This is a long time ago, so many details are foggy, but I thought I should put up what remains of the Medieval Chef held at GSG in 2016.
Judges where Mistress Nicolette and Mistress Genna.
Round 1
The first round was a spice identification. List of Spices
Lisbet Leif Euphenir Emery
Round 2
Second round was a redaction of a Torte with a number of examples given. List of ingredients on hand.
Lisbet Leif Emery
Round 3
Seige kitchen with limited ingredients.
Lisbet Leif Emery
Judges Tallies
Lisbet Leif Emery
Monday, January 28, 2019
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Chestnuts
Now is the time to buy chestnuts in Melbourne. And a nice drive in the Dandenongs can net some bargains. I found 1kg bags of raw chestnuts for $8 each near kallista.
chestnut growers website describes how to cook chestnuts, and has some really great looking recipies, Melbourne style.
http://www.chestnutsaustralia.com.au/
Now a brief survey of medieval cookery with chestnuts:
A dish of Chestnuts with lamb
soups:
two similar recipies from France, only 20 years apart:
for a subtle English brouet
"For a subtle English brouet - If you want to make subtle English brouet, take hens and cook the livers, then take chestnuts then cut them from the hulls and grind together, then temper with the broth that the hens were cooked in, and add ginger, saffron and long pepper and mix with clear broth, then put together."
subtle english soup
"Subtle English soup. Take cooked peeled chestnuts, egg yolks cooked in wine, and a bit of pork liver. Crush everything together, soak with a bit of lukewarm water, and sieve. Grind ginger, cloves and saffron (to give colour), and boil together."
Quick & Dirty Redaction:
chicken stock
ground chestnuts (roasted or boiled)
ginger, safron, cloves or long pepper
optional: hard boiled eggyolk
optional: minced pork or chicken
Either mince/grind ingredients small before adding them, or puree final mix. Put in pan, bring to boil, probably simmer.
Interestingly nearly two centuries earlier, in spain, a similar recipie is used:
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?aac:305
"Preparation of Chestnut Qaliyya. Take a piece of meat and cut it. Put it in the pot and add in salt, pepper, coriander seed, pounded onion and clarified butter. Fry it gently and put in the same amount each of vinegar and murri and some pepper and saffron. Take chestnuts and clean them, pound them well and stir them with water. Put enough of the broth of it to cover the meat. When it has cooked, beat for it three eggs with pepper and chopped cilantro. Put it on the coals and when it has settled, pour it out, present it and eat it, if God wills."
The other option for interpretation of the above is as something more like a casserole, or in fact a tarjine, lke this one from the same book:
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?aac:351
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?aac:304
pig
a popular use of chestnuts seems to be to stuff pigs or piglet.
roasted piglet - stuffing of entrails, hard boiled egg, cheese, roast pear, chestnuts, spices
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ens:8
fish caserole
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ldc:195
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ldc:214
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ldc:218
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?nboc:73
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?nboc:122
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ebe:45
implies that one might like to eat chestnuts just as roast chestnuts at the end of a meal.
chestnut growers website describes how to cook chestnuts, and has some really great looking recipies, Melbourne style.
http://www.chestnutsaustralia.com.au/
Now a brief survey of medieval cookery with chestnuts:
A dish of Chestnuts with lamb
soups:
two similar recipies from France, only 20 years apart:
for a subtle English brouet
"For a subtle English brouet - If you want to make subtle English brouet, take hens and cook the livers, then take chestnuts then cut them from the hulls and grind together, then temper with the broth that the hens were cooked in, and add ginger, saffron and long pepper and mix with clear broth, then put together."
subtle english soup
"Subtle English soup. Take cooked peeled chestnuts, egg yolks cooked in wine, and a bit of pork liver. Crush everything together, soak with a bit of lukewarm water, and sieve. Grind ginger, cloves and saffron (to give colour), and boil together."
Quick & Dirty Redaction:
chicken stock
ground chestnuts (roasted or boiled)
ginger, safron, cloves or long pepper
optional: hard boiled eggyolk
optional: minced pork or chicken
Either mince/grind ingredients small before adding them, or puree final mix. Put in pan, bring to boil, probably simmer.
Interestingly nearly two centuries earlier, in spain, a similar recipie is used:
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?aac:305
"Preparation of Chestnut Qaliyya. Take a piece of meat and cut it. Put it in the pot and add in salt, pepper, coriander seed, pounded onion and clarified butter. Fry it gently and put in the same amount each of vinegar and murri and some pepper and saffron. Take chestnuts and clean them, pound them well and stir them with water. Put enough of the broth of it to cover the meat. When it has cooked, beat for it three eggs with pepper and chopped cilantro. Put it on the coals and when it has settled, pour it out, present it and eat it, if God wills."
