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A Tidbit from History

As an aid to those who wish to attempt to cook more forsoothly, I have listed below a few spices and cooking terms which are no longer in common use.

coffin  --  a mold of pastry for a pie.

confection --   the sugar paste in which whole spices were dipped; confectioned spices were used as garnishes and eaten at the end of feasts, to aid digestion.

cubeb  --  a berry from Java which resembles a peppercorn and tastes somewhat like allspice; it cannot be duplicated, but a blend of half pepper and half allspice may serve as a substitute.

farce --   stuffing.

galingale --   an aromatic toot; the main ingredient of galyntyne, a pungent medieval sauce. Boorde recommends galingale to "comfort the stomake." Powdered galingale is available in shops which specialize in Indonesian spices.

good powders --   potent ground spices.

grains of paradise --   aromatic pungent seeds of a tropical West African plant. Cardamom may be used as a substitute.

Lombardy mustard --  a paste of ground mustard seed with honey, wine and vinegar.

powder --   ground spice

rose hips --   the fleshy bright colored fruit of the rose plant; rose hips have a tart taste and are known today as an excellent source of vitamin C.

sandalwood --   the pulverized wood of an East Indian tree used primarily to color food dark red.

spikenard --   an aromatic plant of northern India whose root was used in preparation of medicinal ointments for curing bruises; the very smell of the plant was said to destroy fleas.

strong powder (pouder fort) --   probably ground ginger or a blend of cinnamon and mace; the blend may have included any of the pungent spices such as cubeb, pepper, or clove.

sweet powder (pouder douce) --   probably the ground sweet aromatic spices such as aniseed, fennel seed, and nutmeg; there is no indication that these spices were blended with sugar.

vernaccia --   a strong sweet Italian wine. Muscatel may be substituted.

white grease --   lard (pork fat)

From: To The King's Taste. Richard II's book of feasts and recipes, by Lorna J. Sass, published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art., ISBN 0 870990 133 7

Stay tuned for the next list: fruits and vegetables.

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