cheesecake-msg - 1/12/08 Medieval cheesecake. Recipes. NOTE: See also the files: cheese-msg, cheesemaking-msg, Cheese-Making-art, desserts-msg, sotelties-msg, butter-msg, dairy-prod-msg, tarts-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: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 10:03:36 +0100 From: renfrow at skylands.net (Cindy M Renfrow) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Is cheesecake period? In article <54hh87$jmi at news3.realtime.net>, moondrgn at bga.com wrote: > Is cheesecake period? If so, when and where? > -Tivar Moondragon > > C and E Zakes > moondrgn at bga.com This is from Harleian MS. 279, circa 1420. It is a *curd* cheesecake, typical of the period, and contains bone marrow for added richness. There is a variation using strawberries which has been redacted in Pleyn Delit. Cheesecakes which use cream cheese are *not* period. [th] has been substituted for "thorn". xl. Daryoles. Take croddys of [th]e deye, & wryng owt [th]e whey; & take yolkys of Eyroun nowt to fewe, ne nogt to many, and strayne hem bo[th]e to-gederys [th]orw a straynour, & [th]an hard [th]in cofynne, & ley [th]in marew [th]er-in; & pore [th]in comade [th]er-on, an bake hem, & serue hem forth. Hope this helps! Cindy Renfrow renfrow at skylands.net http://www.alcasoft.com/renfrow/ From: DDFr at Best.com (David Friedman) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Is cheesecake period? Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 00:46:58 -0800 Organization: School of Law, Santa Clara University In article <54hh87$jmi at news3.realtime.net>, moondrgn at bga.com wrote: > Is cheesecake period? If so, when and where? Define "cheesecake." Kenelm Digby, mid-17th century, has something along the lines of a cottage-cheese cheesecake. Tarte de Brie is 14th-15th c. English/French--but I wouldn't call it a cheesecake. There are probably things close to cheesecake in the sixteenth century English/French, but Nouvelle Cuisine is not my specialty. I vaguely remember having eaten something like a cheesecake attributed to Apicius, but I don't know whether it is accurate. David/Cariadoc From: mjc at telerama.lm.com (Monica Cellio) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Is cheesecake period? Date: 22 Oct 1996 10:43:19 -0400 Organization: Telerama Public Access Internet, Pittsburgh, PA USA >Is cheesecake period? If so, when and where? Cheese pies of various sorts are period, but not as sweets. The closest thing I know of to dessert-grade cheese pies is from Digby (1669). The closest approximation for the cheese is probably ricotta or farmer's cheese. Cream cheese is modern. Ellisif http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mjc/ellisif.html From: "Theron Bretz" Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Is cheesecake period? Date: 22 Oct 1996 15:25:02 GMT Organization: Electrotex, Inc. > Is cheesecake period? If so, when and where? My old roommate Berengaria dela Rossi had an Italian recipe from the 15th century. It was, however cheesecake only in the most academic sense of the word. No cream cheese, of course. It was incredibly dense, crumbly and dry, and flavored with (of all things) fennel. An acquired taste, to say the least. But, then again, you're talking about a culture that considers hard parmegiano cheese and balsamic vinegar a dessert item. Etienne de Montagu From: maddie teller-kook Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Is cheesecake period? Date: Tue, 22 Oct 1996 22:32:58 -0500 David Friedman wrote: > I vaguely remember having eaten something like a cheesecake attributed to > Apicius, but I don't know whether it is accurate. There is a cheesecake recipe in "The Tastes of Ancient Rome" by Giacosa that is attributed to Cato. I have made it a number of times and it is pretty tasty. Mistress Meadhbh From: jacquetta at aol.com (Jacquetta) Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Is cheesecake period? Date: 23 Oct 1996 18:33:14 -0400 The Horizon Cookbook documents a riccota cheese cheesecake to Socretes and cites a <> story about his wife smashing to the floor, in a jealous rage, a cheesecake sent to the great teacher by a zealous student. The philosopher is said to have remarked, mildly, "now we both shall do without..." :-) Jacquetta Lynn Shaftic-Averill From: maddie teller-kook Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Re: Is cheesecake period? Date: Wed, 23 Oct 1996 18:18:58 -0500 Bryan J. Maloney wrote: > > I do know of a cheesecake recipe in a Roman cookbook I have. The recipe > > is one from Cato. It is very simple and tasty. > > Could you give the original from Cato, not the attribution? Here it is in Latin: Savillum (Cato 84) Savillum hoc modo facito: Farinae selibram, casei P. II S una cmmisceto quasi libum, addito mellis P. et ovum unum. Catinum fictile oleo unguito. Ubi omnia bene comiscueris, in catinum indito, catinum testo operito. Videto ut bene percocas medio, ubi altissimum est. Ubi, coctum erit, catinum eximito, melle unguito, papaver infriato, sub testum subde paulisper, postea eximito. Ita pone cum catillo et lingua. The redaction in the text is: 1 2/3 lbs ricotta (or other soft cheese) 1 cup flour 6 Tablespoons honey 1 egg 2 tablespoons poppy seeds (my addition: toasted pine nuts) Blend the cheese with the flour, 4 tbsp honey and egg. Grease a baking pan with oil and pour in the mixture, and bake in a hot oven (400 degrees F) for 20-30 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil for the first 15 minutes so the surface will not burn. Remove from the oven. Drizzle with the remaining honey over the surface and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Replace in the oven for 5 minutes, then remove and serve. From: Giacosa, Ilaria Gozzini, "A Taste of Ancient Rome", University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 1992 p 163. Enjoy! meadhbh From: Grizel Newsgroups: rec.org.sca Subject: Cheesecake IS period Date: Mon, 28 Oct 1996 20:12:38 -0400 Organization: The Dayton Network Access Company (DNACo) > Is cheesecake period? If so, when and where? YES it is! Mistress Gwyneth Banhfidlir of the Middle (Laurel in cooking) has documented it. It's texture is a bit different (a bit wetter with some small