Cheese-Balls-art - 9/12/17
"Cheese Balls" by Mistress Leoba of Lecelade.
NOTE: See also the files: breadcrumbs-msg, pickled-eggs-msg, eggs-msg, breadcrumbs-msg, fried-cheese-msg, Cheese-Making-art, Aged-Cheese-art.
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Mark S. Harris...AKA:..Stefan li Rous
stefan at florilegium.org
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Cheese Balls
by Mistress Leoba of Lecelade
Wiltú kesßkiechlen bachen
So reib ain gar gúten kesß barmisan, thú ain geriben semelbrot darein, bis er gar tick wirt, darnach schlag air darain, bis es ain feins taiglin wirt, darnach mach rúnde kigellen wie die briete kiechlen jn derselben gressin vnd lasß langsam bachen, so send sý gemacht.
Das Kuchbuch der Sabina Welserin'
96 If you would make cheese buns
Then grate an especially good Parmesan cheese and put grated white bread thereon, until it becomes very thick. Afterwards beat eggs into it, until it becomes a good dough. After that make good round balls, the same size as scalded buns, and let them fry very slowly, then they are ready.
The text of the original recipe can be found here:
http://www.staff.uni-giessen.de/~g909/tx/sawe.htm
The translation is by Valoise Armstrong, and can be found here:
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Medieval/Cookbooks/Sabrina_Welserin.html
Little balls of cheesey goodness! These are quite rich. Parmesan cheese was an imported luxury, so these cheese balls would have been reserved for special occasions (Bach, 2017, 163).
Ingredients
125g grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
100g bread crumbs
Salt
Method
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. This is easiest done with the hands.
Form the mix into small balls about the size of walnuts, and flatten slightly.
Heat some oil in a frypan, then fry the balls until the outsides are golden.
They can be served hot or cold.
Notes
A large, cylindrical cheese similar to a modern Parmigiano Reggianois depicted in 14th century illuminations, and financial ledgers and literature indicates it was in demand throughout Europe from this time. This is not surprising, given that the relative dryness and higher salt content of a good parmesan cheese makes it easy to transport long distances without spoiling (Kindstedt, 2012, 155-157).
The original recipe referred "scalded buns" (kiechlen) to size the cheese balls. This is recipe 142 in Sabina Welserin's cook book, and they appear similar to small pancakes. You could probably make the cheese balls thinner than shown below.
Further Reading
Kindstedt, Paul (2012). Cheese and Culture.
Bach, Volker (2017). The Kitchen, Food and Cooking in Reformation Germany.
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Copyright 2017 by Christine Lawrie. <clawrie1 at bigpond.net.au>. Permission is granted for republication in SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited. Addresses change, but a reasonable attempt should be made to ensure that the author is notified of the publication and if possible receives a copy.
If this article is reprinted in a publication, please place 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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