The other option for interpretation of the above is as something more like a casserole, or in fact a tarjine, lke this one from the same book:
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?aac:351
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?aac:304
pig
a popular use of chestnuts seems to be to stuff pigs or piglet.
roasted piglet - stuffing of entrails, hard boiled egg, cheese, roast pear, chestnuts, spices
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ens:8
fish caserole
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ldc:195
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ldc:214
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ldc:218
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?nboc:73
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?nboc:122
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ebe:45
implies that one might like to eat chestnuts just as roast chestnuts at the end of a meal.
Burgundian Feast Menu
1st Service
Bread & butter
Platter of nuts and dried fruits
Pickles
Trout on a bed of greens
Vegetable soup
Un prepared Soup (Beef & turnip broth)
Honeyed carrots
Parma tart (As served by Master Chiquart, cook for the most dread lord, the duke of Savoy, in the year of the birth of our savior Jesus Christ one thousand four hundred and twenty )
2nd Course
Roast lamb
Apple almond sauce Fennel on rice Cheese tart
Herb & leek tart
Salad
Pears
Supper
Macaroons
Strawberry tarts
Fruits
Mulled white wine
Mulled apple juice
Not quite Rosee
http://cunnan.sca.org.au/wiki/Rosee_%28recipe%29
Rosee (recipe)
From Cunnan
Period Recipe
From the Forme of Cury.
ROSEE. XX.II. XII.
Take thyk mylke as to fore welled. cast �erto sugur a gode porcioun pynes. Dates ymynced. canel. & powdour gynger and see� it, and alye it with flores of white Rosis, and flour of rys, cole it, salt it & messe it forth. If �ou wilt in stede of Almaunde mylke, take swete cremes of kyne.
Translation
(tentative, unfinished) Take thick milk as before directed. Cast into sugar a good portion of pynes, minced dates, cassia and ginger powder and seethe it, and alye it with flowers of white roses and riceflour, cole it, salt it and serve it. If you wish, instead of almond milk, use sweet cream of kyne.Notes
- Rosee. From the white roles therein mentioned. See No. 41. in Mi. Ed. but No. 47 there is totally different.
- welled, f. willed; directed.
- Also Forme of Cury, but can't find it on Cunnan: (from here)
XLI. For to make Rosee [1].
Tak the flowris of Rosys and wasch hem wel in water and after bray
hem wel in a morter and than tak Almondys and temper hem and seth hem
and after tak flesch of capons or of hennys and hac yt smale and than
bray hem wel in a morter and than do yt in the Rose [2] so that the
flesch acorde wyth the mylk and so that the mete be charchaunt and
after do yt to the fyre to boyle and do thereto sugur and safroun
that yt be wel ycolowrd and rosy of levys and of the forseyde flowrys
and serve yt forth.
XLVII. FOR TO MAKE ROSEE [1] AND FRESEE AND SWAN SCHAL BE YMAD IN THE
SELVE MANER.
Nym pyggus and hennys and other maner fresch flesch and hew yt in
morselys and seth yt in wyth wyn and [2] gyngyner and galyngale and
gelofre and canel [3] and bray yt wel and kest thereto and alye yt
wyth amydoun other wyth flowr of rys.
[1] Vide No. 41.
[2] Perhaps, _in wyn with_.
[3] Cinamon. Vide Gloss.
cream 100ml
100g pine nuts
2 big handfuls white minature rose petals
2 big handfuls finely chopped dates
white sugar (3 handfuls?)
?1/2 handful riceflour
ingredients over heat - with shake of sugar - curdled. added skinny milk. didn't stop curdling, so added LOTS of sugar. kept heating over bare flame till reduced into somethign confectionary like and with nasty sugar spits. removed from heat, stirred in rose petals and rice flour until thick. poured into lined tray. shook extra riceflour on top. refridgerated.
Ideas for using up plentiful parsley
I have a surfeit of parsley in the garden. Working my way through the an excellent index of recipies, looking for dishes that are primarily parsley.
The sources say:
Le Viandier de Taillevent (French, 1375-1390)
Take parsley, a bit of sage, just a bit of saffron in the greens, and soaked bread, and steep in puree [of peas] or boiled water. Add ginger steeped in wine, and boil. Add the cheese, and the eggs when they have been poached in water. It should be thick and bright green. Some do not add bread, but add almond milk.
26. Bright green soup.
Cook whatever meat you wish in wine, water and beef broth, with pork fat to give it taste. Brown your meat well. Grind ginger, saffron, parsley, a bit of sage (if you wish), some raw egg yolks, and bread; strain everything through cheesecloth; and steep in your broth. It needs a bit of verjuice, and good cheese (if you wish).
Take bread, parsley and ginger, crush well, and steep in verjuice and vinegar. (BN manuscript, p. 33.)
216. Green Verjuice [Sauce].
Take sorrel including the stem, steep in some other verjuice, strain [through cheesecloth], and add a bread crust so that it does not turn. (A 1490 printed edition quoted by Pichon et al., p. 194.)
Not a recipie for parsley, just interestign to see that parsley was not the only thing used this way.
221. Sauce for keeping saltwater fish.
Take bread, parsley, sage, avens, vinegar, ginger, cassia flowers, long pepper, cloves, grains of paradise, saffron powder and nutmeg. When everything is strained it should be bright green. Some add the avens including the root. (BN manuscript, p. 33.)
