grains-msg - 1/12/08 Medieval grains. Recipes. NOTE: See also these files: rice-msg, frumenty-msg, Ancent-Grains-art, beans-msg, bread-msg, broths-msg, breakfast-msg, flour-msg, beer-msg, nuts-msg, pasta-msg, soup-msg, polenta-msg, bev-distilled-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, 05 Oct 1997 21:49:05 -0400 From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com> Subject: Re: SC - Re: A couple questions . . . Jessica Tiffin wrote: > Recognition! I concocted something very like this for a feast about a year > ago, basing it on a chicken-barley dish (purportedly Saxon) I found on the > Net. The flavour was wonderful (mushroom, onion, fresh herbs, dash of > vinegar) but the barley went very glutinous, and the dish was not well > received. (Sigh). What am I doing wrong? Is that gluey consistency the > result of overcooking, or the wrong kind of barley? If it's all cooked > together in broth, you can't wash it to get rid of excess starch, which is a > reasonable rice-fixer. > > grateful for imput, > > Melesine Barley does tend to get sticky unless it is cooked as a pilaf. Period people probably would have eaten barley dishes more in the form of thick, chowdery soups, so a certain gumminess wouldn't have been much of a problem. A typical pilaf of any grain consists of bringing a certain premeasured amount of liquid to a boil in a saucepan, sauteeing various vegetables (onion is a classic) in butter and/or oil, and adding the grain to the hot fat, sauteeing it until it is lightly toasted and the grains are separate. Then you add your boiling stock or water to that pan, bring all back to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer/steam, covered, until the grain is done and the liquid absorbed. Offhand I don't know what the proportion of barley to liquid is by volume. For rice it is generally 2:1, but barley needs more like 3 or 4 :1, and takes about 45 minutes to cook. Adamantius Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 23:32:01 -0600 From: "Morgan" <morgan at mt.net> Subject: Re: SC - Recipe shared BARLEY MUSHROOM RISOTTO 1 cup pearl barley 1/2 lb. Portobello mushrooms chopped 4 cups vegtable broth 1 onion coarsely chopped 1 cup water 1/2 tsp. mace 1/2 cup currants salt & pepper to taste Rinse barley and place in two cups liquid to soak overnite. In large heavy pot over medium flame bring small amount of broth ( 1/4 cup) to boil and add mushrooms. Cook for 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Remove 'shrooms from pan and set aside. Add onion (and possibly another 1/4 cup of broth) to pot, cook stirring often until onion is softened. Add 1 cup broth and bring to simmer. Drain barley from soaking liquid, and rinse. Add barley to pot, as well as macecooking 5 minutes, stirring until liquid is nearly absorbed. Add remaining broth/water to barley mixture 1/2 cup at a time, stirring frequently, not adding more until liquid has ben absorbed. When the barley is tender and nearly all broth has been absorbed (45 minutes) stir in reserved mushrooms and currants. Cook a few minutes longer -- until risotto reaches desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. BTW: I have used golden raisins instead of currants with good results, and in a pinch I also used a small canned of "shrooms for the portobellos. I know, cheap and tacky, but it got the dish made, and no one the wiser that they were cheated. Caointiarn Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 14:47:02 -0900 (AKST) From: "Anne M. Young" <ftamy at aurora.alaska.edu> Subject: SC - Buckwheat-sca-cooks V1 #645 Greetings, List, from one of your lurkers- I had to comment on the buckwheat topic. Having worked with unroasted buckwheat for russian kasha (which is generic for grain) but is made as a porrige of pilaf style grain dish, I did find an article about it in Waverley Root's FOOD. While he is a popular source, rather than a truly scholarly one, I find I agree with most of his research. Anyway, buckwheat is a grain native to Central Asia. Variously, the saracens, the Moors of Spain, the Crusaders and the Turks are credited with spreading buckwheat to Europe. Buckwheat is generally found in places where other grains won't grow well and where the people eat "robustly". Brittany, Finland, Northern China, Styria in Austria, central France and the Tyrolian Alps. Annora of Shadowood/Anne Young (Anthropologist and cook) Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 13:53:54 -0500From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>Subject: RE: SC - Oats (was Is Medieval Food yucky?)Rolled oats are a cracked and flattened oat kernal produced by rollermilling, a modern process. In period, oats would most likely be used asoatmeal (a coarse oat flour) or as whole oats. Oats were one of thefoodstuffs of the poor, as it was commonly used as animal fodder. Generaluse was more common in Northern Europe, where oats grew well and wheatdidn't.English Bread and Yeast Cookery is one of the finest volumes on breadmakingever assembled. The historical information is quite accurate.Bear> Duke Sir Cariadoc,>> You said in your last post that rolled oats were a modern invention.> Does that mean that, when redacting medieval recipies which contain> oats, we should use only whole oats? Or are cracked oats accurate? I> believe Elizabeth David's book discusses cracked wheat, and I've> always assumed that other grains were crushed similarly on the> miller's wheel. (I know that Ms. David's English Cookery is a modern> book, but I'm under the impression that it is a credible source on> the> history of English bread making. Am I correct?)>> Katja Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 17:22:44 -0400 From: mermayde at juno.com (Christine A Seelye-King) Subject: SC - Oats The following is an excerpt from an article from "Early Period" Magazine, published by David and Rebecca Wendelken in 1987. "Early Period Grains and Their Uses" by Mistress Fuilteguerna "...Oats: The oldest oat grains that have been found date to the 12th dynasty in Egypt. It was grown in northern Europe from about 2000 BC on. Greeks and Romans considered oats a weed and used it in medicine, although it was widely used as a food by the Germanic tribes. It is believed tohave been introduced into England during the Anglo-Saxon invasions. We are most familiar with oats as "oatmeal" which was first packaged for sale in 1854. Originally, the grains were simply rolled flat, but they took a long time to cook. Now grain for this cereal is toasted, hulled, steamed, cut, and rolled -- quite a lot of processing. This is something to keep in mind when attempting to reconstruct early oat breads. Oatcakes This oatcake recipie includes bacon fat which makes the cakes tastier. They are best eaten either warm, or toasted. We stuck them on the grill and melted cheese over them. They were great. Mix four cups of uncooked oatmeal with two cups of buttermilk. Allow to stand for several hours. Stir occasionally. Add a teaspoon of salt, 1/4 to 1/2 half cup of bacon grease and enough whole wheat flour to make a stiff dough. Form into cakes and allow to sit covered on a floured baking sheet for thirty minutes. Bake in a moderate (350 degree) oven until they begin to brown and feel hard to the touch. These cakes will keep for a long time in the freezer. " Mistress Christianna MacGrain, OP, Meridies Date: Mon, 4 May 1998 23:32:53 -0700 From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com> Subject: RE: SC - s medieval food yucky? At 1:30 PM -0400 5/4/98, Tamara Crehan wrote: >I have found Irish Oatmeal, sold in tins in Stop & Shop and Shaws >supermarkets. Mc Cann's Irish Oatmeal from the tins is whole oats. >Makes a delicious porridge and amazing cookies! Works for a plausible reconstruction of the oat cakes that Froissart mentions, too. David/Cariadoc http://www.best.com/~ddfr/ Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 08:46:51 -0400 From: "Knott, Deanna" <Deanna.Knott at