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

Recipe for a Tart of Spinach

Pastry recipe from A proper new Booke of Cookery.
Declaring what maner of meates be best in season for al times of the yeere, and how
they ought to be dressed, & served at the Table, both for fleshe dayes and Fish daies.
with a new addition,very necessary for al them that delight in Cookery. 1575.
Available at https://archive.org/details/b21530191/page/n4/mode/2up
and http://www.medievalcookery.com/notes/pnboc1575.txt

To make short paste for a Tart.
Take fine Flower, a litle faire
water, & a dish of sweete butter, & a litle
saffron, and the yolkes of two egges, &
make it thin and as tender as ye may.

Recipe for A Tarte of Spindage from The good huswifes Jewell.
(Wherein is to be found most excellend and rare Deuises for conceites in Cookery, found out by the practise of Thomas Dawson. Wherevnto is adioyned sundry approued receits for many soueraine oyles, and the way to distill many precious waters, with diuers approued medicines for many
diseases.) 1596

To make a Tarte of Spinadge.

Take Spinadge and seeth it stalke and
all, and when it is tenderly sodden,
take it off, and let it drayne in a Cul-
lynder. and then swing it in a clowte, and
stampe it and straine it with two or three
yolkes of egges, and then set it on a chafin-
dish of coales, and season it with butter and
Suger, and when the paste is hardened in 
the Ouen, put in this Comode, strake it
euen.

Recipe for Poudre Fine - Le Menagier de Paris

"Take an ounce and a drachma of white ginger, a quarter ounce of hand pciked cinnamon, half a quarter ounce each of grains and cloves, and a quarter ounce of rock sugar, and grind to powder.

Variations
I omitted dsffron from the pastry and Grains of Paradise from the Poudre fine due to lack of availabitlity. I only used spinach and parsley leaves in the filling mixture. I'd like to try this again with grated boiled eggs rather than whisked to see how the texture compares. I'd like to try adding non-white sugar to my poudre fine to see how the taste compares (eg. raw or palm sugar).

Pastry
3 egg yolks
Pinch of salt
2 C plain flour
200g unsalted butter at room temperature
splash of milk to moisten

I added the salt to the flour and mixed, and then I rubbed the cubed butter into the flour/salt mix. When the mixture resembled fine crumbs, I mixed in the egg yolks and kneaded lightly. I added a splash of milk for extra moisture (but an extra egg yolk would have been better). I baked the pastry in a pie pan at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes. I didn't have baking beans to hand, so I pricked the base with a fork to prevent the pastry rising.
When the pastry was cooked, I removed it from the oven and cooled it on a rack. When it was cool, I filled it with the spinach mix and baked it (see below).


Tart Filling
500g cleaned, chopped spinach (frozen is great)
250g ricotta
250g grated tasty or mature cheese
200g dried parley or a large bunch of fresh (to taste)
7 small/medium eggs
dash of pepper and salt (to taste)
1/4 tsp powdered clove
1TB each of sugar, ginger and cinnamon

I mixed the spinach, parsley and spices together before adding them to the whisked eggs and mixing until well combined. I spooned this mix into the pre-cooked pastry casing (I made 2 smaller ones) and baked at 180 degrees C (FF) for 35-40 minutes. I added more spice than I normally would have because I tend too under-spice. It would also be fun to play around with different types of leaves and herbs.
This amount of mixture made too much filling for the pastry below. You could double the pastry, but I cooked the rest of the mixture up into a frittata.


Some comments I received included:
"Good ratio of greens to egg and cheese. Base is crunchy which I like but a bit thick"
"Good base for a dish, with a subtle flavour. Would benefit of being served with a sauce or relish"
"Excellent base, moist and crumbly. The spinach flavour is a little overpowered by the base; it is otherwise gorgeous"
My family also enjoyed it.

As always, I am indebted to those members of the Populace who take the time to comment on recipes so that dishes can be improved.

Recipe for 'A Tarte of Rice'

This recipe comes from the Good Huswifes' Jewell-

A Tarte of Rice
Boyle your Rice and put in the yolkes of two or three Egges into the Rice and when it is boyled, put it into a dish, and season it with Suger, Sinamon and Ginger and butter and the iuyce of 2 or 3 orenges, and set it on the fire again.
From The Good Huswifes' Jewell by Thomas Dawson, 1596

My recipe
1C Arborio rice - well rinsed
1.5 C water plus 200ml extra
50g butter
5 tsp sugar
1 heaped tsp cinnamon
1 heaped tsp ginger
3 egg yolks, small to medium eggs

Method: 
Cook rice until al dente. Lightly beat the egg yolks and add the spices. Stir.
Add the egg yolk/spice mix to the rice and stir. Add sugar and mix well.
Cook the mixture on moderate heat until rice is nice and soft and the mix starts to fuse together with the individual grains looking less defined. (I  cooked it is the microwave due to time constraints, but a a small saucepan on the stove top would be ideal.) You may need to add extra water here if the mix looks too dry.
When the mixture is cooked and the rice is very soft, put into a serving dish and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the top. Caster sugar would be best here.
Next time I will add more spice. Cooking in the microwave meant that the dish didn't have  a lovely crust like you get when you put it in the oven to brown after cooking.

I have made this recipe with and without the orange juice. I liked the recipe above (without the orange juice) better; it was less acidic.

Some of the comments I received included:
'Delightful! Lovely as a dessert or between courses. I think the addition of cream over the top would be great'.
'I really like this, it is nice and I want to eat more!'
'Loved it- delicious. The flavours are well balanced and really liked the kick of ginger on the tongue. It was a little dry but arborio rice left overnight does that. Would recommend almond milk as a substitute for the water or orange juice. If you reduced the sugar it would be a good accompaniment to a fatty strong flavoured meat.'
'Nice texture, well cooked. Good spice.'

