Pynyonade facts for kids
Pynyonade (also spelled pinionade) was a special sweet treat from medieval England. It was a type of confection or candy made mainly with pine nuts. Another key ingredient was a medieval spice mix called powder-douce. Some old recipes for pynyonade also used honey, which might have made it similar to the nut brittle we eat today.
This sweet was brought to England from the Mediterranean region. It often came in boxes with other popular sweets like festucade, citrinade, pomade, and gingerbread. We know that people enjoyed pynyonade because there are records showing that a woman named Katherine de Norwich received boxes of it in 1336. The name "pynyonade" likely comes from the Catalan word pinyonada or the Old Occitan word pinhonat.
What Was Pynyonade?
Pynyonade was a kind of sweet snack popular during the Middle Ages in England. It was made using pine nuts, which are the edible seeds from pine cones. These nuts were mixed with a special blend of spices known as powder-douce. This spice mix usually included sweet spices like cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and sugar.
Sometimes, honey was added to the recipe. This would have made the pynyonade firm and crunchy, much like the nut brittle you might find today. It was a luxury item, often imported from warmer countries around the Mediterranean Sea.
How Was Pynyonade Made?
One of the most famous medieval cookbooks, The Forme of Cury, gives us a recipe for pynyonade. This cookbook was written for the cooks of King Richard II.
The recipe describes how to make it:
- First, blanched (peeled) almonds were used. They were ground and mixed with a good broth to make a thick paste.
- This mixture was then heated on the fire.
- Next, pine nuts were fried in oil or animal fat (called grease).
- Finally, the fried pine nuts were added to the almond mixture along with white Powdour douce, which was a light-colored spice mix.
This process would have created a rich and flavorful sweet treat.
See also
In Spanish: Piñonada para niños