Bruet of Savoy
3. And again, another potage, that is a bruet of Savoy: to give understanding to him who will be charged with making this bruet, to take his poultry and the meat according to the quantity of it which he is told that he should make, and make ready his poultry and set to cook cleanly; and meat according to the quantity of potage which he is told to make, and put to boil with the poultry; and then take a good piece of lean bacon in a good place and clean it well and properly, and then put it to cook with the aforesaid poultry and meat; and then take sage, parsley, hyssop, and marjoram, and let them be very well washed and cleaned, and make them into a bunch without chopping and all together, and then put them to boil with the said potage and with the meat; and according to the quantity of the said broth take a large quantity of parsely well cleaned and washed, and brayed well and thoroughly in a mortar; and, being well brayed, check that your meat is neither too much or too little cooked and salted; and then according to the quantity of broth have white ginger, grains of paradise, and a little pepper, and put bread without the crust to soak with the said broth so that there is enough to thicken it; and being properly soaked, let it be pounded and brayed with the said parsley and spices, and let it be drawn and strained with the said broth; and put in wine and verjuice according as it is necessary. And all of the things aforesaid should be put in to the point where there is neither too little nor too much. And then, this done, put it to boil in a large, fair, and clean pot. And if it happens that the potage is too green, put in a little saffron, and this will make the green bright. And when it is to be arranged for serving, put your meat on the serving dishes and the broth on top.
looks like annother version of green soup
Liber Cure Cocorum (15th century English)
114. For cabbage.
Take fresh broth of mutton clean,
Of veal and pork all anon;
Hack small your coleworts100 and parsley, then
When that it boils, cast them thereto,
Add a few groats among your coleworts
And seethe them forth I understand.
If you have salt flesh sethand101 I know,
Take a fresh piece out of the pot,
And seethe by itself, as I teach you;
Take up, put [it] in your coleworts then,
In the meanwhile you get good gravy
To garnish your coleworts at the last heat.
groats - crushed hulled cereal grains
I'm cooking:
The sources say:
Le Viandier de Taillevent (French, 1375-1390)
- fry meat (especially poultry) in parsley, onions and fat
- serve fish with a green sauce or parsley and vinegar
- add to herb mixes
- green colouring agent
Take parsley, a bit of sage, just a bit of saffron in the greens, and soaked bread, and steep in puree [of peas] or boiled water. Add ginger steeped in wine, and boil. Add the cheese, and the eggs when they have been poached in water. It should be thick and bright green. Some do not add bread, but add almond milk.
26. Bright green soup.
Cook whatever meat you wish in wine, water and beef broth, with pork fat to give it taste. Brown your meat well. Grind ginger, saffron, parsley, a bit of sage (if you wish), some raw egg yolks, and bread; strain everything through cheesecloth; and steep in your broth. It needs a bit of verjuice, and good cheese (if you wish).
74. Bright green soup of eels.
Skin or scald them, and cook them in wine and water. Crush bread and parsley, with just a bit of saffron in the greens (to make it bright green), and soak in your broth. Crush ginger steeped in verjuice, and boil everything together. You can add good cheese cut into little cubes if you wish.
215. Green Sauce.Skin or scald them, and cook them in wine and water. Crush bread and parsley, with just a bit of saffron in the greens (to make it bright green), and soak in your broth. Crush ginger steeped in verjuice, and boil everything together. You can add good cheese cut into little cubes if you wish.
Take bread, parsley and ginger, crush well, and steep in verjuice and vinegar. (BN manuscript, p. 33.)
216. Green Verjuice [Sauce].
Take sorrel including the stem, steep in some other verjuice, strain [through cheesecloth], and add a bread crust so that it does not turn. (A 1490 printed edition quoted by Pichon et al., p. 194.)
Not a recipie for parsley, just interestign to see that parsley was not the only thing used this way.
221. Sauce for keeping saltwater fish.
Take bread, parsley, sage, avens, vinegar, ginger, cassia flowers, long pepper, cloves, grains of paradise, saffron powder and nutmeg. When everything is strained it should be bright green. Some add the avens including the root. (BN manuscript, p. 33.)
