The New Gastronome
Philosopher’s Scones
DULCIS HERMETICUM
by Maddalena Borsato, Jacopo Giacomoni
by Maddalena Borsato, Jacopo Giacomoni
In an attic of Rue Servandoni in Paris, which was used until the early twentieth century as a ceremonial hall of the ancient and accepted Scottish Rite, hidden within a nineteenth-century edition of the Sphynx mystagoga by Athanasius Kirchner, we found a first edition of the Rosicrucian Fama fraternitatis, to whose margin of the last page, in ancient Greek characters, had been handwritten a formula called “alchemical recipe for Tuthmose III”.
The formula consists of a series of orders given by the Egyptian god Thot to an anonymous priest-cook for the preparation of a cake able to restore the corruption of human matter. This cake, known as Philosopher’s scone by the adherents of the United Grand Lodge of England, was the supreme purpose of seventeenth-century alchemical research, a panacea to man’s pains, long life elixir, ultimate hypostasis of the mystical whisperings of the gods.
After an accurate translation of the Greek text, we have chosen to publish at the end of this article the original production process of Philosopher’s scones. Undefeated through the centuries– the ultimate witness of the cosmic web that connects the ages of man–this sweet thing will lead you to the Truth.
Now, you are free not to believe this story (perhaps we do not yet have the authority to persuade you).
Make sure of your enlightened reason, denigrate us for confusing philosophy and esotericism, for having sought the truth in the dark entanglements of astrology and numerology, and not in the clear skies of logos and common sense. And so? Can you really free yourself from faith? Free from any narrative that establishes a higher order of events? A narrative of which you have no proof, but to which you can not but say yes?
A. D. V. E. R. T. I. S. I. N. G.
This is why, given that it is naive to believe that we can eliminate the fideistic aspect that permeates our lives, we want to advise you, in an age famous for the silence of gods and for the prolification of their substitutes, to abandon yourself to the security of rituality that, since the dawn of time, human beings have used for the meticulous preparation of sweet things.
Become a priest of the kitchen, seek the perfect alchemical balance of the ingredients with all the seriousness and investment of meaning that a religion can give you, let the recipe speak the word of the ancient gods, cradle in his authority, have faith in the ultimate dessert, because “understanding is believing, not believing is not understanding”(treatise IX, Corpus Hermeticum).
In short, be aware that truth can never be reached by reason alone, but at least, do it in the only church that will never disappoint you, the one of the pastry.
Photo source © www.aristortele.it
PHILOSOPHER’S SCONES
τὸ ἀρχικον πρόσταγμα
Disciples: 8
Preparation time: 4 Sandglasses 15 minutes
300 gr flour
70 gr sugar
20 gr baking powder
70 gr butter
1 egg
80 ml milk
50 gr fresh blueberries
to stuff: butter and Ananas jam (jam of Ananasximander)
Follow with absolute precision the exact way that I will show you and you will not be wrong.
Collect the powders listed above in a receptacle, leaving aside 100 grams of the total amount of flour.
Add to them the fat substance (butter), reduced into small pieces and stir it with the appropriate wooden tool.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg and milk together and place it in an alembic. Add this substance, little by little into the bowl, mixing with the powders. Finally, add the remaining flour and the underwood fruits.
Form a perfect sphere. Leave to cool. After 6 hours of solar time, roll out the dough, create perfectly identical discs and place them in the Athanor at the exact temperature of 180° for 17 minutes.
Leave them to cool. Cut the puffy discs in half, horizontally; stuff with butter and jam of Ananasximander using the special spatula and place on the altar for the final ritual.