curds) from the NY style we are so familiar about, but it does taste great! She has made it more than once in our local feasts and is pretty famous in these parts for it. She did some pretty extensive research on it. I know she has a recipe. She might even give it out! (I think she will, but you never know about cooks!) Her e-mail is: 70003.7005 at CompuServe.COM Grizel Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 10:43:24 -0400 (EDT) From: Stephen Bloch Subject: SC - cheesecake Aoife wrote: > I probably wouldn't have gotten so over-excited about the curds thing, but > suddenly we were faced with a new recipe for....CHEESECAKE.....of all things. I've seen a number of medieval recipes that more or less resemble cheesecake. There's one from the Anglo-Norman cookbook that my wife redacted as a delicious fruit-filled cheesecake (and now I can't find the recipe, or even its name, on this computer!) And there's "flaons", from the 15th-c. Catalan "Libre del Coch", and apparently cognate with both the modern Spanish "flan" and the contemporary English "flathonys". Our most successful redaction to date involves 1/2 pound of farmer cheese 1/4 pound ricotta 5 eggs 4 crumbled dried mint leaves 2 tsp. rosewater mixed together, poured into a pie crust, baked for 40 minutes at 350F, and then brushed (hot from the oven) with 1/6 cup honey mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib Stephen Bloch sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu Date: Fri, 22 Aug 1997 22:36:05 -0400 (EDT) From: Stephen Bloch Subject: Re: SC - cheesecake > I would be very interested in seeing the original of the flaons > recipe (in English or Catalan). The only "flan" I ever had in South > America had nothing to do with a pie crust. I don't seem to have the Catalan on-line, and I don't feel like finding it and typing it in right now, but here's our English translation. Libre del Coch #136 De flaons Take fresh cheese and curds that are well [drained?] and pound them well in a mortar together with as much eggs. And [fold?] a bit of fat cheese which is grated and minced together with the curds with a bit of [pols] of dried mint. And then put in the mortar a little rosewater, not too much but rather in [appropriate] measure. And then make dough from good farina and knead it with very fine oil, kneading it well so that it becomes very firm. And then make of the dough [coffins?] to place the cheeses. But before filling, heat the dough a little, but [that?] it should [remain? become?] firm. And then fill it with the filling. And before they are all done, take some forks or [pincers?] and [crimp?] the edge. And then take it to the fire to cook. And when it's cooked, and [the top is browned?] a bit, then [from edge to edge?] put on honey or a syrup of sugar and rosewater. mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib Stephen Bloch sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu Date: Mon, 29 Sep 1997 22:30:54 -0500 From: "meadhbh at io.com" Subject: SC - Roman Cheese Cake Here is the cheesecake recipe. It is very easy to make and delicious.I also like to use pine nuts instead of the poppy seeds..... meadhbh * Exported from MasterCook * Savillum (Cato 64) Recipe By : Ilaria Giacosa (Taste of Ancient Rome) Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Cheese Dishes Dessert Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method - -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 2/3 pounds ricotta cheese -- or other soft cheese 1 cup flour 6 tablespoons honey 1 whole egg 2 tablespoons poppy seeds Blend the cheese with the flour, 4 tablespoons of honey and the egg. Grease a baking pan with oil, pour in the mixture, and bake in a hot oven (400 degrees F) for 20-30 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil for the first 10-15 minutes so that the surface doesn't burn. Remove from the oven. Drizzle the remaining honey over the surface and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Replace in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and serve. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : It is also good with pine nuts. Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 12:45:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Gretchen M Beck Subject: Re: SC - advise (oop) Excerpts from internet.listserv.sca-cooks: 29-Sep-97 Re: SC - advise (oop) Maddie Teller-Kook at io.co (1503*) > If you want to do cheesecake... how about a period recipe? I have made > a roman cheesecake (out of Giacosa's book) that is pretty tasty and very > rich. If you would like the recipe, I can share... The White Torte from Platina is excellent--I served it with strawberries recently at a local Music and Dance collegium. Since the strawberries were "Bobolu Strawberries" (the company, I think), we referred to the dish as Ricky Ricotta Cheesecake. There is a redaction of this in the Miscellany, though I'd recommend a few less egg whites and a little more cheese then called for in that recipe. toodles, margaret Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 21:27:55 -0800 From: salbert at polarnet.com (S.Albert) Subject: Re: SC - Cheesecakes Greetings Rakhel Petrovna: Our group found this in a Spanish cookbook a few years ago. Unfortunately, it didn't give a primary source, and I don't even have handy the title of the cookbook we found it in. Also, I don't have any specific instruction left on crust -- I usually make a butter pie crust when in doubt and don't want to worry how anything will work out. Flaon (16th Century Cheesecake) pie crust to line 8-inch springform pan 2 eggs 1/2 lb. cottage cheese 1/2 c. sugar 1/8 tsp dried mint leaves 1/8 tsp anisette liqueur 3 tbs. honey 1 tsp rose water cinnamon, for dusting Fit dough into springform pan, covering the bottom halfway up the sides. In a bowl beat the eggs with the cheese, sugar, mint and anisette. Spread onto the dough and bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until filling is set. Mix together honey and rose water. Dribble over the flaon, then dust with cinnamon. Serve warm. Notes: (1) For the crust, I've used both regular pie pans, and made individual tarts (smaller portions for the end of a feast, and easier on portion controlling) (2) I