- herb tarts
- herb mixes
- sauces (recipie not specified) for poultry
- green colouring agent for chicken basted in 6 colours
- garnish (with vinegar on hard boiled eggs, obn rice)
- salad
- colouring agent (for turkey)
- in chicken hamburger patties (ok, no hamburger)
- boil meatballs, harts lung in a broth of parsley
Bruet of Savoy
3. And again, another potage, that is a bruet of Savoy: to give understanding to him who will be charged with making this bruet, to take his poultry and the meat according to the quantity of it which he is told that he should make, and make ready his poultry and set to cook cleanly; and meat according to the quantity of potage which he is told to make, and put to boil with the poultry; and then take a good piece of lean bacon in a good place and clean it well and properly, and then put it to cook with the aforesaid poultry and meat; and then take sage, parsley, hyssop, and marjoram, and let them be very well washed and cleaned, and make them into a bunch without chopping and all together, and then put them to boil with the said potage and with the meat; and according to the quantity of the said broth take a large quantity of parsely well cleaned and washed, and brayed well and thoroughly in a mortar; and, being well brayed, check that your meat is neither too much or too little cooked and salted; and then according to the quantity of broth have white ginger, grains of paradise, and a little pepper, and put bread without the crust to soak with the said broth so that there is enough to thicken it; and being properly soaked, let it be pounded and brayed with the said parsley and spices, and let it be drawn and strained with the said broth; and put in wine and verjuice according as it is necessary. And all of the things aforesaid should be put in to the point where there is neither too little nor too much. And then, this done, put it to boil in a large, fair, and clean pot. And if it happens that the potage is too green, put in a little saffron, and this will make the green bright. And when it is to be arranged for serving, put your meat on the serving dishes and the broth on top.
looks like annother version of green soup
Liber Cure Cocorum (15th century English)
- garnish
- herb mix (including chicken stuffing, herb pies, haggis)
- green colouring
114. For cabbage.
Take fresh broth of mutton clean,
Of veal and pork all anon;
Hack small your coleworts100 and parsley, then
When that it boils, cast them thereto,
Add a few groats among your coleworts
And seethe them forth I understand.
If you have salt flesh sethand101 I know,
Take a fresh piece out of the pot,
And seethe by itself, as I teach you;
Take up, put [it] in your coleworts then,
In the meanwhile you get good gravy
To garnish your coleworts at the last heat.
groats - crushed hulled cereal grains
I'm cooking:
Peaches
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi-bin/display.pl?ghj:66
This is an excerpt from The Good Housewife's Jewell
(England, 1596)
The original source can be found at Chef Phains - Free Cookbooks
To make all maner of fruit Tartes. You must boyle your fruite, whether it be apple, cherrie, peach, damson, peare, Mulberie, or codling, in faire water, and when they be boyled inough, put them into a bowle, and bruse them with a ladle, and when they be colde, straine them, and put in red wine or Claret wine, and so season it with suger, sinamon and ginger.
This is an excerpt from Libre del Coch
(Spain, 1520 - Robin Carroll-Mann, trans.)
The original source can be found at Mark S. Harris' Florilegium
165. Pottage called Peach dish. You will take the peeled peaches, and cut them into slices, and cook them in good fat broth; and when they are cooked, take a few blanched almonds and grind them; and when they are well-ground, strain them rather thick with that broth. And then cook this sauce with sugar and a little ginger, and when it is cooked, cast in enough pot-broth or that which falls from the roasting-spit. And let it stew well for a little; and then prepare dishes, and upon each one cast sugar; and in this same way you can make the sauce of quinces in the same manner; but the quinces need to be strained with [the] almonds, and they should not be sour, and likewise the peaches.
This is an excerpt from Le Menagier de Paris
(France, 1393 - Janet Hinson, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website
Platter: Grapes and peaches in little pies.
To make all maner of fruit Tartes
This is an excerpt from The Good Housewife's Jewell
(England, 1596)
The original source can be found at Chef Phains - Free Cookbooks
To make all maner of fruit Tartes. You must boyle your fruite, whether it be apple, cherrie, peach, damson, peare, Mulberie, or codling, in faire water, and when they be boyled inough, put them into a bowle, and bruse them with a ladle, and when they be colde, straine them, and put in red wine or Claret wine, and so season it with suger, sinamon and ginger.
165. Pottage called Peach dish
This is an excerpt from Libre del Coch
(Spain, 1520 - Robin Carroll-Mann, trans.)
The original source can be found at Mark S. Harris' Florilegium
165. Pottage called Peach dish. You will take the peeled peaches, and cut them into slices, and cook them in good fat broth; and when they are cooked, take a few blanched almonds and grind them; and when they are well-ground, strain them rather thick with that broth. And then cook this sauce with sugar and a little ginger, and when it is cooked, cast in enough pot-broth or that which falls from the roasting-spit. And let it stew well for a little; and then prepare dishes, and upon each one cast sugar; and in this same way you can make the sauce of quinces in the same manner; but the quinces need to be strained with [the] almonds, and they should not be sour, and likewise the peaches.
Platter: Grapes and peaches in little pies
This is an excerpt from Le Menagier de Paris
(France, 1393 - Janet Hinson, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website
Platter: Grapes and peaches in little pies.
a surfeit of onions
I had a surfeit of onions (about 8kg), so I surveyed the medieval recipes to decide what to do with them, and then cooked two dishes. My criteria were - the main ingredient was onion, and the dish could be preserved (frozen, bottled, etc) for a few months until the next potluck event.
Survey of recipes
I used the lovely search feature at the medieval cookery site - it still misses a lot of cookbooks, but it does search a larger collection than anywhere else I know of (and by the time you read this, their collection is probably larger). I present my results below, because these results are sorted by type, and have been checked to ensure they contain large quantities of onion, where many search results contain only smaller quantities. If you too have a surfeit of onions, you might find something else from this list useful.