Recipe for An Italian Pudding

Here's another recipe from the Revel that I cooked for late in 2018. The original comes from The Newwe Booke of Cookerie and which I found reproduced on Steffan's Florilegium and also here http://medievalcookery.com/search/display.html?nevvb:84  from a later print edition

This is an excerpt from A NEVV BOOKE of Cookerie (England, 1615)
The original source can be found at Thomas Gloning's website

To make an Italian Pudding. Take a Penny white Loafe, pare off the crust, and cut it in square pieces like vnto great Dyes, mince a pound of Beefe Suit small: take halfe a pound of Razins of the Sunne, stone them and mingle them together, and season them with Sugar, Rosewater, and Nutmegge, wet these things in foure Egges, and stirre them very tenderly for breaking the Bread: then put it into a Dish, and pricke three or foure pieces of Marrow, and some sliced Dates: put it into an Ouen hot enough for a Chewet: if your Ouen be too hot, it will burne: if too colde, it will be heauy: when it is bakte scrape on Sugar, and serue it hot at dinner, but not at Supper.

My recipe redaction:
1/2 tsp rosewater
1/2 tsp nutmeg
5 small-med eggs
1 loaf of white bread with crusts cut off
2/3 cup of sugar
250g dried dates, chopped small
1 cup of extra dried fruit of choice (eg. raisins, currants, sultanas)
1/2C to 3/4C of cream, depending on the dryness of the bread.

Make sure all the crust is removed from the bread and dice it small. Beat the eggs and mix in the sugar, cream, rosewater and spices. Mix the bread into the wet mixture gently. The mix should be fairly moist, similar to a bread pudding. Add the dried fruit and mix. Put into a lightly greased dish. Dot butter around on the top if you wish. Cook in moderate oven (about 170 degrees C) until cooked through and golden brown. Serve hot.

I omitted the marrow because so many people would be put off by it and I thought it might make it a bit greasy. Next time I make it I might soak the fruit in port or something similar for a little while before I add it to the mix. I'll have to do some research to see what would be most appropriate.
I am usually not a fan of bread pudding, but I did like this one.

Some of  the comments included:
'I liked it! Would be great with ice cream.''
'This was a generous and delicious dish. Wanted to go back for more. Wonderful texture.'
'I loved everything about this pudding - the taste, presentation and abundance of fruit. A nice pudding.'

This style of recipe appears to have continued to be popular into the next century, as there are several variations in later cook books. Here is an example:

A Baked Pudding after the Italian fashion, corrected
Source: The whole Body of Cookery Dissected, 1661
Take a penny white loaf or two, and cut it in the manner of dice: put to it half a pound of Beef suet minced small, half a pound of Raisins of the sun stoned, a little sugar, six sliced Dates, a grain of Musk, the Marrow of two bones, season it with Cloves, Mace, Nutmeg, salt and Rose-water, then beat three Eggs with about half a pint of Cream, and put it to your bread and other ingredients, and stir it together softly that you break not the bread, nor Marrow: then slice some thin pieces of Apple into the bottom of your dish, that you bake it in, and put your Pudding theron: bake it in an oven not so hot as for Manchet: when its enough, stick it with Cittern and strow it with Sugar.
From: http://www.godecookery.com/engrec/engrec30.html

I am very lucky that I have an adventurous Barony who are very generous with their time and are happy to provide detailed commentary on dishes to help me improve. I thank them all, but I have especial thanks for Baroness Linet and Viscount Aylwin who can always be relied upon to comment and offer detailed suggestions on how specific dishes may have been done in the period.

Recipe for 'Gourdes in Pottage' from Curye on Inglyshe

I decided to try this recipe for a Pumpkin pottage because it was so unusual. I have several vegetarians in my local SCA group, so I omitted the pork meat.

'Take young Gowdres; pare hem and kerue hem on pecys. Cast hem in gode broth, and do perto a gode pertye of oynouns mynced. Take pork soden; grynde it and ayle it perwith and wip yolkes of ayren. Do perto safround and salt, and messe it forthe with powdour douce.'
From: Curye on Inglyshe: English Culinary Manuscripts of the 14th Century {including The Forme of Curye}

Poudre duce recipe

take an (?) of white ginger, a (?) of hand picked cinnamon, half a quarter ounce each of grains and cloves and (?) rock sugar and grind to powder.
From: 'Libro di cucina' reproduced at medievalcuisine.com


My recipe
1 butternut pumpkin, peeled and chopped
4 medium onions, diced
3 Cups of water with 3 boullion cubes
1/2 walnuts chopped
yolks of 3 small eggs, beaten
3 tsp ginger
2 tsp nutmeg
3 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
2 tsp salt
7 tsp sugar

I peeled and cut the pumpkin. I cut it into large chunks and added the chunks into a boiling broth made of 3 cups of water and 3 bouillon cubes. Then I added the diced onion. I cooked the mixture until the pumpkin was nearly cooked. Then I added the chopped walnuts and cooked for another five minutes and turned off the heat.

While the pumpkin mix was cooking, I beat three egg yolks with the spices. To prevent the yolks from cooking and thickening due to the hot mixture, I added spoonfuls of the hot broth into the egg and spice mix and stirred through to gradually raise the temperature. Then I gradually added the yolk and spice mix to the main pot, stirring after adding each small amount. When it was all mixed in, I turned the heat back on to medium heat and cooked for another 5-10 minutes.

I used imitation saffron as the real thing was not available. It is inferior to the real thing as it adds colour but not taste or scent. I added chopped walnuts instead of meat to cater to vegetarians. Vegetarian boullion cubes were used instead of meat based cubes.

I found the taste interesting. I don't like walnuts at all, and the texture of pumpkin puts me off.  I could tolerate this dish, and I am glad I made it. I specifically wanted a filling vegetarian dish for the vegetarian members of my Barony, but I think that the addition of fine chicken or pork mix instead of walnuts would really improve this recipe. Adding chopped blanched almonds would add a nice texture too.

Some comments I received included:
'Nice flavour and texture. Good filling food. Excellent winter fare.'
'Smells nice and spicy, love the texture and crunchiness. Very nice hearty pottage.'
'Really enjoyed it. Nice mix of textures and the spice mix really added to it. Not usually a fan of pumpkin but it really works in this recipe.'

My family (who are unused to medieval food) also tried it and said it was unusual but tasty.

