Powder-douce (also poudre-douce, literally "sweet powder") is a spice mix used in Medieval and Renaissance cookery.1 Like modern spice mixes, such as Italian seasoning or garam masala, there was not a set ingredient list, and it varied from cook to cook.2 The author of the 14th-century manuscript Le Ménagier de Paris suggested a mix of grains of paradise, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and galangal.3
The 16th-century Catalan cookbook Llibre del Coch gives two recipes for polvora de duch:4 The first is made with ginger, cinnamon, cloves and sugar, all finely chopped and sifted with a cedaç (a fine sieve made of horsehair5), while the second adds galangal and long pepper.6
There is a related mixed spice called powder-forte,1 literally "strong powder".
References
References
- The Gentleman's Magazine. Early English newspapers. F. Jefferies. 1905. p. 325. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
- Breverton, T. (2015). The Tudor Kitchen: What the Tudors Ate & Drank. Amberley Publishing. p. pt268. ISBN 978-1-4456-4875-0. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
- The Goodman of Paris (Le Menagier de Paris): A Treatise on Moral and Domestic Economy by A Citizen of Paris, c.1393
- Schully, Terence (1997). The Vivendier:A Critical Edition with English Translation. p. 37. ISBN 9780907325819.
- "GLOSSARY OF MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE CULINARY TERMS". Thousand Eggs. Archived from the original on 2021-04-15. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
- Libre del Coch, Recipes 29-30