| I'm embarrassed to admit that I've confused some of my "sources"; the
"Fabulous Feasts" book did *not* come from Mediaeval Miscellanea. In
fact, I haven't been able to discover where I did get it. All I know
for certain is that it was from a catalog, but whether it was the
ever-present Publisher's Central or some other one I can't say.
It might be possible to order the book, though I haven't asked around.
If I remember where I got it, I'll supply the address.
By way of apology, here's the address for the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York, from whom I've ordered another medieval cookbook, "To the
King's Taste: Richard II's book of feasts and recipes":
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
255 Gracie Station
New York, NY 10028
(The Met's catalog is worth sending for just to look through, by the way...)
In the mean time, in case anyone's interested in medieval-style jewelry,
gift wrap, and clothing patterns - but no cookbooks! - here is the address
for MM, with apologies for putting it in the cooking file:
Mediaeval Miscellanea
7006 Raleigh Road
Annandale, VA 22003
-b
|
| Here are a couple of recipes from "Fabulous Feasts"; I've selected them because
they are short and, unlike some of the more elaborate recipes, they might appeal
to the modern taste as well as to the medieval one.
* * *
Leekes (Leeks with Walnuts)
Leeks were cultivated copiously in medieval Europe as a vegetable both
nourishing and stimulating to the "desires of Venus".
Ingredients
10 to 12 fresh leeks 1 Tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups beef broth 1 cup coarsely ground walnuts
1/2 cup white wine 1 teaspoon vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup walnuts, cut in quarters
Wash, trim, and coarsely chop the leeks.
Simmer slowly in broth and wine for 12 minutes, in a covered pot.
Add salt, sugar, ground nuts, and vinegar. Simmer another 7 minutes, uncovered.
Spoon leeks into individual serving bowls. Garnish each portion with quartered
nuts. Serve warm.
* * *
Turnypes (Creamed Turnip and Parsnip Soup)
1 cup peeled, fresh turnips, diced 1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup scraped, fresh parsnips, diced 3 egg yolks
2 1/2 cups beef broth 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coarsely ground almonds juice of 1/4 lemon
Gently boil the turnips and parsnips in the broth until the vegetables are soft,
about 12 minutes.
Stir in the almonds and heat for 3 minutes.
Mix the yolks and salt with the cream; add the lemon juice; pour 1/2 cup hot
soup into egg mixture, stirring well. Then slowly pour this mixture into the
soup. Stir well.
Heat 2 or 3 minutes, stirring, and serve warm.
* * *
And then there's the one where you sew the back half of a suckling pig to the
front half of a chicken and decorate the whole thing to look like a basilisk...
-b
|
| This is a duplicate of a note posted to the Society for Creative
Anachronisms notesfile [GUIDO""::SYS$NOTES:SCA]. They're a bunch
of fine folk who are interested primarily in life before the 15th
Century.
One of the members asked for some recipes on Medieval cookery.
Here are a couple of recipes:
Since everybody's asked about recipes and nobody's done more than talk,
I'll post a few from TO THE KING'S TASTE. To make things easier, I'll
use the kitchen-tested versions.
SLIT SOPS
4 Medium leeks
2 tablespoons butter
1.5 cups dry wine, or
1 cup canned connsume plus 0.5 cup wine
0.25 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper
Buerre maine (2 tablespoons flour blended with
1 tablespoon soft butter
sops (1-2 slices toast, quartered, or
1/2 cup crutons
1. Remove green tops and roots of leeks. Cut white section in
half lengthwise and one across the middle. Wash thoroughly.
2. Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Toss leeks to coa and sautee
over a gentle flame until they begin to melt (about 5 min.).
3. Add wine, salt, and peopper to taste. Simmer an additional 10
to 15 minutes until leeks are done.
4. Blend in burre maine to thicken just before serving.
5. Serve in soup bowls over toast or croutons.
>> Serves 3-4
VENISON STEW
3 tablespoons bacon fat
1 medium onion, minced
2 pounds venison, cut into 1.5-inch cubes (beef/veal as sub.)
0.25 cup flour
1.5 cups boiling water or beef stock
1.5 cups red wine
2 teaspoons finely minced ginger
or 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 tablespoon (or more) vinegar
0.5 cups currants
salt
0.5 cup bread crumbs (optional)
fresh deer blood, to taste (if available)
1. melt bacon fat in large saucepan
2. Saute onion in fat until transparent
3. Dredge venison cubes in flour
4. brown cubes in skillet, combining them with onions
5. Combine water/stock, wine, ginger, vinegar, currants, and salt
-- to taste. Stir to blend.
6. Pour liquid over meat
7. Cover and simmer about 2.5 hours or until meat is tender.
8. Add bread crumbs to thicken if desired.
9. If using blood, remove pot from flame a few minutes before
adding it, as it shoukd not boil. The blood will thicken and
flavor the sauce as well as darken the color.
>>Serves 4 - 6
That's a good start. Anyone else want to add anything?
Apollonius
+++++ +++++
For anybody interested,, the book referenced it TO THE KING'S TASTE,
published by St. Martin's for the New York Metropolitan Museum of
Art. the original recipes are presented, then a version "Fannie
Farmered" for modern use.
Apollonius
|