fruits-msg - 2/15/08
Medieval fruits and fruit dishes. Recipes.
NOTE: See also the files: fruit-apples-msg, fruit-quinces-msg. sugar-msg,
vegetables-msg, melons-msg, nuts-msg, pomegranates-msg, cherries-msg.
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Stefan at florilegium.org
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From: djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu (Dorothy J Heydt)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period fruits?
Date: 6 Dec 1993 21:30:37 GMT
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Mike Campbell <mike at aloysius.equinox.gen.nz> wrote:
>Can anyone tell me what fruits were in "common" consumption in Western
>Europe during our period?
Apples, quinces, pears.
Plums of various kinds.
Medlars (which are in the quince family I believe; like persimmons
they must be practically rotten before they are ripe).
Berries: blueberries (called "bilberries" or "whortleberries"),
blackberries (called "brambles"), strawberries, and--so
I'm told--cranberries, but I don't know if they're the
same as the New World kind.
Grapes (seeded varieties).
In the south and around the Mediterranean: apricots, figs, dates,
melons, peaches.
And probably more.
But no bananas or pineapple unless you get to Africa.
And I'm sorry -- no Kiwi fruit. ;)
Dorothea of Caer-Myrddin Dorothy J. Heydt
Mists/Mists/West UC Berkeley
Argent, a cross forme'e sable djheydt at uclink.berkeley.edu
From: DDF2 at cornell.edu (David Friedman)
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Period fruits?
Date: 7 Dec 1993 04:47:33 GMT
Organization: Cornell Law School
Mike Campbell <mike at aloysius.equinox.gen.nz> asks about period fruit, and
Dorothea answers:
> Apples, quinces, pears.
> Plums of various kinds.
> Medlars (which are in the quince family I believe; like persimmons
> they must be practically rotten before they are ripe).
> Berries: blueberries (called "bilberries" or "whortleberries"),
I believe the old world bilberry is a member of the same genus as the new
world blueberry, but smaller.
> blackberries (called "brambles"), strawberries, and--so
> I'm told--cranberries, but I don't know if they're the
> same as the New World kind.
The current commercial cranberries are New World varieties, but both Old
World and New World varieties exist.
> Grapes (seeded varieties).
> In the south and around the Mediterranean: apricots, figs, dates,
> melons, peaches.
Not only are apples period, some period varieties are still grown. In
particular, Rameau d'ete, aka Summer Rambo, is often available in the
Pennsic area about the time of Pennsic. The following list of period or
near period fruit varieties is from an article in _The Miscellany_ (also
T.I.).
Pre 1650 Fruits
Apples
Calville Blanc D'Hiver (1627)
Court Pendu Plat (16th century–possibly Roman)
Devonshire Quarendon (1690)
Drap d'Or (=Coe's Golden Drop?)
Lady Apple (1628)
Old Nonpareil
Pomme Royale
Reinette Franche
Roxbury Russett (Early 17th century)
Scarlet Crofton
Sops of Wine
Summer Rambo (16th century)
Winter Pearmain
Fenouilette Gris
Golden Reinette
Peach
Grosse Mignonne (1667)
Nectarine
Early Violet (1659)
Pears
Buerre Gris (1608)
Rousselet de Reims (1688)
Bartlett (Williams Bon Chretien) of ancient origin–may or may not be
pre-1600.
Plums
Green Gage (Reine Claude)
Prune d'Agen
Dates represent the earliest date at which there is evidence the variety
existed. For sources see the article.
--
David/Cariadoc
DDF2 at Cornell.Edu
From: Uduido at aol.com
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 22:13:38 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: SC - Vegetarian dishes
Vegetarian Recipe 1
From "A Trewe Boke of Cokery, Vol.1, Vegertarian Recipts", pg. 1 by Lord Ras
al Zib
FRESH DATES NOT IN SEASON
1 Lb Dates, dried
1 Lg Watermelon
Cut a hole in the top of the melon large enough for your hand to fit through.