GSC.GTE.Com> Subject: SC - Polenta Someone mentioned polenta. Platina has a recipe for polenta in his book that I experimented with. In the original recipe, there is actually very little barley meal compared to the amount of cheese and egg that he calls for. The results came out more like a cheese cake. My experiement with his recipe can be seen at: http://www.geocities.com/athens/academy/9523/chzcake.html If anyone only has e-mail, please contact me privately and I will send it to you. Avelina Keyes Barony of the Bridge East Kingdom Date: Thu, 9 Jul 1998 12:55:43 +0200 (MET DST) From: Par Leijonhufvud <parlei at algonet.se> Subject: SC - pea bread/porrige [Adamatius wrote regarding the fact that most grains/peas were consumed boiled, not baked, in Roman eras.] This was most likely true for many other regions and times. I have been told by archaeologists who study early food that it varied from region to region during the Viking age. The avaiable grains probably played a large part in this; not everything can be sucessfully baked into bread. One example of the boiled pea and grain dishes is the porrige that has been reconstructed based on gravefinds in Groetlingbo (the "oe" is <o-with-umlaut>) on Gotland (10th c, I think). Peas and barley porrige. Good stuff too, even if I've never tried it with the sheeps milk that the original calls for. /UlfR P.S. You want a recipie? Why on earth for? Probably want me to give it in English as well... The Groetlingbo Porrige (Based on a porrige from a Viking age womans grave on Gotland) Makes 10 servings. 3,5 dl barley, preferably whole grain 0,5 dl peas (dried) 0.8 l water 1.3 l milk (sheeps milk in the original) [NB one dl is one tenth of a liter, i.e. 3.4 fl.oz.] * Soak the peas overnight. Throw away the water. * Mix peas, barley and water. Perhaps some salt as well. * Boil in a covered pot for 10 minutes. * Add the milk, stir and bring to a boil. * Allow to swell at a suitable temperature (45-60 min). * Serve with milk, honey and dried or fresh apples or berries. I have no idea if the archaeological record indicated the honey, berries and apples, or if they were added by the archaeologist that reconstructed it. - -- Par Leijonhufvud parlei(at)algonet.se Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1998 08:27:56 -0700 From: "Anne-Marie Rousseau" <acrouss at gte.net> Subject: Re: SC - cous cous Hi from Anne-Marie we are asked about cous cous in period. The following is a recipe from the Andalusian collection in Cariadoc and Elizabeths collection of medieval cookbooks (13th century? cant remember). By "moistened" I'm assuming they mean the standard method of cooking, but there may be cous cous experts out there who disagree :). The point is that the grain product was most definately consumed at least by al Andalus within the proscribed time period. I've also included my reconstruction (such that it is! :)). Served with pomegranite chicken, yum yum! We used veggie broth instead of the proscribed mutton stew juice because we needed a vegetarian friendly dish on this particular menu. enjoy... - --AM PS...standard request applies...if you want to reprint/use this recipe, please just ask for permission. I'm sure to give it, but I like to know where my reserarch is being used. Thanks! Soldier's Couscous (Kuskusu Fityani) (A55) The usual moistened couscous is known by the whole world. The Fityani is the one where the meat is cooked with its vegetables, as is usual, and when it is done, take out the meat and the vegetables from the pot and put them to one side; strain the bones and rest from the broth and return the pot to the fire; when it has boiled, put in the couscous cooked and rubbed with fat and leave it for a little on a reduced fire or the hearthstone until it takes in the proper amount of the sauce; then throw it on a platter and level it, put on top if it the cooked meat and vegetables, sprinkle it with cinnamon and serve it. This is called Fityani in Marrakesh. Soldier's Cous cous 2 c. cous cous 1 can veggie broth + 1 canful water 4 T. butter 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1 t. salt In a large pot with a good lid, bring the broth and water to a boil. Stir in the cous cous, and clap on the lid. Let sit off the heat until all the water is absorbed. Stir in the butter and sprinkle heavily with cinnamon. Fluff with a fork to keep from being gloppy. Serves 6-8 generously. Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 18:58:10 EST From: LrdRas at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - Re:Breakfast at WAR Mordonna22 at aol.com writes: << I'm still not sure about the triticale). >> No. Triticale is not period. It is actually a modern contrivance. trit*i*ca*le (noun) [New Latin, blend of Triticum, genus of wheat, and Secale, genus of rye] First appeared 1952 : an amphidiploid hybrid between wheat and rye that has a high yield and rich protein content Ras Date: Thu, 26 Nov 1998 20:56:30 EST From: LrdRas at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - Steam in the Bread Oven donna at Kwantlen.BC.CA writes: << I found millet meal at a local organic food store. Anybody tried baking with millet? >> Traditionally, especially during the Middle Ages millet was consumed as a cereal grain rather than a flour/baking grain. Ras Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 02:09:05 -0600 From: Stefan li Rous <stefan at texas.net> Subject: SC - barley Gwyneth asked: > Although this is OT for our current religious discussion, I was wondering > if you could help me answer a question for a lady here. > She is wanting to know if Barley is period. She has a recipe for chicken > and barley stew. According to Waverly Root in "Food", most definitely. Among some of what he says: "Barley was the chief grain from which the Hebrews made bread". "Barley was the chief grain of the Greeks in the most distant times of which we have knowledge, and was apparently endowed with a religious significance." "Barley was the chief bread grain of continental Europe until the sixteenth century, as important in the European economy as is rice in many Asian countries today. It was first brought to America in 1543 by the second Spanish governor of Colombia." "Barley lost much of its importance for breadmaking when leavened bread became common, for its low gluten content makes it refractory to the action of yeast." "Though it is true that more than half the world's barley today goes to feed cattle (and a large part of the rest to make beer), there are still many parts of the world where barley remains an important human food, especially in regions where wheat is not easy to grow." Although if I take quotes three and four above at face value, it seems to be saying that leavened bread did not become common until just before the sixteenth century. Does this mean that much of the bread in period was not leavened? Or does this mean most of the grain was eaten as gruel and porridges rather than as bread? Stefan li Rous Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 08:58:28 -0500 From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com> Subject: Re: SC - barley Stefan li Rous wrote: > According to Waverly Root in "Food", <snip> > "Barley was the chief bread grain of continental Europe until the > sixteenth century, as important in the European economy as is rice > in many Asian countries today. It was first brought to America in > 1543 by the second Spanish governor of Colombia." > > "Barley lost much of its importance for breadmaking when leavened > bread became common, for its low gluten content makes it refractory > to the action of yeast." <snip> > Although if I take quotes three and four above at face value, > it seems to be saying that leavened bread did not become common > until just before the sixteenth century. Does this mean that much > of the bread in period was not leavened? Or does this mean most > of the grain was eaten as gruel and porridges rather than as bread? The conundrum is as