[Sca-cooks] Ambergris

[Terry Decker]

I would suspect the reason there are no period recipes is due to the rarity 
of the ambergris.  It primarily comes from southern oceans, so its 
appearance in Europe was uncommon until the 16th Century or later.  However, 
ambergris is referenced in medical texts from the period.  For example, it 
is an ingredient in a recipe from the Antidotarium magnum from the 12th 
Century (there is an academic translation project underway).  The earliest 
culinary reference I've found is in Milton's Paradise Regained. 17th Century 
(in a floating annotation of all places).

For a historical view, you might try Dannenfeldt, Karl H., Ambergris:  The 
Search For It's Origin. 
https://www.jstor.org/stable/231442?mag=what-is-ambergris-and-where-does-it-come-from

A Taste of Edible Feces (a Smithsonian article) notes the Milton reference 
and a book by Christopher Kemp, Floating Gold:  A Natural (and Unnatural) 
History of Ambergris.

Bear


When comparing the MWBC ‘ “Books of Sweetmeats” to the printed edition of  A 
Closet for Ladies and Gentlewomen, I found numerous instances of recipes 
which were the same, indicating that the manuscript had copied from the 
printed text of 1608 or even possibly a later edition. This would date some 
of the recipes to 1608. Karen Hess never made this connection.

See my introduction here: 
http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/1608closet.pdf 
<http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/1608closet.pdf>

Johnnae



> On Mar 14, 2018, at 2:59 PM, Daniel And elizabeth phelps 
> <dephelps at embarqmail.com> wrote:
>
> Karen Hess in her definitive book regarding Martha Washington's Booke of 
> Cookery states that "The use of musk and ambergris was another 
> characteristic of the sixteenth and seventeenth-century cooking,...."  She 
> further states that she feels "...that its use had become archaic by 
> 1600...".  The Booke of Cookery in recipe 110 calls for it or musk.  The 
> Booke of Sweetmeats, part of the two book set calls for it or musk in 
> recipes 20 and 27.  There are also recipes for its use in perfumes. The 
> problem with MW's book is that while is a transcription of two book handed 
> down to her dating the individual recipes is perhaps somewhat problematic.
>
> Daniel
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