Save the cut out piece. Leaving all the juices inside, squeeze and remove the
pulp from the watermelon. Put the dates inside the watermelon. Replace the
cut out piece. Leave in a cool place for 24 hours. Take out the dates and
drain. They will be as fresh as if just picked. (Editor's note (Lord Ras)>
Not quite! But still rather tasty. Dried apricots, figs, prunes and/or
raisons also work well with this technique although the original recipe
specifies dates.)
From "The Baghdad Cookery Book, 1226 c.e., compiled by Duke Coriadoc of the
Bow; redacted and adapted to the Current Middle Ages by Lord Ras al Zib.
Lord Ras
From: "Maureen S. O'Brien" <mobrien at dnaco.net>
Newsgroups: rec.org.sca
Subject: Re: Haggis (was: tartan something...
Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 23:06:48 -0700
ctas_dan at ACM.ORG wrote:
>You would have to be a very rich lord to afford vegetables let alone
>fruit in winter.
Very true. In fact, the word for fruits and vegetables in Irish
translates as "summer food". Granted, root vegetables store well
and so do apples, but how long would they hold out? The Irish diet
in the Middle Ages was mainly meat, dairy and bread, with a few eggs and
such thrown in; the Scottish diet would no doubt be similar, even for
the rich.
Maureen, who likes all organ meat except liver from non-fowls, and was
raised to try weird things and clean her plate.
From: Philip E Cutone <flip+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 12:27:43 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - An Introduction and a question.
The domestroi mentions various ways fruits are preserved/cooked.
It mentions that Jellies may be given to the servents on sundays. (51)
preserve apples, pears, cherries, and berries in brine (63)
(66)it talks also of watermelons, melons, Kuzmin apples (seeming to be the
origin of candied apples, pour honey syrup over whole apples),
quinces and appls (fermented in a bucket with honey syrup), Mozhaisk
cream (not mashed. soak apples and pears in a blended syrup, without
water. (not sure what they mean))
berry candy (66)(bilberries, rasberries, currants, strawberries,
cranberries, "or any other kind of berry". here is a quick rundown of
the instructions:
Boil and strain through a fine sieve add honey and then steam
the mixture till VERY thick, stiring so as not to burn. pour
onto a board. smear the board repeatedly with honey. as
mixture sets, add a second and third layer and twirl it around
a tube. dry it opposite the stove.
my quick interpretation:
cook the berries (use minimal water, or reserve the juice for
mead/drinking later) Puree them and strain to remove
seeds.(opt) add honey to your taste. simmer on very low heat
till thick. then pour onto a honeyed marble pastry board.
let dry a bit (perhaps in oven, not sure if this is good for
marble) then add a second and third layer, letting set up some
between layers. dry in oven on lowest setting. cut as is or
roll it and then cut it. die of sugar shock.
apple candy(66): about the same as berry candy, but it appears to be left
"softer" (don't dry out in oven)
the parenthesized numbers are chapters, for the interested.
please note this was from a very quick browse through.... and typed
rather quickly as well...
BTW it also mentions that pears and apples may be preserved in syrup
or kvass. (45)
In Service to never letting the kvass thread die :)
Filip of the Marche
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 03:10:25 -0400
Subject: Re: SC - Roasted apples!
Jessica Tiffin wrote:
> I've just tracked down and devoured a copy of the Goodman of Paris
> (wonderful stuff). He refers to "roasted apples" in many of his
> feast menus. I'm assuming that this is a standard sort of baked
> apple - would anyone know precisely how they were cooked in period?
> i.e. cored and stuffed with nuts? raisins? sugar? in a syrup? I
> can obviously play around with period ingredients, but I'd really
> like to look at a recipe.
I'd have to go back and look at Le Menagier (I hadn't remembered the
recurring theme of roasted apples), but various late and just-post
period beverage recipes call for the "pap of roasted apples" to be
included. The impression those recipes give is that they are roasted in
the ashes of the hearth like eggs, and that the method works best with
stored apples that have become just a bit starchy: they pop open when
they are done.
