Subject: Peanut Brittle - Origins?

From: [email-masked] (TedK106442)
Date: 24 Mar 1994 01:00:03 -0500

I am researching the origins and development of peanut brittle.  Call this a
personal crusade.  My father-in-law professionally made it in San Rafael for
years.  I assume it started in the southeast in America sometime.  But haven't
a clue.  Anyone out there got even clues to start with?

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From: [email-masked] (Nick Maclaren)
Date: 24 Mar 1994 11:13:42 GMT

>a clue.  Anyone out there got even clues to start with?

At a guess, it would be a derivation of a much older recipe using walnuts.
It would be surprising if the latter were much newer than hard-crack toffee
in general, but I have little idea when that started.

Nick Maclaren
University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street,
Cambridge CB2 3QG, England.
Email:  [email-masked]
Tel.:   +44 223 334761
Fax:    +44 223 334679

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From: [email-masked] (David Friedman)
Date: 25 Mar 1994 12:27:32 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] (Nick

> in general, but I have little idea when that started.

Candies based on nuts and sugar syrup appear in islamic cookbooks at least
as early as the 13th century. I am not sure if any are very close to peanut
brittle.
-- 
David Friedman
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Mark Waks)
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 1994 21:48:42 GMT

>as early as the 13th century. I am not sure if any are very close to peanut

A shade more detail, to be fair: the islamic cookbooks are,
unfortunately, rather ambiguous about how long you cook the sugar
syrup. My recollection, without having the source to hand, is that my
favorite recipe specifies that you cook it until it is tacky between
the fingers. I personally take this to mean roughly cooking until the
sugar is completely dissolved (and will turn brittle when cooled); I
believe that David has argued that this is *much* too hot to handle,
and so doesn't sound right.

It's not completely clear, but cooking this recipe (which is almond-based,
BTW) to my taste results in something *very* like peanut brittle (albeit
with a little more sugar and a little less nut than is common today)...

				-- Justin du Coeur
				   Who should note that he is quite
				     indebted to David on this score, since
				     the recipe comes out of his collection...

Random Quote du Jour:

"There is absolutely nothing new about the prurient relationship between
 technology and sexuality. Sex, as we know, is a heat-seeking missile
 that forever seeks out the newest medium for its transmission."
		-- Gerard Van der Leun

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From: [email-masked] (Stephen Bloch)
Date: 30 Mar 1994 10:19:43 -0500

Mark Waks <[email-masked]> wrote (in reference to the 13th-century
>with a little more sugar and a little less nut than is common today)...

I'd also like to point out that the recipe in question is named "hulwa"
in Arabic, which I suspect is a cognate for the Hebrew "halvah".  Which
doesn't mean modern halvah has any resemblance to 13th-century hulwa, but
it's something to consider.

-- 
					Stephen Bloch
				     [email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (David Friedman)
Date: 1 Apr 1994 04:57:08 GMT

> it's something to consider.

I believe the word means "sweet" in arabic, and is applied to lots of
different candy like things. I don't think the one Justin is refering to is
 a recipe called "hulwa," although it might be in a section of a cookbook
called "hulwa."

Another cognate shows up in modern Indian cooking, and is totally unlike
halvah.
-- 
David/Cariadoc
[email-masked]

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From: [email-masked] (Mark Waks)
Date: Fri, 1 Apr 1994 18:42:42 GMT

>a recipe called "hulwa," although it might be in a section of a cookbook

Don't recall the section off the top of my head -- in the notes that I
have at work, it says that it's on page A-23 of David's edition of the
Manuscrito Anonimo (in the Charles Perry translation). Anyway, the
dish is called "Sukkariyya" (and I get the impression that even *that*
is a relatively generic term)...

				-- Justin
				   Who thinks that this is simply one of the
				     coolest cookbooks around to just *play*
				     with...

Random Quote du Jour:

"How many samurai does it take to change a lightbulb?
 Two.  One to change it, and one to cut his head off if he fails."
		-- Fujimoto

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From: [email-masked] (Terry Nutter)
Date: 2 Apr 1994 19:57:29 GMT

>is a relatively generic term)...

My husband, who speaks Arabic, says that "sukkariyya" means, roughly,
"sugarism", or "sugar stuff".  (Yup, the "sukkar" bit is a real cognate.)  
Hulwa/halvah (or however it's spelled), on the other hand, does not mean 
"sweet".  It's a cognate of a word that means "ornament".

Cheers,

Terry Nutter     Blacksburg, VA     [email-masked]     (703)552-1598