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
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