follows: Aristos prior to the sixteenth century generally ate a semi-white, leavened bread of rather fine quality (finely-ground flour). They probably ate far more bread per capita per annum than most of us do (and supplemented it with another notable grain product, beer). It's been said by people like Reay Tannahill and C. Anne Wilson that grain was probably more often eaten as a porridge by the less wealthy classes. Reasons for this might include that you get more servings of porridge from a pound of grain than you do bread, there being less water in bread. (Raw dough is roughly something like 1.5 parts water to one part grain meal, before cooking dries it out somewhat, whereas a typical porridge starts out at around 4 parts water to one part grain.) Another reason might be that many country people often had little or no easy access to either commercially baked bread or to an oven, which also, BTW, requires more fuel to cook the same amount of grain, so porridge-y foods might appear to be the way to go. On the other hand, as we keep having to remember, a lot of the recorded medieval foodways we have are recipes for the wealthy/noble/royal. We know a fair amount less about what villein or peasant Joseph of Average ate. He may have lived almost exclusively (except maybe on holidays, etc.) on boiled grain, and counted himself lucky, or he may also have made flatbreads, which can be made on flat stones or in pans, without an oven. Flatbreads also have the advantage of a longer shelf life than most leavened breads. I'd conclude from all this that: A) Leavened bread was quite common, at least for certain social strata, long before the sixteenth century. B) Unleavened breads were as common, probably more common, _among_ the common[ers], prior to the sixteenth century. C) An unknown but undoubtedly significant portion of all grain eaten in Europe was eaten boiled as gruels and porridges. It's tempting to say, just to illustrate the idea that not everyone ate manchets all the time, that among Europeans in general, a third of the grain eaten by humans was eaten as leavened bread, a third as unleavened bread, and a third as porridge. This probably isn't accurate, but then it's probably adequate for rough usage, and even more probably good enough to illustrate a point made by Waverly Root, most of whose research seems to require a grain of salt anyway, relying, as he does, on secondary, tertiary, and quadr...qua...fourth-hand sources. Adamantius stgardr, East Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 10:15:57 EST From: LrdRas at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - barley troy at asan.com writes: << nother reason might be that many country people often had little or no easy access to either commercially baked bread or to an oven, which also, BTW, requires more fuel to cook the same amount of grain, so porridge-y foods might appear to be the way to go. >> I would like to point out that the overwhelming factor in the use of gruels and porridges over baked bread, if such was the case, would also probably have been due to the fact that, at least in the villages and cities of the MA, you did not bake your bread at home. By law you, took your dough to the community oven for baking and more often than not bought the dough you took to the oven from a person who made dough. Given that cash money was scarce in the MA, it would have been wiser to cook up a dish of gruel than to pay the baker. Ras Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 11:46:35 -0600 From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> Subject: RE: SC - barley The first thing to remember is there are a lot of unleavened flat breads still being baked today. Our primary heritage is European, where wheat and yeast leavened bread came into common use, so we are most familiar with leavened bread. To answer Stefan's question about the uncommonness of leavened bread, I would say that in Europe for the period we study leavened bread was not uncommon, but that unleavened bread and porridges were more common than today. The earliest known bread recipe is for an unleavened barley flat bread which is still baked in the Middle East. This recipe was set down about the same time the Egyptians discovered yeast leavening. In Egypt, leavened bread became the choice of the rich and powerful. The Biblical definition of leavening most likely originates during the time in Egypt, refers to yeast, and has expanded to include other methods of leavening. Leavening came to Rome from Egypt. Pliny comments on the Vandals (IIRC) using ale barm to leaven their breads and it's superiority to the Roman method of leavening. So leavening has a long and ancient history. Wheat and rye are the two grains commonly used in leavened bread. They contain enough gluten to produce a proper rise. Unfortunately, they are not as efficient as barley and other non-gluten cereals and produce fewer bushels per acre. They also require better soil than barley, which is why barley does better in the Mediterranean countries. During the Medieval period an increase in real wealth (one of the effects of the Plague), an increase in the efficiency of wheat farming, the opening of disputed land suitable for growing wheat and rye, and a growing social demand for white bread did much to change the way Europeans grew and used grains. Braudel in his Structures of Everyday Life provides a clear picture of some of the economic reasons for the change. Looking at that rambling response, I think I need some more coffee. Bear Date: Mon, 1 Feb 1999 22:19:12 EST From: Seton1355 at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - Buckwheat Groats > What are Buckwheat Groats (kashar)? (Finially a question I can answer :-) ) Kasha, or buckwheat Groats is the whole grain of buckwheat. It's pretty cheap stuff! Neither wheat bran nor cracked wheat come close to the taste of kasha, but kasha is easy to find. Look for Wolfe's (brand name) kasha in the Kosher foods section of the supermarket or go to the health food store and get kasha. It is a staple feature of Eastern European ( & Jewish) cooking. Phillipa Seton Date: Tue, 02 Feb 1999 08:17:45 -0500 From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com> Subject: Re: SC - Buckwheat Groats Seton1355 at aol.com wrote: > > What are Buckwheat Groats (kashar)? > Kasha, or buckwheat Groats is the whole grain of buckwheat. It's pretty cheap > stuff! Neither wheat bran nor cracked wheat come close to the taste of kasha, > but kasha is easy to find. Look for Wolfe's (brand name) kasha in the Kosher > foods section of the supermarket or go to the health food store and get kasha. > It is a staple feature of Eastern European ( & Jewish) cooking. > Phillipa Seton For practical purposes I'm in total agreement. I'd just like to add one or two little things: I gather, from reading the Domestroi, that "kasha" is simply a Russian term meaning "grain", but agree that in most cases today it seems to refer to buckwheat. You may also find whole buckwheat or groats in markets that sell Japanese foods, under the name "soba", which seems to refer to buckwheat in general, buckwheat flour, and buckwheat noodles. But I agree also that Wolfe's Kasha is probably as good an introduction as you can get to buckwheat (especially with mushrooms and/or egg bows!) There's a somewhat involved recipe on the box for turning the kasha into a pilaf; my recommendation is that you go ahead and follow it! Adamantius stgardr, East Date: Wed, 03 Feb 1999 20:09:06 -0600 From: "Jennifer D. Miller" <jdmiller2 at students.wisc.edu> Subject: Re: SC - Buckwheat Groats >I gather, from reading the Domestroi, that "kasha" is simply a Russian >term meaning "grain", but agree that in most cases today it seems to >refer to buckwheat. More precisely, it means "dish of cooked grains or groats". This could refer to a porridge or a pilaf (is that the same as a frumenty?). Today, it can also refer to cooked rice or semolina. The Russian