The Bloud of Hearbes

This was so weird, I just had to put it on a page. I found this recipe in A Garden of Herbs, by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde, who in turn found it Delights for Ladies by Sir Hugh Platt, which was published in 1594. (This is reproduced exactly as I found it in Ms. Rodhe’s book-if it doesn’t make sense, blame her.) Somehow, the idea of the “bloud of hearbes” sounded very goth to me….

HOW TO DRAW THE BLOUD OF HEARBES Stamp the hearbe, put the same into a large glasse, leaving two parts emptie (some commend the juice of the hearbe only) nip or else lute the glasse very well : digest it in balneo 15 or 16 daies, and you shall find the same very red : divide the watrish part; and that which remaineth, is the bloud or essence of the herb.

I still don’t have a clue as to what you do with the “bloud of hearbes” once you separate it out, but a kind reader, Teleny, friend of cats, has clued me in on just what balneo is:

Balneo was the name given to a double boiler, specifically one with a large tub on the bottom (like a roasting pan) and various handled saucepans inside it. French restaurants use them (under the name bain-marie, or Mary bath — perhaps a corruption of something having to do with sea water?) to keep sauces warm over the course of the day in the kitchen. Most French sauce recipes are simply doctored versions of one or two basic recipes, so it’s practical to make a large pot of basic sauce at the beginning of the day, and then take a little out at a time, mixing it with whatever is needed to make “specialty” sauces for each dish. The bath pan was and is constantly on the stove, replenished as needed, and is often kept on a low simmer rather than a boil.

Applied to herbalism, what could be surmised is that you would take your essence-in-the-making, put it into a glass bottle, cover the top well, and allow it to sit at a low, even warmth for two weeks. Since electric stoves aren’t adaptable to this, I’d suggest a heating pad, or even a few light bulbs as a heat source.