Recipe for 'Plummes in Syrop' from 'A Treasurie of Commodius Conceits and Hidden Secrets'

This recipe is an absolute ripper and would be part of the menu for my dream feast. It is super simple to prepare, and decadently delicious.

Plummes condict in Syrrope Chapter. xv.
Take halfe a pounde of Suger,
halfe a pint of Rose water and
a pinte of fayre Rayne water,
or of some other distilled water,
seeth ye Suger & ye two waters vpō
a softe fyre of coles, till ye one halfe
be consumed: thē take it frō ye fire &
when it leaueth boylīg, put therin
halfe a pound of ripe Damazines,
or other plummes, & set it agayne
on the embers, & kepe it in the lyke
heate tyll the plummes be softe by
the space of an howre if neede bee,
then put into it some cloues brused
and when it is coulde keepe it in a
Glasse, or in an earthen or Gally∣potte,
the stronger the Syrrope
is with Suger, the better it wyll
continew.
Some put into the Syrroup Sinimon, Saunders, Nutmegges.
From - The Treasurie of Commodious Conceits, & Hidden Secrets: And May be Called, the Huswiues Closet, of Healthfull Prouision. Mete and Necessarie for the Profitable Vse of All Estates Both Men and Women: and Also Pleasaunt for Recreation, with a Necessary Table of All Things Herein Contayned. Gathered Out of Sundrye Experiments Lately Practised by Men of Great Knowledge. By John Partridge, 1573. Available at https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A68556.0001.001/1:9.15?rgn=div2;view=fulltext

My recipe is slightly different as damsons (plums) were not in season and I could not get sandalwood ('sanders'). I thought wine would be a nice alternative to the water and rosewater base in the original.

500g pitted prunes
500ml red wine (I used a lovely cabernet merlot)
1/4 tsp rosewater essence
approx. 300g sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg and cinnamon
5 cloves

This is one of those annoying recipes where the amounts are just guidelines and the ingredients are 'to taste'. The amount of sugar depends on what sort of wine it is and how sweet it is. I opted for very light spices and rosewater because the wine was perfect on it's own. I put the wine and sugar and spices into a small saucepan and warmed them so that the sugar dissolved. I added the prunes and then kept the mixture cooking gently so that the wine reduced and became syrupy. Don't let it all get too hot or it will taste burnt.

Let the mixture cool in the saucepan. I made mine in advance and kept it in the fridge overnight. I gently reheated it and served it warm. Because it is only gently heated, I wasn't sure if all the alcohol would cook off, so I kept this away from the kids just in case.

I tried this with cream on the side and also with a good quality vanilla bean ice cream. If you like rich, sweet desserts, I think you will enjoy this.

I did plan to try a redaction closer to the original version, but I honestly haven't made the time because my version is just so nice!

A Recipe for White Leach

Image of a dish of cream from https://www.biggerbolderbaking.com/how-to-make-sour-cream/

A recipe that has proved to be very popular with adults and children alike is White Leach from 'The Good Huswife's Jewell' (1596). I made this silky white milk jelly as part of the spread for my Sweete Delyte Revel, and the dish was clean by the end.

A White Leach
Take a quart of new milke, and three ounces weight of Isinglasse, halfe a pound of beaten suger, and stirre them together, and let boile halfe a quarter of an hower till it be thicke, stirring them all the while: then straine it with three spoonfuls of Rosewater, then put it into a platter and let it coole, and cut it into squares. Lay it fair in dishes, and lay golde upon it.
From: Thomas Dawson The Good Huswives Jewell (London: 1596)

My recipe:
300 ml heavy cream
300 ml skim milk
1/2 cup sugar
4 tsp gelatine powder
1 1/2 tsp rosewater
nutmeg to taste

I used skim milk as it is what I usually have in the house. I added heavy cream to make it richer.
I substituted gelatine powder for isinglasse as it is much more easily availabile.

I mixed the milk and cream together gently in a small saucepan and then heated the mixture gently. AS it was warming, I sprinkled the gelatine powder into the mixture.  The version of the recipe reproduced in Peter Brears' book "All The Kings Cooks" (p. 179) suggested that the mixture should be heated to 60 degrees C so I followed that advice. I then stirred in the sugar and rosewater into the warm milk mixture until it was well mixed with no grains. I added a little bit of nutmeg for richness and to complement the creaminess.
I then put into a lightly greased dish to cool and set in the fridge. I let mine set overnight.

This recipe can be presented in a dish or can be put into a lightly greased pan and cut into rectangles or lozenge shapes when set. Served up as individual wobbly pieces, this dish is very striking and appeals to the inner child in diners.

Some of the comments I received included:
"It is very nice and yummy"
"This is my all time favourite. It was smooth and silky and nicely set. Well presented with a bottom layers of creaminess to make a simple sweet go to the next level"

I will definitely continue to make this one. Interesting variations could include different flavours such as orange essence or a stronger rosewater flavour. I am tempted to make some different colour variations for fun, or even try a layered jelly with different colours.

You can learn more about historical jellies at https://www.historicfood.com/Jellies.htm

Medieval Cucumber Salad - Cucummen from 'Ein New Kochbuck'

One thing I really enjoy in the SCA is experimenting with medieval and renaissance recipes. Those of you familiar with them will know that measurements are not always listed and there is often a great amount of assumed knowledge (such as 'prepare in the usual way..') which can make it very interesting.

Image from: newfoodmagazine.com

Last year I tried out this cucumber salad recipe from Ein New Kochbuck - A 16th Century Collection of German Recipes by Marx Rumpolt.

Cucummen
"Peel the cucumbers/cut them broad and thin/season them with oil/pepper and salt. But if they are salt preserved/they are also not bad/better than raw/because one can salt it with Fennel and with caraway/that both can be kept over one year. And near the Rhine-stream one calls it cucummen."

I have to say at the beginning that cucumbers are one of my favourite salad items and I love them fresh and raw, so I was predisposed to not like this recipe very much.