word for grain is "zerno", "zernishko" or "krupinka". True, here in the West it does refer to buckwheat. However, in Russia kasha is the generic term for cooked cereal. Some types of kasha (from "The Russian's World" by Gerhart) are: "mannaia kasha" -- cream of wheat "grechnevaia kasha" -- buckwheat cereal "pshennaia kasha " or "pshenka" -- a main dish of millet "iachnevaia kasha" -- fine-grind barley kasha "perlovaia kasha" -- whole-grain barley kasha "gerkulesovaia kasha" -- name-brand cereal similar to oatmeal ("Hercules's Kasha") My husband has told me that several different types of kasha were offered each morning at the Russian dormitory he lived in. They were eaten topped with oil (not butter) and as far as he saw, nothing else. Sugar was not available, no honey or preserves were in evidence. Salt was on the tables, though. Unfortunately (the kasha was included in his meal plan), he hates cooked cereal and ate bread and fruit, although he could have bought Western-type ($10 a box) cereal . Another grain dish, kut'ia, is made of steamed grain (usually wheat or rice), raisins, honey and nuts. It was, and still is in many places, a required item served at post-funeral meals. It is a period dish, but I don't have the references handy at the moment. From the Domostroi (Pouncy:149): "They [good housewives] stuff the entrails with kasha cooked with suet and simmered (the kasha can be made from oatmeal, buckwheat, barley, or whatever is available). If these [sausages] are not eaten up in the autumn, they make a pleasant Christmas feast." The _Domostroi_ also mentions "thin kasha with ham" and "thick kasha with lard", saying, "this is what most people give their servants for dinner, although they vary the menu according to which meat is available. (Pouncy:161). Cooking directions for kasha are on page 163; "steam it well with lard, oil, or herring in a broth." Several other fish are mentioned as alternative accompaniments. Pouncy has a footnote saying that the lard (or possibly, butter) was probably for meat days and the oil for fast days. To close, here is a popular Russian saying: "Shchi da kasha--pishcha nasha" (Cabbage soup and kasha is our food) ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Ilyana Barsova (Yana) ***mka Jennifer D. Miller jdmiller2 at students.wisc.edu *** http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~jdmiller2 Slavic Interest Group http://vms.www.uwplatt.edu/~goldschp/slavic.html Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1999 13:40:47 -0600 From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> Subject: RE: SC - Frumenty - ANOTHER question! > except for the philosophical > debate that arose over whether wheat berries, cracked wheat or bulgur > would have been a closer texture match to what period diners would have > gotten/expected. > > That is, chewey whole grain kernels in sauce, or flavored mush. I've used whole berry, cracked wheat and fine flour to produce various cooked grain dishes. I would expect the cook to choose the form of the grain to produce the intended taste and texture. > We prepared 4 versions, 3 with wheat berries, and one with cracked wheat, > which may have turned out mushier than if we'd used "bulgur" -- cracked > wheat and bulgur -are- two different things, yes? We're assuming bulgur > is to cracked wheat sort of like steel-cut oats oatmeal is to rolled oats > oatmeal, and are going to check by doing a set for next meeting. Not exactly. Cracked wheat is made from wheat berries which have been dried and ground. For bulgur wheat, the berries are parboiled, dried and ground. In both cases, whole berries, including the germ, are used and the meal is sieved into 3 or 4 grades, #1-Fine, #2-Medium, #3-Coarse and #4-Extra Coarse. The chief difference is the bulgur wheat, having been pre-cooked, softens and cooks up quickly, while whole grain and cracked wheat reallny need to soak overnight and cook for a long time. #1 and #2 bulgur are commonly used in tabouleh, while #3 and #4 are used to replace rice in pilafs. > And someone raised the side issue that the common commercial wheat > berries that we used were probably a hard wheat, where most of the period > European stuff was a soft variety. Whether this is a distinction we can > expect to impose on hotel cooks (Double Tree) may make this a moot point, > but it was raised. Although in -this- town, we probably have a > reasonably good chance of their finding it if they look for it, at least. Hard and soft should have no bearing on cooked grain (except that soft may be a little sweeter). I tend to use hard red winter wheat berries for whole grain wheat, because they are inexpensive and easy to obtain. The common wheat in medieval Europe was emmer (Triticum dicoccum) which was a soft wheat. Spelt (Triticum spelta) was less common and is a hard wheat. So either may have been available, although spelt was more common in Central Europe. > So, there's another couple of questions! Who woulda thunk it! > > Thanks, & looking forward to erudition, enlightenment, etc., 8-), > Chimene & Gerek Bear Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 09:44:24 -0400 From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com> Subject: Re: SC - feast help <Karin.Oughton at geis.ge.com> writes: >my thought is that if it is a pearl barley casserole , you will find >that after freezing it will serve as a giant lump rather than as a semi >liquid casserole. Alot of pulses and grains seem to 'absorb' the liquids >surrounding them during freezing ( I'm sure that's not scientifically >right, but that's the effect ) and so you may have to dilute it down, with >the resultant effect that it is quite stodgy and the flavour balance >changes. >Karin So, consider using something better than pearled barley. Hulled barley is closer to its original state. It has not been run through a process to remove the bran and germ from the grain, and cooks up with more texture. It would not stick together quite as much. Even if you want to use the pearled barley, go to a natural foods market to buy it. The pearled barley you get there is not as polished as the stuff in boxes at the grocery store, and some of the bran remains. Christianna Date: Wed, 30 Jun 1999 11:28:41 -0400 From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com> Subject: AAARRGGHH!!! was: SC - Oatmeal and Oats Oats are oats, a grain which has been eaten since prehistoric times, cultivated somewhat, but not a lot, later. Oatmeal is ground oats, oats that have been turned into meal, as with wheat meal, corn/maize meal, barley meal, etc. Meal can be of various grades of coarseness/fineness, and coarser varieties of oatmeal are usually eaten by Americans in the form of oatmeal porridge, hence the confusion between oatmeal and porridge. This is not unprecedented, BTW: other cereal dishes named for the grain itself, either specifically or generically, include farina, grits, and polenta. Steel cut oats are oats (usually, but not always whole, with germ) chopped into small bits in a special mill. This is the standard European "oatmeal", which comes in several grades or sizes, depending on the intended use. The classic British Isles porridge is usually made, nowadays, from steel cut oats, with, for example, Scottish-style porridge oats being somewhat finer-cut than, say, Irish oats. Because oat germ contains a fair amount of fat for a grain, and the bran contains fat-degenerating enzymes (source of the now debunked oat bran myth), they tend to become rancid quickly unless stored under very controlled conditions, such as the vacuum-sealed tins you find real (i.e. steel-cut) porridge oats sold in. Rolled oats are degerminated oats that have been steamed, rolled in a mill into flat flakes, and parched or toasted to more or less complete dehydration. I'd rather eat the papier-mache they resemble. However, since they're degerminated, they have a long shelf life, which was a major incentive in developing the