Tart of scallions or of onions
summary: boil (well) onions, dry, mash/chop, add lard, then add eggs, cheese, saffron, make tart.
Sauce for eggs poached in oil / Egg Broth
summary: parboil then fry onions, boil in water(wine) & vinegar. Serve over oil poached eggs.
See here how onions are cooked: in water for a long time before the peas
summary: boil in pea water.
The liquid from the peas on a meat day is of no account
summary: fry onions, add breadcrumbs, spices, vinegar & wine.
Pottage of Onions That is Called Cebollada
summary: parboil then fry onions, add almond milk made with meat broth, add cheese, egg yolks and optional cinnamon & sugar.
Onions with cuminsauce with almonds
summary: boil onion with cummin, safron & bread ground with almond milk. Salt & cool.
Soupes dorrees / Soupes dorroy / Sowpys Dorry / Soupes dorye / Soppus Dorre and versions without onions (generally spiced) Sowpus dorre / Golden Sops / Golden toasts / Soppis Dorre / soupes dorrey / Soppes Dorre / Sowpes Dorry
summary: onions fried (then boiled), serve on toasted bread moistened with almond milk and or wine.
summary: 5 variants on the same theme - meat in broth with fried onions, breadcrumbs, spiced.
recipes with a bit less onion:
White Geneva tarts
summary: tart of cheese & onions.
English puree
summary: boiled pea & onions mash.
Benes yfryed
summary: fried beans with onion
Sauce for peiouns (pigeons)
summary: minced parsley, onion, garlic.
Ambroyno (a sweet food) and a version without onion
summary: sauce of onion, almond & spice for chicken.
Noumbles in Lent / Chawdon for Lent
summary: fish & fish blood & breadcrumbs & onions & spices.
Rew de Rumsy
summary: roast pig foot & onion?
Bukkenade
summary: meat & onion soup?
Bruet of Almaynne / Bruet of Almayn
summary: meat broth with almonds and in these 2 versions (but not others), (equal weight of ?) minced onion.
Fylettes in Galytyne / ffelettes in galentyne / felettes in galentyne / Fylettys en Galentyne and versions without onions Filetus in Galentine / Fylettes Of Galyntyne
summary: veal broth with breadcrumbs & onions.
Pottage of alideme of eggs
summary: onions & herb broth thickened with egg yolks.
And the recipes I chose...A common theme of a lot of the above recipes is an onion broth thickened with breadcrumbs. I decided to try a couple from le menagier de Paris (France, 1393):
seeded soup
SEEDED SOUP is a winter soup. Peel onions and cook them all chopped up, then fry them in a pot; it is appropriate to have your poultry split through the back and browned on the grill over a coal fire, or if it is veal, the same; and whether it is veal cut in pieces or chicken cut in quarters, put it with the onions in the pot; then have white bread browned on the grill and moistened with some other meat stock: and then grind ginger, clove, grain and long pepper, mix with verjuice and wine, without sieving, and set aside: then grind the bread and put through the sieve and add to the soup, and strain it all together and boil; then serve.
my version:
Comments:
The burnt toast ruined the taste of this dish.
Onions
also from le menagier de Paris (France, 1393):
"The liquid from the peas on a meat day is of no account. On a fish day and in Lent, fry the onions as is told in the preceding chapter, and then put the oil in which the onions were fried and the onions in along with bread-crumbs, ginger, cloves and grain, ground: and sprinkle with vinegar and wine, and add a little saffron, then adorn the bowl with slices of bread."
Obviously I also needed to read the preceding bit to do with onions:
"On a fish day, when the peas are cooked, you should have onions which have been cooked as long as the peas in a pot and like the bacon cooked separately in another pot, and as with the bacon water you may nourish and serve the peas, in the same way; on fish days, when you have put your peas on the fire in a pot, you must put aside your minced onions in another pot, and with onion water serve and nourish the peas; and when all is cooked fry the onions and put half of them in the peas, and the other half in the liquid from the peas of which I spoke above, and then add salt, And if on this fish day or in Lent there is salted whale-meat, you must do with the whale-meat as with the bacon on a meat day."
my version:
dorres, note
http://www.godecookery.com/pepys/pepys03.htm
Survey of recipes
I used the lovely search feature at the medieval cookery site - it still misses a lot of cookbooks, but it does search a larger collection than anywhere else I know of (and by the time you read this, their collection is probably larger). I present my results below, because these results are sorted by type, and have been checked to ensure they contain large quantities of onion, where many search results contain only smaller quantities. If you too have a surfeit of onions, you might find something else from this list useful.
Tart of scallions or of onions
summary: boil (well) onions, dry, mash/chop, add lard, then add eggs, cheese, saffron, make tart.
Sauce for eggs poached in oil / Egg Broth
summary: parboil then fry onions, boil in water(wine) & vinegar. Serve over oil poached eggs.
See here how onions are cooked: in water for a long time before the peas
summary: boil in pea water.
