Bonnet and Coif

 Some pictures of the new bonnet with one of my embroidered coifs. (My actual head is a lot bigger than this foam hat form, so the bonnet and coif sit better.)

Tudor Brimless Bonnet and Sleeves

 I have been feeling more motivated and enthused to create lately. With the SCA in many parts of Australia starting to get back to normal, there is a lot to be done. Last month I plodded along doing little jobs and this month I am starting to get some things finished.

Here is a set of Tudor/Elizabethan sleeves and bonnet that I made from a mystery wool blend that I got from an op shop. It is the first  time that I have made unlined sleeves. If I was planning on making unlined sleeves, I would probably enclose the seam that runs down the back of the arm. In this case, the wool is reasonably thick and I was concerned that an enclosed seam would be too bulky. Instead I whipped the seam edges down after the seam was sewn. The hems are all hand sewn. 

Before sewing the sleeve, I cut slashes with a very sharp pair of embroidery scissors. I marked the slashes out with a Frixion marker on one sleeve, cut them, and then turned the sleeve over to use as a template for cutting the second sleeve. I put a couple of stitches top and bottom on a few of the slashes near the top of the sleeve where I thought the pressure of being pinned to the bodice armscye might put too much strain and cause the split to shred or pull through. I might have to end up going around each slash with stitching to stop them fraying; only time will tell. 

I very much liked using pins to put the sleeves on rather than faffing around with eyelets (making eyelets is a job I dislike). I used florist pins for lack of a better resource, and I would like to find some more suitable and period appropriate pins.

The brimless bonnet (or 'barret') was made from the leftover wool. I have a decorative cooking mould that looked to be around the right size for my head. I traced around it onto sandwich paper and added 1.5 cm seam allowance. I cut out two pieces from  that pattern and sewed them together on the machine. Then I carefully clipped the curves. 

I made a guess as to the size hole I would need for my head and cut that out carefully after marking it evenly with  chalk. (It needed a bit more after the first try on, so I marked another line slightly outside the cut line and took a little more off.) Another try on revealed that it looked pretty right, so I turned the hem of the 'hole' under and sewed it by hand. Then I turned the bonnet right side out and ran a blunt knitting needle along the inside of the seam a few times to make it sit nicely.

This is an extremely easy hat to make, and it looks great over a coif. I love fast projects and I like the look of this style of hat.

Here are some examples of similar types of bonnets in sixteenth century portraiture:

'Mary, Duchess of Richmond and Somerset', c1532-1533

Mary FitzRoy, Duchess of Richmond and Somerset (1519-1557), formerly Lady Mary Howard, was the only daughter-in-law of King Henry VIII of England, being the wife of his only acknowledged illegitimate son, Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Richmond and Somerset. The drawing is part of the Royal Collection Trust, Windsor Castle. From The Drawings of Holbein at Windsor Castle by K. T. Parker. [The Phaidon Press Ltd, Oxford & London, 1945]. Artist Hans Holbein the Younger. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images). Image and background information from: https://www.gettyimages.com.au/detail/news-photo/mary-duchess-of-richmond-and-somerset-c1532-1533-mary-news-photo/624177878

Portrait Of A Woman In A White Coif by Hans Holbein  (1497/1498–1543) c 1532-34. Image from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woman_in_a_White_Coif.jpg

A portrait of Catherine Parr (1512–1548), sixth and last wife of Henry VIII of England by an unknown artist. In this portrait of Catherine Parr, it looks like she might be wearing a brimless bonnet over her coif. My bonnet is un-decorated, to go with a more middle-class ensemble, but this portrait shows potential decoration ideas for future bonnets. Image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Parr#/media/File:Catherine_Parr_from_NPG.jpg

Portrait of an Englishwoman c. 1532 by Hans Holbein the Younger. Image from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hansholbeintheyounger12.jpg

Happy Mother's Day

 

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mums, Nanas, Foster Mums, Step Mums, Pet Mums, Bereaved Mums and people who wish they could be Mums!

A Beginner’s Introduction to Common Medieval and Renaissance Ingredients

This is a guide to some terms which may be confusing to cooks who are new to SCA period recipes. The list is by no means exhaustive, and terms should be taken in context of the period that the recipe is from.

Abalana/Avellana/ - Hazelnut or filbert 

Allium – garlic or leek 

Alkanet – plants whose roots produce a red dye {*potentially toxic*} 

Almandes – almonds  

Amygdala – Almonds 

Anas – a duck or drake 

Architricoes – prepared sheep testicles

Apium – celery or parsley 

Apricocks - apricots

Aqua – water 

Artemisia – the herb mugwort, motherwort or tarragon 

Astacus – crab or lobster 

Avena – a species of oat 

Avens – a herb which has a clove-like flavour, also called Herb Bennet

Barm – live yeast found on brewing (‘working’) beer and ale

Blitum  - orrage, arrack, pot herb or possibly spinach 

Bragot/braggot – a sweet, spiced or herbed ale

Brassica – cabbage or kale 

Brawn – flesh or meat, often boar or pig.

Canelle, canel – cassia. A less expensive alternative to cinnamon

Cardamomum – cardamom [not to be confused with ‘Cardamum’: cress or nasturtium]

Cheat – bread made from whole wheat with the bran removed

Cicer – chickpea 

Clapbread- a type of bread made from barley

Clowys – cloves

Coddlings, pippins – types of apple

Coffyn or coffin – a pastry crust

Comfits – sugar coated seeds used as a palate refresher and to freshen breath. Often caraway, fennel, anise etc are used.