process, which was, as has been said, a 19th-century invention. Adamantius (off to the Frick Museum to check out the 15th-century German Household Book) Date: Fri, 27 Aug 1999 12:44:39 -0400 From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com> Subject: Re: SC - Tatar herbs from Poland > "Tartarian buckwheat [(Fagopyrum tataricum)] came to > Poland from central Asia during the thirteenth > century, along with sweet flag (Acorus calamus) and > Tartar bread plant (Crambe tatarica), a potherb often > used in porridges prepared with buckwheat grits. <snip> > Huette Buckwheat grits or groats? Buckwheat, which is actually not a grain at all, but a member of the rhubarb family, produces grain-like groats that I suppose could be further steel-cut to produce grit-like particles, but I have never seen them like that. Interesting info, though. Chrisitanna Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 01:22:18 -0500 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net> Subject: Millet (was Re: SC - Couple of OOP questions) And it came to pass on 14 Nov 99,, that DianaFiona at aol.com wrote: > Hummmmm, despite being > thoroughly period, I don't recall offhand any recipes for millet......... > Obviously, it was more of a peasant food than a noble one, but can anyone > else think of a recipe or two containing it, or at least some mention of > it's uses? It is mentioned in Platina as being used in porridge and bread. Taillevent recommends washing it, cooking it in cow's milk, and later editions suggest adding saffron. According to _Food and Drink in Medieval Poland_, millet was one of the staple of pre-potato Polish cuisine. There is a recipe in Granado for a sort of millet-cheese polenta, which is then sliced and fried. I'll post the recipe later. Lady Brighid ni Chiarain Settmour Swamp, East (NJ) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 09:28:57 -0500 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net> Subject: SC - Millet recipe Para hazer escudilla de mijo, o de panizo machado -- To make a dish of millet, or of chopped panic-grass Take the millet, or chopped panic-grass, clean it of dust, and of any other filth, washing it as one washes semolina, and put it in a vessel of earthenware or of tinned copper with meat broth, and cause it to cook with stuffed intestines in it, or a piece of salted pig's neck, to give it flavor, and when it shall be cooked, mingle with it grated cheese, and beaten eggs, pepper, cinnamon, and saffron. (You can also cook the said grains with the milk of goats or cows.) And after they shall be cooked with broth, letting them thicken well, they shall be removed from the vessel and shall be left to cool upon a table, or other vessel of wood, or of earthenware, and being quite cold, they shall be cut into slices, and shall be fried with cow's butter in the frying-pan, and serve them hot with sugar and cinnamon on top. notes: At least half of the 16th century Spanish recipes end with the instruction to sprinkle the finished dish with cinnamon and sugar. De Nola comments (at the end of his noodle recipe) that it is not necessary to sprinkle sugar on various pasta and grain dishes, but that sugar never harms a dish. "panizo" panic-grass (Latin name "panicum") is a plant of Asian origin whose seeds were sometimes used as food for humans and poultry. This is the first time I've heard of it. Lady Brighid ni Chiarain Settmour Swamp, East (NJ) Date: Sun, 14 Nov 1999 14:26:13 -0600 From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> Subject: RE: SC - Millet recipe > "panizo" panic-grass (Latin name "panicum") is a plant of Asian origin > whose seeds were sometimes used as food for humans and poultry. This is > the first time I've heard of it. > Lady Brighid ni Chiarain Settmour Swamp, East (NJ) mka Robin Carroll-Mann > harper at idt.net IIRC, millets are members of the genus Panicum and panic is a large seeded form of millet. Panic is specifically mentioned in Charlemagne's villa inventory. The most common millets today are foxtail, pearl, barnyard, and proso. Foxtail is the most common in the US. Proso is the most common in Asia, according to my sources. Bear Date: Mon, 29 Nov 1999 22:04:58 EST From: LrdRas at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - Grits phelpsd at gate.net writes: << can you tell me is grits singular or are grits plural? >> According to Miriam-Webster: grits (noun plural but singular or plural in construction) [perhaps partly from grit [1], partly from dialect grit coarse meal, from Old English grytt; akin to Old English greot] First appeared 1579 : coarsely ground hulled grain; especially: ground hominy with the germ removed Ras Date: Tue, 21 Dec 1999 16:49:11 -0600 From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> Subject: RE: SC - oats > Does anyone know the difference between scotch oats and the instant oats > that are so common? > > If I were to use instant oats instead of scotch oats can anyone predict > the results. > > Angeline Instant oats have been pre-cooked and dried, so they will cook quickly. Scotch oats are probably oats grown and packaged in Scotland. The instant oats will soften faster than the regular oats. Results may or may not be predictable depending on the recipe requirements. I would recommend checking the packages against the recipe. If the recipe calls for oats, you want oats. If it calls for oatmeal you want oatmeal. For baking I prefer regular oats and oatmeal over the instant. Bear Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2000 02:29:49 EST From: LrdRas at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - RE: Help with 1650s + info: potatoes ear [2] (noun) [Middle English er, from Old English ear; akin to Old High German ahir ear, Old English ecg edge -- more at EDGE] First appeared before 12th Century : the fruiting spike of a cereal (as wheat or Indian corn) including both the seeds and protective structures Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 14:17:51 -0600 From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> Subject: RE: SC - Re: couscous? > _I_ thought "Cous Cous" was made of semi-dry noodle dough, formed into > very fine pellets by some mechanical action, cooked in water or broth > rather like cooking (broth based) frumenty... > Was I incorrect? > > brandu I've seen two methods described for making couscous. The first is to crush semolina to the desired fineness, then steam it to pre-cook the grains. The second is to take a finer semolina meal, mix it with some flour and salty water, then work the dough into finer and finer pellets by hand. Most of the couscous in the US is made by the second method in an automated process. Most of the product is in the 1 to 2 mm range and is classed as being of medium fineness. So I would say you are correct. Bear Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 21:57:42 -0000 From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is> Subject: Re: SC - Re: couscous? >It hadn't occured to me that there was any other sort of couscous. >Semolina is made from wheat, isn't it? (I seem to remember avoiding >couscous when cooking for a wheat-allergic before). >What am I missing this time? According to the Oxford Companion to Food, couscous can also be made of barley, maize, ground acorn meal, millet, and various local North African wild or domesticated grain types, like fonio and goosefood (black couscous) or unripe wheat and barley (green couscous). Nanna Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 07:47:51 EDT From: Etain1263 at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - Glaedenfeld Centre Doins BalthazarBlack at aol.com writes: << Pearled Barley certainly cooks faster, which may be why it seems to have won out over whole barley in the culinary game. Plus, some folks don't like the fiberous bran (or husk) surrounding whole barley. >> Has pearled barley been steamed a bit (sort of pre-cooked)? And...have you tried grinding the whole barley