Medvl-Sauces-art - 5/30/15

"Before Béchamel & Hollandaise - an Introduction to Medieval Sauces" by Mistress Euriol of Lothian, O.P.

NOTE: See also the files: sauces-msg, The-Saucebook-art, Balled-Mustrd-art, garlic-sauces-msg, green-sauces-msg, Mustard-Making-art, flavord-butrs-msg, spreads-msg.

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NOTICE -

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set of files, called Stefan's Florilegium.

These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

Copyright to the contents of this file remains with the author or translator.

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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More class handouts from this author can be found at:

               http://medievalcuisine.madpage.com/classes/">http://medievalcuisine.madpage.com/classes/

               http://casbal.100webspace.net/classes/index.html">http://casbal.100webspace.net/classes/index.html

Before Béchamel & Hollandaise -

an Introduction to Medieval Sauces

by Mistress Euriol of Lothian, O.P.

Table of Contents

Before Béchamel & Hollandaise -

an Introduction to Medieval Sauces                     1

Table of Contents                                                       1

Introduction                                                                   1

Modern Sauces                                                           1

Humoral Theory                                                          2

The Medieval "Mother" Sauces                             3

Thickening Agents                                                     3

The Recipes                                                                 3

Cameline Sauce                                                          3

Mustard Sauce                                                                           3

Appendix                                                                       4

Sauces from Extant Medieval Manuscripts       4

Sauces for Meats & Fish                                         11

Bibliography                                                                  13

Contact Information                                                   14

              Introduction

Sauces are a means for a culinary artist to add a special flare to ordinary meats and fishes. In the great households of the Middle Ages there was a position whose job it was to create sauces. He (or she) was called the Saucer[[1]]. Then the cook would take the sauces prepared by the Saucer and pair them with the appropriate meats or fish. Just what type of sauces did the Saucer create?

              Modern Sauces

It is difficult to begin a discussion on medieval sauces without first referencing the sauces that are used in modern cuisine. Many new students into the medieval culinary arts desire to work with methods and ingredients they are familiar with, and the making of sauces is no exception.[[2]] On her web site, What's Cooking America, Linda Stradley states the following:

"Mother Sauces - Also called Grand Sauces. These are the five most basic sauces that every cook should master. Antonin Careme, founding father of French "grande cuisine," came up with the methodology in the early 1800's by which hundreds of sauces would be categorized under five Mother Sauces, and there are infinite possibilities for variations, since the sauces are all based on a few basic formulas."[[3]]

The five mother sauces are Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole, Hollandaise, and Tomato.[[4]] The earliest evidence of any of these sauces can currently only be traced backed to the 17th century.

The cuisine of Europe was undergoing tremendous changes as it emerged from the Renaissance. With the publication of Le Cuisinier François in 1656, by François Pierre de la Varenne, French cuisine belonged to the modern era.[[5]]

              Humoral Theory

In order to begin to understand the medieval cook's approach to cuisine, including the making of sauces, it is important to understand the humoral theory as it applies to food. Each food ingredient was categorized on two basic qualities; if it were moist or dry and hot or cold. The qualities of the humors were given a degree of intensity. Intensity ranged from the 1st to 4th degree. In addition the method of preparation would also affect the humoral qualities of the food. Table 1 lists the four basic humors, it's qualities, the season and element associated with it[[6]]

Table 1 - The Four Humors

The humoral theory of food certainly has its background in the teachings of Hippocrates in the 5th century BCE.[[7]] It was further refined in the treatises by Galen in the 2nd century.[[8]] Sauces were used to balance out the humors of the food stuff well into the 16th century.

There were two different goals for the medieval cook. For the healthy diner, the goal was to provide a dish (or series of dishes) where the humoral qualities of the ingredients were used to balance each other into a neutral state. For the ill, the goal was to provide a dish (or series of dishes) where the humoral qualities of the ingredients were used to balance the humors of the individual in order to bring him back into a healthy "neutral" state.

"In choosing or in elaborating a sauce a cook accepted an enormously serious responsibility. At this time an ignorance of the humoral complexion of any ingredient could easily lead to a charge of inadvertently undermining someone's health, or even murder. A cook's job was in many respects an offshoot of that of a physician; he had almost as much responsibility."[[9]]

With the knowledge at hand of the humors of any given ingredient, including spices, the medieval cook can now make a variety of sauces to suit his needs. There were four basic uses for sauces: basting sauces, cooking sauces, serving sauces and dipping sauces. In many of the extant medieval texts on cuisine that is currently available, there are notable sections devoted to the making of sauces. Some sauces were cooked (boiled), some were not (cold).