thought about substituting riccotta cheese for the cottage, but haven't gotten around to it. (3) We used homemade anisette, which is quite tasty. (4) It's a fairly sturdy recipe. I lost track of what I was doing one busy feast day and threw all the ingredients in together, including the garnishes, and it still tasted wonderful, just didn't look the same. It looks like it might be original, and adapted to a modern kitchen. There is never any leftover, and what doesn't get eaten on the first round is fought over during cleanup... Two more Notes on the flaon: (1) it's not a high-rise cheesecake, but is rich and tasty. If you make the dough go halfway up a regular springboard pan, it will be too high, and (2) the "16th Century Cheesecake" was the subtitled used by the modern Spanish cookbook, not my comment. Morgana * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Morgana yr Oerfa, Baroness * Sharron Albert Winter's Gate/Oertha/West * salbert at polarnet.com Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 00:02:04 -0800 From: david friedman Subject: Re: SC - Cheesecakes From the Miscellany: To Make Cheesecakes Digby p. 214/174 Take 12 quarts of milk warm from the cow, turn it with a good spoonfull of runnet. Break it well, and put it in a large strainer, in which rowl it up and down, that all the whey may run out into a little tub; when all that will is run out, wring out more. Then break the curds well; then wring it again, and more whey will come. Thus break and wring till no more come. Then work the curds exceedingly with your hand in a tray, till they become a short uniform paste. Then put to it the yolks of 8 new laid eggs, and two whites, and a pound of butter. Work all this long together. In the long working (at the several times) consisteth the making them good. Then season them to your taste with sugar finely beaten; and put in some cloves and mace in subtle powder. Then lay them thick in coffins of fine paste and bake them. Judging by the cottage cheese recipe in Joy of Cooking, 12 quarts of milk would yield about 4.5 lbs of cottage cheese. It sounds as though either creamed cottage cheese or fresh cheese corresponds to what Digby is making. The following quantities are for half of Digby's quantity, with an adjustment for egg sizes. 2 lbs of creamed cottage cheese 1/2 lb of butter 1/4 t mace 2 large eggs 1/2 c sugar 2 pie crusts (this made 2 9" cheese cakes) 1 egg yolk 1/4 t cloves Cook at 350° for 70 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before serving. - --- White Torta Platina p. 135 (book 8) Prepare a pound and a half of best fresh cheese, chopped especially fine. Add twelve or fifteen egg whites, half a pound of sugar, half an ounce of white ginger, half a pound of pork liquamen and as much fresh butter. Blend in as much milk as you need. When you have blended this, put it into a pastry crust rolled thin and put it all in a pan and set it to bake on the hearth with a gentle flame. Then, to give it color, put coals on the lid. When it is cooked and taken from the pan, sprinkle ground sugar over it, with rosewater. 1 lb fresh cheese: ricotta 1/4 lb lard 10" pastry shell 8 egg whites 1/4 lb butter ~2 t sugar 2/3 c sugar 1/2 c milk 1 t rosewater 1/3 oz fresh ginger Beat egg whites to soft peaks. Soften butter and lard together at room temperature. Fold together cheese and egg whites, then add sugar, minced ginger, lard and butter. Mix until fairly uniform. Add milk, fill shell. Bake at 325° for 40 minutes. When oil separates, it is done. Put under broiler to brown top lightly. Sprinkle sugar and rosewater, spread on with spoon bottom. Cool until set. This is a little less butter and lard than Platina suggests, but we found it too fatty using his quantities. Our interpretation of "add egg whites" is pretty free-it would be worth trying to follow the recipe more literally. David/Cariadoc http://www.best.com/~ddfr/ Date: Tue, 17 Feb 1998 23:38:48 -0600 From: Maddie Teller-Kook Subject: Re: SC - Roman Desserts I also did the 'Roman Cheesecake' from the book: A Taste of Ancient Rome. I think the recipe is attributed to Cato. Anyway, it calls for using Ricotta (much creamier and richer than cottage cheese), honey and sprinkle with poppy seeds. an egg and some flour is added as a binder. Wonderful stuff and very, very easy to make. meadhbh Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 17:52:34 -0600 From: "meadhbh at io.com" Subject: SC - Roman Cheesecake (Cato) from Tastes of Ancient Rome Attached is a copy of the recipe I used to make the Roman Cheesecake. It is very good. And not very sweet. I am sure the honey can be adjusted for those that have a sweet tooth. It is also good with Pine nuts! meadhbh * Exported from MasterCook * Savillum (Cato 64) Recipe By : Ilaria Giacosa (Taste of Ancient Rome) Serving Size : 4 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Cheese Dishes Dessert Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method - -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 2/3 pounds ricotta cheese -- or other soft cheese 1 cup flour 6 tablespoons honey 1 whole egg 2 tablespoons poppy seeds Blend the cheese with the flour, 4 tablespoons of honey and the egg. Grease a baking pan with oil, pour in the mixture, and bake in a hot oven (400 degrees F) for 20-30 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil for the first 10-15 minutes so that the surface doesn't burn. Remove from the oven. Drizzle the remaining honey over the surface and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Replace in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove and serve. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - NOTES : It is also good with pine nuts. Date: Sat, 21 Feb 1998 11:11:28 -0700 From: "Morgan" Subject: Re: SC - Cheesecake and Lent Here is the promised chhesecake recipe. It was a redaction for the Jan 4th, 1997 Wooden Spoon competition for Twelfth Nite (West). I do not fnow from whence it came, nor has the Most Gracious Master Duncan of Saxthorpe as yet answered my request. Anyone who recognizes the recipe, please tell me where it originated. LESE FRYES: Take nessh chese, and pare it clene, and grinde hit in a morter small, and drawe yolkes and white of egges throgh a streynour, and cast there-to, and grinde hem togidre; then cast thereto Sugur, butter and salt, and put togidigre in a coffyn of faire paast, And lete bake ynowe, and then serue it forthe. This was my rendition of the above recipe: I used 12 oz. of mexican queso fresco cheese ('coz I was told it most resembles "new cheese") 3 eggs beaten well -- niclely thick and lemon colored add the cheese and egg together, beating well, adding a scant 1/2 cup sugar (no salt -- the cheese is salty enough) and poured into an unbaked pastry shell. Bake at 425 for 10 min., then lower oven tempp to 350, baking an additional 30 mon. or until cold knife inserted comes out clean. Serve forth. Refrences: Pleyn Delight #118; Traveling Dysshes p. 41 Pastry: pp 35-36 and 1000 Eggs Vol II p. 20 LENTEN MEALS I had used the following books for refrences (they weere at the University of California, Davis library) _The Paschel or Lent Fast_ Gunning, Peter, DD Oxford MDCCCXLV (1845?) and _Medieval Handbooks of Pennance_ McNeill, John and Gamer, Helen New York 1965 Caointiarn Thu, 7 May 1998 22:12:02 -0400 (EDT) From: Stephen Bloch Subject: Re: SC - Cheesecakes Rakhel Petrovna > I have been asked by a friend to ask the combined intellects of this group > (including any who are hiding behind rocks :-) if they know of a period > recipe for cheesecake. There's one in the Anglo-Norman cookbook called "Tardpoleyn", which my wife redacted as a cheesecake with lots of minced dried fruits mixed in. My grandparents, who know nothing about medieval cookery, loved it. Unfortunately, the redaction was lost in a move three years ago and we haven't gotten around to trying it again. mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib Stephen Bloch Date: Thu, 7 May 1998 22:17:32 -0400 (EDT) From: Stephen Bloch Subject: Re: SC - Cheesecakes Morgana wrote: > Our group found this in a Spanish cookbook a few years ago. Unfortunately, > it didn't give a primary source, and I don't even have handy the title of > the cookbook we found it in. Also, I don't have any specific instruction > left on crust -- I usually make a butter pie crust when in doubt and don't > want to worry how anything will work out. > > Flaon > (16th Century Cheesecake) > > pie crust to line 8-inch springform pan > 2 eggs > 1/2 lb. cottage cheese > 1/2 c. sugar > 1/8 tsp dried mint leaves > 1/8 tsp anisette liqueur > 3 tbs. honey > 1 tsp rose water > cinnamon, for dusting I'm not sure, but that may be a modern redaction of the following, which appears in the 15th-century Catalan Llibre del Coch. Our translation: 136 De flaons Take fresh cheese and curds that are well [drained?] and pound them well in a mortar together with as much eggs. And [fold?] a bit of fat cheese which is grated and minced together with the curds with a bit of [pols] of dried mint. And then put in the mortar a little rosewater, not too much but rather in [appropriate] measure. And then make dough from good farina and knead it with very fine oil, kneading it well so that it becomes very firm. And then make of the dough [coffins?] to place the cheeses. But before filling, heat the dough a little, so that it becomes firm. And then fill it with the filling. And before they are all done, take some forks or [pincers?] and [crimp?] the edge. And then take it to the fire to cook. And when it's cooked, and [the top is browned?] a bit, then [from edge to edge?] put on honey or a syrup of sugar and rosewater. Our first redaction (2/2/97): 7.5 oz. farmer cheese about the same of ricotta cheese 5 eggs (1 cup) 2 dried mint leaves, ground finely 1 tsp. rosewater 1/8 cup honey 1 9-in. piecrust Blind bake piecrust. Meanwhile, mix cheeses, egg, mint and rosewater until smooth. Bake 40 min. at 350 degrees (at which point it has inflated), then brush with honey and let cool. Comments: texture resembles ricotta cheese "in its natural state"; maybe increase ratio of egg to cheese? A little bland; increase any or all of the flavoring ingredients. Redaction (2/7/97): 7.5 oz. farmer cheese 1/2 cup ricotta cheese 5 eggs 4 dried mint leaves, ground finely 2 tsp. rosewater 1/6 cup honey 1 9-in. piecrust Directions as above. Comments: Tastier; this is basically what we served successfully at a feast a week later. (The rest of that feast is at http://www.adelphi.edu/~sbloch/sca/cooking/st.val.feast.html) mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib Stephen Bloch Date: Tue, 05 Jan 1999 07:43:09 -0500 From: "Knott, Deanna" Subject: SC - Polenta Rowan asked about polenta and it's uses as a sweet. The polenta that I am referring to is from Platina. The ingredients are cheese, eggs, sugar, and a little bit of breadcrumbs or barley (for a binder). It is basically a cheesecake. If you are interested in the whole cheesecake story, you can find it on my web site at: http://www.geocities.com/athens/academy/9523 under cooking references. If anyone is out there who does not have web access and is interested, please let me Know and I will e-mail you privately. Avelina Keyes East Kingdom Date: Fri, 07 May 1999 15:57:14 -0500 From: "Jennifer D. Miller" To: sca-arts at raven.cc.ukans.edu Subject: Slavic Cheesecake > Ukrainian/ Slavic cookbooks like to give the history of their >traditional dishes. I've even discovered, in a Russian cookbook, that >cheesecake is period. > >Caireach Forgive me for changing the thread, but I lost the original message. I did some more thinking and then banged my head against the computer desk for a few minutes, after I realized what the original poster was probably talking about. Does this sound familiar Caireach? It isn't cooked and it is pretty much like cheesecake (and very, very yummy). I haven't found any evidence that it is period, but it would not surprise me. It is called "paskha" and basically (there are MANY variants) consists of tvorog (Russian farmer's/cottage cheese), sugar, ground almonds and eggs. It is blended together until creamy and put in a form with a small hole in the bottom and let to drain and become firm. It is then unmolded and decorated, usually with the Cyrillic initials for Khristos Voskres (Christ is Risen), usually in candied fuits and nuts. The mold is traditionally pyrimid-shaped, but that varies too. If this sounds like what you remember, please, please, please remember to look for the recipe next time you are home, I'm sure we'd all like to know about it, I know the Slavic Interest Group would LOVE to know. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Ilyana Barsova (Yana) ***mka Jennifer D. Miller jdmiller2 at students.wisc.edu *** http://www.sit.wisc.edu/~jdmiller2 Slavic Interest Group http://www.uwplatt.edu/~goldschp/slavic.html Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 21:24:45 -0400 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" Subject: Re: SC - rocotti and cottage chease leftovers? Here is a redaction that I did from Epulario for migliacio, which is basically a ricotta cheesecake. Unfortunately, I cannot find my copy of Epulario, so I cannot post the original recipe for comparison. Perhaps some other gentle could oblige? Migliacio (Ricotta Cheesecake) 2 lb. whole milk ricotta 1 c sugar 1/2 c flour 4 egg whites butter or margarine 1 TBS orange zest Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9" round or 8" square cake pan. Beat ricotta and sugar together until creamy. Beat in flour until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. They will have soft peaks that droop slightly. Fold into cheese mixture. Pour mixture into cake pan. Bake approx. 1 hour or until cake has puffed and trembles just slightly when shaken. A toothpick inserted in center will come out almost clean, with just a trace of batter. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Don't worry about cracks on top. Remove cake from oven. Cool on a rack to room temperature, then chill for several hours. Lady Brighid ni Chiarain Settmour Swamp, East (NJ) Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 22:25:03 -0400 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" Subject: Re: SC - Kataif Very interesting... I think this may shed some light on the name and origin of one of the Spanish recipes I have been translating. TORONJAS DE XATIVA QUE SON ALMOJAVANAS "Grapefruits" of Xativa Which are Cheesecakes Source: De Nola, _Libro de Guisados_, 1529 Translation: Brighid ni Chiarain (Robin Carroll-Mann) You must take new cheese and curd cheese, and pound them in a mortar together with eggs. Then take dough and knead those cheeses with the curd cheese, together with the dough, and when everything is incorporated and kneaded take a very clean casserole, and cast into it a good quantity of sweet pork fat or fine sweet oil, and when the pork grease or oil boils, make some balls from said dough, like toy balls or round oranges, and cast them into the casserole in such a manner that the ball goes floating in the casserole, and you can also make fritters of= the dough, or whatever shapes and ostentations you wish, and when they are the color of gold, take them out, and cast in as many others; and when everything is fried, put it on plates, and cast honey upon it, and upon them honey, ground sugar and cinnamon. However note one thing: that you must put a bit of leaven in the cheeses and in the eggs, and in the other put flour, and when you make the balls, grease your hands with a little fine oil: and then they go to the casserole, and when it is inside, if the dough crackles it is a signal that it is very soft; and you must cast in more flour until it is harder; and when the fritter is made and fried, cast your honey on it and sugar and cinnamon on top as is said above. It sounds to me as though "Xativa" is a variant/descendant of Qataif. (For those who do not know Spanish: the word would be roughly pronounded "ha-tee-va", with the initial consonant being rather like a gutteral 'h'.) Perhaps the recipe is called "Grapefruits of Xativa" because the round balls are not the usual shape in which this sweet cheese- dough is cooked. Lady Brighid ni Chiarain Settmour Swamp, East (NJ) Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 14:53:54 -0400 From: Philip & Susan Troy Subject: Re: SC - Help finding a recipe?? DeeWolff at aol.com wrote: > Does anyone know where I can find an Elderflower Tart Recipe?? > > Does anyone have a favorite of above?? > > Andrea I believe Pleyn Delit has a worked-out recipe for Sambucade, an elderflower cheesecake. I have a version somewhere; we served them at Twelfth Night in ÿstgardr what, five years ago? I'll see if I can find it. Adamantius Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 06:23:20 -0800 (PST) From: Ginny Claphan Subject: SC - a cheesecake story At a Border Raids many years ago (1991, I entered the A&S w/ the white torta from Platina. There was nothing but crumbs left afterwards, I believe, and the Meridian laurels who judged it were clamoring for more, along w/ the recipe. Later that evening, I presented (w/ bodyguards, of course), a torta to the Crown as part of their evening meal. The documentation later became the basis for my TI article on cheesecake, Spring 1993 (#106) "The Mysterious Cheesecake: Platina and Martino's White Torta" Gwyneth Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 17:02:21 EST From: Bronwynmgn at aol.com Subject: Re: SC - Duello by Cheese Cake; High Noon in Trimaris, Spoons at the Ready phelpsd at gate.net writes: << Does anyone wish to provide recipes for possible consideration by the protagonists? >> I used this one quite successfully at an event this past fall. To Make Cheesecakes From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby, Opened, published posthumously in 1669 Take 12 quarts of milk warm from the cow, turn it with a good spoonfull of runnet. Break it well, and put it in a large strainer, in which rowl it up and down, that all the whey may run out into a little tub; when all that will is run out, wring out more. Then break the curds well; then wring it again, and more whey will come. Thus break and wring till no more come. Then work the curds exceedingly with your hand in a tray, till they become a short uniform paste. Then put to it the yolks of 8 new laid eggs, and two whites, and a pound of butter. Work all this long together. In the long working (at the several times) consisteth the making them good. Then season them to your taste with sugar finely beaten; and put in some cloves and mace in subtle powder. Then lay them thick in coffins of fine paste and bake them. Judging by the cottage cheese recipe in Joy of Cooking, 12 quarts of milk would yield about 4.5 lbs of cottage cheese. It sounds as though either creamed cottage cheese or farmer's cheese corresponds to what Digby is making. The following quantities are for half of Digby's quantity, with an adjustment for egg sizes. 