So, with this in mind, I am looking forward to doing this receipt again. Correctly this time. 😄 We all start somewhere when learning something new. However, I am a little skeptical with my modern palate about taste testing an egg yolk that has been poached in rosewater and then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar on top. We shall see!
Eggs in Moonshine is not actual moonshine as we know it today. It means Eggs in the Moonlight. This recipe was popular enough in Tudor England that it appeared in at least 3 different recipe books in 1545, 1550, and 1575.
Egges in Moneshine would have been served as a 2nd course.
The ingredients for eggs in moonshine is rather simplistic. All you need is rosewater, sugar, cinnamon, and egg yolks. However, even though the amount of the ingredients for this recipe is simple, the cost of these ingredients to cover only this recipe in Tudor England would have been worth approximately a day’s wages. A skilled workman could earn about 6 pennies a day. A master mason's or master carpenter's daily wage was 8 pennies a day.
For this recipe, 1 Tbsp cinnamon cost ½ penny. 1 cup sugar was 8 pennies. And 8 eggs would have cost 1 penny and 1 farthing. A farthing was worth ¼ penny. Not including how much it may have cost to make the rosewater, the other 3 ingredients would have cost a total of 9 pennies and a threefarthing, which is worth ¾ penny. With a master mason making only 8 pennies a day, the master mason could not have afforded this one dish, especially when considering all of the other daily household expenses and the cost of raising a family.
This is why ordinary people in Tudor England had a basic diet of vegetables, grains, and simple meats. It was fashionable for the elite to have their food heavily spiced as a means of showing off their wealth. For example, ginger was worth more than gold. To help put all of this in perspective, in 1510, which was a year after Henry VIII came to the English throne, £100 (or 240 pennies) would be worth about £66,000 (or about $78,000 USD) in today’s money.
Starting out, this recipe says to take a dish of rosewater and a dish of sugar. I could not find the exact measurement of what a dish would have been, but my guess is approximately 1 cup since there has to be enough liquid to boil 8 or 9 egg yolks at once. However, for today, I am decreasing the amount of rosewater used, since I will not be boiling that many egg yolks. As a frugal option, I suggest diluting the rosewater with regular water.
Once the rosewater and sugar mixture has begun to boil, then lay the eggs yolks into the water to be poached. The yolks should begin to harden. Remove the yolks from the water, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, and then serve. The recipe does not state if the sugared rosewater should be included on the plate with the yolks when serving. Visually, I think this would make the egg appear to be in the moonlight, or moon shine, as the name of the recipe states. However, this might be up to personal preference.
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