[Sca-cooks] "Pine Sugar?"

[Joel Lord]

This isn't native to China, but might lead in interesting directions:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinus_lambertiana

"Sugar Pine", with a sweet resin.


On 9/20/18 10:19 AM, Alec Story wrote:
> I've got an interesting translation problem that I'd love to pick the
> council's brains about.
>
> As mentioned in my previous email, I'm working on these 13th century
> Chinese sharbets which are typically a fruit syrup, possibly sweetened,
> which you dilute into water to make a lemonade-like drink.  This book has 7
> recipes, 5 of which are what I've just described, 1 which is clearly a
> spiced short mead (very tasty!) and 1 which is... odd:
>
> Fragrant Sugar Thirst-Water
> Take one jin of top-quality pine sugar.  One wine-cup and a half of water.
>    Take half a qian of Korean mint leaves [Agastache rugosa].  One lump of
> spikenard [Nardostachys jatamansi].  Ten big slices of ginger.  Boil them
> together until cooked.  Strain out a clear liquid and fill a pottery vessel
> with it.  Add a lump of musk-deer [Moschus moschiferus] musk about the size
> of green beans.  Half a liang of white sandalwood.  Under summer moons,
> submerging this in ice is extremely fragrant and sweet.
>
> What the heck is pine sugar?  The Chinese words in question are
> 松 song
> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%9D%BE
> Medieval Chinese: "pinetree; symbolic of longevity and of steadfastness in
> adversity (because remains green in winter) a) generic term for evergreen
> confiers"
>
> 糖 tang
> https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%B3%96
> Medieval Chinese: "sugar(ed); candied."
>
> In most contexts, X-tang means "sugar derived from X," but it is my
> understanding that pine sap is too viscous and full of turpentine and other
> chemicals to make extracting sugar from it feasible.  Could this be from
> some other conifer?
>
> Modernly, song-tang means a kind of peanut brittle made with pine nuts
> instead of peanuts, but I suspect this is not the medieval usage, although
> it sounds delicious.
>
> - Þórfinnr
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-- 
Joel Lord