fd-Scotland-msg – 7/1/05
Medieval food of Scotland.
NOTE: See also the files: Scotland-msg, cl-Scotland-msg, cl-Scot-fem-art, cl-Scot-male-art, haggis-msg, SI-songbook1-art, names-Scot-art, names-Scot-msg, Scot-fem-nam-lst.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net>
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 07:54:12 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: SC - Re: sca-cooks V1 #51
>From: Dottie Elliott <macdj at onr.com>
>Subject: SC - Scottish Recipes
>
>I am interested at present in locating period Scottish recipes. If anyone
>can point me in the direction of references I should look for or offer
>recipes, I would appreciate it.
>
>Thanks, Clarissa
Clarissa, I shall be giving away my best kept secrets, however.......
To the best of my knowledge, not one single period Scottish cookbook exists
to date (I've look fairly hard, but may have missed one). Scottish food is
somewhat similar to British food, with the addition of traditional foods
that have so much attention in Scotts Cuisine. So period sources from
Briatain are largely appropriate. Things like Venison, Brawn, Any game, and
a larger portion of higher quality fish would be appropriate. And there is
one major subtraction: leavened bread. True, the nobility (mostly English or
Half English ) in later period ate white bread. The common man considered
this sissy food to the extent that Scotts Merchants traveling "down" below
Hadrian's little nuisance brought their own bakestone and supplies rather
than suffer the type of bread that would not sustain you. Edinburough had a
professional white bread bakery late in period, but the Idea was very slow
to catch on. Naturally this would be more true of midland to highland
scotts, and less true of lowland scotts.Read *Food In Britain* for the best
non-recipe information on this topic.
Scotts Cuisine had a heavy French influence, so suprisingly you will find
some wonderful and involved recipes. Where to look? Two wonderful books:
Lady Castle Hill's Receipt Book, The Molendinar Press, Glasgow, copyright
1976 Hamish Whyte. This is essentially a coffeetable book, with the original
recipes (selected ones, but all pretty good) typed and the punctuation
altered to make sense to the modern reader --- so beware, they may have made
a mistake.
Mrs. McClintock's Receipt Book, Edited by Isabail MacCloud (sorry, I don't
have the copyright but I bought mine within the last 5 years at a noraml
bookstore). This tiny book is a faithful reproduction of the original with a
glossary of Scottish terms and measurements. Recipes are excellent and the
book was later published under another name----either stolen or Mrs.
McClintock (a widow) remarried.
Both books date to the early 1700s. That seems to be the closest we can get
to documantation. I know, it's very very sad.
Hope that helped you. I have also been known to get a little inspiration
from "MODERN" traditional cookbooks such as the excellent Farmhouse Cookery,
Recipes from the Country Kitchen, which gives traditional recipes in modern
format with a little history of each from Reader's Digest Books, London.
Britain's Ethnic dishes are well represented here, but you'll have to
translate metric to the US system of measurement (if you live in the
states). This is easily done with a glass pyrex measuring cup, which has
Both marked on its side.
Aoife
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at postoffice.ptd.net>
Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 21:30:31 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: SC - Re: Scotts Food
About authentic scottish food:
I forgot to mention several factors that occured to me later, after my
initial reply to Clarissa.
First, wild large game existed far longer in the Highlands than it
did elsewhere in the country, where it was hunted out by late period. Thus
the famous "Red Deare" still existed in Scotland long after the English were
faking "red Deare" recipes with beef and veal. In addition, wild Boar still
was in good supply, and would have been available to the moderatly wealthy Scot.
Next is the weather factor. It was relatively rare to find some of
the slow-producing fruits in Scotland outside Monastary or Nobility's walls,
since the weather rarely warmed up long enough to bring them to ripeness.
Thus peaches were probably not eaten, or softer or less cold hardy varieties
of Pears, Berries, or Apples. I did find a referance to grapes from a
Monastary Garden, being noted because of their uniqueness to Scottish
Cuisine. Quick crops such as greens and herbs were plentiful, however.
Last, the Highland/Island Scotts were great fishermen and were
famous for saving the best of the catch for themselves.
Aoife.
Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 15:05:04 -0500
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - oat recipe
Oatcakes are traditional Scottish fare, somewhat descended from bannocks,
which are thicker and softer. Contemporary accounts say that medieval
Scotts merchants would bring their own bake-stone and oats with them when
traveling south, since they didn't trust the "sissy" white bread of England.