The liquid from the peas on a meat day is of no account
summary: fry onions, add breadcrumbs, spices, vinegar & wine.
Pottage of Onions That is Called Cebollada
summary: parboil then fry onions, add almond milk made with meat broth, add cheese, egg yolks and optional cinnamon & sugar.
Onions with cuminsauce with almonds
summary: boil onion with cummin, safron & bread ground with almond milk. Salt & cool.
Soupes dorrees / Soupes dorroy / Sowpys Dorry / Soupes dorye / Soppus Dorre and versions without onions (generally spiced) Sowpus dorre / Golden Sops / Golden toasts / Soppis Dorre / soupes dorrey / Soppes Dorre / Sowpes Dorry
summary: onions fried (then boiled), serve on toasted bread moistened with almond milk and or wine.
George Soup / russet soup / russet soup is made like george soup / german soup / seeded soup
summary: 5 variants on the same theme - meat in broth with fried onions, breadcrumbs, spiced.
recipes with a bit less onion:
White Geneva tarts
summary: tart of cheese & onions.
English puree
summary: boiled pea & onions mash.
Benes yfryed
summary: fried beans with onion
Sauce for peiouns (pigeons)
summary: minced parsley, onion, garlic.
Ambroyno (a sweet food) and a version without onion
summary: sauce of onion, almond & spice for chicken.
Noumbles in Lent / Chawdon for Lent
summary: fish & fish blood & breadcrumbs & onions & spices.
Rew de Rumsy
summary: roast pig foot & onion?
Bukkenade
summary: meat & onion soup?
Bruet of Almaynne / Bruet of Almayn
summary: meat broth with almonds and in these 2 versions (but not others), (equal weight of ?) minced onion.
Fylettes in Galytyne / ffelettes in galentyne / felettes in galentyne / Fylettys en Galentyne and versions without onions Filetus in Galentine / Fylettes Of Galyntyne
summary: veal broth with breadcrumbs & onions.
Pottage of alideme of eggs
summary: onions & herb broth thickened with egg yolks.
And the recipes I chose...A common theme of a lot of the above recipes is an onion broth thickened with breadcrumbs. I decided to try a couple from le menagier de Paris (France, 1393):
seeded soup
SEEDED SOUP is a winter soup. Peel onions and cook them all chopped up, then fry them in a pot; it is appropriate to have your poultry split through the back and browned on the grill over a coal fire, or if it is veal, the same; and whether it is veal cut in pieces or chicken cut in quarters, put it with the onions in the pot; then have white bread browned on the grill and moistened with some other meat stock: and then grind ginger, clove, grain and long pepper, mix with verjuice and wine, without sieving, and set aside: then grind the bread and put through the sieve and add to the soup, and strain it all together and boil; then serve.
my version:
- parboiled onions about 25 mins
- drained and fried onions in a pan in oil
- added onions to a pot
- cut up some old lamb roast (didn't have chicken or veal)
- toasted (oops burnt) bread, poured some beef stock over it, soaked up all stock, 5 mins later ground in food processor. added to pot.
- soaked ground ginger, cloves and extra black pepper (lacked other spices) in verjuice, 5 mins then added to pot.
- boiled pot.
- froze and reheated later
Comments:The burnt toast ruined the taste of this dish.
Onions
also from le menagier de Paris (France, 1393):
"The liquid from the peas on a meat day is of no account. On a fish day and in Lent, fry the onions as is told in the preceding chapter, and then put the oil in which the onions were fried and the onions in along with bread-crumbs, ginger, cloves and grain, ground: and sprinkle with vinegar and wine, and add a little saffron, then adorn the bowl with slices of bread."
Obviously I also needed to read the preceding bit to do with onions:
"On a fish day, when the peas are cooked, you should have onions which have been cooked as long as the peas in a pot and like the bacon cooked separately in another pot, and as with the bacon water you may nourish and serve the peas, in the same way; on fish days, when you have put your peas on the fire in a pot, you must put aside your minced onions in another pot, and with onion water serve and nourish the peas; and when all is cooked fry the onions and put half of them in the peas, and the other half in the liquid from the peas of which I spoke above, and then add salt, And if on this fish day or in Lent there is salted whale-meat, you must do with the whale-meat as with the bacon on a meat day."
my version:
- had no pea water. parboiled onions about 25 mins
- drained and fried onions in a pan in oil
- added fried onions to a pot of water. (washed out that last bit of caramel on bottom of frypan into pot too, since I probably wasn't using enough oil)
- added breadcrumbs (air dried) and spices (ground cloves, ground ginger, and ground black pepper as I hoped grain referred to grain of paradise, a gingery pepper taste, so extra ginger too)
- added a little white wine and verjuice to pot (hadn't a vinegar open)
- omitted saffron as expensive, and probably mainly a colouring agent (and caramel was doing that)
dorres, note
http://www.godecookery.com/pepys/pepys03.htm
Tart of Prunes
from A Book of Cookrye, 1591
To make a Tarte of Prunes. Take Prunes and wash them, then boile them with faire water, cut in halfe a penny loaf of white bread, and take them out and straine them with Claret wine, season it with sinamon, Ginger and Sugar, and a little Rosewater, make the paste as fine as you can, and dry it, and fill it, and let it drie in the oven, take it out and cast on it Biskets and Carawaies.