I'm working from memory here, so please take this for what it's worth...
Adamantius
From: zarlor at acm.org (Lenny Zimmermann)
Date: Tue, 03 Jun 1997 17:42:28 GMT
Subject: Re: SC - Mediterranean Feast
While not as "Mediterranean" in style as Greece or Turkey, there are
an exceptional number of salads and fruit/veggie dishes listing in
"The Fruit, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy. An offering to Lucy, Countess
of Bedford", by Giacomo Castelvetro. The original is in Italian and
written in 1614 (just a hair post period). I tend to have the greatest
interest in Late Renaissance Italian cuisine, so this and Platina are
my current bibles. ;-) The copy I have is put out by Viking Press,
with Introduction and Translation by Gillian Riley (c) 1989 and
Foreword by Jane Grigson. ISBN 0-670-82724X. I am not sure if this
book is even in print any longer, but Amazon.Com was able to come up
with a copy for me.
The listings are
by season and then, generally, by fruit/herb/veggie. Oh, and one of my
favorites is the listing under Sweet Fennel (it has a seed that tastes
like licorice): "Fennel Seeds are gathered in the autumn. We flavour
various dishes with them, and eat them on their own after meals." So
now I always have a little dish with Fennel Seeds to "sweeten the
breath" after a feast. It just seems like such a nice little touch.
Honos Servio,
Lionardo Acquistapace, Barony of Bjornsborg, Ansteorra
(mka Lenny Zimmermann, San Antonio, TX)
zarlor at acm.org
From: Gretchen M Beck <grm+ at andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: Fri, 6 Jun 1997 10:35:45 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: SC - Period Recipes
Excerpts from internet.listserv.sca-cooks: 5-Jun-97 Re: SC - Period
Recipes by rebecca tants at servtech.c
> Just a thought - I can't imagine there not being something like this
> somewhere in all of period cooking. Aluminum foil is out, but what
> else might have been used. (My mind went straight to mexican and
> american indian cooking in corn husks and mediterranian cooking in
> grape leaves, btu I'm at a consulting job in another state and won't
> see my cookbooks again until at LEAST Sunday...)
In the Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy, Castelvetro mentions
roasting peaches in the coals wrapped in damp paper--"Some people eat
peaches cooked, wrapped in damp paper, and roasted in the ashes--These
really are very nice".
toodles, margaret
Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 09:43:29 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: SC - Fruit and Wine dishes - was re: RECIPE CHALLENGE II
Baron Tibor wrote:
> Memory tickles at me about a stewed prune and red wine dessert with carway
> seeds, that is period and YUMMY.... I cannot remember the source offhand.
> (Perhaps the encylopedia that is Adamantius will... I gotta get my sources
> OUT of the attic and back IN the kitchen!)
>
> What other "wine and fruit" recipes are there? This is a wonderful
> combination.
I can't recall the specific reference to the dish you describe above,
but I'd be willing to bet it's caraway confits as a garnish. Dishes of
figs stewed in wine I know about. Also a pottage of Bullace plums and
wine, which I can't seem to find anywhere but know exists in some source
or other. As usual, I was just looking at it the other day, and now that
I actually need it, it's gone...
Adamantius
Date: Sun, 5 Oct 1997 08:04:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: Stephen Bloch <sbloch at adl15.adelphi.edu>
Subject: Re: SC - Re: A couple questions . . ..
> 3) What about subsitutions? I am in the midst of gathering recipes for a
> killer menu for Crown Tourney this next weekend, and I was thinking about
> the "Strawberye" but using cherries and Kirschwasser instead ('coz I have
> cherries)
I can't speak for the Kirschwasser, but there are surviving recipes for
cherries. In fact, the "Strawberye" recipe you're thinking of,
presumably the one from Harleian ms. 279, is followed IMMEDIATELY in the
manuscript by one for cherries. So rather than adapting "Strawberye" to
cherries myself, I would use the 15th-century recipe whose author thought
it was similar enough to put them on the same page.