There is a traditional story of an old woman who heard about a Scotts Army
defeat. Hearing that the retreat was through her neck of the woods, she
gathered her supplies together and made oatcakes which she gave to the weary
soldiers as soon as they were baked, right by the side of the road.
It is said by contemporary accounts also that the Scotts soldiers were
hardier and stronger because they carried their own oatcake supplies and a
bakestone with them, rather than eat stale camp bread.
While these are not documented recipes, Cheese and other food was potted in
late period, and oatcakes are so simple to make that I am unaware of an
historical example of their recipe, although I have read accounts of their
existence. Somewhere on a disc in Word Perfect I have a paper about
Scottish food. It's such an old version that my 'puter can't interpret it
now. Sigh.
Oatcakes, Potted Stilton adapted from Farmhouse Cookery...Recipes from the
Country kitchen, Reader's Digest, London 1980.
Oatcakes
1 lb. fine oatmeal (NOT ROLLED OATS...THEY WON"T WORK)
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. melted bacon fat
1/2 pint boiling water
Mix together oats and salt. Combine bacon fat and water. Pour over the oats
and quickly mix to combine. Let sit a few minutes under a towel to cool
slightly. When just barely cool enough to handle, knead quickly and turn
onto a board dusted with more oatmeal. Give a top-coating of oatmeal and
roll out as thin as possible, dusting with oatmeal all the while. Pinch any
cracks together. Use an oat-dusted glass to cut into rounds (re-roll scraps
if necessary), or make one large round and cut into triangle wedges
(traditional).
Bake at 375 degrees on an ungreased baking sheet 20-30 minutes turning once,
or longer if it's humid out, until they are gently toasted. It may be
necessary to turn off the oven and leave them to dry in order to get the
proper crisp texture/fawn color. Sprinkle liberally with salt when finished.
Serve warm or cold with potted cheese. Store in an airtight container as
they take on moisture readily. Do not pack away hot.
Potted Stilton (or any other strong flavored cheese):
1 lb. mellow Stilton or other cheese, crumbled or grated
4 oz butter, unsalted, at room temp.
1/2 tsp mace
1 tsp grainy prepared mustard
clarified butter
Combine all the ingredients together except the clarified butter and mash
very well to incorporate. pack tightly into a crock and seal with clarified
butter. if desired, decorate the surface with carrot flowers, herb leaves,
etc.. and pour on another fine layer of clarified butter to seal. Chill.
Serve cold, with oatcakes.
And that, folks, is what makes Oats an Artform.
Aoife
Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 02:46:09 EDT
From: Korrin S DaArdain <korrin.daardain at juno.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Help!!!
On Thu, 08 Jun 2000 15:20:58 -0500 Ruth Blake and David Blake
<tegan at swbell.net> writes:
>I agreed to do Yule revel this year and our theme is Scottish. I have a few >scottish recipes I have found..all the standards like scotch eggs, haggis, >shortbread. Does anyone have some period scottish recipes that might help me >out. The kitchen will be small and it will be a small feast for about 60
>people. I really don't mind pre cooking.
>Thanks
>Tegan
Enjoy.
Korrin S. DaArdain
Korrin.DaArdain at Juno.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Red and White Gingerbread "Gyngerbrede" - (Scottish Medieval
dated from 1430 AD)
A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
"Take a quart of hony, & sethe it, & skeme it clene; take
Safroun, poudir Pepir & throw ther-on; take gratyd Brede & make it so
chargeaunt (thick) that it wol be y-leched; then take pouder Canelle
(cinnamon) & straw ther-on y-now; then make yt square, lyke as thou wolt
leche yt; take when thou lechyst hyt, an caste Box (garden box) leves
a-bouyn, y-stkyd ther-on, on clowys (cloves). And if thou wolt have it
Red, coloure it with Saunderys (sandalwood) y-now."
Historical note: Gingerbread, both red and white, was a favourite
medieval sweetmeat. Home-made gingerbread could be prepared by mixing
bread crumbs to a stiff paste with honey, pepper, saffron and cinnamon.
Ginger is omitted from the earliest recipe we have, but this may be due
to an accidental slip on the part of the scribe. Once made, it was shaped
into a square, sliced and decorated with box leaves impaled on cloves.
