Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Snowy Interlude

Dear Mouse,

I dont know if you heard down there in FL, but it snowed a bit up here in NYC.


In honor of Snow Day, I thought I'd share the following recipe, from the Folger Shakespeare Library. It's a real recipe. I think I may try to make it. My fave is the part where you beat it with a tree branch. (And if anyone knows what a "Sillibuffi" is, contact me immediately.)

Happy New Year!

To make Snow.

Take a pint of thicke sweete Creame,
and halfe a pint of Sack* and halfe a
pound of Sugar, and the white of two Eggs
well beaten, and a pretty deale of Limon,
and mingle all this together, and put it into
a pretty big earthen Pan, or Bason, and
take a pretty big birchin rod, and beate it
till the froth doth rise, and thin take it
of with a stirre, and put it into the thing
you would have it goe in, (it should bee
a glaze Sillibuffe pot, if you have it, if not,
a white creame dish will serve: you should
lett it stand a pretty while before you eate
it, because it should sittle with a little
kindi of drinki at the bottom, liki a Sillibuffi.

Mrs. Sarah Longe, Her Receipt Booke, c.1610
* "sack" = sherry
Happy New Year! Come back so we can have a kindi of drinki.

Love,

The Boo



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

somebody needs to comment on this charming choice for the between days of the season...where in god's name did you discover it!
Max

The Greedy Crumpet said...

Sillibuffi: I'd bet cash money this is an ancestor/relative of Syllabub, which is a pudding (dessert) made with similar ingredients to "Snow". Egg whites are sometimes used, but cream, sugar, sherry and lemon are pretty usual.

Syllabub gets a mention in Pepys's diary, but it really came into its own in the 18th century.

The Boo said...

Delicious.