My version of the recipe:
2 large cucumbers peeled and chopped
2tb extra virgin olive oil
1.5 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

I washed the cucumbers and peeled them and cut them into thin rounds. I poured the oil over and then sprinkled on the salt and pepper and mixed. I omitted the fennel and caraway seeds because I don't like them. The resulting salad was not unpleasant but was not a showstopper (but perhaps my bias against dressed cucumber is showing). I was interested in the comments of the populace after tasting this. I would like to try it with more intense salt flavours as the recipe talks about 'salt preserved cucumbers'. I suspect that the author is referring to some sort of brined pickle, which opens up a whole different arena of flavours, and which would make fennel and caraway more suitable as flavouring agents in a brine.
I would be prepared to try it again chilled, and with a different sort of oil with a less distinct flavour. I'd be interested to see what sort of impact leaving the skin on would make. Similarly, it would be interested to experiment with small cucumbers (like gherkin size) and to find out if cutting length ways with a mandolin would make a difference to the taste.

Some of the comments I received included:
"I found it quite nice, just the right amount of salt and pepper"
"It's good; really nice flavours and not overpowering"
"Nice flavour, would like to try them very cold"
"Nice flavour and texture. Pepper seemed to settle - I liked the stronger pepper flavour on the lower level"
"Good balance - neither the oil nor the other flavours are too dominant, but all of them are clearly present"

Quince Tart

Quinces are in season at the moment here and I was surprised to find that she had never tried them, so I decided to make a tart.
I used spice very lightly as my sister doesn't have a taste for it, and omitted bone marrow (for the same reason). I also cooked the quinces into a puree rather than in slices or hollowed out because they are hard to cut and it was easier on my hands.
It was delicious!

Source [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books, T. Austin (ed.)]: Quynces or Wardones in paast. Take and make rounde coffyns of paast; and take rawe quynces, and pare hem wit a knyfe, and take oute clene the core; And take Sugur ynog, and a litull pouder ginger and stoppe the hole full. And then couche ij. or iij. quynces or wardons in a Coffyn, and keuer hem, And lete hem bake; or elles take clarefied hony in-stede of sugur, if thou maist none sugur; And if thou takest hony put thereto a litull pouder peper, and ginger, and put hit in the same maner in the quynces or wardons, and late hem bake ynog.

Source [The Neapolitan Recipe Collection, Terence Scully (trans.)]: Pastizi de Pome Codogne. Aparaghia la pasta como he dito de li altri pastelli; poi habi pome codogne bene mondate he nette he cacia fora quello duro de mezo, he che lo buso dove haverai cazato fora el duro non passi da banda in banda; et in quello busso ponerai de bona medula de bove cum zucaro he canella assai; et li diti pomi aconzaralli in li ditti pastizi sopragiongendoli de la ditta medula dentro he de fora; he fa ch'el non sia tropo salato; poi mettili de sopra una pasta, facendolo cocere secondo l'ordine de li altri pastelli.

Quince Pie. Prepare the dough as I have said for the other tarts; then get peeled quince and remove the hard part in their centre, and do not let the hole you make to remove it go all the way through; into this hole put good beef marrow with plenty of sugar and cinnamon; and lay the quince in the pies, adding the marrow to them inside and out; mind that it is not too salty; put another crust on top, cooking it as with the other tarts.

Recipes reproduced from http://medievalcookery.com/recipes/quinces.html with thanks.

Baked Lumbarde Custard

I tried this recipe last year. I have had a few attempts at it. The taste is good, but the texture needs tweaking. My family (who generally don't eat medieval food) enjoyed it. I will keep working on it and post my final recipe when I am happy with it.

Custard lumbarde Recipe from A Boke of Kokery (Book of Cookery) c 1440
from: http://www.bl.uk/learning/timeline/item126388.html

Take good creme, and leuys of Percely, and yolkes and white of egges, and breke hem thereto, and streyne hem all þorg a straynour till hit be so thik that it woll bere him self. And take faire Mary and Dates, cutte in ij. or iij. and prunes, and put hem in faire coffyns of paast. And then put þe coffyn in an oven, And lete hem bake till thei be hard. And then drawe hem oute and putte the licoure into þe coffyns. And put hem into þe oven ayen. And lete hem bake til they be ynogh, but cast sugur and salt into þi licour whan ye putte hit into þe coffyns. And if hit be in lenton, take creme of Almondes and leve the egges. And the Mary.

 In present day English: Take good cream, and mix in leaves of parsley. Break the yolks and whites of eggs into the mixture. Strain through a strainer, till it is so stiff that it will bear (support) itself. Then take good marrow, and dates cut in 2 or 3 pieces, and prunes, and put them in nice coffins (pastry cases). Put the pies in the oven, and let them bake until they are hard. Then take them out and put the liquid into them, and put them back in the oven. Let them bake together until done, but add sugar and salt to the liquid when you put it into the coffins. And if it is in Lent, take cream of almonds and leave out the egg and the marrow.

A Recipe for Frumenty

One of the recipes I made for the Revel was Frumenty.

These period recipes listed below  are reproduced at http://medievalcookery.com/recipes/frumenty.html

Source [Le Viandier de Taillevent, J. Prescott (trans.)]: Frumenty. Take wheat, prepare it, wash it very well, and cook it in water. When it is cooked, drain it. Take cow's milk boiled for an instant, add the wheat, and boil it for an instant. Move it to the back of the fire, stir often, and thread in plenty of egg yolks. Some add spices, saffron and venison stock. It should be yellowish and well thickened.

Source [Forme of Cury, S. Pegge (ed.)]: I - FOR TO MAKE FURMENTY. Nym clene Wete and bray it in a morter wel that the holys gon al of and seyt yt til it breste and nym yt up. and lat it kele and nym fayre fresch broth and swete mylk of Almandys or swete mylk of kyne and temper yt al. and nym the yolkys of eyryn. boyle it a lityl and set yt adoun and messe yt forthe wyth fat venyson and fresh moton.