just a tad in the food processor...just to break it up a bit? It should cook faster. (It works for wheat groats) Etain Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 12:53:33 -0400 From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com> Subject: SC - pearled barley No, pearled barley has not been steamed or cooked first, unless you buy something labeled as "quick" cooking. Pearled barley is polished very much like the process used to polish rocks, in a tumbler. If it comes in the quick-cooking variety, it has been steamed or pre-cooked, and maybe even flattened similar to rolled oats. Christianna Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 00:22:31 -0400 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <harper at idt.net> Subject: Re: SC - RE:SC Barley And it came to pass on 25 Jul 00,, that RANDALL DIAMOND wrote: > I adore barley. Has anyone got a good recipe for a > barley soup sort of like Cambell's "Scotch Broth"? Its > very tasty, but way too frugal on the mutton bits, carrots > and barley to be really satisfying. Maybe that's the Scotch > part. It is doubtful that it's Scottish or period, but I would > love to have someone make up a big pot with lots of the > good stuff at Pennsic for lunch one day. De Nola says that one should cook barley in chicken broth. He suggests adding almond milk and sugar, but goes on to say that these are optional, especially is the broth is nice and fatty. Saffron is another optional ingredient. It's not Scotch broth, but it is period, and you could make the consistency soupy or porridgy, as you preferred. Lady Brighid ni Chiarain Settmour Swamp, East (NJ) Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 08:26:20 -0400 From: margali <margali at 99main.com> Subject: Re: SC - spelt Donna Ford wrote: > Does anyone know where I can buy the ancient grain spelt, about how much > it costs and where I can find period recipes for it? GoldMine Natural Foods, they are on the web. You can buy it whole grain or ground to order. They also have Kamut [the grain resurrected from a batch found in an egyptian tomb.] Also many healthfod stores or food co-ops carry it. margali Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 08:59:07 -0400 From: "Nicholas Sasso" <NJSasso at msplaw.com> Subject: SC - re: spelt <<<From: Donna Ford <evfemia at mail.com> Does anyone know where I can buy the ancient grain spelt, about how much it costs and where I can find period recipes for it? I'd love to include it in a feast menu someday. >>> Spelt is still a quite common product in several of today's cuisines, especially for wheat intolerant diners. I find it in Atlanta at a co-op called Sevenanda, and I suspect you'll find it at any whole food or health food stores. Look with grains and cereals or ask the proprietor. niccolo difrancesco Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2000 12:44:05 -0600 From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> Subject: RE: SC - Trenchers Oh my! > > This 50/50 maslin mix produces a common rye. For trenchers, I would have > > expected something closer to 75/25 rye to wheat. The fact the mix was very > > sticky suggests that there was too much liquor to the volume of wheat, as > > does the fact that you made it kneadable by adding more flour. > > Hm. Well, actually, I'm confused again. Wouldn't maslin be regular wheat > mixed with rye, rather than spelt? (Also, I thought maslin specifically > referred to greain harvested from fields where wheat and rye were planted > intermixed-- was it also used to refer to mixing the grain together > afterward, or are you just using the term generically?) Maslin is any mixed grain, but especially a mix of wheat and rye, the two most commonly used grains in Europe. While maslin is produced by mixing grain in the fields (by carelessness or by design), brown bakers commonly produced maslin flour by mixing wheat and rye flours. Mixing the flours allows better control of the end product and better control of the costs, important considerations considering the regulations controlling the commercial baking of bread. Bear From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Frumenty. Date: Mon, 14 May 2001 23:20:38 -0500 Soft wheats were more common in Europe until the modern period. Triticum spelta (spelt) and Triticum durum (durum) were among the hardest available wheats. Einkorn (Triticum monococcum) was the common wheat in the British Isles until the 1st Century BCE when the Romans introduced emmer (Triticum dicoccum) to Southeast England. Emmer was slowly replaced by club wheat (Triticum compactum) between 600 and 900 CE. Most of the wheat grown today are variants of Triticum compactum, Triticum vulgare (common wheat) and Triticum durum. The basic hybridization of wheat was accomplished before recorded history, so the differences between period and modern wheat are mostly in disease resistance, greater yield and higher gluten content. An exception is triticale, a hybrid of wheat and rye. A flour with between 6 and 9 per cent protein (such as various cake flours and some of the southern all purpose flours like White Lily) will probably be closest to Medieval fine, white flour. Bear Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 14:18:27 -0400 From: margali <1margali at 99main.com> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Frumenty. http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1996/v3-156.html More than anybody really wants to know about early and period forms of wheat ;-) margali From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Frumenty. Date: Tue, 15 May 2001 16:10:48 -0500 > I did happen to be skimming a little book of Medieval > verse snippets last night, and saw a reference to "red" wheat, > but that still tells very little about the variety and its > qualities. > > -- Ruth Wheats are often divided into red and white and hard and soft. Reds and whites (including yellows) come in both soft and hard varieties. Hard wheats are high in protein. Soft wheats are low in protein. The hard and soft descriptions derive from the feel of the flour when compressed in the fist. The harder it feels, the higher the protein, the better for bread. Hard reds and whites are used for bread. Soft red is used in cakes and pastries where the whiteness of the flour doesn't matter. Soft whites are commonly used in crackers, biscuits and very light colored pastries. The planting of soft red varieties is declining. Bear From: "Vincent Cuenca" <bootkiller at hotmail.com> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 14:37:12 Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks digest, Vol 1 #107 - 14 msgs > > maslin I've also seen this term used by Massimo Montanari and Toussaint-Samat to describe the mixed grains themselves, as compared to the bread. Apparently there was a practice of sowing several grain types in the same field to guarantee some sort of production. If one grain (say, oats) failed, then the other grains (barley, rye or whatever) couls still be harvested and sold or used. Vicente From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Which is which? Date: Thu, 14 Jun 2001 08:42:27 -0500 > Is Semolina and Polenta the same thing or byproducts of > something? And if I > have a recipe calling for semolina, can I use polenta? Thanks! > > Misha Semolina is the "middlings" from milling durum wheat. It is a high gluten, coarse wheat flour used in making pasta. Polenta is an Italian dish of cooked grain flour molded into some shape (barley and wheat were used in Antiquity, maize is used today). If you have "polenta meal" or "polenta flour," it is a fancy way of saying corn (maize) meal. Sometimes, you can get polenta that comes wrapped like a sausage or cookie dough. This is already cooked grain molded into a tube to be sliced, heated and eaten. If I had to replace semolina in a recipe, I would consider spelt flour, a 50/50 mix of whole wheat and white flour, whole wheat flour and white flour in that order to approximate the gluten and texture of semolina. In my opinion, only the spelt would be a good trade for the semolina. Locally, semolina runs about $1/pound where whole wheat and white flour run $.20/pound, so I only keep 3 to 5 pounds on hand for specialized baking projects. Bear From: "Dana Tweedy" <tweedyd at cvn.net> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Pennsic feast ideas. Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 22:46:27 -0400 Here is some information about couscous being period: http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/6454/History_cookbooks.html Bartolomeo Scappi (1540-1570) was a cook to various cardinals, and perhaps Pope Pius IV. Many classical cooking techniques are presented by Scappi: marinating, braising and poaching. He explores the Arab art of pastry making and the likes of succussu all moresca (Moorish couscous). His book published in 1570 contains over 1,000 recipes. It is extremely well illustrated and demonstrates the high point renaissance cookery at its best. By the 1650s it was out of print and the culinary initiative had passed to Paris. From: David Friedman <ddfr at best.com> Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Pennsic feast ideas. Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 23:18:11 -0700 "Dana Tweedy" <tweedyd at cvn.net> wrote: > Here is some information about couscous being period: > http://www.geocities.com/NapaValley/6454/History_cookbooks.html > > Bartolomeo Scappi (1540-1570)... The 13th c. Andalusian cookbook sometimes known as Manuscrito Anonimo (the translation is on my web site) has a few references to couscous. I think the question is whether that particular recipe was period. For example: Soldiers' Couscous (Kuskus~ Fity 0ni) The usual moistened couscous is known by the whole world. The fity 0ni is the one where the meat is cooked with its vegetables, as is usual, and when it is done, take out the meat and the vegetables from the pot and put them to one side; strain the bones and the rest from the broth and return the pot to the fire; when it has boiled, put in the couscous cooked and rubbed with fat and leave it for a little [p. 57, verso -- HM actually says p. 57, recto here] on a reduced fire or the hearthstone until it takes in the proper amount of the sauce; then throw it on a platter and level it, put on top of it the cooked meat and vegetables, sprinkle it with cinnamon and serve it. This is called Fity 0ni in Marrakesh. -- David/Cariadoc http://www.best.com/~ddfr/Medieval/Medieval.html Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 19:58:25 -0400 From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] scottish foodstuffs "Laura C. Minnick" wrote:snipped > Hmm. Who was it (Ben Jonson?) that made the remark about oats, that in > England they fed the horses, and in Scotland they supported the people? > 'Lainie Wrong Johnson.. 'Lanie. Actually that remark was something that Boswell attributed to the great Dr. Johnson. Johnson gives it in his dictionary as: OATS. n.s. [a_en, Saxon.] A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people. see: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/spc/johnson/entries.html for more on Johnson. Actually if you want to read about oats, take a look at The Scots and Their Oats by G. W. Lockhart which is still in print in the U.K. It's a small rather charming study. Johnnae llyn Lewis Johnna Holloway From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 13:30:53 -0500 (EST) To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Latkes was Probably OOP but just wondering. > << buckwheat groats." >> > What is this? Is this another form of oats of some sort? Buckwheat is a distinct grain, different from wheat, oats, rye, etc. Groats are grain that has been crushed but not ground. Oat, barley, buckwheat, rye and other types of groats are the predecessors of what americans call oat-meal, but you can buy groats in the grocery store. -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 17:45:49 -0500 From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Latkes// buckwheat groats See http://www.foodsubs.com/GrainBuckwheat.html for photos and descriptions. It may better explain what they are... Johnnae llyn Lewis XvLoverCrimvX at aol.com wrote: > johnna writes: > << buckwheat groats." >>> > What is this? Is this another form of oats of some sort? > Misha From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Date: Tue, 18 Dec 2001 16:59:12 -0600 Subject: [Sca-cooks] Buckwheat was (Latkes was Probably OOP but just wondering.) > johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu writes: > << buckwheat groats." >> > > What is this? Is this another form of oats of some sort? > Misha It is a seed-like fruit of Fagopyrum esculentum (or possibly related plants) which can be used whole (groats) or ground (flour). Use was more common in Eastern Europe. In Russia, it appears as kasha. Bear From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 09:06:24 -0500 (EST) To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Buckwheat was (Latkes was Probably OOP but just wondering.) > << In Russia, it appears as kasha. > Bear > >> > Ah, I get it. All ya'll had to do was say its kasha :) Well, not exactly. Buckwheat groats IS buckwheat kasha. But kasha is a generic term for groats, and buckwheat doesn't appear in Eastern Europe until the 13th or 14th century. -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net> To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Buckwheat was (Latkes was Probably OOP but justwondering.) Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2001 21:23:59 -0600 >Well, not exactly. Buckwheat groats IS buckwheat kasha. But kasha is a >generic term for groats, and buckwheat doesn't appear in Eastern Europe >until the 13th or 14th century. > >-- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa I'm curious as to your source for the introduction of buckwheat to Eastern Europe. There is some archeological evidence that buckwheat was used prior to the Middle Ages, although K.A.W.H. Leenders suggests that this is infiltration from higher strata in his paper on buckwheat at http://kuhttp.cc.ukans.edu/kansas/orb/essays/text06.htm . Leenders can be considered questionable because he mistakenly places the origin of buckwheat in the Near East or North Africa, although it is possible that it may have been spread during the Islamic expansion. Buckwheat is of Asiatic origin. The Rus Primary Chronicle doesn't mention buckwheat, but food references in it tend to be very general and there are few mentions of specific grains. Dembinska provides the fact that two types of buckwheat were known in Poland during the Middle Ages, Fagopyrum esculentum and F. tartaricum (Tartarian buckwheat). Tartarian buckwheat appears to have been introduced during the Mongol Invasions of the early 13th Century. I did try to check a paper on analyses of Medieval dung which I remember as having references to buckwheat, but the URL failed. Bear From: jenne at fiedlerfamily.net Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 09:51:37 -0500 (EST) To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Buckwheat was (Latkes was Probably OOP but justwondering.) > Dembinska provides the fact that two types of buckwheat were known in Poland > during the Middle Ages, Fagopyrum esculentum and F. tartaricum (Tartarian > buckwheat). Tartarian buckwheat appears to have been introduced during the > Mongol Invasions of the early 13th Century. Hm.. I was relying on my notes from Dembinska and from Smith & Christian (_Bread and Salt_). I may have missed references to an earlier use of a separate strain of buckwheat in the Woyes Weaver-Dembinska text. I'll go back and check it tonight and post what I find whenever I get back online. Buckwheat is not mentioned in: "Archaeobotanical Evidence for Food Plants in the Poland of the Piasts (10th-13th Centuries AD)", M. Polcyn. Biological Journal of Scotland, vol 46, no 4, p 533-537. But that's at best negative evidence. -- Jadwiga Zajaczkowa From: Marilyn Traber <marilyn.traber.jsfm at statefarm.com>To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 12:53:52 -0500Subject: [Sca-cooks] Wheats >For that matter, does anybody have any sources for soft wheat in grain>form, i.e., not ground into flour yet (short of actually raising the>stuff)?