** British Measurements **
1 lb. Honey
pinch Powdered saffron
1 Tsp. Black pepper
2 Tsp. Ground ginger
2 Tsp. Ground cinnamon
1 lb. White bread crumbs
Box or bay leaves & whole cloves to decorate
Warm the honey over a gentle heat until quite runny, then stir in
the saffron and pepper. Pour into a large bowl and add the ginger and
cinnamon, then mix in the bread crumbs. It is impossible to say exactly
how many bread crumbs the honey will absorb because it varies, but the
mixture should be very stiff. If not, add a few more bread crumbs. Line a
shallow gingerbread tin with baking parchment and press the mixture into
it with your fingers. Level the top and leave to firm up in the fridge
for several hours, then turn out on to another sheet of paper and cut
into small squares. Arrange the gingerbread on a large plate, then
decorate each square with two box or small bay leaves and a whole clove
stuck in the center. You can achieve an even prettier effect by gilding a
few of the leaves or painting the ends of some of the cloves red.
If you want to achieve a checkerboard effect, make the mixture up
in two lots, adding a few drops of red coloring to one quantity of honey
before mixing, then continue as before. Arrange the red and white squares
of gingerbread alternately on the serving plate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jumbles or Knot Biscuits "Jumbles a hundred" - (Scottish
Elizabethan dated from 1596 AD)
A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
"Take twenty Egges and put htem into a pot both the yolkes and
the white, beat them wel, then take a pound of beaten sugar and put to
them, and stirre them wel together, then put to it a quarter of a peck of
flower, and make a hard paste thereof, and then with Anniseeds moulde it
well, ane make it in little rowles beeing long, and tye them in knots,
and wet the ends in Rosewater; then put them into a pan of seething
water, but even in one waum, then take them out with a Skimmer and lay
them in a cloth to drie, this being don lay them in a tart panne, the
bottome beeing oyled, then put them into a temperat Oven for one howre,
turning them often in the Oven.
** British Measurements **
1 1/2 oz Butter; salted
4 oz Caster sugar
1 TB Rose-water
1/2 oz Caraway seeds
1 lg. Egg; beaten
8 oz Plain flour
Extra rose-water & caster sugar for glaze
Preheat the oven to 350¯F / 180¯C / gas mark 4. Cream the butter,
sugar and rose-water together, then mix in the caraway seeds, beaten egg
and flour to form a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured board, then
take small walnut-sized pieces of dough and with your fingers form each
into a roll, approximately 3/4-inch in diameter and 6-inch in length.
Make into simple knots, plaits or rings and arrange on a lightly greased
baking sheet. Brush with rose-water and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake
near the top of the oven for about 20 minutes, or until tinged with
brown. (Knots and plaits will take longer to bake than simple rings, so
don't mix shapes on a baking sheet.) Remove from the oven and cool on a
wire rack. Store in an airtight tin. Delicious when served with syllabub.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gilded Marchpane
(Scottish Elizabethan dated from 1699 AD & 1584 AD)
A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
"How to make Marchpane Cake" (dated from 1699 AD) "Take blancht
Almonds and sugar and beat them up into a Past, and when have beaten it
into a Past, rowl it out about the thickness that you will have your
Marchpane Cakes to be and cut them in 3 square pieces and set an Edge to
them of the same past, and Impress the Edges of them, then take Rose
Watter and beat searced sugar in it till it be as thick as Pancakes,
butter and wet them within it and strew a few of Bisketts in them and set
them upon Wafers, and set them againe upon Papers and bake them, and keep
them for your use."
"To gild a Marchpane or any other kind of Tart" (dated from 1584
AD) "Take and cut your leafe of golde, as it lieth upon the booke, into
square peeces like Dice and with a Conies tailes end moysted a little,
take golde up by the one corner, lay it on the place beeing first made
moyste, and with another tayle of a Conie drie presse the golde downe
close. And if ye will have the forme of an Harte, or the name of Iesus,
or any other thing whatsoever; cut the same through a peece of paper and
lay the paper upon your Marchpane or Tart; then make the voide place of
the Paper (through which the Marchpane appeareth) moyste with Rose Water,
laye on your golde, presse it down, take off your Paper and there
remaineth behinde in golde the print cut in the saide paper."
Historical note: The marchpane was the centrepiece of any
banquet. It was a large flat disc of marzipan, sometimes with a raised
rim round the edge, weighing perhaps 3 to 4 pounds or more, which was
iced, sumptuously decorated and surmounted for special occasions with
three-dimensional figures or models in cast sugar (hot sugar syrup
moulded in stone, wooden or pewter shapes); sugar plate (similar to
modern fondant icing) or almond paste. Finally, the marchpane was often
gilded with gold leaf, readily available but exceedingly expensive in
Elizabethan times.