2 lbs of creamed cottage cheese or ricotta 2 large eggs 1 egg yolk 2 pie crusts (this made 2 9" cheese cakes) 1/2 lb of butter 1/2 c sugar 1/4 t cloves 1/4 t mace Cook at 350deg. for 70 minutes. Let cool 1 hour before serving. Note: the version with ricotta comes out noticeably drier than that with cottage cheese. (The above original and redaction are from A Miscelleny by Cariadoc and Elizabeth.) To Make Cheesecakes for 60 Version by Brangwayna Morgan 6 lbs of ricotta 6 large eggs 3 egg yolks 6 pie crusts 1 ? lb butter, softened (this is 1.5) 1 ? cup sugar (1.5) æ tsp cloves (.75) æ tsp mace (.75) Mix all ingredients except pie shells in Kitchenaide mixer. (This may need to be done in two or three batches, with ingredients evenly divided). Line pie tins with pie crusts and pour mixture in evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 70 minutes. Let cool one hour before serving. Each pie will be cut to serve 10. After event comments: We made these in the morning and kept them in the refrigerator until serving time. The amount of filling was perfect. It was divided and mixed in two Kitchenaide mixers. Wonderfully rich. Brangwayna Morgan Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 17:12:23 -0500 From: Elaine Koogler Subject: Re: SC - Duello by Cheese Cake; High Noon in Trimaris, Spoons at the Ready Bronwynmgn at aol.com wrote: > phelpsd at gate.net writes: > << Does anyone wish to provide recipes for > possible consideration by the protagonists? >> > > I used this one quite successfully at an event this past fall. > > To Make Cheesecakes > >From The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby, Opened, published posthumously in 1669 And then, to go to the other end, actually outside of, our period, there is Cato's Savillum: Make a savillum thus: Mix 1l2 libra of flour and 2 1/2 librae of cheese, as is done for libum. Add 1/4 libra of honey and 1 egg. Grease an earthenware bowl with oil. When you have mixed the ingredients well, pour into the bowl and cover the bowl with an earthenware testo. See that you cook it well in the middle, where it is highest. When it is cooked, remove the bowl, spread with honey, sprinkle with poppy, put it back beneath the testo for a moment, and then remove. Serve it thus with a plate and spoon. The redaction I used came from A Taste of Ancient Rome by Illaria Giacosa (I think): 7 1/4 pounds ricotta or other soft cheese 1 1/8 quarts flour 1 5/8 cups honey 4 3/8 each egg 1/2 cup poppy seeds Blend the cheese with the flour,1 cup + 1 Tablespoon of honey and egg. Grease a baking pan with oil, pour in the mixture and bake in a hot oven(400 F) for 20-30 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil for the first 10-15 minutes so that the surtace does not burn. Remove from the oven. Drizzle the remaining honey over the surtace and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Replace in the oven for 5 minutes, then remove and serve. This is great fun as folks are blown away by a cheesecake recipe from Roman times! It is also VERY tasty! Kiri Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2001 13:11:29 -0800 From: david friedman Subject: Re: SC - Duello by Cheese Cake; High Noon in Trimaris, Spoons at the Ready At 5:30 PM -0500 1/9/01, Daniel Phelps wrote: >Come an event in April there is to be a cheese cake baking duel down here in >southern Trimaris. Originally it was intended to be the baking of "mundane" >cheese cakes but I stuck a spoon in the bowl and now a least one of the >cheese cakes to be made by each of the two protagonists needs be "period". >I've access in my personal library to six recipes in non redacted and >redacted forms which arguably fit the bill. The earliest on the list is >Roman, Savillum (Cato). The list then proceeds to French and Italian with >Sambocade, Torta Bianca and Sienese Tart and culminates in English recipes >from Elinor Fettiplace and Joan Cromwell which take us to the 16th century? >and on to 1664 (yes slightly out of period) respectively. How about Tart de Bry (English 14th c.)? We have a worked-out version in the Miscellany, along with one for Platina's White Torta (torta bianca) and the Digby recipe someone already posted. >For purposes of the competition we have used the classic "Cheesecake" >entries in Joy of Cooking as an archetype. Cheesecake, per "The Joy of >Cooking", is thus egg-based with CHEESE, plus sugar or honey and some sort >of flavoring and occasionally flour and milk or cream. Regards the CHEESE; >baker's cheese, cottage cheese, cream cheese, ricotta are all apparently >used in typical modern recipes. For a non-sweet cheese pie, there is also an English 15th c. recipe "For Tarts owte of Lente": very rich, very good. And if you really want to stretch the definition, you could try Platina's recipe for Torta of Herbs in the Month of May, including the optional sugar: cheese, eggs whites, sugar, butter (and herbs). Or to stretch it even farther, the Andalusian Cheese and Flour Cake, which has alternate layers of dough and cheese, baked and then drizzled with honey, with sugar and pepper sprinkled over. All recipes mentioned are in the Miscllany. Elizabeth/Betty Cook Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 19:22:07 -0400From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" Subject: Re: SC - Soft Cheeses in PeriodOn 16 Apr 01,, Rosalyn MacGregor wrote:> Recently, I began exploring the cheesecake idea. In Stephen's Florigieum> there are some good pointers. However, they all use ricotta cheese. What> other soft cheese would have been made in period?Ricotta is a whey cheese -- that is, it is made by re-cooking the liquid whey that is a by-product of cheesemaking. For cheesecake, you could use "new" cheese. Farmer cheese or queso fresco would do, I think. You could even make your own -- soft cheese can be made very easily, without special equipment. The main