Powder Douce

Powder Douce was a generic name for a classic sweet spice blend used in the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance in dessert and fruit dishes. "Douce" in French means "sweet," thus "sweet powder." It was mix you would have on hand, just as we would have curry powder and "poultry seasoning" today.

There was no set list of ingredients, rather just the spirit of an idea that you attempted to capture. It may well be that various merchants selling it would have kept their ingredients and proportions secret. The anonymous writer of Le Menagier de Paris (1393) suggested for powder douce: cinnamon, ginger, grains of paradise, nutmeg, galingale, and sugar, all ground and mixed together. Some other recipes suggested sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and mace.

Though the exact ingredients and exact proportions are not certain, in 1790, Samuel Pegge, in his "The Forme of Cury - A Roll of Ancient English Cookery" suggested it was ground galyngal, or ground mixed spices.

The temptation is to think that it must have always contained sugar, but then some recipes that called for it also called for sugar to be added as well. Perhaps the Powder Douce they had in mind had no sugar in it, or perhaps the recipes just wanted additional sugar.

The English sometimes called it "duke's powder" instead of "douce powder."

Here's one interpretation for Powder Douce:

3 tablespoons of ginger
2 tablespoons of sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon
1 tablespoon powdered bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Original Recipe: in Le Menagier de Paris there is a recipe for Fine Powder: Pouldre fine

Prenez gingembre blanc (une once et une drachme?) canelle triée (un quarteron?) giroffle et graine de chascun demi quart d'once, et de succre en pierre (un quarteron?) et faictes pouldre .

Translation by Janet Hinson: Fine Powder of spices

Take an (ounce and a drachma?) of white ginger, a (quarter-ounce?) of hand-picked cinnamon, half a quarter-ounce each of grains and cloves, and (a quarter-ounce ?) of rock sugar, and grind to powder.

Original Recipe: in Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco there is a recipe for Sweet spices, enough for many good and fine things

Specie dolce per assay cosse bone e fine.

Le meior specie dolze fine che tu fay se vuoi per lampreda in crosta e per altri boni pessi d'aque dolze che se faga in crosto e per fare bono brodetto e bon savore. Toi uno quarto de garofali e una onza de bon zenzevro e toy una onza de cinamo leto e toy arquanto folio e tute queste specie fay pestare insiema caxa como te piaxe, e se ne vo' fare piú, toy le cosse a questa medessima raxone et è meravigliosamente bona.

Translation by Helewyse de Birkestad, OL (Louise Smithson):

Sweet spices, enough for many good and fine things

The best fine sweet spices that you can make, for lamprey pie or for other good fresh water fish that one makes in a pie, and for good broths and sauces. Take a quarter (of an ounce) of cloves, an ounce of good ginger, an ounce of soft (or sweet) cinnamon, and take a quantity (the same amount of?) Indian bay leaves (*) and grind all these spices together how you please. And if you don’t want to do more, take these things (spices) in the same ratio (without grinding) and they will be marvelously good.