Vinegar  

Posted by Mermaiden in

It's time to make some vinegar!

What's that slimy disk in that jar, you ask?

That's the mother. That's what converts alcohol sugars and turns the liquid into vinegar for you!  

Ain't she a beaut'?


I created my first one quite by accident. You see, I had an old bottle of rice wine for cooking. And well, as fate would have it, one night when I reached for it, something was different.  Yep, it had one of those big, fat, slimy looking disks in it! In fact.... it had several of them!  Well, I'm not quite sure that I really knew what to do with it at the time, but boy did I find it fascinating.

Years later, when I WANTED to make vinegar again, I didn't quite know how to get started. So, I bought some Bragg's brand unfiltered vinegar "with the mother" instead. That's when I learned the secret for a quick and easy start to making your own.  Just pour a little of Bragg's into a bit of wine, and it will grow a mother for you. (And it will convert the wine into vinegar, of course!)

Here we have some old white wine that had started to taste bad. Waste not, want not! Vinegar it is! Before long, this mother I dropped in will do the job.


To further the experiment, I have taken some old grapes, added water, and stirred.  (This is how you make white wine vinegar from scratch.) Okay, so I gave it a (hopefully) quick-start by dropping another mother in there. I'm not entirely sure that will help, or if I should have waited a while, but I will find out. 

At any rate, it is fun to be making my own vinegar, finally. When I get enough, I plan to try some tasty infusions with herbs from my garden including basil, thyme, tarragon, oregano, and marjoram. I wonder how cilantro would taste. I hope my dill comes up so I can try that, too.

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Cloved Fruit  

Posted by Mermaiden in ,

Cloved Fruit

What were some medieval uses for this spice-decorated fruit?
Pomanders and other methods of air fresheners were common in the Middle Ages.  The use of herbs and spices alleviated the not-so-pleasant aromas of the time period.  They were even thought to protect against the plague. It was believed if that you could not smell the foul, that it could not harm you. Other types of air fresheners were also used, such as the nosegay, or tussie-mussie.


What is the historical purpose of this?
In Renaissance times, both exotic spices and citrus fruits were neither commonly available nor easy to come by. Fruits were only available in a particular season and only for a short span of time. Simply possessing such items was a sign of wealth and prestige; what better way to get the attention of a paramour than to give some of that wealth to them?

If a gentleman wished to show a serious desire to court a lady, he would stud a lemon or orange with whole cloves, gems and other expensive baubles.  Then he would present this pomander to the lady of his choice.  This demonstrated that he was wealthy and could provide for the lady.  If she wished to be courted by him, she would accept it.


I’ve heard of other modern uses for this, what are they?
This custom has been adapted for use in the SCA, as well as LARP communities who re-enact Medieval life, as a meaning for introduction and sometimes flirtation.  A good gentle will present the cloved fruit to someone who they wish to bestow the honor to. The recipient will accept as a gesture of thanks for the generosity. The receiver may offer their hand to be kissed in return if they so choose, but they are CERTAINLY not required to do so. Or, the receiver may offer a kiss if they are so inclined and feel comfortable doing so.  However, the giver should *NOT EVER* _EXPECT_ anything in return. It is merely intended to be a fun game mimicking medieval practices.  You see, in the Middle Ages, it would be poor manners to just walk up to someone of the opposite sex and introduce yourself. Introductions would be made by a third party. So we may use the fruit for the introduction in lieu of that practice.

 It can be a bit controversial, and easily misunderstood, so the practice may have fallen by the wayside in most places.

        Just FYI:

             Cloven = split; cleft; divided                             Cloved = studded with cloves
            


                      

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