Source [Liber cure cocorum, R. Morris (ed.)]: Furmente. Take wete, and pyke hit fayre and clene And do hit in a morter shene. Bray hit a lytelle, with water hit spryng Tyl hit hulle, with-oute lesyng. Þen wyndo hit wele, nede þou mot. Wasshe hit fayre, put hit in pot. Boyle hit tylle hit brest, þen Let hit doun, as I þe kenne. Take know mylke, and play hit up To hit be thykkerede to sup. Lye hit up with 3olkes of eyren, And kepe hit wele, lest hit berne. Coloure hit with safron and salt hit wele, And servyd hit forthe, Syr, at þe mele. With sugur candy, þou may hit dowce, If hit be served in grete lordys howce. Take black sugur for mener menne. Be ware þer with, for hit wylle brenne.

Source [Libro di cucina / Libro per cuoco, L. Smithson (trans.)]: XXIV - Maize dish (Frumenty) good and perfectly useful. If you want to make a frumenty, take the wheat and beat it well to when it leaves the shell / husk, then wash it well, then put it to boil not much, then throw away the water, then put into it that fat of the meat that you choose, and it needs to be not too much, and mix spices sweet and strong and saffron, and if you do not have wheat take rice; it will be good.
Originally Published: March 20, 2003

As you can see, these recipes are either savory (with meat and marrow additions) or sweet, with spices and/or fruit additions. I chose to do a sweet version.

My recipe:

approximately 150g bulghur wheat, rinsed until water runs clear
pinch of saffron
3 egg yolks beaten
1/2 cup of almond milk
sugar to taste (approximately 1/2 cup)
prune pieces to taste

I boiled the bulghur wheat and saffron in a little water until soft, stirring often. It was very thick so I added the almond milk and yolks and stirred over a low-medium heat to get a consistency similar to porridge. It was too bland for a dessert revel, so I added sugar to taste and some chopped, pitted prunes.

I used bulghur wheat and commercially produced almond milk to reduce the preparation due to my wrist injury. I suspect that cooking down hulled wheat would produce a more interesting texture, and the addition of home-made almond milk would produce a richer and more creamy result. I did not add cinnamon or other spices as other menu items were spiced and I wanted a bit of variety in the dishes. Next time I do this dish it will not be as part of a feast so I will add spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, and probably some salt. I would be interested to try the dish with some different sugars, such as raw sugar, to see how the taste is affected.

Comments I received on this dish included:

"Very subtle taste, nice relief to stronger flavours. Quite sweet and moist. Felt like a dish to have as palette relief."

" I like the flavour! Very lovely."

"Pleasantly tasty with a delightful texture and flavour."

So, probably a dish worth experimenting with and developing.

A Sweete Revel in November

One of my challenges to myself last year was to run and be sole cook for a small event. This probably doesn't sound like much of a challenge to the average able bodied reader, but for someone who battles fatigue and is almost constantly ill, it seemed like an almost insurmountable challenge.

Choosing to run a small, low key event was one way to reduce the impact of the event. As it turned out, in the lead up to the event I wasn't actually sick for a change. I did injure my wrist significantly, to the point that I needed cortisone injections and was told to immobilise it for four weeks and wear a brace - on the week of the event. What fabulous timing!

I had planned a pastry-rich menu, but rolling and kneading was definitely out of the question, so I had to alter my carefully considered menu. Now, don't think for a minute that my thoughtful friends didn't offer to jump in and cook for me at the last minute - they certainly did! But part of the challenge was for me to be the sole cook, so I was stubborn and just adjusted the menu. And cursed and sweated while stirring!

The event was a supper revel and games night with a sweet theme. Our Baroness and one of the Barony's peers also brought along some cheese and other items to supplement all the sweetness.

I did have to supplement my menu items with some bought ones like fruit pies. The dishes I made were:

Frumenty (wheat, almond milk, eggs, saffron powder, sugar, spices, prunes)
Torta of Buttered Fruit (cottage cheese, sugar, butter, ginger, rosewater, cinnamon, milk, saffron
powder, dried fruit)
Tarte of Ryce (rice, sugar, lemon juice, eggs, spices, butter)
Prunes in Syrop (prunes, red wine, sugar)
Pomada (apples, spices, sugar, almond meal, rosewater)
Candied Peel (lemon peel, sugar)
Cream (cream, sugar)
Italian Pudding (Eggs, cream, spices, bread, rosewater, dates, dried fruit, sugar)
Fine Cakes (Flour, sugar, spices, salt, butter, eggs, yeast, cream, rosewater)
Fine Cakes GF Version (rice flour, almond meal, sugar, spices, salt, butter, eggs, yeast)
White Leach (milk, cream, gelatine, sugar, nutmeg, rosewater)
Red Gingerbrede of the Court (bread, red wine, spices, sugar)
An Excellent Cake (flour, butter, eggs, mixed fruit, spices, port, yeast, rosewater)
Rice Pudding (rice, almond milk, honey, sugar)
Marzipan Subtletie (commercially produced, containing almonds, sugar and food colourings)

The event was very relaxed, with people enjoying games and dancing. I liked being able to enjoy the event with pre-prepared dishes and not spend the whole night in the kitchen. I must thank my friends for their help and support, especially Federyc, Sorcha, Violet, Ethan, Emma, Skeggi, Faelan, Linet, Vlad and the kitchen clean up crew. It was a gentle introduction to Feast Stewarding/Cooking and I am grateful for all the assistance.

Wardens in Sirrop

I am hoping soon to have more time to spend cooking medieval recipes. A glut of ripe pears inspired me to investigate different recipes for lightly stewed pears that might appeal to my family's very modern palate.

