Platina-Feast-art - 5/24/01 A 15th Century Italian feast cooked from recipes in Platina by Lady Clotild. NOTE: See also the files: Platina-Lunch-art, cb-rv-Platina-msg, p-Italy-food-bib, Platina-bib, olives-msg, fd-Italy-msg, gourds-msg, root-veg-msg. ************************************************************************ NOTICE - This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday. This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter. The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors. Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s). Thank you, Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous Stefan at florilegium.org ************************************************************************ Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 10:08:41 -0800 (PST) From: Clotilda Suessionensis Subject: SC - 12th Night Platina Feast LONG The Shire of the Storm did a "catered performance" for a local church's fundraising kick-off dinner. The church paid for the food, and we provided cooking, serving and decorations. Because I'd recently acquired Milham's Platina, I wanted to do a period Italian feast, and planned a menu accordingly. The menu had to include vegetarian dishes in each course, and my aim was to make a feast that was documentable (as much as possible), delicious and educational to boot. To ensure the "educational" part, I made a brochure that explained Italian 12th Night traditions, outlined the menu and provided recipes for four of the more unusual redacted recipes (on the idea that if they read about it, they might feel better about eating something unusual). (The brochure is available in .pdf form for anyone who wants it - email me at magistra at tampabay.rr.com) We held a Shire redaction class several weeks before the event to test-run the recipes and decide, for example, which of two soup recipes to use. I incorporated a very few "perioid" and "non-period" items, which are noted in the menu. BEFORE THE MEAL Antipasto Platters - sliced meats, cheeses, crudites, pickles, olives (perioid) King Cake - modern Swedish Coffee Bread recipe, chosen because I know the recipe well, could scale it easily, and could bake it in advance PRIMO Gourd Soup - from Platina, recipe and redaction below Italian Bread - fresh baked by us without a recipe Fruited Chicken Pies - from Platina, recipe and redaction below SEGUNDO Pork Roast - from Platina, recipe and redaction below Parsnips - from Platina, recipe and redaction below Stewed Apples - perioid, simply cooked with sugar and cinnamon. Platina had a recipe for stewed apples but it was not vegetarian. TERTIO Yule Log Cakes - covered in chocolate, these were not even close to period, but were a nice subtlety - and delicious We served mulled spiced wine and cider to drink. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= REDACTED RECIPES Gourd Soup - from Platina, p. 339 "With a perforated spoon, put gourd, which has been cut up and cooked in broth or water with a bit of onion, in a pot where there is rich broth and a bit of verjuice and saffron. When it has boiled a little while, take from the hearth. After it has been taken out and cooled somewhat, put in two egg yolks, beaten with a bit of aged and ground cheese, or stir continually with a spoon so lumps do not impede the cooking. When it has been put in small serving dishes, sprinkle with spices." Ingredients: (for 10 to 12 servings) 2 large butternut squash 2-3 cans vegetable broth 2 medium onions verjuice º package of Vigo saffron 2 egg yolks Parmesan cheese sprinkle of cumin parsley Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Cut the squash in large chunks, and boil in a large stockpot (or two) water (or broth) with the cut-up onions. When the squash can be pierced through with a fork, strain. Let squash cool before peeling off rind. Place rindless squash and onions in blender with one or two cans of vegetable broth and blend until smooth. Pour into large stockpot and add remainder of vegetable broth, verjuice (if desired) and saffron. When soup has reduced somewhat, beat together egg yolks, Parmesan cheese and cumin and add to pot. Stir to blend. Reality Check: We forgot to boil the onions with the squash, and so caramelized the onions and then blended them with the squash. We also did not add eggs to the recipe when we served it at the feast. This was one of the two most popular dishes we served. - - - - - - - - - Fruited Chicken Pie - Platina, p. 