              The Medieval "Mother" Sauces

Unlike the modern mother sauces that are used as a basis for a vast variety of sauces, these medieval "mother" sauces appear in almost all the cuisines I've studied. These sauces can be found in almost all the cuisines of the Middle Ages. They are Cameline Sauce, Green Sauce, White Sauce, Yellow Pepper Sauce, Black Pepper Sauce and Mustard Sauce.][10]]

              Thickening Agents

Not all medieval sauces were thickened, some sauces described were simply a dressing of verjuice. Many of the sauces, however, were thickened. For some sauces the main flavor ingredient itself could be the thickening agents, as in the case of mustard. Some sauces used reduction as a means to thicken it. Other sauces used an ingredient whose sole purpose was to thicken the sauce. In the modern mother sauces mentioned previously, a common thickening agent was roux.[[11]] However, currently there is no evidence of roux being used prior to the 17th century. The predominant thickening agents used in medieval sauces are: breadcrumbs, eggs, milk, almonds and almond milk. There is evidence that eggs were tempered prior to being introduced to a boiled sauce.[[12]]

              The Recipes

                  Cameline Sauce

Source: Le Viander de Taillevent[[13]]

Prenez gingenbre, canelle et grant foison, girofle, grainne de paradiz, mastic, poivre long qui veult; puis coullez pain trempé en vin aigre, et passez, et sallez bien a point.

Take ginger, plenty of cassia, cloves, grains of paradise, mastic thyme and long pepper (if you wish). Sieve bread soaked in vinegar, strain [through cheesecloth], and salt to taste.[[14]]

Soak bread crumbs in vinegar, add remaining ingredients. Adjust vinegar or add water until desired consistency is reached.

                  Mustard Sauce

Source: Le Ménagier de Paris[[15]]

…Item,  et se vous la voulez faire bonne et à loisir, mectez le senevé tremper par une nuyt en bon vinaigre, puis la faictes bien broyer au moulin, et bien petit à petit destremper de vinaigre. Et se vous aves des espices qui soient de remenant de gelée, de claré, d'ypocras ou de saulces, si soient broyées avec et après la laissier parer.

Item, if you would make good mustard and at leisure, set the mustard seed to soak for a night in good vinegar, then grind it in a mill and then moisten it little by little with vinegar; and if you have any spices left over from jelly, clarry, hippocras or sauces, let them be ground with it and afterwards prepare it.[[16]]

Hippocras: Take four ounces of very fine cinnamon, two ounces of fine cassia flowers, an ounce of selected Mecca ginger, an ounce of grains of paradise, and a sixth [of an ounce] of nutmeg and galingale combined. Crush then all together. Take a good half ounce of this powder and eight ounces of sugar [(which thus makes Sweet Powder)], and mix it with a quart of wine.

Soak mustard seeds overnight. Place all ingredients in blender and process. Add more vinegar or water until desired consistency is reached.

              Appendix

                  Sauces from Extant Medieval Manuscripts

Table 2 lists the variety of boiled and cold sauces found in extant medieval manuscripts

Table 2 - Medieval Sauces

                  Sauces for Meats & Fish

Table 3 lists various meats & fish with the desired cooking method as well as the appropriate sauce to accompany the dish.[[33]]

Table 3 - Sauces for Meats & Fish

Footnotes

[1]         Scully, Terence. 1995. The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages. Suffolk, England. The Boydell Press.

[2]          This is from personal experience working with individuals just learning about medieval cuisine.

[3]          Stradley, Linda. 2004. History of Sauces. What's Cooking America. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SauceHistory.htm (Accessed July 24, 2007)

[4]         Ibid.

[5]          Anne Willan discusses this in greater detail in her chapter titled "La Varenne" in Great Cooks and Their Recipes: From Taillevent to Escoffier.

[6]         This table is compiled from information found in the translation by Mark Grant of Galen's "On the Humors" in Galen on Food and Diet and in Terence Scully's discussion in his chapter titled "The Theoretical Bases for Meieval Food and Cookery" in The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages.

[7]         Grant, Mark, trans. 2000. Galen on Food and Diet. London. Routledge.

[8]          Ibid.

[9]          Scully, Op. Cit.

[10]        It is my personal conclusion to identify these sauces as a set of medieval "mother" sauces.

[11]       Roux is made using equal amounts of flour and some sort of fat cooked into a paste.

[12]       Santich, Barbara. 1996. The Original Mediterranean Cuisine: Medieval Recipes for Today. Chicago, Illinois. Chicago Review Press.

[13]        A 14th century collection French recipes.

[14]       Translation by James Prescott as noted in Le Viandier de Taillevent.

[15]       A 14th century collection French recipes..

[16]        Translation by Eileem Power as noted in The Goodman of Paris.

[17]       Sauce names in parenthesis are the translators or my own name for these sauces since one was not provided in the original texts.

[18]        Parzen, Jeremy trans. & Stefania Barzini. 2005. The Art of Cooking: The First Modern Cookery Book. Berkeley, California. University of California Press.

[19]       Scully, Terence. 1997. The Vivendier. Devon, England. Prospect Books.

[20]       Scully, Terence. 1988. The Viandier of Taillevent. Canada. University of Ottawa Press.