Stock footage from https://www.medieval-recipes.com/recipes/desserts/

Here are some  medieval recipes:

"To conserve wardens all the yeere in sirrop. Take your wardens and put them into a great earthenware pot, and cover them close. Set them in an oven where you have set in your white bread. and when you have drawn your white bread, and your pot, and they are so cold that you may handle them, then peel the thin skin from them over a pewter dish so that you may save all the syrup that falls from them. add to them a quart of the same syrup, and a pint of rosewater, and boil them together with a few cloves and cinnamon. When it is reasonably thick and cold, put your wardens and syrup into a galley pot and see always that the syrup is above the wardens, or any other thing that you conserve."
From The Good Huswife's Jewell (Second Part) 1597 - Thomas Dawson


The original recipe: 96 Peris in Syrippe. Take Wardons, and cast hem in a faire potte, And boile hem til ei ben tendre; and take hem vppe, and pare hem in ij. or in iij. And take powder of Canell, a good quantite, and cast hit in good red wyne, And cast sugur thereto, and put hit in an erthen potte, And lete boile; And then cast the peris thereto, And late hem boile togidre awhile; take powder of ginger, And a litell saffron to colloure hit with, And loke that hit be poynante/ And also Doucet/

A modern English translation: 96 Pears in Syrup. Take Wardons, and cast them in a fair pot, And boil them till they are tender; and take them up, and pare them in two or in three. And take powder of Cinnamon, a good quantity, and cast it in good red wine, And cast sugar thereto, and put it in an earthenware pot, And let boil; And then cast the pears thereto, And let them boil together awhile; take powder of ginger, And a little saffron to color it with, And look that it is poignant/ And also Sweet/

From  1450 Harleian MS. 4016 available at https://cheftalk.com/ams/pears-in-syrup.6638/

88.  Perys in Syrup

Boyle wardons that they be somdell tendyr pare hem cut hem yn pecys take canell a grete dele draw hit thorow a streynour iij or iiij tymys with good wyn in a pott do ther to sygure a grete dele poudyr of gynger anneys clovis & macys and yf thu wilte datys mynsyd & reysons of coraunce set hit on the fyre when hit boyleth cast yn the perys lete hem boyle to gedyr when hit ys boyled y nowghe loke hit be broun of canell & put ther to poudyr of gynger a grete dele loke hit be somdele doucet & serve hit forth.

From the Wagstaff Miscellany c 1460

This recipe is most like the following one for wardens in syrup from Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books.  The basic ingredients, steps, and spicing are all there.  The Wagstaff recipe's optional addition of dates and currants makes it more like the "pears in compost" recipes.

x - Wardonys in syryp. Take wardonys, an caste on a potte, and boyle hem till they ben tender; than take hem vp and pare hem, an kytte hem in to pecys; take y-now of powder of canel, a good quantyte, an caste it on red wyne, an draw it thorw a straynour; caste sugre ther-to, an put it in an erthen pot, an let it boyle: an thanne caste the perys ther-to, an let boyle to-gederys, an whan they haue boyle a whyle, take pouder of gyngere an caste therto, an a lytil venegre, an a lytil safron; an loke that it be poynaunt an dowcet.  [Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books (England, 1430)]

From http://medievalcookery.blogspot.com/2014/01/recipes-from-wagstaff-miscellany-88.html

Since I wasn't actually preserving hard pears, but just cooking ripe pears for dessert, they didn't require much cooking.

The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight has a recipe for Preserved Wardens which is very similar and uses red wine. I had white wine available, and felt that it might be more appealing to my family who are not very used to or comfortable with medieval food. I took aspects from all these recipes and created something that has medieval elements but would also be appealing to the modern palate.

I added about 750g of peeled and trimmed pear pieces to a heavy splash (probably 1/2 cup) of sweet white wine. The pears were juicy and I had saved and added the juice when cutting as suggested in the Good Huswife recipe. I added 100g of sugar, 2 tsp of cinnamon powder, 1/4 tsp of nutmeg, some cloves, 2 tsp of rosewater and let it simmer gently til the pears were soft and warmed through. 

The simmering liquor was absolutely fragrant and delicious and would make a wonderful mulled white wine.

Just before serving, I stirred through a little cream.

The dish was lovely, and very well received with requests to do it again. I might add an egg or two next time and turn it into a sort of baked custard. 

A Gilded Piggy (hopefully!) fit for a King

I was recently honoured to attend a Royal Event to watch the elevation of a friend to the Order of the Laurel. As part of the festivities, I created a marzipan pig gilded in 23k gold and surrounded with marzipan fruits.

I've been quite unwell in the last couple of weeks leading up to the event, so I used commercially produced marzipan rather than making my own from scratch. The gold was food grade edible gilt, which comes in sheets and is challenging to work with.

Piggy started off looking reasonably realistic:

This ear was too big and started to bend, so I made the ears smaller

Castor sugar is under the head to prevent the marzipan from sticking to the platter. Water with a small amount of rosewater added is used as a bonding agent to encourage the pieces to stick together. (Don't use too much or you will get a slimy mess that won't hold shapes and will crack when drying.)

The images I used for inspiration:

Herbal oil and Vinegar Workshop

I have continued with the A&S Century Challenge; it is a habit now, and also I have so much still to do.
This weekend I was privileged to attend a short but interesting workshop on making medieval oils and vinegars. It all smelt lovely and was a lot of fun.

 We made a Mint  a range of vinegars and sauces including mustard sauce, clove mouthwash and rosemary vinegar.

Preserving Quinces in Syrup

Fruit and lizard Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670) from Pinterest

This week I have been experimenting with preserving. I was given some quinces a while back, and I was told that if I peeled and pared them, they would freeze well. I did that and they have been in the freezer for about a month.

Recently a friend lent me a copy of the cookbook ''The Good Housewife's Jewel''. It is a great book, full of recipes that I wanted to try. I found this one-

To Preserve Quinces in Syrup All the Year (p. 98)

Take three pounds of quinces, being pared and cored, two pounds of sugar and three quarts of fair running water. Put all these together in an earthen pan and let them boil with a soft fire. When they be skimmed, cover them close that no air may come out from them. You must put cloves and cinnamon to it after it is skimmed, of quantity as you will have them to taste. If you will know when they be boiled enough, hang a linen cloth between the cover and the pan, so that a good deal of it may hang in the liquor. When the cloth is very red, they be boiled enough. Let them stand till they be cold. Then put them in  gally pots [with] syrup, and so they will keep a year.

I didn't have three pounds of quinces, so I  had to adjust the recipe accordingly. It was a nice change to have a Renaissance recipe that has some  quantities listed! I used 1.5 pounds of fruit, 1 pound of sugar and six cups of water. The water was restricted by the size of my pan and I used filtered water.