difference between one soft cheese and another is the kind of milk it's made from, and the fat content. Goat milk will give you a different taste than cow. And some of the soft cheese recipes call for milk + cream.And don't forget to look in the Florilegium.Lady Brighid ni ChiarainSettmour Swamp, East (NJ) Date: Tue, 3 Sep 2002 15:42:44 -0700 To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org From: lilinah at earthlink.net Subject: [Sca-cooks] Catalan and Italian Recipe Questions I'm about to start cooking for the Bardic Feast on this coming Saturday, Sept. 7, and i have a couple questions: ----- FIRST, i found a recipe in Scully's Neapolitan cookbook that looks intriguing, a savory cooked melon dish. (Scully, page 181) 36. Melon Dish (Menestra de meloni) ----- SECOND, the ricotta cheese balls ...some folks have mentioned having difficulty, others seem not to have had problems... what should i be on the lookout for or against? from de Nola 133. Toronjas de Xativa que Son Almojavanas - Oranges of Xativa which Are Cheesecakes You must take new cheese and curd cheese, and grind them in a mortar together with eggs. Then take dough and knead those cheeses with the curd cheese, together with the dough. And when everything is incorporated and kneaded take a very clean casserole. And cast into it a good quantity of sweet pork fat or fine sweet oil. And when the pork grease or oil boils, make some balls from said dough, like toy balls or round oranges. And cast them into the casserole in such a manner that the ball goes floating in the casserole. And you can also make bu=F1uelos (recipe 108) of the dough, or whatever shapes and ostentations you wish. And when they are the color of gold, take them out, and cast in as many others. And when everything is fried, put it on plates. And cast honey upon it, and on top of the honey [cast] ground sugar and cinnamon. However, note one thing: that you must put a bit of leaven in the cheeses and in the eggs, and in the other put flour. And when you make the balls, grease your hands with a little fine oil, and then [the balls] go to the casserole. And when it is inside, if the dough crackles it is a signal that it is very soft, and you must cast in more flour [into the dough] until it is harder. And when the fritter is made and fried, cast your honey on it, and [cast] sugar and cinnamon on top as is said above. ----- Thanks for any pointers, advice, etc. Anahita Date: Fri, 06 Sep 2002 11:01:50 -0700 From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Help! Fried Ricotta Cheese Balls On Fri, 6 Sep 2002 10:17:56 -0700 lilinah at earthlink.net wrote: > Help! I'm worried! I'm still wondering quite > what to do with this and > i have to cook it tomorrow night... > [snip] > Toronjas de Xativa que Son Almojavanas > Oranges of Xativa which are Cheesecakes [snip] > Do i add yeast? Do i add sourdough? where it > asks for leaven... [snip] > [here's my question: a bit of leaven (non-sour > "sourdough"? yeast? > what should i use?] I have not redacted this recipe myself. I can tell you that Spain, like other Mediterranean countries, used sourdough rather than a beer yeast. However, they seemed not to care for a sour taste in their baked goods. In Platina's recipe for bread, he cautions not to let the dough turn sour. Nola's only use for sour leavening is as a "sponge" to absorb smoky/scorched taste from stews and pottages (see recipes # 168, 240, and 241). I would *not* use dry yeast for this recipe -- or at least, not directly. The balls are formed and fried not long after the yeast is added. Dry yeast wouldn't have much time to get going before the frying killed it. I would use either a non-sour sourdough starter, or a sponge made with dry yeast that had been allowed to sit and mature for a while. Brighid ni Chiarain Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 22:08:30 -0800 From: Susan Fox-Davis Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Historic Cheesecake in the papers this past week To: , Cooks within the SCA The fine folks at Plimoth Plantation sent back a response, citing the period source they used. Oh well, it's the right century anyway. May, Robert. The Accomplish¹t Cook. 1666. Reprint. Totnes, Devon: Prospect Books, 1994. To make Cheesecake other wayes. Take a good morning milk cheese, or better, of some eight pound weight, stamp it in a mortar, and beat a pound of butter amongst it, and a pound of sugar, then mix with it beaten mace, two pound of currants well picked and washed, a pennymanchet grated, or a pound of almonds blanched and beaten fine with rose-water, and some salt; then boil some cream, and thicken it with six or eight yolks of eggs, mixed with the other things, work them well together, and fill the cheesecakes, make the curd not too soft, and make the past of cold butter and water according to these forms. To make cool Butter Paste for Patty pans or Pasties. Take to every peck of flour five pounds of butter, the whites of six eggs, and work it well together with cold spring water; you must bestow a great deal of pains, and but little water, or you put out the millers eyes. This paste is good only for patty pan and pasty. Selene Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2006 20:43:20 -0500 From: "Carol Smith" Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP Question To: "Cooks within the SCA" Below is a variant of the cheesecake recipe found in Digby. I've not started it with the whole milk and rennet - yet. But this is good, and you can, of course, make it to taste. Brekke Digby's Cheesecake Variant Filling: Cream Cheese 2 X 8 oz Whole Egg 1 Egg yolks 3 Butter 0.5 lb Sugar 0.5 - 0.75 C Clove, ground 0.125 tsp Mace 0.25 tsp Salt dash Mix cream cheese and butter together. Add sugar & salt. Whip with egg beater or by hand, adding egg and egg yolks slowly. Add spices last. Taste and adjust sugar and spices to taste. Crust: Flour 1.5 C Sugar 2 Tbsp Salt pinch Butter 0.25 lb Egg Yolks 3 Water 1 Tbsp Mix flour, sugar, and salt together. Cut in butter and add egg yolks and water. Press into spring form pan, 9.5 inches round, to 1.5 inch height. Pour batter into crust and bake 45 minutes at 350 F or until done Good hot or cold. Note: 1 double recipe makes enough