As people sat and ate, after every course, servants would come by and have a bowl in which you would cleanse the juices and foodstuffs from your hands, or you would go to a specific room and do the same thing. I plan on having wait staff come around after every course with a couple of towels and allow people to cleanse their hands for the next course.
I am using information from Hugh Platt and
In Progress
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A Scented Water
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Waters For Handwashing
Le Menagier de Paris translated by Tania Bayard and published as A medieval Home companion
Plain hand washing waters were used at the medieval table, being water with rose or violet petals in it, or an infusion of herbs.
To make water for washing hands at table: Boil sage, then strain the water and cool it until it is a little more than lukewarm. Or use chamomile, marjoram, or rosemary boiled with orange peel. Bay leaves are also good.
My Translation:
I extrapolated, I did not like how making the rose water warm or hot lost most of the scent, so I used good old distilled water and boiled it.
Ingredients:
10 Stalks Rosemary leaves taken off
30 Stalks Lavender bruised
3 bunches Spearmint
6 Oranges peeled no pith
2 cups Rose Water
2 Cups Vodka to set it
I let this get up to boil and then allowed it to simmer for 1 hour, then allowed it to cool down I added the orange peel as it was cooling down. When it was completely cool I added 2 cups of Rose Water.
I noticed my water is a lovely green and when I added the orange peel it is now a strange greenish orange.
added by Cilean Stirling on May 31 2010
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