I use an electric stove, which makes it difficult to achieve the equivalent of a 'soft fire'. I used cold water and put the pot full of quinces on the stove on the lowest setting and just let it come to the boil very gradually (which took a couple of hours.) I left it gently simmering for about five or six hours (my stove is very hard to adjust to.) My quinces didn't need much skimming. I am not sure if this is because of the variety, the purity of the water or the fact that the quinces has been frozen.

 I used a saucepan instead of an earthen pot, and since the inside is white, there was no need to hang a cloth in the liquor to see if it was red enough. It had turned  a lovely deep red. I added my spices in the last hour of cooking. I knew that the quinces would have to cook for a long time on my particular stove, and I didn't want the spice flavour to be affected by the long cooking process.

I added 1.5 tsp of powdered cinnamon and about 20 whole cloves. After about 25 minutes I removed 14 of the cloves because the mixture smelt too strong. I let the pan cool overnight and decanted the cold mixture into a sterilised preserves jar. A little taste test revealed a truly delightful taste that I had not expected. This mix would be wonderful with a rich vanilla icecream or whipped cream. I hope I can resist it until the next SCA event!

 

(Sorry about the pic but Blogger won't believe me that this picture is supposed to show an *upright* jar full of yumminess!)

Making 'Fine Cakes' - Attempt 2

Over the last few days I have eaten a lot of cookies. All in the name of research, of course!
I made another batch of cookies, and made a few minor variations to see what a difference it made.

TO MAKE FINE CAKES  (actually little biscuits)

From 'The Widow's Treasury' by John Partridge, 1585

To make fine Cakes. Take a quantity of fine wheate Flower, and put it in an earthen pot. Stop it close and set it in an Oven, and bake it as long as you would a Pasty of Venison, and when it is baked it will be full of clods. Then searce your flower through a fine sercer. Then take clouted Creame or sweet butter, but Creame is best: then take your sugar, cloves, Mace, saffron and yolks of eggs, so much as wil seeme to season your flower. Then put these things into the Creame, temper all together. Then put thereto your flower. So make your cakes. The paste will be very short; therefore make them very little. Lay paper under them.


150g butter room temperature
1 cup of plain white flour
almost 1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp mace
1 tsp cinnamon
1 slight pinch artificial saffron
1 slight pinch salt
a few drops of water to moisten if needed

Cut the butter into small pieces, and cream with the sugar. Mix the egg yolk in. Mix the spices and salt with the flour. Mix all together, adding a few drops of water if needed. The dough will be quite stiff. Roll out to about 0.5cm thick and cut into circles. Put on a tray with baking paper (I sprayed it with a little cooking spray.) Cook for 12-18 minutes at about 180 degrees Celsius. Cool on the baking paper on a wire rack. This recipe made about 42 cookies, I don't know why there was such a variation; I used the same amounts and the same cutter.

With this batch, the butter was at room temperature and creamed much better. I found my mace and added less saffron. This batch seemed to cook more quickly.

Now I have a dilemma; I like the taste of the first batch most, and the texture and consistency of the second batch. The mace seemed to add a rich sharp, earthy quality. The first batch was much sweeter.

Perhaps I will make a third batch - just to make sure my research is complete and comprehensive, of course!

Pine Nut Candy - Pynade

I recently made a subteltie for a big event, and I wanted some toffee to accompany it. I have made pynade before, and it has been very popular.


Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books gives the following recipe:
 Pynade

Take Hony & gode pouder Gyngere, & Galyngale, & Canelle, Pouder pepir, & graynys of parys, & boyle y-fere; than take kyrnelys of Pynotys & caste ther-to; & take chyconys y-sothe, & hew hem in grece, & caste ther-to, & lat sethe y-fere; & then lat droppe ther-of on a knyf; & if it cleuyth & wexyth hard, it ys y-now; & then putte it on a chargere tyl it be cold, & mace lechys, & serue with other metys; & if thou wolt make it in spycery, then putte non chykonys ther-to.

There are other variations on this recipe in various Medieval and Renaissance cookbooks. Once sugar began to be regularly imported and was considered a sign of wealth and status, the level of sweetness in many foods (especially desserts) really increased. This recipe is one that will have your teeth curling from the sweetness, particularly if you experiment with substituting sugar for the honey.

My most recent redaction:
2 cups honey
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
200 grams pine nuts in 3 lots
1/4 teaspoon allspice
I mixed all the ingredients together in a saucepan and brought it all to a boil. I  boiled it until it reached 300 degrees F on a candy thermometer. This can take a long time depending on the type of stovetop you have and also the type of honey and any water or impurities it may contain. As with any toffee-type sweet, the mixture is scaldingly hot and sticky, so be extremely careful when cooking and don't be tempted to step away from the pot for a moment. It can boil over in an instant and you will at the very least have a horribly hot and sticky mess to clean up and at the worst an extremely bad burn.

The candy made with sugar instead of honey

 I used a generic honey blend this time and found that the colour was much more pale than the last couple of times I made this recipe. It was also much softer than the last couple of times I have made it. This may have been due to the type of honey I used, and also due to the fact that it was quite humid.

I added about half the pine nuts at the beginning of the process, and put the rest in in two batches. I did this because I wanted a bit of variety in the colour of the nuts and also how cooked they tasted. The result was pleasing, if a little bit too sticky. I dusted the toffee in castor sugar after breaking it up and then kept it in the fridge to reduce the stickiness. My family are not used to much medieval food, but they all enjoyed this candy.

The toffee cooling and drying on waxed paper

I cut back a lot of the spices because several people with specific spice allergies were going to be attending the event. I personally like a more spiced candy because I think that the spices help to cut through the sweetness. Powdered galangal and grains of paradise are really hard to find where I live but I would have included them if I could have. I have also tried coriander root in the past, which added a pleasant element to the recipe.

You can vary the spices according to taste and what you have available. I have experimented with substituting sugar instead of honey and also used raw pine nuts and almonds (both peeled and with the skins on.) All these variations make the candy change in taste, texture and colour, but it is always popular with people who have a sweet tooth!