for 2.5" by 8.75 inch cake tin- sized cakes. (OOPS - NO NUMBER GIVEN: I think it will make three.) Date: Thu, 27 Apr 2006 07:19:52 -0700 From: elisabetta at klotz.org Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Playing with cheesecake... To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org Cheesecake is an interesting thing....here's a short history... After the Romans and Jews made pax in ancient Judea, that the Jews feel in love with Roman food, especially fish sauce (garum). But another food is cheesecake. Actually a lot of Roman foods, as well as fruits and vegies were "saved" during the dark ages by Jews. But that's another story. I don't know if the Roman's invented cheesecake, but that's were the first recipes appear. The Roman cheesecake is not necessarily a dessert cake, and is made with a soft cheese, like a Ricotta. And for some reason it is cooked with a basil leaf under it. Fast forward a few hundred years to Italy. Now I do not know who made it first, or if was continually made since Roman times, but ricotta cheesecakes can be found in the Italian Jewish community (as desserts) as well as in the Catholic communities. BTW, ricotta cheesecakes can be made with honey instead of sugar. Then people starting coming to America, and cream cheese was invented (in 1872, not in Phily although named after it). Not long after Jews adapted the ricotta cheescake into a cream cheese based one. Thus creating New York style cheesecake. So there is cream cheese-based NY style, which is purely American, and Italian style which is ricotta. Of course other soft cheeses can be used besides Ricotta. But that's the 411 on cheesecake. So cheesecake goes back a long way. And of course being Jewish, I have lots of cheesecake recipes. Knowing how to make cheesecake and chicken soup are part of the requirements. :) Is there a specfic type you are looking for? I'll post some recipes as soon as I can. Elisabetta Date: Tue, 28 Aug 2007 23:57:24 -0400 From: ranvaig at columbus.rr.com Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Speaking of Cheesecakes.... To: Cooks within the SCA > S CLEMENGER wrote: >> A lady on our kingdom list is interested in 16th century recipes >> for German cheesecake and cheesecake cousins, if there are any >> such things. snipped These are more cheesecake cousins. There are also recipes with a filling of cheese, eggs, and spinach or other greens, probably more like a quiche than a cheesecake. Ranvaig Turten 19. Reib Parmesank?? und andern K?? / der hart und nicht faul ist / mach jn mit Eiern ab / und guter frischer Butter / so ist es ein gute F?ll in ein Turten. Und mach kein Deckel darauf / da? man sihet / da? ein K?? Turten sei. http://clem.mscd.edu/~grasse/GK_turten1.htm 19. Grate Parmesan cheese and other cheese/ that is hard and not rotten/ mach it up with eggs/ and good fresh butter/ so it is a good filling in a Turten. And make no lid thereon/ that one may see/ that it is a cheese Turten. (Gwen Cat's translation. There is perhaps a small typo, "mach it up" probably should be "make it up" or even "mix it up"). Turten 45. Treib ein Turten auf / und Nimm gerieben Parmesank?? und gerieben Weck / treibs mit Eierdotter und mit Butter ab / thu gantze Mandeln und Ziweben darunter / auch kleine schwartze Rosein / die sauber au?gewaschen sein / und ein s?ssen Rahm / der fein dick ist / r?r das alles durcheinander / und versalz es nicht / f?ll die Turten darmit / und mach kein Deckel dar?ber / scheubs in Ofen / und backs / netz ein Pensel in warmer Butter / und bestreich die Turten unten und oben / da? fein gleisset / und la? kalt werden. Und also b?ckt man die Osterfladen. 45. Roll out a Turten/ and take grated Parmesan cheese and grated loaf/ beat it with egg yolks and butter/ put whole almonds and raisins thereunder/ also small black raisins/ that have been washed clean/ and sweet cream/ that is nicely thick/ stir it all together/ and do not oversalt it/ fill the Turten therewith/ and do not put a lid (top crust?) thereover/ push it into the oven/ and bake it/ moisten a brush in warm butter/ and brush the Turten therewith under the bottom(???I don't see how) and on top/ that it glistens nicely/ let it get cold and so one bakes Easter flatbread. (Gwen Cat's translation). Gebackens 71. Du kann auch wohl ein Turten machen von einem sollchen Teig/ und kann es kalt lassen werden/ die nennet man K?se Turten/ und wenn du es wilt auf ein Tisch geben/ so besprengs mit Rosenwasser/ und gibs kalt/ bestr?w es mit weissem Zucker. Du magsts gantz geben oder zerschneiden. 71. You can also make well a tart from such a dough/ and can let it become cold/ this one calls Cheese tart/ and when you will give it on a table/ then sprinkle with rose water/ and give cold/ sprinkle it with white sugar. You might give it whole or cut up. (My translation). This one is a cheese filled pastry, not exactly a cheesecake. Gebackens 70. Nimm ein frischen K??/ der vber Nacht gemacht ist/ thu sch?n wei? Mehl und Eierdotter darunter/ r?r es wohl durcheinander/ mach K?chel darau?/ nimb Papier/ und bestreichs mit Butter/ und leg die K?chel darauf nebeneinander/ scheubs in einen warmen Ofen/ so wirt es fein auflaufen/ wirt innwendig fein hol wie ein Schwam/ richt es in ein Sch?ssel an/ begeu? mit frischer Butter/ und bestr?w es mit weissem Zucker/ gibs warm oder kalt auf ein Tisch/ beschneidts fein rundt und d?nn/ legs auf eine Sch?ssel/ bespreng es mit Rosenwasser/ und bestr?w es mit weissem Zucker/ so ists gut und wohl geschmack. 70. Take a fresh cheese/ that was made over night/ do fair white flour and egg yolks with it/ stir it well through each other/ make K? chel from it/ take paper/ and spread with butter/ and lay the k?chel on it next to each other/ shove in a warm oven/ so it will nicely rise/ the inside will get nicely hollow like a Schwam/ serve in a dish/ and baste with fresh butter/ and sprinkle them with white sugar/ give warm or cold on a table/ cut nicely round and thin/ lay on a dish/ sprinkle with rose water/ and sprinkle with white sugar/ like this is it good and well tasting. (My translation. I found one reference that related "k?chel" to "k?gel", but am rather skeptical of it). Edited by Mark S. Harris cheesecake-msg Page 23 of 23