My reconstruction:
I don't measure ingredients, so these are approximations:
breadcrumbs (about 1 cups)
prunes (about 2 cups)
spices: cinnamon, ginger, sugar in about equal quantities
think longer cooking better. maybe better served hot.
interesting this recipie actually says to blind bake tart case.
What are carawaies?
actually went down quite well. despite skungy appearance was proclaimed yummy by some, when hot.
To make a Tarte of Prunes. Take Prunes and wash them, then boile them with faire water, cut in halfe a penny loaf of white bread, and take them out and straine them with Claret wine, season it with sinamon, Ginger and Sugar, and a little Rosewater, make the paste as fine as you can, and dry it, and fill it, and let it drie in the oven, take it out and cast on it Biskets and Carawaies.
My reconstruction:
I don't measure ingredients, so these are approximations:
breadcrumbs (about 1 cups)
prunes (about 2 cups)
spices: cinnamon, ginger, sugar in about equal quantities
think longer cooking better. maybe better served hot.
interesting this recipie actually says to blind bake tart case.
What are carawaies?
actually went down quite well. despite skungy appearance was proclaimed yummy by some, when hot.
A Herb Tart
This is an excerpt from Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin
(Germany, 16th century - V. Armstrong, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website
186 To make an herb tart. Take spinach, blanch it and chop it and grate Parmesan cheese into it, a little pepper, small raisins, melted butter therein. Salt it and bake and make a tart out of it, as one normally makes covered tarts.
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi/display.pl?wes:186
Chard I had frozen(waste not!) in large pot of boiling water until it defrosted.
removed, drained lightly, chopped roughly
blind baked a standard modern slightly short (butter) pastry case
-chard in pastry case, added dab of melted butter, currants, a little grated paresan on top
-baked
-oops I forgot the pepper - would have helped taste
not too bad. Some people won't liek the sweetness of the currants.
version 2
-didn't chop chard
-used pyrex dish as base
-lots more melted butter (about 1/2 cup per small tart)
too much butter - greasy and lank
. tarts are easier with pastry base
chop the chard - stringy and hard to obtain a portion
twilight tourney jan 2010
(Germany, 16th century - V. Armstrong, trans.)
The original source can be found at David Friedman's website
186 To make an herb tart. Take spinach, blanch it and chop it and grate Parmesan cheese into it, a little pepper, small raisins, melted butter therein. Salt it and bake and make a tart out of it, as one normally makes covered tarts.
http://www.medievalcookery.com/cgi/display.pl?wes:186
Chard I had frozen(waste not!) in large pot of boiling water until it defrosted.
removed, drained lightly, chopped roughly
blind baked a standard modern slightly short (butter) pastry case
-chard in pastry case, added dab of melted butter, currants, a little grated paresan on top
-baked
-oops I forgot the pepper - would have helped taste
not too bad. Some people won't liek the sweetness of the currants.
version 2
-didn't chop chard
-used pyrex dish as base
-lots more melted butter (about 1/2 cup per small tart)
too much butter - greasy and lank
. tarts are easier with pastry base
chop the chard - stringy and hard to obtain a portion
twilight tourney jan 2010
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Medieval Master Chef (2015 GSG)
The first Medieval Master Chef was held at the Great Southern Gathering in Krae Glas (September 2015). We had four entries with three making it to the end.
Our judges where Master Aylwin Greymane, Mistress Elspeth Caerwent, and Mistress Nicolette Dufay.
Much fun and good food was had by all.
Here is a copy of the redaction recipe.
Our judges where Master Aylwin Greymane, Mistress Elspeth Caerwent, and Mistress Nicolette Dufay.
Much fun and good food was had by all.
Here is a copy of the redaction recipe.
Matt Squared
Magnus Erickssen
Arganhell verch Brianc
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Roast lamb broken for a duke's table (lamb carved in the 15th/16th century English manner)
This project was undertaken jointly by myself and Vandel for the Midwinter Coronation Arts and Sciences competition in the category of 'a carved item'. The table setting had previously been researched for the Stormhold Winterfeast table decorating competition which had a 15th century theme (see previous blog entries). Here is a link to a short YouTube video showing the carving in progress.
Roast lamb broken for a duke’s table
Description: roast leg of lamb, carved in the 15th-16th century English style for a duke’s table as described in The Boke of Keruynge.