Medieval cooking - Recipe fore Broad Bean Fritata

This recipe for a Bean Omelette or Friger la Fava comes from Libro de arte coquinaria as reproduced in The Original Mediterranean Cuisine. I wanted to try this recipe because I had never eaten broad beans before and wasn't sure if I would like them. (Turns out that I do!)

The recipe in the book is:
1 cup of fresh or frozen broad beans
half an onion finely chopped
1 tb olive oil
1-2 slices of pancetta, cut into strips
1 tb chopped parsley
4-6 sage leaves, finely chopped
3 eggs
salt and freshly ground pepper

The original recipe also adds chopped figs. I couldn't get fresh figs or get any pancetta, so I substituted prosciutto and omitted the figs altogether. If I did this recipe again I would use a greater amount of prosciutto or possibly bacon (just because it has a strong flavour and is easy to obtain.)

I used

1.5 cups of broad beans (frozen and thawed)
1 onion
100 g prosciutto
6 fresh sage leaves
1 apple
12 eggs
one quarter teaspoon of paprika
one quarter teaspoon of nutmeg
1-2 tb dried parsley
pepper and salt to taste
small amount of olive oil

I cooked the broad beans on salted water. I diced the onion and cooked it until it was soft in a little bit of olive oil. Then I added the diced prosciutto. I added the diced apple. I finely sliced the sage and added it to the pan. I removed one third of the bean 'skins' and chopped the beans, adding them to the pan right at the end (as they were already cooked.

In a separate dish, I beat the 12 eggs and added sweet smoked paprika, nutmeg, pepper and salt and the dried parsley. I added the apple, onion and prosciutto mix from the other pan and mixed it all together. I decided to cook this dish as a frittata for ease of serving, so lightly sprayed a frittata dish with olive oil spray and added the eggy mix. I cooked the dish for about 20 minutes at 170 degrees C. When the top was golden and the centre was firm, I took it out and cooled it on a cooling rack.

I prefer my egg dishes quite firm, but this could be cooked less to make it a little more gooey. The amounts of ingredients I used made a small and large frittata.

This dish would be really delicious with garlic and cheese added.

Medieval cooking - Sauce Galentyne and Powme Dorrys

In the last six months or so, I have become quite interested in medieval and renaissance cooking, and have been trying my hand at a few recipes. I am particularly interested in recipes that I am unfamiliar with or which contain ingredients that I have not tried before.

I made Powme Dorrys and Sauce Galentyne in August. The recipes come from Liber cure cocorum - which can be found online at http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/lcc/


Sauce Galentyne

"Take crust of bread and grind it small, take powder of galingale and mix with all,
Powder of ginger and salt also; Mix it with vinegar ere you do more,
Draw it through a strainer then, And serve it forth before good men."

I used:

1 and a quarter cups of white wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger
1 cup of white wine
70g chopped and pounded fresh galingale
1 and a quarter cups of breadcrumbs
three quarters of a teaspoon powdered cinnamon.

The cinnamon and wine were added because they show up as ingredients in other versions of Sauce Galentyne recipes (e.g. p. 562 of Take a Thousand Eggs or More Vol. 2- from Ashmole MS 1439 and Harleian MS 4016.) I thought these ingredients would make for a richer sauce.

I was unable to obtain powdered galingal, so had to use the fresh root. Pounding fresh galingal is not an easy task. The piece I obtained was quite fibrous and woody. I believe that this sauce is normally a pink colour. Mine turned out beige coloured; I think because of the fresh galingal. Next time I make it, I might reduce the vinegar by a quarter of a cup.

I mixed the ingredients and let them soak, then passed the mixture through a sieve.

The strained sauce.

I wanted to try this sauce because it sounded interesting; I couldn't imagine that it would taste very nice. Although it tended to separate in the serving dish, it was actually a really tasty and piquant sauce that would be great with any meat. My family are unaccustomed to medieval flavours but were really impressed with this sauce as well.

The Powme Dorrys or Glazed Meatballs seemed perfect to go with this sauce.

Powme Dorrys (also from Liber cure cocorum)

"Take pork and grind it raw, I teach,

Mix it with beaten eggs; then

Cast powder to make it in a ball;

In boiling water you shall cast it

To harden, then you take,

Spit it fair for God's sake.

Baste it with yolks of eggs then

With a feather at fire, as I teach you;

Both green and red you may make it.

With juice of herbs I undertake;

Hold under a dish that naught be lost,

More commendable it is

as well you know."

I substituted chicken mince for pork mince as many people in my barony do not eat pork. I added small amounts of salt and pepper, and used rice flour as the powder to "make it in a ball". A wise friend who tasted the dish suggested that the "powder" mentioned in the recipe may have been Powdre Douce or a similar spice/seasoning powder commonly used in medieval cooking. Once she mentioned it, I couldn't believe that I hadn't thought of it. Using Powdre Douce or similar would make these meatballs much tastier. On their own they were a little bland (but very good with the sauce above.) I would also like to try this again using pork mince for a richer taste.

I used:

1 kilogram of chicken mince

One quarter cup of rice flour 

salt and pepper to taste

extra rice flour for rolling

2 eggs to bind

2 egg yolks for basting

(makes approximately 55 rum-ball sized balls)

Mix flour, mince, 2 eggs and salt and pepper to an even consistency. Make small balls with hands and roll lightly in the extra rice flour. carefully drop balls into a shallow pan of boiling water and boil for 10-15 minutes (depending on size of ball and whether doing in one or two batches.) When cooked, drain.

Add cooked balls to a bowl containing well beaten egg yolks and coat until all balls are yellow. I fried mine lightly in a small amount of olive oil.

I omitted the herb juice dressing at the end because all I had at the time was spinach and sage, and because I planned to serve them with a sauce anyway. 

These meatballs would also be good with garlic and onion powder added and cooked in chicken stock instead of water.

The boiled meatballs being coated with egg yolk prior to frying.

The fried meatballs showing lovely colour and slightly crisped surfaces.