choice manual of rare and select secrets in physick and chyrurgery  
collected and practised by the Right Honorable, the Countesse of Kent,  
late deceased ; as also most exquisite ways of preserving, conserving,  
candying, &c. ; published by W.I., Gent.
Kent, Elizabeth Grey, Countess of, 1581-1651., W. J. 1653.

hope this helps

Johnnae

On Jun 5, 2011, at 4:55 AM, Claire Clarke wrote:. snipped But having,  
as I said,
> gone back to look at several mediaeval (English) recipes for apple  
> fritters,
> I haven't seen any with cinnamon in them (a couple with pepper,  
> which is
> interesting). So I'm guessing the 'apples go with cinnamon'  
> connection which
> seems so automatic to us, hadn't been made in the 15th century.




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