Costmary – mint geranium; used as a vegetable, medicine and to flavour ale

Coney, conins, cunins – rabbit 

Condio – to salt or season 

Crocus – saffron 

Cubebs, Quybibes – dried black berries used as a spice; flavour is a cross between allspice and black pepper

Curcuma – turmeric 

Damascena – plum or prune (fresh or dried) from Damascus 

Dittany of Crete – a herb which is also called Wild Basil or Stone Mint. A relative of oregano, which is a good substitute.

Dulcia: sweets or confections 

Eruca – the herb family Rocket 

Faba – bean or pulse 

Far – corn or grain or grain meal [Farina: grain meal] 

Fissile – cottage cheese 

Frumentum: grain, wheat, barley 

Garum- fermented fish sauce 

Galingale – a tuber used modernly in Asian food. It has a hot, gingery flavour

Gingiber or zingiber – ginger 

Glis or glires – doormouse /dormouse

Grated bread- breadcrumbs made with fresh bread

Graynes of Paradise – grains of paradise; a warm spice. This can be difficult to find and a mix of cardamom and black pepper can be a useful substitute. 

Great raisyns – raisins of grapes

Gum Dragon – gum tragacanth; a gum derived from Middle Eastern legumes and used for stabilising and stiffening (especially in sugar plate recipes)

Holus or olus- kitchen vegetables, often cabbage 

Horse bread- a type of bread made from pea flour, bean flour or similar

Hydromeli or hydromel – rainwater and honey boiled together to form a reduction 

Hysitium or Isicium – a hash, sausage or mince 

Jus or Ius – juice, liquor, broth or sauce 

Lactua – lettuce 

Lepus – hare 

Mace or maces – a spice made from the blade between the seed coat and the husk of the nutmeg

Mallow – marshmallow, common mallow, hollyhock

Malus – fruit tree or apple tree 

Manchet – fine wheat white bread, also Pandemaine and Cocket (less fine than pandemaine)

Mel- honey 

Mentha – mint 

Mespila – medlar fruit 

Morat – a mix of mulberry juice and honey

Morus – mulberry 

Mulsum – mead or honey wine 

Muscadine – a type of sweet wine

Mustard – mustard plants produce seeds which can be used as flavouring and as a condiment, and the leaves can be used as a salad herb

Myristica – nutmeg 

Myrtus – myrtle berry [often called, and used instead of, pepper] 

Myrtus pimenta- allspice 

Napus – turnip 

Nux – hazelnut or walnut 

Offa- a lump of meat or a meat dumpling, morsel or chop or other small meat portion 

Oignions, oygnions, ongnions or similar – onion

Oleum- olive oil 

Ormentum – caul or abdominal membrane 

Orchil or archil – a colourant derived from lichen 

Oryza or Risum- rice or rice flour 

Ostrea – oyster 

Ovum – egg 

Oxalis – sorrel plant 

Oxalme – an acid pickle such as brine and vinegar 

Oxygarum – vinegar and garum sauce 

Panis – bread 

Papaver – poppy seeds 

Pastinaca – parsnip or carrot 

Persicum – peach 

Perna – ham 

Petroselinium – parsley 

Pinioles, pignions, pynots, pynes etc. – pinenuts 

Piperitis – pepperwort, Indian pepper or capsicum 

Pipio – a young bird 

Piscis – fish 

Pommes – apples

Pomum – fruit from a tree 

Porray or porray – a dish of green vegetables

Porrum – leek 

Portulaca – the plant purslane 

Poscca – an acidic drink 

Poudre (douce/forte/fine etc) – fine powdered spice mix [spices used varybetween cooks and publications] 

Poyres – pears

Ptisiana – a grain broth or gruel 

Rapa – rape or turnip 

Raysins of Corinth – currants

Raysins of the sunne, risins, confiz – raisins 

Rosatum – flavoured with roses 

Rumex – sorrel or sour dock herb 

Ruta- rue [*potentially toxic*} 

Saccharum – sugar 

Sack – a type of fortified wine

Sal – salt 

Sanders - sandalwood

Sarda – small fish like a sardine 

Saucites – sausages 

Scandius – the herb chervil 

Soused – something that is salted or brined

Strained yolkes – beaten egg yolks

Sulsum – meat that is salted or pickled 

Tourte- bread containing husks

Uva – grape 

Vermiculi – noodles, vermicelli 

Vervex – mutton or wether (sheep)

Vinum- wine 

Wastel – a type of bread of good quality

References

Brears, Peter; 1999. All The King’s Cooks, Souvenir Press, London.

Brears, Peter; 2015. Cooking and Dining in Tudor and Early Stuart England, Prospect Books, London.

Dommers Vehling, Joseph(translator); Apicius – Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome, Dover Publications Inc, New York.

Renfrow, Cindy; 1990.  Take a Thousand Eggs Or More, Vol 1, 2nd Ed. Royal Fireworks Press, Unionville, New York.

Renfrow, Cindy; 1990.  Take a Thousand Eggs Or More, Vol 2, 2nd Ed. Royal Fireworks Press, Unionville, New York.

Scully, Terence (translator); 2010. On Cookery of Master Chiquart (1420), ACMRS, Tempe, Arizona.

https://www.medieval-recipes.com/glossary/

http://www.godecookery.com/glossary/glosss.htm has a short introduction to medieval cooking terms which may be helpful