[21]       Power, Eileen, trans. 2006. The Goodman of Paris. Suffolk, England. The Boydell Press.

[22]       Milham, Mary Ella, ed. trans.. 1999. Platina's On Right Pleasure and Good Health. Asheville, North Carolina. Pegasus Press.

[23]        Grewe, Rudolf & Constance B. Hieat ed. trans. 2001. Libellus de arte coquinaria: An Early Northern Cookery Book. Tempe, Arizona. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies.

[24]       Adamson, Melitta Weiss. 2004. Daz bůch von gůter spise (The Book of Good Food). Österreich, German. Medium Aevum Quotidianum

[25]        Hodgett, G.A.J., trans. 1972. Stere htt Well. Adelaide, Australia. Mary Martin Books.

[26]       Ahmed, Anne. 2002.A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye. Cambridge, England. Corpus Christi College.

[27]        Austin, Thomas, ed. 1996. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Suffolk, England. Oxford University Press.

[28]       Ibid.

[29]       Hieatt, Constance B. & Sharon Butler, ed. 1985. Curye on Inglysch. Oxford, England. University of Oxford Press.

[30]       Ibid.

[31]       McDonald, W. Thomas & Cynara McDonald. 2004. Recipes from Banquet dels Quatre Barres. Richmond, Virginia. Thomas McDonald.

[32]       Cuenca, Vincent F., trans. 2001. Libro de Cozina. St. Louis, Missouri. Vincent Cuenca

[33]      This table is compiled from information found in various chapters D. Eleanor & Terence Scully's Early French Cookery.

                  Bibliography

Adamson, Melitta Weiss. 2004. Daz bůch von gůter spise (The Book of Good Food). Österreich, German. Medium Aevum Quotidianum

Ahmed, Anne. 2002.A Proper Newe Booke of Cokerye. Cambridge, England. Corpus Christi College.

Austin, Thomas, ed. 1996. Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books. Suffolk, England. Oxford University Press.

Cuenca, Vincent F., trans. 2001. Libro de Cozina. St. Louis, Missouri. Vincent Cuenca

Davidson, Alan. 2002. The Penguin Companion to Food. England. Penguin Group.

DeWitt, Dave. 2006. Da Vinci's Kitchen. Dallas, Texas. Benbella Books.

Grant, Mark, trans. 2000. Galen on Food and Diet. London. Routledge.

Grewe, Rudolf & Constance B. Hieatt ed. trans. 2001. Libellus de arte coquinaria: An Early Northern Cookery Book. Tempe, Arizona. Medieval and Renaissance Texts and Studies.

Hieatt, Constance B. & Sharon Butler, ed. 1985. Curye on Inglysch. Oxford, England. University of Oxford Press.

Hodgett, G.A.J., trans. 1972. Stere htt Well. Adelaide, Australia. Mary Martin Books.

McDonald, W. Thomas & Cynara McDonald. 2004. Recipes from Banquet dels Quatre Barres. Richmond, Virginia. Thomas McDonald.

Milham, Mary Ella, ed. trans.. 1999. Platina's On Right Pleasure and Good Health. Asheville, North Carolina. Pegasus Press.

Olver, Lynne. 2000. Sauces. The Food Timeline. http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodsauces.html (Accessed July 24, 2007)

Parzen, Jeremy trans. & Stefania Barzini. 2005. The Art of Cooking: The First Modern Cookery Book. Berkeley, California. University of California Press.

Power, Eileen, trans. 2006. The Goodman of Paris. Suffolk, England. The Boydell Press.

Prescott, James, trans. 1989. Le Viandier de Taillevent. Eugene, Oregon. Alfarhaugr Publishing Society.

Santich, Barbara. 1996. The Original Mediterranean Cuisine: Medieval Recipes for Today. Chicago, Illinois. Chicago Review Press.

Scully, D. Eleanor & Terence Scully. 1995. Early French Cookery. Ann Arbor, Michigan. The University of Michigan Press.

Scully, Terence. 1995. The Art of Cookery in the Middle Ages. Suffolk, England. The Boydell Press.

Scully, Terence. 1988. The Viandier of Taillevent. Canada. University of Ottawa Press.

Scully, Terence. 1997. The Vivendier. Devon, England. Prospect Books.

Stradley, Linda. 2004. History of Sauces. What's Cooking America. http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/SauceHistory.htm (Accessed July 24, 2007)

Ueltschi, Karin. 1994. Le Mesnagier de Paris. France. Le Livre de Poche.

Willan, Anne. 1977. Great Cooks and Their Recipes: From Taillevent to Escoffier. England. McGraw-Hill Book Company.

                  Contact Information

Euriol of Lothian, OP
Cassandra Baldassano

503 Stone Hedge Place
Mountaintop PA, 18707

euriol at ptd.net
euriol at yahoo.com

(570) 332-6194

© Cassandra Baldassano, 2007.

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If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

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