How to Milk an Almond Stuff an Egg And Armor a Turnip A ...

Mappae Clavicula: a Little Key to the
World of Medieval Techniques, tr. Cyril
Stanley Smith and John G. Hawthorne,
Transactions of the American Philosophical
Society, Philadelphia, 1974. This is a
collection of technical recipes which includes
three candy recipes; the manuscript translated
here dates to the 12th c. but there are earlier
versions with fewer recipes going back to the
9th c.
Ingredients
Asafoetida: Strongly flavored spice
available in Indian grocery stores, referred to
as “hing” or “heeng”.
Beef Broth: Canned beef broth is usually
concentrated; what we use is either that,
diluted in an equal quantity of water, or beef
broth from beef bullion—1 cube per cup of
water.
Camphor: Edible camphor can sometimes
be found in Indian grocery stores; it is very
strongly flavored.
Cassia, aka chinese cinnamon: Cassia is
what is usually sold as cinnamon in the U.S.,
as distinguished from “true cinnamon,” aka
“ceylon cinnamon.” The two spices have
similar but not identical flavors.
Clarified butter, aka ghee: Available in
Indian grocery stores; Indian cookbooks often
have instructions for making it.
Coriander: Unless described as fresh we
interpret it as meaning coriander seed, with
the leaf of the same plant labelled “cilantro.”
Date syrup, aka dibs: Can sometimes be
found in Middle Eastern grocery stores.
Galingale: A root similar in appearance to
ginger, used in Thai cooking, and sold in
oriental grocery stores, fresh or ground,
sometimes as “Galingas.”
Ghee: Clarified Butter.
Gourd aka pumpkin: Modern squashes and
pumpkins are from the New World; the
problem of identifying the old world
equivalent is discussed in the article “Late
Period and Out of Period Foods.” (p. 138).
Our best guess is the opo gourd, often
available in Chinese grocery stores in the U.S.
4
Mastic: A strongly flavored resin; I like to
describe it as dehydrated turpentine. Try
Middle Eastern or Indian groceries and use it
in very small quantities.
Oranges/orange juice: in Europe and the
Middle East before about the 16 th century, this
would have meant sour oranges. For more on
citrus fruit, see p. 140.
Powder fort: A spice mixture mentioned in
various period recipes; we have not yet been
able to find a description of what spices it
contains. What we use is a mixture
containing, by weight: 1 part cloves, 1 part
mace, 1 part cubebs, 7 parts cinnamon, 7 parts
ginger, and 7 parts pepper, all ground. This is
a guess, based on very limited evidence; it
works for the dishes in which we have tried it.
Poudre douce: A sweet spice mixture. The
composition probably varied; we usually use a
mix of four parts sugar, 2 parts cinnamon, and
1 part ginger.
Samidh flour: Described in the al-Warraq
translation as “the finest variety of white
wheat flour.” Charles Perry thinks it may be
semolina, but is not sure; that is what we have
used. Cake flour is one possible alternative.
Sesame Oil: In Islamic recipes, this is the
clear to yellowish sesame oil sold in Middle
Eastern grocery stores, which is made from
untoasted sesame seeds and has only a slight
flavor; something very similar can be found in
health food stores. Chinese sesame oil, which
is much darker, is made from toasted sesame
seeds and is very strongly flavored.
Sumac: A sour red powder, found in
Iranian grocery stores (and restaurants).
Tarot: A starchy root that can sometimes
be found in Chinese grocery stores.
Tail: Fat from the tail of a fat-tailed sheep,
used as a cooking oil in Islamic recipes. Since
it is not available at the local butcher, we
substitute lamb fat.
Verjuice: Sour juice, usually from unripe
grapes. We use sour grape juice from Middle
Eastern grocery stores. Dilute vinegar can be
used as a substitute; two parts of verjuice
seems to be roughly equivalent to one part of
vinegar. Verjuice produced for the gourmet
trade and priced accordingly has become
increasingly common over the last few years.