273 (A Crust for Tame Animals) "If you want a crust with chicks and any sort of bird, first boil them. When they are almost cooked, take them out of the kettle, and when they are out, cut them up in pieces, and fry in a frying pan with plenty of lard. Then pour them out into a pan or well-oiled earthen pot lined with a crust. Add plums and cherries or sour fruit to this mixture without harm. Then beat with a paddle verjuice and eight eggs, if you are having more guests, or fewer, with a few, with a moderate amount of juice. With this, mix parsley, marjoram and mint chopped as fine as possible with a knife, and place on a fire but far from the flame, for it must boil slowly. Meanwhile it ought to be stirred with a spoon as long as needed until it covers the spoon with a thick coating. Finally, pour this juice over the crust and put it on the fire, even if it is a meat pie. When it is cooked, serve to your guests. It will be very nourishing, digest slowly, leave little indigestible residue, repress bile and irritate the chest." Ingredients (makes 1 pie, serves 6 to 8) 1 chicken breast, 2 chicken thies 1 pie crust (not prebaked) 1 packages dried cherries, soaked in white wine verjuice 6 eggs 1/8 cup fine chopped fresh parsley 1/8 cup fine chopped fresh mint 1/8 cup fine chopped marjoram Boil and debone the chicken (reserve broth for use in pork roast). Preheat the oven to 350∫F. Mix the chicken, wine-soaked cherries and herbs in a large bowl. Pour the chicken-herb-fruit mixture into three pie shells. Beat the eggs well with about half a cup of verjuice, and pour over the chicken mixture in each pie. Bake at 350∫F for an hour and a half, or until toothpick inserted in center of pie comes out clean. Reality Check: I ordered verjuice far in advance, but UPS broke the bottles in transit, so I had no verjuice. We used red wine vinegar instead. Also, next time around we might make it more quiche-like by increasing the egg mixture and decreasing the chicken. - - - - - - - - - Pork Roast - Platina p. 283 (Haedus in Allio - actually a recipe for Kid, but worked well for pork) On a spit over a fire turn the kid with bits of lard and cloves of clean garlic stuck all around it. Moisten frequently with sprigs of bay or rosemary, with the seasoning, which I shall now describe. With verjuice and a rich sauce, mix two well-beaten egg yolks, two well-pounded cloves of garlic, a bit of saffron, and a little pepper and put in a pan. Then, as I have said, sprinkle it on what is cooking, and when it is cooked, put in a dish and pour in part of the sauce, then sprinkle with finely cut parsley. Ingredients: Pork Shoulder Butt Roast (1/4 lb. per person) Egg yolks, beaten (1 per pound of meat) Verjuice (1/8 cup per pound of meat) Chicken broth (1 cup per pound of meat) Pepper Saffron Sprigs of rosemary Several cloves garlic, slivered Parsley Preheat the oven to 500∫F. "Stud" the pork roast with slivers of garlic all over and place it in a roasting pan. Mix the remainder of the ingredients and pour them over the roast. Place the pan in the oven and reduce the temperature to 350∫F. Roast for 30-45 minutes per pound. (We used the parsley to garnish the trays of meat.) Reality Check: Again, no verjuice, so we used red wine vinegar instead. The pork didn't slice as much as fall apart like pulled pork - and tasted fabulous. This was the other most popular dish we served. - - - - - - - - - Parsnips - Platina, p. 227 The parsnip should be boiled twice, with the first water thrown away, and cooked with lettuce the second time. Transferred from there to a dish and seasoned with salt, vinegar, coriander and pepper, it is suitable to eat, for it settles cough, pleurisy and dropsy, and arouses passion. Ingredients: Parsnips (peeled and cut in slices) Salt, pepper, coriander Vinegar (organic red wine) Boil parsnips in water; drain. Boil again with fresh water and lettuce in pot. Season with vinegar, salt, pepper and coriander to taste. Reality Check: not enough pans or time to boil again - - and parsnips tasted fine with one boiling. The coriander and vinegar combined to make a nice sharp taste that was great with the parsnips, and nicely complemented the pork roast. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= If anyone's tried these recipes before or has a different redaction, I'd love to see it. :) - - Lady Clotild ===== Clotilda Suessionensis Shire of the Storm Kingdom of Trimaris Edited by Mark S. Harris Platina-Feast-art Page 5 of 5