Research and photography by Lady Antonia di Lorenzo, carving by Baron Vandel Lynchea (aka Rachel Grimmer and Rohan Davies)
Medieval meat carving
Like most aspects of formal dining, the carving and serving of meat at a medieval high table was a highly specialised task. Unlike contemporary meat carving, where fairly large slices are served to the diner who then cuts them into smaller pieces with individual knives and forks, in the middle ages the carver provided a highly personalised service. Each item of meat or pastry was cut in its own particular way into bite-sized pieces, carefully avoiding any fat, gristle or other undesirable parts, and placed before the diner on trenchers of bread, then seasoned or sauced, ready for eating with fingers or a spoon. Forks were very uncommon in England until well into the 16th century, and if the carver had done his job well, individual knives were not used a great deal either.
Because each type of meat, fowl, fish or bakemeat (pastry) had to be carved in a particular way (each referred to by own distinctive carving term) and served with the correct accompaniments, the carver required a great deal of training and experience. In addition the carver had to exercise his own judgement as to which parts of the meat and how much to serve each diner so as to please them and enhance the dining experience. Male children of the nobility were frequently placed as squires in the household of other nobles, preferably of higher status, to be trained in every aspect of courtly life including table service and body service (assistance with grooming and dressing). The young man would rise through the ranks of panter, butler, waiter, cup bearer, sewer (server) and carver.
To assist these young men there were a number of handbooks written in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, such as the Boke of Nurture, the Babees Book, and The Boke of Keruynge. This latter is available with the original woodblock printed text placed side by side with the modern english translation (plus additional explanatory notes and diagrams at the end of the book by food historian Peter Brears), and has been used as the main source for this project.
The carver and his utensils
The carver was distinguished from other table attendants by wearing a white linen arming cloth about 3m long, draped diagonally over his left shoulder and tied at the waist on the right. Carvers would use a set of carving utensils owned by the lord. These consisted of large broad carving knives for setting the sliced trencher bread before the lord and carving the meat, and smaller narrower knives for holding the meat while carving, and for carving smaller birds. Only some meats, such as venison, were required to be held with a knife while being carved. Other foods were held with the thumb and two fingers of the left hand. Some carving sets included large two-pronged forks or a single spike for holding the meat. The whole set had a sheath or carrying case which was frequently embellished with the heraldry of the owner. The knives had elaborate handles of wood or ivory with silver or silver gilt mounts, and the blades were often decorated. A particularly rare set from the 16th century, one knife of which is held by the Victoria and Albert Museum, is engraved with musical notation containing a benediction to be sung before eating on one side and a grace to be sung at the end of the meal on the the other. Each knife has one voice part, the V&A knife being engraved with the tenor part.
The table setting
The table setting we have used is based on the instructions from The Boke of Keruynge and 15th century manuscript illuminations. On a white diapered cloth the diner’s place is set with bread trenchers. The number of trenchers varied according to the status of the diner - this setting has four slices, indicating an archbishop or duke. In the sixteenth century bread trenchers gave way to wooden or metal trenchers. We have chosen to use both to protect the tablecloth. To the left of the trenchers is a 15th century-style knop spoon placed on a folded napkin. To the right is an eating knife, a cup and a salt.
Carving the lamb
Although mutton would have been preferred to lamb in medieval times, lamb was chosen because it was more easily obtainable and also substantially cheaper than venison. The roasted leg was placed on a serving dish opposite the lord for breaking (this is the medieval term for carving a joint of venison, mutton, lamb or beef). The meat is held using a long narrow knife in the left hand, and carved with a larger broader knife in the right hand. The first step is to remove any undesirable parts of the meat from the area to be carved. This includes skin, fat, gristle, burnt bits and (if applicable) any bits with hair or feathers. Next a series of parallel cuts is made into the meat, followed by a second row of cuts at right angles to the first. Then the knife is laid parallel to the surface and the meat sliced off as small chunks, and placed upon the trencher using the tip of the knife. The meat is not touched with the hands. Meat such as venison was often placed on a bed of frumenty to be eaten with a spoon, but for clarity of illustration we have omitted this step. After serving the meat might be seasoned or sauced by the carver. The correct accompaniment for lamb would have been gamelyne/cameline sauce, made with cinnamon and other spices, bread, and wine or verjuice.
Results
After carving, the lamb was eaten by the entrants and several members of the Abbotsford household. These experienced re-enactors provided useful feedback on the results of the carving. This method of carving was found to have a number of advantages over the contemporary method of cutting large thin slices. In addition to avoiding the need for a (non-period) fork in order to eat, it was found that this method of carving was ideally suited to cutting around bones in joints of meat. The meat also tasted better, with the chunks of meat retaining moisture and flavour better than thin slices. All in all, a resounding success.
References
Wynkyn de Worde The Boke of Keruynge (The Book of Carving) 1508
Published with additional notes and drawings by Peter Brears, Southover Press 2003
P. W. Hammond Food and Feast in Medieval England Alan Sutton 1993
O. Redon, F. Sabban & S. Serventi The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy
translated by E. Schneider, University of Chicago Press 1998
Le très riches heures du Duc de Berry, Janvier Ms 65/1284 fol. 1 v (sourced from the Web Gallery of Art)
La geste ou histoire du noble roy Alexandre Ms. Fr. 9342, fol. 13 (sourced from The Medieval Kitchen)
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