** British Measurements **
THE MARCHPANE-
1 lb. Almonds; ground
3 TB Rose-water
8 oz Caster sugar
THE GLAZE
1 TB Rose-water
3 TB Icing sugar
Preheat the oven to 300¯F / 150¯C / gas mark 2. Work the ground
almonds, sugar and rose-water together to make a stiff paste. Knead until
quite smooth. Reserve a little of the marzipan for decorating the
marchpane and place the rest on a sheet of grease proof paper. Roll it
into a circle, about 3/8-inch thick, and decorate the edges with the back
of a knife as you would a pie. Slip the marzipan on to a baking sheet and
bake for 15 minutes, then turn off the oven, open the oven door and leave
to cook for another 15 minutes, then turn off the oven, open the oven
door and leave to cook for another 15 minutes, or until firm and dry, but
only lightly colored.
Meanwhile, mix the rose-water and icing sugar to a thin paste for
the glaze. Brush over the marchpane and continue cooking for about 5
minutes until dry and glossy. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Roll out the reserved marzipan until quite thin and cut out into
hearts, diamonds, letters, animals or birds. Paint with edible gold
coloring and fix on to the glazed marchpane as it dries to form patterns
or pictures. Alternately, the reserved marzipan can be modeled into
figures of animals or birds, or into knots which can be gilded as before.
Sugar-coated caraway, fennel or coriander seeds, or confectioners' silver
balls can also be used for decoration. Serve as a sweetmeat with coffee
at the end of a meal.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Apple Snow - (Scottish Elizabethan dated from 1572 AD)
A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
Dyschefull of Snowe "Take a pottell (half a gallon) of swete
thycke creame and the whytes of eyghte egges, and beate them altogether
wyth a spone. Then putte them in youre creame and a saucerful of
Rosewater, and a dyshe full of Sugar wyth all. Then take a stycke and
make it cleane, and then cutte it in the ende foure square, and therwith
beate all the aforesayde thynges together, and ever as it ryseth take it
of and put it into a Collaunder. This done, take one apple and set it in
the myddes of it, and a thicke bushe of Rosemary, and set it in the
myddes of the Platter. Then cast your Snowe uppon the Rosemary and fyll
your platter therwith. And yf you have wafers caste some in wyth all and
thus serve them forthe." Historical note: The greatest innovation in
Elizabethan cookery was the discovery of eggs as a raising agent. Whites
of eggs produced "Snowe", a centrepiece for the banquet.
** British Measurements **
1 1/2 lb. Cooking apples; peeled, cored & sliced
1 TB Rose-water
Caster sugar; to taste
3 Egg whites
3 oz Caster sugar
1/4 pt Whipping cream
GARNISH
Fresh rosemary sprigs
Gold dragees
Cook the sliced apples with the rose-water until soft, then rub
them through a fine sieve to make a smooth puree. Taste and sweeten with
a little sugar if necessary. Leave to get cold, then measure out about
1/2 pint. In a large clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they stand in
soft peaks. Gradually beat in the caster sugar and continue to beat to a
stiff, glossy meringue. Gently fold in the measured apple puree, then
spoon into individual glasses or sundae dishes. Top with swirls of
whipped cream and decorate with rosemary and gold dragees.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spiced Red Wine "Ipocras" (Scottish Medieval dated from 1686 AD)
A Book of Historical Recipes by Sara Paston-Williams The National
Trust of Scotland, 1995 ISBN 0-7078-0240-7; Posted by Paul Macgregor
"Take a galon of claret or white wine and put there in 4 ounces
of ginger, an ounce and half of nutmeg, of cloves, an quarter of Sugar, 4
pound. Let all this stand together in a pot at least twelve hours, then
take it and put it in a clere bage made for the purpose so that the wine
may come with good coller from the wine." Historical note: Hippocras, a
rich sweetened and spiced wine drunk after meals, was still in vogue
during the 17th century.
** British Measurements **
3 pt Dry red wine
8 oz Caster sugar
1 oz Ground ginger
1/4 oz Ground cinnamon
1/4 oz Ground cloves
Heat the wine gently with the sugar until it has dissolved,
stirring frequently. Mix in the spices, then allow to stand for 24 hours,
stirring occasionally, then strain through a jelly bag or a double layer
of muslin into a jug or large bowl. Pour back into the wine bottle and
recork until needed. Makes about 10 to 12 glasses.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Muskels, Cawdel of - Spiced Mussel and Leek Broth (Medieval
Scottish dated 1390)
"Take and seeth muskels; pyke hem clene, and waisshe hem clene in
wyne. Take almaundes and bray hem. Take somme of the muskels and grynde