Strawberye: Take Strawberys, & waysshe hem in tyme of 3ere in gode red
wyne; [th]an strayne [th]orwe a clo[th]e, & do hem in a potte with gode
Almaunde mylke, a-lay it with Amyndoun o[th]er with [th]e flowre of Rys,
& make it chargeaunt and lat it boyle, and do [th]er-in Roysonys of
coraunce, Safroun, Pepir, Sugre grete plente, pouder Gyngere, Canel,
Galyngale; poynte it with Vynegre, & a lytil whyte grece put [th]er-to;
coloure it with Alkenade, & droppe it a-bowte, plante it with [th]e
graynys of Pome-garnad, & [th]an serue it forth.
Chyryoun: Take Chyryis, & pike out [th]e stonys, waysshe hem clene in
wyne, [th]an wryng hem [th]orw a clo[th]e, & do it on a potte, & do
[th]er-to whyte grece a quantyte, & a partye of Floure of Rys, & make it
chargeaunt; do [th]er-to hwyte Hony or Sugre, poynte it with Venegre;
A-force it with stronge pouder of Canelle & of Galyngale, & a-lye it
with a grete porcyoun of 3olkys of Eyroun; coloure it with Safroun or
Saunderys; & whan [th]ou seruyste in, plante it with Chyrioun, & serue
f[orth].
Notice the following differences:
1) the cherry recipe doesn't call for almond milk, currants, pepper, or
ginger; maybe the author and/or his patron felt that these flavors went
well with strawberries but not with cherries.
2) the cherry recipe, after being thickened with rice flour, is further
thickened with "a grete porcyoun" of eggyolks. I don't know why the
author chose to do this with cherries and not with strawberries, but
lacking evidence to the contrary, I'd follow his lead.
3) the strawberry recipe is colored purple with alkenade, while the
cherry recipe is colored yellow with saffron or red with sandalwood.
4) the strawberry recipe is garnished with pomegranate seeds, the cherry
recipe with whole cherries.
I would start by following the cherry recipe as closely as possible,
using a known-tasty redaction of "Strawberye" to get a first
approximation of the quantities. If I had time (which you don't between
now and next weekend), I would experiment with each of the above
differences and try to figure out why they are there.
mar-Joshua ibn-Eleazar ha-Shalib
Stephen Bloch
sbloch at panther.adelphi.edu
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 1997 08:55:07 -0600
From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: RE: SC - A bit bland...
Peaches (Prunis persica) were being cultivated in China before 500 B.C.
They were traded into the Middle East after Jang Qian's diplomatic
mission (to find allies against the Huns) into Central Asia in 140 B.C.
In 65 B.C., Pompey had peaches transplanted to Rome from Persia.
Apparently, peaches spread with the Roman advance to everywhere they
could be grown in Europe.
In 1513 C.E., the Spanish planted peaches in Florida and in 1618 C.E.,
English gardeners were warned not to prune peaches in England's cold
climate.
So, I would say peaches were available and eaten in much of Europe
during period.
Bear
Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 13:38:32 -0800
From: david friedman <ddfr at best.com>
Subject: SC - jam (was: A bit bland...)
Bogdan asked about a topping for a late period almond tart; someone
suggested peach jam and Charles McCathieNevile answered:
>Peaches are appropriate for England. But I don't know how they
>prepared/preserved them. I would imagine that something like jam was
>done. Has anybody checked the florilegium?
>Charles
According to _Food and Drink in Britain_ by C. Anne Wilson (very
knowlegable and reliable), marmelade in the sense of a stiff paste seems to
have been invented late in our period and "Sometimes soft fruits were
simply bruised and boiled quickly in sugar syrup without any sieving or
straining, and the resultant sweet compressed mass became vulgarly known as
"jam". The word did not reach the printed cookery books until 1718, but
thereafter both the name and the method of preparation became common..."