To Make Truffles for the Sea is a traditional Elizabethan recipe for a classic sweet (candy) made from a blend of sugar, gum, water and spices that's brought together into a paste, shaped and baked; that was also used as the base for pills and pastilles. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Elizabethan version of: To Make Truffles for the Sea.
FIrſt make paſte of ſugar & gum Dragagant mixed together, thē mixe therewith a reaſonable quātitiy of the powder of Cinamon & ginger, and if you pleaſe a little muske alſo, and make it vpp into rols of ſeuerall faſhions, gilding them heere and there. In the ſame manner you may alſo conuey any purgatiue, vomit, or other medicing into ſugar paſte.
Modern Redaction
I am adding a version of this recipe as it is historically very interesting. Basically what we have here are sugar pills that can be adapted for use with any medicine base (here only spices are added).
Gum Dragagant (also known as gum tracacanth) is a natural mucilaginous substance produced by one of several low spiny shrubs of the genus Astragalus, among them A. gummifer. A. eriostylus, A. adscendens, A. brachycalyx, and A. microcephalus (plants that are found in the mountains of Asia Minor and neighboring lands). It exudes through natural fissures and incisions in the plant stems and was valued during Medieval and Elizabethan times as a thickener and a glue for foods as it is odourless and nearly tasteless. However, only a small portion of it is soluble and it has to be soaked in water for several hours so that the soluble portion can thicken the water. It is used pharmaceutically today to impart firmness to pills and lozenges.
So this is the ancestor or fore-runner of a number of medicines still used to this very day.
Crush the gum tracacanth in a mortar and mix with the water then set aside to infuse for 2 hours. After this time pass the mixture through a fine-meshed sieve covered with a double layer of muslin (this separates away the solids).
Sift together the powdered sugar and spices into a bowl. Add the gum mixture, a little at a time, incorporating until you have a solid but dry paste.
Form this paste into small balls and eggs and set aside in a warm place over night to dry. You may, if desired, gild with gold leaf or edible silver.
The Elizabethans would have blended medicines with sweet confections such as these, and this version was obviously intended to be taken to sea.