>>Margaret Gold Mine Natural Foods sells emmer, einkorn, spelt, kamut and both winterand summer soft and hard wheats ground and unground. As well as 4 kinds ofbarley [including hato mugo or jacob's tears] 2 kinds of teff [brown andwhite] black [longevity] rice, whole oats, millet, spelt bulgar, garbanzoand fava flour, chestnut flour, 3 kinds of garbanzos [regular, brown andblack]they are online, or at 1-800-475-3663.margali Date: Mon, 05 Aug 2002 09:19:12 -0700 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann"<rcmann4 at earthlink.net> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cracked Barley On Mon, 5 Aug 2002 08:59:12 -0700 lilinah at earthlink.net wrote: > I would like to make either a couscous or a > polenta of cracked wheat for my Mediterranean Feast. > > Now, i can't recall ever seeing cracked barley > for sale in any of the myriad stores i frequent. Serendipitously, I bought a package yesterday at a health food store. It was with the packaged grains and cereals, not the bulk products, and was labelled "barley grits". The particular brand was Shiloh Farms, but I'm sure they're not the only producer. > Has anyone ever seen any? Any suggestions on > how to make my own? I gave it a quick try with my food processor and blender. Result: a mixture of whole barley and barley flour. Morter and pestle worked quite well, though I wouldn't want to do it that way in feast quantities. If you don't want to invest in a grain mill, perhaps a coffee grinder -- the kind that deposits the grounds in a separate chamber, not the kind that is a mini food processor. > Anahita Brighid ni Chiarain Date: Sun, 03 Nov 2002 17:53:28 +1100 To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org From: Mark Calderwood <mark-c at acay.com.au> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Ozzies: What is freekeh >Anyway, this was all a pretty big hit (first course). I just got in a >little while ago, and have done a web search for this green wheat >product which seems mostly to be known as freekeh, and may in fact be >a product of Australia. Freekeh (also known as ferique and farika) is a grain harvested from green, immature durum wheat. It's a traditional food of the Middle East and northern Africa, especially Egypt. In the recipes I have it seems to have been used mainly as a stuffing or accompaniment to chicken and poultry dishes, but I've also seen it used instead of burgul in kibbeh. It's currently being grown and marketed by a South Australian company whose major markets include Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain. Their website is www.greenwheatfreekeh.com.au . Giles From: "Barbara Benson" <vox8 at mindspring.com> To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Millet question (was What Crusaders ate in the Levant) Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 13:26:40 -0500 From the Four Seasons of the House of Cerruti, trans: Judith Spencer: Italian Millet This is one of the best known cereals in Italy, and is almost exactly the same as millet except that the heads are tightly packed with racemes and full of vast numbers of little, round, hairy grains. There is a wild variety which is eaten only by the birds. The domestic kind is cold and dry by nature and not very nutritious. In the opinion of Galen, its benefits and disadvantages are the same as those as millet. Millet Owing to its nourishing qualities, millet thickens the blood, is good for the stomach, and quenches thirst, particularly if it is boiled in water. It is harmful to weak intestines and for this reason it should be well cooked and served with almond oil and sugar. Some believe it is less harmful if cooked with milk or with honey, or cooked in broth and served with good spices. But millet should be reserved for those with strong stomachs. Discordes mentions it only briefly, but manages to include this most useful cure: roast the millet and while still hot put it into a bag and apply to the body to relieve pain. Serena da Riva From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US> To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> Subject: [Sca-cooks] Millet question Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 13:11:47 -0600 > Specifically, was millet considered animal fodder and famine food, or an > acceptable part of the diet? The references already mentioned seem to > indicate that millet was acceptable, although not necessarily popular. > > Vicente Millet is a fairly common grain originally grown in China and Ethiopia from about 2000 BCE on. There are about 60 species of panic grasses I am aware of and there may be more. The two most commonly mentioned are panic (Panicum capillare or Panicum italicum) and millet (probably Proso millet, Panicum miliaceum). They were eaten by both man and beast. While wheat and barley are common for bread, millet makes decent polenta and porridge. Sesame, millet, panic, wheat and barley are mentioned together in Xenophon's Anabasis, Charlemagne directs the planting of both millet and panic in the Capitulare de villis and Columbus refers to maize as a form of millet in his Diario. Considering those three sources, you are looking at a span of 1900 years where the grain was known and used. Jose de Acosta in his Historia natural y moral de las Indias of 1590 states, "...for they have no kind of wheat, barley, millet, panic grass, or any grain such as is used in Europe to make bread. Instead they have other kinds of grains and roots, among which maize, called Indian wheat in Castile and Turkey grain in Italy, holds the first place." Bear Date: Fri, 28 Feb 2003 16:31:06 -0500 From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Millet question Actually the Slovenians still have a traditional porridge that is made from millet. According to the one Balkan cookbook put out by Prospect Books, they are the last ethnic group in Europe that still eats millet and doesn't think of it as birdseed. I bought some earlier this week in case my son needed another Slovenian dish to make for a school project. Arrowhead Mills has it small bags. Food and Drink in Medieval Poland by Dembinska also talks about it so I would search Eastern European and Central European sources. Johnnae llyn Lewis Johnna Holloway Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 08:54:43 -0500 From: "Terry Decker" <t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net> Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Siege Cookery at Talonvale: The Premise and Ingredients To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org> >>>>> >> What is "saracen corn"? > Buckwheat. > <<<< > > Ah! Okay. I'd never heard this term before. Come to think of it, I don't remember that much discussion of buckwheat here, either. How does buckwheat differ from wheat? And what period recipes do we have that use it? Is it more of an East European grain than west? Or, from the name, was it really not available in Europe during the Middle Ages? Of course, white wheat being the preferred grain, perhaps "saracen" refers to lower quality rather than a place of origin? > > Stefan Buckwheat originates in Central Asia and was cultivated from China to Russian and the Middle East. Presumably the Crusaders encountered it and named it Saracen corn. It was not particularly prized or desired by the Europeans. IIRC, general cultivation of buckwheat in Western Europe begins in the 16th or 17th Century. Bear Date: Thu, 04 Nov 2004 23:28:23 -0500 From: "Lonnie D. Harvel" <ldh at ece.gatech.edu> Subject: [Sca-cooks] cooking with Kasha To: Cooks within the SCA <sc